Why does VC see a lot of hardware startups and throw less?

Last night (March 27), Zhou announced on Weibo that 360 has released a new hardware product, "Chi-key". The product can be inserted into the headphone hole, matching the app, you can achieve a key camera, recording and other shortcut key functions. It is understood that the "360-chi" is the last year two just entered 360 of the students, in the induction training period design completed.

As far as financial support is concerned, the two college students are happy compared with many entrepreneurs in the market who still have no way to change their products. Imagine if they go out alone to do a team, whether there is VC will quickly optimistic about this product, as well as two of the production, market, sales ability, is decidedly millions of Yuan Angel investment or a round? It's hard to say.

It has recently been said that wearable devices are experiencing a "fever", but the notion of a "fever" is right to be discussed: On the one hand, there are still a large number of hardware entrepreneurs jumping into wearable devices; On the other hand, investors are not cautious, they are always cautious-and many teams don't Or because it is too small to be negotiated. One is more and more hardware entrepreneurs surfaced, one is holding the money of the investment organization to see more hands less, the problem is where?

Tiger Sniff recently contacted several hardware pioneering team: Among them have thrown stable work with 3F (accessibility, friend, fool) of hard-earned money into the entrepreneurial, but also have light and momentum and impulse of the team. To some extent, they are similar: the use of mature technology, products to the needs of some people, emphasizing the use of "algorithm" to establish a threshold, and strive to improve the user experience; they all found the right generation factory and made a batch of demos to negotiate with investors, but on the whole, it was not easy to get paid.

Team: "Student identity" is a double-edged sword

And Giraffe Technology CEO to Renkai meet is at Beida Park Star Café. The Ren Yu voice is not big, the speed is slightly quick, the face appears somewhat immature. Also in the Beijing University of Xiang is a junior in the 92, "giraffe Technology" this small company of 9 people have assembled technology, UI engineers, operations, finance, and members are all students. Their first product is a soft and hard wearable device, "giraffe friend," which can be used to remind users when they are not seated correctly. "People have a lot of needs, there are a lot of hardware start-ups," he said, "to get out of the same world of wearable hardware." ”

Because the backbone of the company are students, they do not need a fixed office, and do not have to wait for a monthly salary simmer. Two founders of the University of Science and technology, not only can use the knowledge to improve the Giraffe friend algorithm, even in the lab when the time to test hardware feasibility. Software development, circuit board design, design, and operations are all done by their small team and are very inexpensive.

From last November to put forward ideas, to December to find manufacturers to develop hardware, January functional circuit development into the design, February, the success of the engineering machine, app development completed to the beginning of March, the current melt to 70,005, than the estimated 10,000 more than 7 times times more, The minimum of 89 yuan is supported by 519 supporters, and his spending is just nearly 100,000 of the money that parents have funded.

But seeing that the product will be officially on sale in May, Ren Yu but in the face of incoming problems, in addition to a person to cope with incoming suppliers, investors, distributors of the telephone, the most important thing is to quickly melt the angel round the money, fortunately, before the official listing to improve the giraffe friends of the process, such as the plastic shell replaced by metal shell.

It will take at least 100,000 dollars to improve the process. But even if more than 10 investment agencies have expressed interest and intent, it is not easy to choose between them. The reason, Ren Yu that investment institutions are willing to invest less in the one hand, and on the other hand, many VCs are not very optimistic about the student team, "the need to committee discussion through the more difficult, before an investor said to vote us, but finally because we are students, some of them do not agree to have to drop." It may be better to find individual investors, and for a variety of reasons, Ren Yu seems slightly passive in choosing investors.

Tiger Sniff contacted the founding partner of the Tan capital. As the original Royal Network chairman, he United Giants Network co-founder Yuai, investor Yang Shoubin and Wu Zhiyong created by the rich capital also in the field of intelligent hardware entrepreneurship has a lot of investment. Tan that investors are not excluding college students who are reading or even just graduating, "age is not an absolute requirement." Even in the electronics industry, some students are already leading the industry on the level of talent and diligence, and these are not time-worn. "The identity of identity, Tan is also implicitly said that does not encourage every college students to start a business," (college students) to do not venture to entrepreneurship, we see in the hardware field is more age, before in the relevant fields do very familiar, and new ideas, technology, resources, team accumulation, has been conceived for nine months, It's more reliable than starting a business. ”

The team thought more, the two-way selection is actually more difficult

However, even with the new ideas, technology, resources, team accumulation and other factors, hardware entrepreneurs want to find investment is not easy, because these entrepreneurs based on their own social experience and life pressure, in the selection of VC will consider more factors.

The old bear who started in Shenzhen is a typical entrepreneur, has worked in a domestic TV manufacturer, left accumulated technology and a lot of contacts; and Shenzhen's foundry is very familiar with the words of Old bear: "In Shenzhen's foundry, the first layer is Apple's foundry, the second floor is Huawei's big manufacturers of the generation of factories, The third tier is a smaller generation factory, and it's good to find a third tier of cooperation. The minimum quality, the process of protection, and the plant is more familiar, in the product changes are also better to discuss. "Their product utalife after two generations of improvement, took six months, and finally available."

Utalife is a children's positioning information sharing hardware products, simple operation, long endurance, and has its own algorithm. From the development to the present step, the old bear has smashed into more than 1 million. For the old Bear, the follow-up money is very necessary and urgent-in addition to marketing and some of the core technology accumulation, the establishment of the industry threshold, so that everyone has to eat food is also this team faces a big problem.

A team of 10 people, full time only accounted for 1/3. But even so, the flow of staff, equity distribution still makes old bear headache: "Sometimes because the money is easy to go, we all have the burden of life." "And once you get into the sales chain, from the promotion to the sale, still need a lot of manpower and financial resources."

The goal of the old bear is first to melt Round 5 million of the Angel Wheel, the company's normal operation to say: "Investors on the hardware investment attitude is hesitant, application/software He looked at you for a year, the hardware will see six months." "In fact, for most hardware startups, getting a round of 2 million dollars is a very high number," he said. However, due to the first batch of the old Bear 1000 products have been made out, and with a power platform reached a preliminary cooperation intention, although the product did not accept the market test, the old bear on the financing still appear full of confidence.

Not only that, but the old bear also has its own calculations for investors: "We are also choosing investment institutions, we are more inclined to have the whole chain of hardware and software, can continue to invest in the organization, even can bring the brand benefits of the VC." Unlike Jen-kai, the old bear's choice, individual investment and the weight of the platform is not too high, "the choice of personal investment, unless it is particularly well-known angel investors can bring the brand effect, and the public raised too little money, like the public platform of the people are not our target customers." ”

With the popularity of mobile internet, related operating systems, software, chips, wireless networks, wearable hardware and the matching model of smartphones, and even a successful market case of hand ring, many investors have sniffed the general trend of smart hardware/wearable equipment. There are a number of such as IDG, Jingwei Venture, Gobi Capital and other early investment institutions have begun to pay attention to this area.

In this regard, the rich tan that the smart hardware/wearable equipment industry in the early stages, there are opportunities, but the wind is looking for a breakthrough, market acceptance of things, rather than intelligent hardware, rather than the Internet hardware-is the existing technology, access to the Internet business model. Of course, some projects themselves are not obvious innovation, but the ability to integrate more resources, there are opportunities. In his view, smart hardware has a lot of open space for innovation, because the user experience is new. So from the angle of the VCS, resources, vision, and connections are more important than money--using their own resources to ensure that the enterprise overcomes the initial difficulties, provides resources, helps to bring the products to market, and it is more important to get a bigger investment.

Tan said he admired the smart hardware to take the tool-community-electric quotient model. "Tool attributes are important to help users gather more users in the community, to precipitate users through the community at low cost, and then convert users with value-added services." This model is generally not a particularly quick money, but initially will consider the internet's ductility, not only to complete the basic functions. There's a lot more to be done, and that's where the added value can be created. ”

Hardware has to do with the Internet portal-the entrepreneur or "hug the thigh"?

Although Ren Yu and old bears have not yet been able to work with investors for different reasons. But from the VC point of view, so that they only want to see, do not dare to vote in fact can be summed up in the following:

Entrepreneurial team's product channels and brand weak, difficult to attract traffic;

Products to meet the user's wants rather than needs;

The data collected is difficult to translate into valuable information to the user;

Software and hardware project cycle long, high cost reasons.

For entrepreneurs, want to eliminate VC concerns, product cycle long, the problem may be solved by itself, but the data collected translates into the value of the user's information and attract traffic, which requires a relationship between the hardware product and the Internet portal-that is to think: In the internet giant, who should hold the thigh.

Get the money is just the first step on the right track, the formation of the product can be Internet, set up a community, according to the Internet requirements to improve the interface to achieve value-added services, create more value of the ability to determine whether a product is an important standard of maturity. A smart hardware from the prototype to be commercialized, and then through the internet marketing big or large distance, a micro-letter successful marketing smart watch and the embarrassing coping is a classic example. It is no wonder that the old bear directly to eliminate the direct integration of a round or pre-a ideas, intended to sell large quantities of products, with a brand of influence and then melt a round.

In order to find their own soft and hardware access to the Internet, the old bear prepared four sets of different programs. Eventually he chose a platform for the electric business, which he defined as "trial". "There are two trends that affect my choice," says Old Bear. "One, brand marketing and the integration of large data services trend; second, the trend of product transaction and mobile payment. If you are only selling hardware products, or just software-led smart accessories, there will be more choices. "For entrepreneurs, Baidu + Beijing-East" innovative hardware open platform, Xun + QQ space advertising and coverage capabilities, Ali's electric business platform and cloud host, or even millet hardware sales channels are worth a hug thigh.

We've heard a big name from a different hardware entrepreneur. If you say that the entrepreneur's brand, weak channels, the collection of data can not be translated into valuable information for the user is the important reason for the hesitation of the VC, then in helping entrepreneurs to solve these problems, the industry does already have industry giants in front-and in the process of wooing these hardware start-ups, The Giants themselves can also effortlessly collect all the necessary user information. When people think that the collection and analysis of human body data will become the next major battleground between Apple and Google, the domestic giants are also starting to choke off the smart hardware terminal.

For the old bears, the word "hug the thigh" is too simple and superficial, but the old bear says: "The industry is the ecology, and no company can break away from the industry or the ecosystem." Subversive industry, it is only to a certain volume to say. In the beginning, it is the homeopathy, the use of ecological nutrients growth. ”

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)