Tag Archives: Silicon Valley

Sesame – smart lock that changes the world

Palo Alto, CA, March 27, 2015 – Sesame, the world’s first instant smart lock, raised more than seven times of its funding goal on Kickstarter. Launched on Kickstarter on Feb. 25, 2015, Sesame has raised more than $760,000 from backers all over the world.

The smart lock, which allows users to control their door with a smartphone app, attracted thousands.

Connected to users’ phone via Bluetooth, Sesame allows users full control of the lock, even to the exact angle a lock turns. With the optional Wi-Fi Access Point that connects Sesame to the Internet, users don’t even have to be physically near Sesame. The remote control feature allows people to send access to their friends and keep track of whether the door’s locked wherever they are.

With five-patented design, Sesame works with just about any deadbolt in the world. Users can install it in seconds, without replacing existing lock or removing anything. Current model is optimized for US/Canada/Singapore/Norway/Sweden Markets.

With market of Internet of Things (IoT) expanding rapidly, backers are turning more and more attention to smart gadgets that make their life easier. Founded by two students from Stanford University, CANDY HOUSE Inc. designs and manufactures products that inspire a minimal yet joyful lifestyle.

“People will carry less and less things when leave the house, that’s the trend,” said Jerming Gu, founder of Candy House.

Wallet, keys, and cell phone. People used to bring three things when they leave home. Now walltet is gradually replaced by keys. The Starbucks app pays your green tea frappuccino, you Venmo money to a friend for getting late-night pizza, you hop on a Uber without worrying about cab fare or tip.

“With Sesame, the next thing to disappear are the keys,” said Gu.

Contact-Details: CANDY HOUSE Inc.
media@candyhouse.co

Via EPR Network

Bootstrapping: Weapon of Mass Reconstruction

“Sramana Mitra’s Bootstrapping: Weapon of Mass Reconstruction is a book for our time because it’s something real out of Silicon Valley. No more stories about legendary VC fundings of startup-to-IPO in six months. …This book has some fascinating histories of the different paths people take to entrepreneurship, and the difficulties they face. I would only have wished each of the interviews to be longer and deeper, because every story is worth telling.” – Fast Company

In a world battered by economic crisis, Sramana Mitra believes entrepreneurship is the only sustainable path forward to a healthy economic world order. And core to the success of entrepreneurial ventures today is the invigorating art of bootstrapping. Sramana Mitra–a serial entrepreneur, strategy consultant and Forbes columnist–takes aim at this essential route along the roadmap to startup success with Bootstrapping: Weapon of Mass Reconstruction (Entrepreneur Journeys Vol. 2; BookSurge; June 1, 2009; $16.95 paperback).

Along with the incisive analysis and commentary that have popularized popularized her blog “Sramana Mitra on Strategy” and Forbes columns, Mitra showcases a dozen successful entrepreneurs and their lessons from the bootstrapping trenches. Overflowing with lively entrepreneurial tangents, theories and behind-closed-doors-experience, the book rises to the level of economic policy discussion while simultaneously offering practical advice from experienced bootstrappers. Important issues like doing more with less, getting started with little or no capital, and validating the market on the cheap are discussed with the likes of Om Malik of GigaOm and Greg Gianforte of RightNow.

In her characteristic narrative style, Mitra shepherds established and aspiring entrepreneurs through another inspiring and page-turning expedition into venture land, a territory she hopes will be claimed by many more in the years to come.

“From my perspective it is clear that small business must be a top policy priority,” explains Mitra. “Let us hope that in the coming decade the number of small businesses will double, then triple and quadruple. For here is the most powerful engine of economic growth and sustenance. Here is our way back.”

More Praise for Bootstrapping:

“Mitra clearly has a passion for small businesses. This useful volume is largely comprised of interviews with the founders of such companies. Her skilled questioning prompts a discussion of the many issues involved in starting and growing a business. The entrepreneurs share wisdom and insight useful to any budding or existing business owner. The reader will be struck by the vision, inventiveness and sheer determination of these entrepreneurial heroes, who operate businesses that are successful but far below the radar. A highly relevant and timely work on entrepreneurship’s role in economic reconstruction.” – Kirkus Discoveries

“Sramana’s work on bootstrapped entrepreneurs is an inspiration in these tough economic times. The solutions to our economic problems ultimately lie with the entrepreneur who brings imagination, resourcefulness and good old-fashioned elbow grease to tackle old problems in new ways, create new solutions and new industries. It is all too easy to forget this, particularly when we feed on the depressing daily diet of endless bailouts and hear trillions of dollars being thrown around. A great entrepreneur can do a lot with ten thousand dollars. This book is a good antidote to the depressing mood of these times.” – Sridhar Vembu, CEO of AdventNet and Zoho, Bootstrapped to over $50 million in annual revenue

“In the end, a true entrepreneur will not be denied. What Sramana captures with simple grace are the riveting personal stories of modern day business alchemists, who mix vision, pragmatism and relentless effort to forge creative new and successful ventures. Her collection of interviews will make for an engaging, educational read, for those in the entrepreneurial space, those considering joining the game and those just plain curious about the formative innovators whose efforts provide outsize social returns of the most concrete and enduring nature.” - Don Hutchison, Silicon Valley Angel Investor

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sramana Mitra is a technology entrepreneur and strategy consultant in Silicon Valley. She has founded three companies, is a columnist for Forbes, and writes a business blog, Sramana Mitra on Strategy (www.sramanamitra.com). She has a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT.

Via EPR Network