Our company, Tovala (YC W16), has built a smart oven and companion meal delivery service. We're growing our team as we prepare to ship our first product and looking for our first dedicated Android engineer. If you like food, startups, Android and live (or are willing to move) to Chicago, give us a shout.
Lead Designer | Chicago, IL | Tovala | Full Time | Equity: .25 - 1% | On-Site Only
I'm David Rabie, one of the founders of Tovala. We've built an incredibly smart oven that is paired with a meal delivery service.
We're a small team of 7 that's gone through YC. Looking for someone to handle UX/UI of many parts of the Tovala experience (e.g. app, packaging, marketing, etc.). Great opportunity to help design a brand from the ground up.
Honestly, you don't. You just need to focus on building something that people want and making sure that the experience you deliver is better than any other.
Further, if you start to think about your hardware as a means of delivering something else (for us, that's food), then getting copycatted on the hardware won't be as hard to deal with from a business standpoint.
Great question. With Tovala, our model is a little different. We anticipate most of our customers will order our meal delivery service - and be delighted by the experience and taste. That'll give us a touch point to our customers throughout the life of their smart oven.
Depends on what you are trying to prove. If there are questions as to whether people will pay for your product, then yes, proving that that is the case with a functional prototype will go a long ways. If, however, you are trying to get feedback, build up brand evangelists and learn, then selling your prototype is not hugely important.
Most important is to deliver our product (both hardware and food). However, we'll also be able to run some testing on our website to see what content/messaging/copy converts best into additional pre-sales.
We (Tovala) will also be hiring for some software, operations and food roles :)
The best option is to get warm introductions and develop relationships early. Getting people to hear about your product, give you feedback and feel invested before you launch is critical.
However, that's not always possible. If you're scrambling and haven't had time to do that, you can always reach out blind or use services/agencies to help. There's a YC company called PRX that helps with this and does it at a very affordable price. Another cool site that was on Product Hunt recently ranked a bunch of media outlets - http://presshour.co/?ref=producthunt. Lastly, take a look at your competition and who covered them - those are probably your best targets.
Not sure there is a black and white answer to this, but that piece of the puzzle takes time. When you're getting close to a prototype that you think is manufacturable (and that is a big assumption that you should vet as much as possible), start reaching out to partners and CMs.
Happy to help. My background is actually in food and business, so I didn't have any hardware background. Your best bet is to immerse yourself in the hardware world - meet as many people as you can; join maker groups; go to local universities to meet engineers; and read as much as you can online. Ultimately, try to find a co-founder that has the skill set and knowledge to complement you.
Crowdfunding:
Pros --> Big platform that you can piggyback on; somewhat well-understood form of funding; can leverage to build a brand
Cons --> Less control over your brand and your message (e.g. hard to A/B test); commission
Self-funding
Pros --> Complete control over your website, message, brand, etc. Can offer whatever incentives you want.
Cons --> Harder to get the word out, generate press, access early adopters
VC funding --> This is important should you want to build a high-growth business and avoid the pitfalls of a lot of Kickstarter campaign. We've supplemented our Kickstarter campaign with VC funding and used crowdfunding as a means to get early adopters, build our brand and fund our first production run.
Our company, Tovala (YC W16), has built a smart oven and companion meal delivery service. We're growing our team as we prepare to ship our first product and looking for our first dedicated Android engineer. If you like food, startups, Android and live (or are willing to move) to Chicago, give us a shout.
https://tovala.com/careers/