From An Idea to IndieGoGo And Beyond - Tech Start Up

[JDM]

Hi INSIDERS!

I thought it would be a good time to share the journey I have gone on over the last 17 or so months. Hopefully some people can learn from what I've been through so feel free to ask plenty of questions if I've dealt with an area that you have questions on.

Identifying the need

The journey started in January 2014 when I locked myself out of my apartment. I was on the fourth (and top) level of my building and my roommate though it would be a good idea to try and climb onto the roof then drop down onto our balcony and through the unlocked door. We got a garden hose and started creating a makeshift harness...clearly under the delusion that this would have any impact on preventing his demise down four levels to the tiles below. Fortunately this great idea came to an end when he couldn't make it from the window up to the roof.

We moved onto credit cards in the door jam. A few mangled cards later, I bit the bullet and called a locksmith. A few hundred dollars later, I was inside and reunited with my keys and thinking, THERE MUST BE A BETTER WAY!

I fired up Google and then Alibaba looking for a door lock that could be controlled with your phone assuming that it existed. To my surprise, there was nothing of the sort. DING, the seed was planted.

Research began and I noticed the early days of smart locks emerging, but still no product that fit my needs. The early products (and to this day) are all deadbolts. As someone renting an apartment that doesn't have a deadlock, these were of no use to me. I needed a smart lock that was a door lever, not a deadbolt.

Creating the solution

Early stages involved communication with manufacturers on Alibaba and designers on eLance. Unimpressed with the results, I engaged a local, Australian based industrial design firm to bring my idea to life. The Genie Smart Lock was born.

The design brief was a lever operated door handle that:

1. can be locked and unlocked using your smart phone or computer;
2. unlocks on approach and locks when you leave;
3. is easily installed and removed without a trace (perfect for those renting);
4. has real time status checking for peace of mind to check if your door is locked or unlocked at any given time; and
5. allows you to send and receive bluetooth ekeys so you can easily grant and revoke access to friends, family and contractors.

The designers did a great job in bringing the concept to life and provided 3d renders and full product specifications to achieve the brief perfectly.

Roadblocks and progress

Some parts of the journey that might help other fastlaners that I will go into more detail about in the future:

1. international patents;
2. dealing with international market leadering corporations to discuss licensing opportunities;
3. getting media coverage for your product (including coverage in TechCrunch, Gizmodo and Yahoo); and
4. dealing with internation trademark disputes.

The future

The Genie Smart Lock is in the process of being rebranded in preparation for launch on IndieGoGo. The purpose of the crowdfunding is two fold - provide capital for initial production run and prove the concept to make the business more attractive for funding or licensing.

I would love for fellow Fastlaners to join me on the journey - let me know your feedback (www.geniesmartlock.com) and most of all, let me know if you have any questions that might help you with bringing your idea to life!

 

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[tafy]

Great idea and something I have thought about recently too as it happens but in a specific niche, hope it all goes well for you.

Do these locks work with NFC/RFID?

I see a big market for Airbnb and hospitality market

 

[JDM]

Thanks Tafy.

I've intentionally stayed out of the NFC/RFID arena for a few reasons. Part of this is the fact that apple doesn't support this technology and also because there are other products offering this (hotel style locks).

The product launched to the public June/July 2014 and the enquiry has been huge. Some of the biggest enquiry has come from air bnb, co-working offices, hotels and property developers. I've also had a heap of distributor enquiries from all over the world. I feel like I need to get the product beyond the crowdfunding campaign before I start down the distributor route.

 

[Chaseb731]

I'm surprised that your apartment doesn't have a deadbolt. Do you know the numbers or an estimate on those that do vs don't have them?

 

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[JDM]

Hi Chase - It's highly dependent on location. The USA seems to have a much higher proportion of deadbolts than other locations such as Australia and Europe. The product has also had significant interest from Japan.

It's still possible that I will launch a deadbolt in conjunction with the lever. This will allow a deadbolt and lever working on the same smart lock system.

 

[tafy]

I realise that phones are not there yet, but that's only a few years off, I would build in rfid reader into it at least for a pro version, to allow people to create entry cards to work with it. Simple encoder tp encode cards and you will have a tonn of small property owners banging down your door

 

[csalvato]

Do you consider Lockitron and UniKey competitors? What makes you different...aside from giving them a 3 year head start?

 

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[JDM]

RFID is interesting. I've tried to avoid it because it's already in the market place and I'm trying to stick to my point of difference. The lock works with a bluetooth keyring and you can also send bluetooth ekeys which covers most situations you would require but I take your point. It's a feature I could definitely add in the future if the demand is there.

Lockitron and Unikey are competitors for sure. The major point of difference started with the product being a lever (not a deadbolt) and using a unique wifi hub to overcome the power issues that Lockitron was facing. At the time the product development started the Lockitron had a battery life of a few days and the Unikey had no wifi function. Obviously the marketplace has changed but two points of difference remain:

1. It's the only smart lock that's a door lever
2. It's the only smart lock suitable for internal doors (including bedrooms)

This leads into another interesting area. I have patents pending in US and Australia for the power management system. If these make it through examination there will be a shake up in the industry.

 

[JDM]

I thought I should add some of the things I am looking to achieve to make the IndieGoGo campaign a success:

1. Transition to the new domain to match the rebrand (in progress - elance)
2. Finish the first draft of the IndieGoGo campaign text (initial text from Fiverr gig and I've edited it from there)
3. Contact my industrial designer to update product renderings to include new logo (following rebrand)
4. Draft email chain to send to my list (3,000+) to warm them up for launch
5. Outsource images for campaign (fiverr or elance)
6. Plan and film IndieGoGo video
7. Review media contact list (650 or so contacts) and clean up data (elance)
8. Finalise press release to media about rebrand and crowdfunding launch

Argh number 6!!! The video has been the hardest thing I have had to deal with so far. I have no background in creative media and a professional video is prohibitively expensive at this stage of the product life. A lot of money has been spent and now it's down to bootstrapping. I've read so much on crowdfunding videos but can't get a picture in my head of how it should go. Do I do funny? Do I do serious?

You will notice I outsource most of my work. Not only does this allow people with skill in each field to do the work, I'm a Lawyer in a top tier international law firm by day and don't have much time outside of the slowlane. Slowlane hours can be brutal (8:30am - anywhere from 6pm to 11pm). Ah, the fantasy of leaving the slowlane behind.

 

[JDM]

A small update on the to do list. The first of the email chain for the list warming has been scheduled!

Timing of emails is an interesting topic and can greatly impact on the amount of views the email gets. A lot of research suggest the ideal time to send an email is around 9am on Monday. The views get progressively lower as the time and the day of the week go on. This of course then gets turned upside down depending on the product. For example, hobby based products have better readership on the weekends.

I've set the first email in my chain as an A/B test to try and get some insight into the best time to be sending emails for my list. Email A will be sent 9am local time on Monday and email B will be sent 9am local time on Tuesday. Given this test looks to days, the next email will A/B test time of day. Hopefully by the time of the IndieGoGo launch I will have the formula down for the best time and day to be sending emails.

Has anyone had experience in testing the optimum time and day to be sending emails?

 

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[theag]

Has anyone had experience in testing the optimum time and day to be sending emails?

Maybe this helps: https://blog.MailCheat(Chimp).com/insights-from-mailchimps-send-time-optimization-system/

Cool project!

Edit: Ha! Now read your full post and realized that you probably already know the research in the link .

 

[JDM]

Thanks ag, that seems to be the best info so far on timing for emails. I should have my first set of data in a few days and will post the results here.

The IndieGoGo campaign is ahead of schedule. You can see the draft here: http://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/453b6103

I was originally outsourcing most of the graphic design for the campaign, however after the nightmares of outsourcing getting the better of me I decided to have a go myself. The video continues to be the hardest part but I'm determined to progress this is some way this coming week.

I would love to get some INSIDERS feedback on the campaign. Any constructive feedback is much appreciated.

 

[tafy]

I read it and I am not loving your solution. Some questions for you:

1. Bluetooth, isnt this a bit old fashioned now?
2. Open your bedroom door from anywhere in the world sounds scary tbh, why would you want this?
3. Why make it look like a electronic door? I would have made it look like a normal lock (in disguise)
4. Why no support for NFC, you can have a NFC card in your wallet, NFC on your smartphone and air bnb'ers and small hotels will love a cheap alternative to nfc locks which cost like 2k for the encoder alone.
5. The Key thing sounds great in theory but I would take this out, why? because you will have to make an unique lock and key for every piece you manufacture. This will kill you in costs and complexity. If someone loses their key and wants the lock changed how can they do this ?
6. Why dont you use a keypad with a 8 number code for access that you can change if needed?
7. This hub sounds like a total pain and added complexity, and for what gain? So you can open your door from the other side of the world?
8. People will be scared of hackers, how can you stop this easily?

What I would like this lock to be (personal opinion)

1. Cheap NFC lock, no key, no keypad
2. If they are locked out without a key then you are screwed, same as a traditional door lock.
3. NFC key encoder, usb and a little program on the pc or mac.
4. Person can make nfc card for their wallet, nfc key fob for their car keys. Spare key for the neighbour, spare key to hide in some weird place or whatever you want
5. Ability to encode 1 use open keys
6. encode a date where the key will stop working
7. have privacy lock on the inside which will deadlock the door and not allow anyone entry, even with a key.
8. Ability to load mobile with nfc key if supported.

Sorry for the big post

 

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[Hooked]

Look pretty cool, but @tafy makes some really good points about NFC and security/privacy concerns. NFC is growing in popularity, draws less power, and is generally the go-to for products like this (think Apple Pay). BT transfers data quickly and has long range so its great for headsets and speakers and the like but it broadcasts itself to everyone's phone which is a huge no-no for a security product as it invites undesirable attention.

12 month battery life also seems really high-maintenance for something people don't ever want to think about. That means with a few installed on my house over the course of a year, I'll be dealing with a dead lock every couple months. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, and more instances of the very problem you're trying to solve. How are you dealing with this?

One thought on the campaign is that you skipped rewards between $1 and $150. Not sure if you planned on doing something there but that's a big group of backers to miss out on. Kickstarter, but you get the point:

I'd also be very interested in hearing more about your approach to the email chain for cold emails. Are you using templates? Personalizing at all? 3000 is a lot so I assume its a mass email. What are you doing to make yourself valuable and personable to make later contact more successful?

Lastly, how are you able to use the media logos when it appears you haven't actually been featured by them? Or is that just a placeholder until you get coverage?

EDIT: Random aside, please gain some more traction so I stop seeing kanye west when I search for your product

 

[JDM]

Thanks for the feedbacks guys. It seems that I've not put enough emphasis on the solution.

Responding to a few points:

1. Bluetooth, isnt this a bit old fashioned now? The beauty of bluetooth is that it's well known to the market, energy efficient and has good range. Alternate products have used other lesser known communication methods (Zigbee etc) and the market has not picked them up. Something that's tried and tested is a benefit in generating consumer confidence in the technology. Bluetooth is also the technology that is used in most phones.

2. Open your bedroom door from anywhere in the world sounds scary tbh, why would you want this? Bedroom application of the product is geared more towards a sharehouse situation or parents keeping an eye on their kids. Some times this can come in handy is letting someone into your room to get something when you're not home (house mate wants to borrow your phone charger or laptop for example) or for parents to have real time access logs of their child (sneaking out in the middle of the night or knowing that they got home safely from a night out).

3. Why make it look like a electronic door? I would have made it look like a normal lock (in disguise). This is a dividing point and there is definitely merrit to what you say. The product has been developed as a 'tech gadget' with a target market being techy savy males 25 - 35 yrs old. The premise is that people are paying a lot of money and want to be able to put their latest gadget on display. I understand that people have security concerns having a flashly lock on their front door, however the product doesn't aim to serve every person. It aims to serve the majority of the target market.

4. Why no support for NFC, you can have a NFC card in your wallet, NFC on your smartphone and air bnb'ers and small hotels will love a cheap alternative to nfc locks which cost like 2k for the encoder alone. I like your suggection of the NFC and this is something I am definitely going to look at incorporating in the product in the future. This might even make a great stretch goal with the crowdfunding.

5. The Key thing sounds great in theory but I would take this out, why? because you will have to make an unique lock and key for every piece you manufacture. This will kill you in costs and complexity. If someone loses their key and wants the lock changed how can they do this ? I thought about a keyless system, however the initial market research had a big reluctance. People want the safety net of a traditional key. Lost keys is a great point. The initial system is likely to be a cut to code system using a number on the inside portion of the lock above the PCB.

6. Why dont you use a keypad with a 8 number code for access that you can change if needed? This goes back to trying to make the product unique, while still providing the solution. Keypad locks have been around for a long time. Incorporating this would make it just another keypad lock. The other downside is that keypads are typically quite large.

7. This hub sounds like a total pain and added complexity, and for what gain? So you can open your door from the other side of the world? The product is available for purchase without the hub. Anyone that doesn't see value in the wifi can purchase without the hub and take advantage of the bluetooth features.

The benefits of the hub and being able to unlock your door from the other side of the world include:

1. reducing the pain point of having to wait around home to let people in (tradesmen, cleaners)
2. being able to let people in while you're not home (kids or loved one forgot their key, mother-in-law arrived an hour before she was scheduled to)
3. the peace of mind not having to worry if you remebered to lock the door (check the status in real time)
4. the peace of mind of knowing who has accessed your home (kids or loved one got home safely from a night out or arrived home from their holiday)

8. People will be scared of hackers, how can you stop this easily? The electronic component of the lock uses bank level AES256 bit encryption and will VERY rarely be the weakest point of entry into your home.

The above gives me exactly what I need to be putting into the IndieGoGo campaign so thankyou for the feedback.

 

[JDM]

Look pretty cool, but @tafy makes some really good points about NFC and security/privacy concerns. NFC is growing in popularity, draws less power, and is generally the go-to for products like this (think Apple Pay). BT transfers data quickly and has long range so its great for headsets and speakers and the like but it broadcasts itself to everyone's phone which is a huge no-no for a security product as it invites undesirable attention.

12 month battery life also seems really high-maintenance for something people don't ever want to think about. That means with a few installed on my house over the course of a year, I'll be dealing with a dead lock every couple months. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, and more instances of the very problem you're trying to solve. How are you dealing with this?

One thought on the campaign is that you skipped rewards between $1 and $150. Not sure if you planned on doing something there but that's a big group of backers to miss out on. Kickstarter, but you get the point:

I'd also be very interested in hearing more about your approach to the email chain for cold emails. Are you using templates? Personalizing at all? 3000 is a lot so I assume its a mass email. What are you doing to make yourself valuable and personable to make later contact more successful?

Lastly, how are you able to use the media logos when it appears you haven't actually been featured by them? Or is that just a placeholder until you get coverage?

EDIT: Random aside, please gain some more traction so I stop seeing kanye west when I search for your product

The 12 months battery life is the best in the industry at this stage and significantly superior to devices with wifi incorporated (no hub). Notifiations will be provided when batteries are low to give you adequate opportunity to replace the batteries before they die. I have tried to keep it simple with 4 x AA batteries and not going with a non-standard battery. I agree that longer would be better, however this is one of the main limitations on all smart locks at the moment. This is also the reason I developed and patented the hub power management system.

The reward gap is a massive pain point for me right now. The most popular perk is around $25 and the average contribution is around $100, however I just cannot think of any value I can provide in this range. A t-shirt related to a smart lock is lame and will have a small profit margin in any case and I can't think of much else. I would love INSIDERS input on this.

The email marketing is essentially two components:

1. bulk emails to the list of people that have subscribed (3,000+) - This is a referal offer at the moment
2. personalised emails to my close network (friends and family)

I can use the logos because the product has been featured by them. This also ties into the Kanye West/traction component. The product is in the marketplace at the moment as the Genie Smart Lock. I am in the process of the rebrand and will be tying this into the IndieGoGo launch

Thanks again for the feedback guys.

 

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[JDM]

I would love some feedback on the better of the two design I've attached. I love the design of the first one, however I don't know if it's too much. What are your thoughts?

 

[tafy]

Just want to go back over the security issues here. These locks are open to be hacked in a few ways as I see it.

1: Bluetooth can be hacked, they can capture your signal and retransmit?

2: WiFi is also hackable and they can sniff packets, and also in guessing its Bluetooth to the lock?

3. Passwords can be hacked to gain access to whatever app is opening locks

Now that's 3 points of failure, that you have to look after.

Sorry to go on about nfc again but it will be there soon on most phones, its already cheap as hell to make cards fobs and even a dog collar or whatever. The encoder is offline and keys

To let ppl into your room doesn't justify the security concerns tbh, at least for me.

Plumber needs access to your house then you can hide a one use key or one that lasts only a day.

But maybe I am wrong, what does the market research say?

 

[JDM]

The security side of things requires context. Sure, you could eventually hack the lock. Reality is that it would be easier to smash the window next to your door, kick the door in, pick the mechanical lock etc. The electronic communication of the lock will very rarely be the weakest link in your home security. On top of that, people are going to go next door to the easier target than sit down and work out how to hack your door.

The NFC is going down a tangent that is not what the product is. You want a lock with NFC and don't see the value in being able to control the lock remotely or to be able to have the door automatically lock and unlock on approach. If you don't like these features, the product is obviously not for you. NFC doesn't offer that much of a benefit over a traditional key really.

NFC - Ability to use your phone as a key and ability to make/send NFC keys
Bluetooth - All of the above, bluetooth low energy is not too far off in power consumption and allows the product to unlock on approach, auto lock on exit and connect to a wifi hub.

I don't see what NFC gives that BLE doesn't? Sure it's cheaper but it has limitations.Do I see it as a potential addition to the BLE functions, for sure. Do I see it as a replacement? Not at this stage.

The market research is heavily in favour of BLE because not enough phones support NFC. At the time of design, approximately 18.2% of phones support NFC. It's the same reason the initial plan is not to support windows phones. Only 3% of my list use windows phones. Sure there are people that would want this but it's about designing the product to serve the majority of the target market, not everyone in the world.

 

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[tafy]

If thats what the market wants then thats what it wants. I hope you get funded

 

[wade1mil]

I just started researching crowd funding last week for a game I'm making. I've read so many articles and listened to so many blogs, I don't remember where I read about you and your product. I think it was a podcast that you were on?

RFID is interesting. I've tried to avoid it because it's already in the market place and I'm trying to stick to my point of difference.

Can your point of different could be that you do both? If someone were deciding between you and your competitor, your product would work 100% of the time, while your competition can't. That's a pretty powerful difference.

I've read so much on crowdfunding videos but can't get a picture in my head of how it should go. Do I do funny? Do I do serious?

From what I've read, the video shouldn't be funny. It should be real. Backers buy into you just as much as your product, and they want to know you. I've read "professional" can actually be worse than an amateur video where you make mistakes talking, etc.

The reward gap is a massive pain point for me right now. The most popular perk is around $25 and the average contribution is around $100, however I just cannot think of any value I can provide in this range. A t-shirt related to a smart lock is lame and will have a small profit margin in any case and I can't think of much else. I would love INSIDERS input on this.

Hmm, I haven't read anything about this yet. I'll agree I don't like the idea of a shirt. I have read that the number of backers you get helps your ranking, so you should absolutely have a really small contribution of $1-5. The only thing I can think of is tailor your copy to funnel people not interested in paying the money for your lock to at least support your project.

What did you do to get your list of 3,000 subscribers and 650 media contacts? Are the media contacts cold or do you have some sort of relationship with them? Anyway, good luck! Let me know if there's anything I can to help. Great job man!

 

[Hooked]

I think a t-shirt can almost always be used as a reward, just make it interesting/funny and a high enough reward to justify the expense. Otherwise maybe a key chain, quickey or something similar that's relevant to lightening how we carry things like keys, wallets, etc.

 

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[JDM]

Hmm thanks for the feedback, especially on the lower level perks that can be offered. I like the idea of something that still fits in with the key theme (maybe a keyring?).

The list building has been done over the last year or so since the product was announced. The subscriber list is sitting at 3,112 contacts as I write this and they are all opt in from the landing page. The media contacts are a mixture of cold contacts and warm contacts that have previously covered the product or previously shown interest. I'm not sure how I'm going to approach the cold media at this stage but the subscriber list engagement has begun.

I have a referral system in place that isn't working too well. As a result I've dropped the requirement to earn rewards to hopefully increase engagement. What are your thoughts on the following:

Email Referrals (just email opt in) - reward
5 - Free international shipping
10 - Free bluetooth FOB
15 - Buy one, get one free
20 - Free Keynie

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Just wanted to say thanks for sharing this journey, I think this could be a real big hit, especially with AirBnb'ers.

 

[wade1mil]

I have a referral system in place that isn't working too well. As a result I've dropped the requirement to earn rewards to hopefully increase engagement. What are your thoughts on the following:

Email Referrals (just email opt in) - reward
5 - Free international shipping
10 - Free bluetooth FOB
15 - Buy one, get one free
20 - Free Keynie

To be honest, I think giving away a free Keynie of 20 referrals is an amazing offer. I would say the free international shipping is weak as it requires you to purchase something to get it. Sort of the same thing with the FOB and BOGO. They all require you to spend money. You have the same issue with the referral system as you do with a $25 prize - a good high end offer but nothing less expensive. If you could figure something out that appeals to your market in the cheaper price bracket, you would benefit in both areas.

I assume you've read Tim Ferris' article about how he crowdfunded $100k for Soma. He did this also and it seemed to work well. He mentions that people often make the mistake of asking for too much, so my first question is are you asking too much? Maybe you can look at similar projects and find out where the majority of referral traffic was coming from (FB, Twitter, etc.) and include only that share button. If I were writing the copy for your referral page, I would make the headline so bold they had to share. "Can I send you a Keynie for FREE?" or "Where can I send your FREE Keynie?" Then explain that "all they have to do" is refer 20 of their friends or complete strangers and they don't have to pay a dime. That's pretty attractive.

I also read somewhere that the original share button graphic worked the best, as opposed to a custom graphic. The only other reason I see their's working and your not is the celebrity factor. I'm not sure what to do there

 

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[JDM]

Thanks MJ and a23k.

a23k - You're amazing! Great headlines and points. I'm going to get my referral page amended now.

Tim Ferris' article has been a great source of information for the whole project. I've just read it again and it makes me realise I need to be doing more now to enagage my media list.

What are your thoughts on a shirt like the one attached? Locks aren't cool so I'm trying to tie the shirt into the bigger picture of the product. I had a dream of bringing a mobile controlled smart lock to life and am trying to use this as the tie in. I will try Fiverr for proper design but some feedback on the direction I am taking would be great.

 

[JDM]

After a lot of thinking and even more browsing alibaba...I think I finally have the low level (~$25) perk sorted. I've contacted manufacturers for pricing and if this is acceptable, will order a sample to ensure the product works as described. It's directly relevant to my product and may even form a second product to be sold at a later date. Watch this space!