iPod godfather and ex-iPhone team launch previously stealth startup
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Re: iPod godfather and ex-iPhone team launch previously stealth startup
#2The startup is Nest Labs. Their product is an adaptive thermostat that learns your temperature preferences and schedule. It's much cooler (ha ha) than it sounds!
http://www.nest.com/living-with-nest/index.html
What I want to know: who are these people in their demo videos setting their thermostat to 80+ (Fahrenheit) degrees?!
Re: iPod godfather and ex-iPhone team launch previously stealth startup
#3The startup is Nest Labs. Their product is an adaptive thermostat that learns your temperature preferences and schedule. It's much cooler (ha ha) than it sounds! http://www.nest.com/living-with-nest/index.html What I want to know: who are these people in their demo videos setting their thermostat to 80+ (Fahrenheit) degrees?!
The elderly might want it that high, I suppose?
Re: iPod godfather and ex-iPhone team launch previously stealth startup
#4This sounds like a perfect startup idea: take one ignored segment that has an abnormally high amount of value, disrupt it, profit! I love it.
However, it cuts both ways, people don't have obvious, specific problems with their thermostat (for the most part). It's a thing, it came with the house, it turns heat on and off, whatever. Why do I need to spend $250 on it? The very first thing (or maybe second, after the picture of the Nest) on the web site should be "See how much you can save!" with some guesstimates price-savings based on the state you're in, and when it will pay for itself. Or, if it doesn't pay for itself, how much fossil fuels/CO2 it saves, and what that translates to in conceivable units ("that's like saving 30 trees a year!").
Make it a product that provides an obvious, specific solution to a problem you didn't know you had. Right now, it looks like a luxury item for luxury people, and that's not the economy we're currently in.
EDIT: I found this information right at the bottom of: http://www.nest.com/living-with-nest/index.html , alongside "Download our white paper!" (ugh). This is what you're selling! Put it front and center!
Re: iPod godfather and ex-iPhone team launch previously stealth startup
#5You'd think a thermostat should be a trivial device.
But you'd be amazed at the complexity people come up with for thermostats, including hundred page manuals, etc., and no way to turn the heat off.
Re: iPod godfather and ex-iPhone team launch previously stealth startup
#6My first thought was "Wow, Thermostats? Thats really boring!" but after a few minutes and looking at his products, hes a genius, this is a prime example of an industry run by dinosaurs that needs disruption.
Re: iPod godfather and ex-iPhone team launch previously stealth startup
#7From a business standpoint, it seems like Nest Labs will be spending a lot of their time explaining the reason their product is relevant to the consumer. The market is there, but like Tony said in the video, its at a contractor level. Rarely does a consumer decide they need to purchase a thermostat on their own. So if they're honestly planning to sell to consumers directly, they'll have to basically create a marketplace out of an uninterested and uninformed client base. Seems difficult, but rather interesting nonetheless.
Re: iPod godfather and ex-iPhone team launch previously stealth startup
#8This sounds like a perfect startup idea: take one ignored segment that has an abnormally high amount of value, disrupt it, profit! I love it. However, it cuts both ways, people don't have obvious, specific problems with their thermostat (for the most part). It's a thing, it came with the house, it turns heat on and off, whatever. Why do I need to spend $250 on it? The very first thing (or maybe second, after the pict…
This is their friendly explanation
http://www.nest.com/why-we-made-it/index.html
Re: iPod godfather and ex-iPhone team launch previously stealth startup
#9The startup is Nest Labs. Their product is an adaptive thermostat that learns your temperature preferences and schedule. It's much cooler (ha ha) than it sounds! http://www.nest.com/living-with-nest/index.html What I want to know: who are these people in their demo videos setting their thermostat to 80+ (Fahrenheit) degrees?!
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Re: iPod godfather and ex-iPhone team launch previously stealth startup
#10The startup is Nest Labs. Their product is an adaptive thermostat that learns your temperature preferences and schedule. It's much cooler (ha ha) than it sounds! http://www.nest.com/living-with-nest/index.html What I want to know: who are these people in their demo videos setting their thermostat to 80+ (Fahrenheit) degrees?!
Saving money on air conditioning when you're away?