Jibo dies! (link)
- Jibo serves shut down alongside Sony’s original Aibo
- Early adopters heartbreak (honestly, quasi-invested here – have followed them on Kickstarter since D1, but didn’t jump the gun because price tag given value prop, fear of early adoption risk, and shipment delays confirming fear)
- Goes to show what happens when incumbents with funding and tech capacity expand into a market
- A lot of discussion re: how Jibo and Alexa were comparable, with Alexa more than 75% cheaper and more functional with Amazon’s expanding capabilities and platforms
- Comparable company, ElliQ is still in the market and healthily growing because it’s attracting a market place for aging baby boomers / figuring out what’s missing from the current technologies that prevent them from using Alexa / Google Home / Siri, etc.
Glossier (D2C) launches new product line offering, complete spin from original branding (link)
- $400mm business, 29 products, $100mm in revenue and 1mm new customers in 2018
- Glossier was one of the first (2014) to create D2C makeup line, although new D2C beauty brands are copying the aesthetic. Shifting with additional product line to compete with incumbents like Estee Lauder, LOreal, etc.
- Trend in D2C perhaps no longer sticking to simple, aesthetically clean, limited offering products to build brand awareness but to “land and expand”?
Robots as a service (link)
- As e-commerce continues as demand for warehouse workers is growing faster than the labor supply = increased need for automation
Nat's Corner 