TechCrunch Live hosted a particular, in-person occasion at CES that includes a protracted dialog with Ecobee CEO and founder Stuart Lombard. This was our first in-person TechCrunch Live, and I can’t wait to do extra. We talked about so much — how a startup can maximize CES, construct pleasant merchandise, and the way {hardware} startups can elevating cash.

Nest loomed massive over part of this interview. While Lombard and Ecobee declare to have produced the primary web-connected thermostat, Nest, launched 4 years after Ecobee, outlined the usual. After Nest burst from stealth in 2011, it pressured Ecobee to retool its good thermostat. As Lombard admits, Nest modified the trajectory of Ecobee. “[The Nest thermostat] taught us the difference between wanting to be good and actually being good,” he mentioned, including later, “It really forced us to retool and think about what it means to be great.”

And the early Ecobee merchandise weren’t nice. “We made a lot of compromises along the way,” Lombard mentioned, exhibiting off Ecobee’s first product to the TechCrunch Live cameras. The variations between the primary Ecobee and the primary Nest are placing: Where the Nest is constructed out of modern steel and glossy glass, the Ecobee is all plastic. Sure, it labored nicely nevertheless it lacked the identical attraction as the primary Nest. He says, briefly, as a startup, prospects want to like your organization and merchandise.

I hear this sentiment so much on TechCrunch Live. Great merchandise enjoyment of stunning methods. Where the Ecobee supplied related performance, Lombard admits it wasn’t till the Nest hit the market that Ecobee developed a world-class person expertise and design.

I hope you may take the time and watch the present. It’s embedded under, and it’s a must-hear for {hardware} startups. Trust me, this is likely one of the greatest TechCrunch Live occasions.

Watch your complete present proper right here.

Show Outline

On CES:

• What’s it like for a {hardware} startup to be at CES?
• What ought to a {hardware} startup purpose to perform CES?

Founding Ecobee: Developing a market phase and competing in opposition to Nest:

• How can a family aim flip into an organization?
• How does Stuart really feel Nest modified Ecobee, and the way can founders greatest make the most of competitors, particularly in advertising and marketing?
• What does it really feel like when your organization lastly finds product market match?

How Ecobee continues to be successful:

• Why is it exhausting for {hardware} firms to boost capital?
• Why Ecobee took a major funding from Amazon, and what recommendation does Stuart have for founders speaking to Amazon?
• How does Ecobee sustain with altering shopper expectations?

Fundraising for {hardware}

• Why Stuart advises startups to take a look at their buyer checklist for funding alternatives.
• Why an organization ought to purpose for longevity in fundraising
• Why the best time to pitch a VC is earlier than you’ve got something to promote.
• Why Ecobee tried to go public by a SPAC in 2020.