Hardware Accelerator: Week 8
Curious what happens during the Rev summer Hardware Accelerator? Here’s a quick recap of Week 8. Be sure to join us on August 10th for Hardware Demo Day, where the teams will get to show off their prototypes. Above, Melissa Shaffmaster of Team MeWow! and Tech Instructor Rose Agger review prototype sketches.
During Week 8, the Hardware teams were hard at working creating and testing prototypes. As Demo Day gets nearer, the teams are also thinking about how to present their prototypes and business plans to the audience.
Ken Rother, Director of the Hardware Accelerator, gave the teams a boost by showing them an example pitch deck. He walked them through the basics of a pitch, urging them to explain the value to customers, rather than explaining the intricacies of the technology.
Ken Rother gives an animated workshop on pitch preparation
Echoing Rother’s sentiments was David Moronti, CTO of Hardware alums Maidbot. Moronti Skyped in from Austin, TX to talk with the teams about how Maidbot uses data to drive decision-making.
“[Always be asking] what does the customer want?” he urged them. “Not what do I think would be cool?”
Hospitality startup Maidbot Skypes in with the teams
Later in the week, the Hardware Teams sat down with some of Rev’s Member Companies for a workshop on social media, led by Communications Lead Bonnie Sanborn. The companies learned about audience demographics on social media platforms, setting up accounts, and tools for automating social media posts.
The week ended on an extra-special note, when the Tech Instructors “Hello There” boxes project made the front page of Instructables! This project is based on a design from Assistant Director Xanthe Matychak, and it was a Sprint 1 project for Hardware Teams.
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