Golden Nuggets wearable equipment: Big data is the real gold behind

Wearable equipment is the smart phone, the sensor hardware reorganization of a new consumer electronics, and large data is behind it hidden "real gold"

Article _ Sinorama reporter Wang Yu editor _ Wu Jinyong Photography _ History soldier

"It's not a liar, is it?" "Investors Dai after watching Zepp Company's first impression is this." The company that makes sensor hardware has only one employee in the United States, CEO Jason Fass, whose secretary and customer service are part of his wife's part-time job.

In front of the lost scene, let Dai feel Zepp company and no "mobile + sensor mode" investment opportunities. And this pattern he has been looking for for more than a year. Dai, vice president of the Union capital, has been puzzled over the past two years about the business prospects of the app product, which has a big problem with a huge user app. So Dai Mimi tried to follow the "grafting to become" thinking down: If the use of mobile end and the internet derived from the grafting ecology, the situation may be different, he vaguely felt that the future "mobile + sensors" will create new investment opportunities.

In the 2012, the concept of wearable equipment was also emerging abroad, and Google (1027.04,-3.54,-0.34%) glasses was just a concept. The most disruptive hardware in the market is still smartphones. and sensor hardware device is after the smartphone let Dai feel the most promising technology innovation in the field, more critical is the sensor hardware devices have more easily realizable way. Through a variety of understanding, through an angel investor, Dai know the Zepp company, the main production of golf auxiliary training wearable equipment golfsense, can help correct the user's swing action, so as to quickly improve the player's technical action, Dai feel that this particular industry products are more easily recognized by the market, So decided to see the company.

Zepp, CEO of Jason, has been an apple of the year (520.03, 2.67, 0.51%) and Jawbone, the product manager of the company for many years. The company is registered in China and the United States, China for production and research and development, with more than 20 people, the United States is the main sales market.

Dai and the project team will visit the first station in the United States, they intend to conduct a comprehensive survey, including the company's marketing strategy, competition analysis and future expansion plans. Just arrived in the United States, June Lian's project team met the previous scene, the company is not only one person, but also has no fixed office. In order to facilitate communication with June, Jason can only temporarily rent an office, with the Royal Union office.

From the view of assets and personnel size, it is difficult to judge the investment value of Zepp company. Investigation work continues, June Lian had to adjust their own direction of judgement. They want to confirm the total number of sales by checking every order and bank bill of the company, and then provide a financial report, including the company's income and profits, and the exact number of assets and liabilities.

For those who invest in long-term enterprises, many of their investment companies are in the early stages of development, there is no such detailed financial statements as listed companies. This requires you to identify the actual performance of the business and whether the company's performance is as promised in the financial statements of the investment firm.

It's impressive that the Dai team made a difference to the company's initial impressions when he checked the order with Jason.

"We had a few disagreements with Jason when we checked our orders, and the actual number of orders was three hundred or four hundred different from the total in the performance report, Jason said only a small number, no need to check, but we do not agree, because it is related to the company's information is consistent." Then we re to the order calculation, we stay up late overtime, the cost of a long time is not finished. Dai The story of the Chinese entrepreneur.

Jason agreed to go back that night to confirm that the next day Jason saw wear Mimi and project team, cheerfully to Dai said, although the process of checking orders cumbersome, but June joint rigor let him feel that there is a high demand for investors can promote the company's development. He went back to think of cleaning up the warehouse, the results found some of the stock returns, and finally put the account right.

"We make early investments, a lot of companies have nothing, the only thing we see is the law and the limited financial figures, the most important thing is the ability and quality of the team, especially the core executives." "Dai said.

In addition to Jason, many people do not know that Zepp, the founder of the American company is a Chinese, a standard technical man, the next.

In 2009, Han Yu in the Microsoft (35.52, 0.12, 0.34%) Asia Research Institute to read straight Bosheng, majoring in mobile systems and wireless sensor networks. His career plan is to enter Microsoft after graduation. At that time, Han Yu that wireless sensors can only provide technical support for Windows Mobile, and it is difficult to convert to a product. But in that year, the IPhone 3Gs entered the Chinese market, which gave Han Yu a new understanding of his major and decided to start a business.

Han Yu initially founded a company that produced game controllers, which, while inspired by the iphone, had not yet found a connection between the phone and the sensor. He thought of it first. The sensor is grafted on the game side, which mainly develops the sensor hardware devices for some large games. At that time, the company was founded in Beijing Aerospace University's science and Technology pioneering park, only a small work station. Han Yu and three students sold a patent, pooled six hundred thousand or seven hundred thousand Yuan, announced the start of entrepreneurship.

But soon, Han Yu found that game sensor devices belonged to consumer electronics, and if they wanted to make money they had to have millions in the market, which would require companies to build partnerships with big gaming companies like Nintendo, Sony (16.75, 0.50, 2.9%), Ensure a large user distribution channel.

But this model is not easy to accept in China, when the Chinese online game users mostly confined to the two or three-line cities and more young people, the purchase of game controllers do not meet this part of the crowd's consumption habits, Han Yu also eat a lot of big game companies slammed the cold. And if the controller to make a lot of games can not guarantee a good user experience, and finally because of the dismal revenue, the company's entrepreneurial elders have left, the first venture experience in less than 2 years ended.

Over the past 2 years, the computing power of mobile internet and mobile phones has changed dramatically.

Unlike many fledgling entrepreneurs, Han Yu is a staunch "hardware control" that, even though he has fallen from here, still insists on the direction of entrepreneurship. The game sensor device did not succeed, and he looked at the phone from the PC side. This time he learned the lesson, the audience market and industrial chain links have conducted a detailed investigation.

The fact is that mobile phone sensor equipment is an important direction of wearable equipment, compared to game sensors, this product is constrained by the upstream and downstream links of the industry chain is much smaller, because the combination of hardware and software, do not rely on software manufacturers. "Choose to do golf products because of the high consumption of golf people, in developed countries is a very mature industry area, this part of the population is not so sensitive to product prices." "Han Yu told the Chinese entrepreneur," the most important thing is that golf is a very high degree of motion requirements of the movement, and this is suitable for familiar with the research and development of sensor chip Han Yu. At that time, Han also considered involved in the popularization of a wider range of sports, such as football, badminton, tennis and so on, but these sports areas of consumer demand is relatively weak. Wearing Mimi is said to be "the ability to become weak."

The Golfsense product is based on the combination of sensor hardware and software via the Internet and mobile handsets to cover hardware, software and online service platform, integrated the Swing action 3D capture, voice analysis, swing action analysis, swing stability statistics, swing action imitation, and professional players and other precise training functions, This device allows golf users to assist in training.

The first prototype of Golfsense was born in October 2010. At the same time, Han Yu and his more than 10-member team have worked tirelessly to qualify for Apple's hardware developers. At that time, Apple hardware developers produced mainly products such as mobile phone shell, audio and other products, wearable equipment products almost no, the emergence of golfsense, immediately aroused the concern of Apple. South Korea was invited to Apple's headquarters in 2011, when the owner of Apple's developer relationship said that the products that could interact with the iphone made apple feel "novelty" and "looking forward" to Han Yu's products to be sold at Apple Stores.

The news made Han Yu overjoyed, and he worked overtime with the team, from the earliest prototypes of Golfsense to the 14-month-old Apple store, and changed 17 versions. In April 2012, Golfsense in all of North America's Apple Stores, selling for 129.9 dollars.

After the release of the product, the problem followed, because the Golfsense user groups mainly concentrated in Europe and the United States and other developed countries, in order to make the product best-selling, the company also lacks a familiar with the U.S. market product manager. To this end, Han Yu to the United States for a long time.

Jason is Han Yu in a surf club. Jason's resume is exactly what Han Yu needs to expand the U.S. market. However, when Han Yu the olive branch to Jason, Jason said amazingly to Han Yu that he would be CEO of the company.

"Jason made this request when we met for the second time, and at first I didn't feel right, and my early angel investors thought it was not right to transfer corporate control." "In the end, Han Yu to keep Jason, he had to adopt a compromise method, in addition to the commitment to Jason shares, Jason as the CEO trial for three months, if the company's shareholders to pass, then Han Yu will be the CEO of the status of Jason."

In this three months, the trial Ceojason with astonishing efficiency let Han Yu be impressed. Han Yu did not expect Jason to get the foundation of the U.S. market on his own. Jason emptied the garage of his home as a golfsense warehouse, and asked the coach's wife to help him work as a secretary and customer service, a personal and marketing, channel distribution and other issues. Three months later, Zepp Angel investors flew to the United States for one weeks to confirm Jason's performance.

"Finally persuaded me is Jason's sincerity, in the development of the market process, his ideas and ideas for the product more fit Zepp." Han Yu explains. Han is a technical origin, sometimes the idea inevitably and the market has a certain deviation, but Jason always use his understanding of the market and experience "brick" to remind Han Yu.

Han Yu and Jason's combination is also Dai Mimi investment Zepp main Factor, "the early investment or the person, Han Yu can bring the core technical barrier for the Zepp, but the CEO Jason has the strong product and the marketing ability, this kind of 1+1 more than 2 's combination may consider this team to bring the very big complementarity." Han Yu as a founder is willing to delegate the CEO to a more appropriate person, such a team with open, transparent to do things, which for early venture capital to reduce a lot of communication costs. ”

June Lian is in Golfsense in the North American market is hot, and Han Yu began to Zepp preparations to expand the new product line came in. At the beginning of 2013, Erhai, managing director of June Lian Capital, entered the company's board of directors.

Like "mission" and "007" and other large tracts of cool High-tech wearable equipment, the future will not only appear in the film, the sensor and wireless communications technology, such as hardware equipment is now the most fashionable investment hot spot.

In the hardware field to find "gold", which makes Erhai also very excited. "The appearance of wearable devices can be seen as a set of ecology created after the birth of smartphones, triggering a reorganization of consumer electronics," he said. In the future, there will be more companies from different industries entering this field. "Erhai to the Chinese entrepreneur," said the past consumer electronics for independent and disconnected state, the future will be mobile phone-centric to regroup, networking, and can penetrate into various fields and industries. ”

In the second half of 2013, the field of wearable equipment ushered in a concentration of investment boom, Baidu (160.06, 0.74, 0.46%), Apple, Samsung, Intel (24.32, 0.14, 0.59%), Microsoft and other companies have entered the field of wearable equipment, which made the investment at the beginning of the year, June Lian, who invested in wearable equipment before the Internet giant entered the field, won a very important time lag.

At present, the main applications of wearable equipment include medical and health monitoring, fitness, military and industrial applications and other fields, the market for wearable equipment to have a part of the calculation function, can be connected to mobile phones and all kinds of terminal portable accessories form existence, mainstream product form including wrist for the support of watches and wrist strap products, feet for the support of shoes, Socks or other legs in the future wear products to the head for the support of glasses, helmets, headband and so on, as well as smart clothing, schoolbags, crutches, accessories and other types of non-mainstream product form.

Data show that 2012 China can wear portable mobile medical equipment Market size of 420 million yuan, is expected to 2015 this market size will be more than 1 billion yuan, to 2017 China portable mobile medical equipment market sales will be close to 5 billion yuan, the market year composite growth of 60%.

Both hardware manufacturers, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon (359, 5.03,-1.38%) and Facebook (49.75, 0.45, 0.91%) and the corresponding developers have the absolute advantage of getting into wearable devices.

"The Internet, big data, social networking, and consumer electronics manufacturers ' sense of industrial design are all essential factors in the future to win the market for wearable equipment." "Erhai Introduction, the current mobile phone as the core of consumer electronics products restructuring trend has just begun, the concept of mobile Internet is only the initial formation." and wearable equipment Company's data is basically still in the collection stage.

In fact, "Big data" is the hidden "real gold" behind wearable equipment.

Almost all wearable equipment manufacturers are looking at the large data information obtained through the cloud service platform, after all, wearable equipment itself belongs to consumer electronics products, such as Apple mobile phone also has its fixed product cycle, and "Big Data" is to support the replacement of wearable equipment manufacturers are not eliminated by the market key.

"Community and data, this is a compulsory course for all companies in the future, Zepp is no exception." "In October this year, Zepp in North America has launched a series of baseball and tennis wearable equipment products, and Golfsense launched a second-generation products, in addition to the original generation of industrial design and sensor computing processing improvements, but also specifically strengthen the original community functions." Han Yu Introduction, Golfsense data collection, mainly to collect user's swing data, when the data collected to a certain amount of volume, you can provide users with more targeted counseling and exercise rhythm, including medical and health factors combined.

At the same time, Golfsense community function can see the player status at any time, in the community can be on the platform with friends to share results, Golfsense also with a number of regional coaches, coaches can be in the community platform for the player assignments, real-time review of the progress of the completion of online guidance. In addition, the community platform will also be targeted for the player to push teaching video.

In Erhai's view, wearable equipment company The difficulty of large data technology lies in how to collect the effective information in the massive data, can carry on the characteristic analysis to the wearer's behavior, thus discovers the few controllable target, establishes the data model, thus through the data analysis carries on the accurate judgment.

"A company that can capture the next 5 to 10 will be successful, but if it catches the chance of the next 20 to 30, it's great companies like Apple and Lenovo." The advantage of the latter is that they can use the industry to capture the opportunity to build their own biosphere, to become a large company, can not be easily eliminated and destroyed. "As investors, they want to be able to capture this opportunity in this round of mobile-focused consumer electronics restructuring," says Dai.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)