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Robots That Make A Difference Robotics and Entrepreneurship Dr. Paolo Pirjanian Chief Technology Officer
Robots That Make A Difference
Robotics and Entrepreneurship Dr. Paolo Pirjanian
Chief Technology Officer
u Inspire you to start a company, change the world
u A personal story of building a robo9cs company
u Star9ng with overview of successful robots
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Overview
u Its one thing to have a great idea… its quite a different thing to realize that in the real world
u Typically its people and not technology that get in
the way of success
u Real-‐world problems will pose new technical challenges
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Takeaways
Many companies do not cross the relevancy threshold
Value/Co
st
Time
Demonstra9on
Product
iRobot Robots That Make A Difference
Leader in developing prac5cal robots for consumers, researchers, first responders and the military • Founded in 1990 • 2012 Revenue -‐ $487 million • Stock trades on the NASDAQ stock
market (IRBT) • Has sold more than 10 million robots • More than 500 employees • Sell in over 50 countries
What would the robots do?
CONFIDENTIAL
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iRobot Ava 500 participating in a site tour
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Evolu9on Robo9cs
• 2001 – 2007 Incubated in Idealab • 2008 Spin-‐off from Idealab
• 2008 Raised $13.8M VC financing
• To build consumer robo5c products
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Business models
Position Tools provider Components provider Product company
Objectives License software/IP Sell components Sell products
Benefits Lower risk/lower capital Turn-key solution Defining killer applicationsLeverage other's efforts Easier to integrate Depend less on partners
Capture large piece of the pie
Risks Support many platforms Focus on right technologies Focus on right productDepend on customers Focus on right markets Complex operationsIP ownership/exclusivity Focus on right customers Need for large working
capitalLimited knowledge of customer needs
High risk/reward
Funding required $1mm - $5mm $5mm - $10mm $10mm - $20mm
Examples Microsoft Intel NokiaARM ATMEL Apple
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The value chain
Technology
Component
Product
Manufacturing
Sales/Distribution
Marketing
Solution Ev
olut
ion
Rob
otic
s
Part
ners
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Where in the value chain?
35.0%
15.0%
15.0%
10.0%3.0%
22.0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Components
IP Licensing
Manufacturing
Product company
Marketing/Distribution
Sales channel
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Direct Channel Launch
4/19 SW Gold Master
Now we have to deliver
Aug Sep Jul Oct Nov Dec Jun Jan Feb Mar May Apr Ini5al POs
10/30 SW Alpha
1/1 SW Beta
3/1 SW Gold Master
Mktg:Awareness
CES SW Feature Freeze
Buyer Previews
12/15 Release for Tooling
EB1 Build
EB2 Build
6/14 Begin Produc5on
Product in Warehouse Late July
Pilot Prod.
Sep
1st Shipment
Retail Channel Launch
First-‐shot off-‐tool parts
EB0 Build
Media test
H&H
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1. Cost 2. Cost 3. Cost
3 things matter in consumer products
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BOM cost structure of a product
• Example Product: Robot floor cleaner
• Retail price = $199
• Landed cost = $40
• Robotic parts = $20
• Hardware: CPU, sensors, actuators, gears, batteries, charger, chassis, …
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No Pain, No Gain No pain no gain!
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Product launch at CES 2010
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Media is recognizing it
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Media accolades
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More pain
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Shipping
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Got into retail
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36
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Sales go through the roof
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
9/13/2010
9/20/2010
9/27/2010
10/4/2010
10/11/2010
10/18/2010
10/25/2010
11/1/2010
11/8/2010
11/15/2010
11/22/2010
11/29/2010
12/6/2010
12/13/2010
12/20/2010
12/27/2010
1/3/2011
1/10/2011
1/17/2011
1/24/2011
1/31/2011
2/7/2011
AMZBBB
TV Campaign ($1.7M)
Ad Circular
Black Friday/ Cyber Monday
Short on inventory
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Sold out
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• Building a successful company is a people’s challenge more than a technology challenge: employees, investors, customers, partners, retailers, etc.
• Enabling tech is < 5% of the solu5on • Grounding research in real-‐world seings can lead to extremely interes5ng and challenging academic problems
• Hardware manufacturing adds complexity by orders of magnitude: manufacturing, logis5cs, inventory, financing, retail channels, reverse logis5cs etc.
• Focus on clear direc5on and relentless pursuit is key • If you thought you are working hard, think again
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Lessons learned
But it’s a heck of fun ride, especially when you succeed!
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Robots That Make A Difference
Thank You Dr. Paolo Pirjanian
Chief Technology Officer
