I've been continually impressed with Pebble since their very first Kickstarter. They've done a lot on a few levels:
- For smartwatches (and possibly even wearables) they produced and shipped what I'd consider to be the first mainstream phone-connected wearable. I'm sure it was on the big players' radar but Pebble produced a decent product relatively on time and I'm sure people learned quite a bit from them. At the least they showed their was a market.
- For crowdfunding: Pebble got a MASSIVE stack of money. Way beyond what anyone expected. They managed the sudden increase in scale well, and I think showed that startups could be funded to the tune of $millions rather than $tens-of-thousands.
- For hardware startups: Pebble showed that an independent startup can compete (and continue to compete) with giants who have a vast existing customer base. And that funding is available for that endeavour. I also think they set the standard for communicating with customers. I still remember their updates from factories in China. I think they blazed something of a trail for companies that followed (Amp, Navdy, Ouya, off the top of my head).
Smartwatches aren't for me - I've lost every watch I've ever owned - but I'm in awe of this team.
I would add that Pebble gave away a ton of free Pebbles to universities[1]. This boosted their app production, and made them super popular. Everyone on my campus was like, "awesome, you got a pebble!" it made something to be desired, and makes you stand out as a CS or ECE major.
I know I am purchasing a Pebble because I was so impressed by the free one they gave me.
Comments
I've been continually impressed with Pebble since their very first Kickstarter. They've done a lot on a few levels:
- For smartwatches (and possibly even wearables) they produced and shipped what I'd consider to be the first mainstream phone-connected wearable. I'm sure it was on the big players' radar but Pebble produced a decent product relatively on time and I'm sure people learned quite a bit from them. At the least they showed their was a market.
- For crowdfunding: Pebble got a MASSIVE stack of money. Way beyond what anyone expected. They managed the sudden increase in scale well, and I think showed that startups could be funded to the tune of $millions rather than $tens-of-thousands.
- For hardware startups: Pebble showed that an independent startup can compete (and continue to compete) with giants who have a vast existing customer base. And that funding is available for that endeavour. I also think they set the standard for communicating with customers. I still remember their updates from factories in China. I think they blazed something of a trail for companies that followed (Amp, Navdy, Ouya, off the top of my head).
Smartwatches aren't for me - I've lost every watch I've ever owned - but I'm in awe of this team.
I would add that Pebble gave away a ton of free Pebbles to universities[1]. This boosted their app production, and made them super popular. Everyone on my campus was like, "awesome, you got a pebble!" it made something to be desired, and makes you stand out as a CS or ECE major.
I know I am purchasing a Pebble because I was so impressed by the free one they gave me.
[1] https://blog.getpebble.com/2013/12/16/pebbling-schools-in-th...
I've lost every watch I've ever owned
I've lost every watch I've ever owned, except for the irreplaceable vintage Rolex my Dad gave me. I keep that in a case in a drawer!
Their branding is great. Now whenever i see "time", it reminds me of the watch...