Hi Chris, good luck with your startup. I'm in the market for a natural gas --> heat pump remodel and expect to be signing a contractor's proposal today. I'm looking to put in a 4 ton Mitsubishi hyper heat system with an air handler to replace the gas furnace and four minisplits for the cold spots in the house. I live in the PNW.
The Mitsubishi remotes and thermostats do indeed look like they're going to be terrible, and their cloud-based offering is a joke whose website has been offline every time I looked at it. I still won't be considering your startup's offering. In the interest of providing constructive feedback, here's why:
1. Timing. My existing air conditioner is defunct and I need a replacement before summer.
2. No track record. This is by far the biggest issue after timing. I'm not comfortable making such a big purchase, which I expect to maintain for decades, with a company without at least a five year history and the opportunity to work out the bugs.
3. Multi-port system. My house has serious problems with hot and cold spots that can't be resolved with the existing ducting. Minisplits are necessary. I like that the Mitsubishi system runs the central air and minisplits off a single compressor.
4. Contractor. This is a big install and I'm not going to do it myself. I contacted several contractors. Each has their preferred vendor, and the one I liked the best prefers Mitsubishi.
I hope this is helpful. Again, best of luck to you. Competition in this space can only be a good thing.