Why It Pays Not to Rush the Process of Innovation
In the era of Kickstarter, we have become trained to believe being the first and fastest to market is better than patiently developing an idea. It seems the days of five years of toil in a garage are gone. This “early bird gets the worm” mentality has created a wave of hopeful entrepreneurs rushing the creative and engineering process behind their ideas to claim the coveted moniker of “first.”
With this mentality so pervasive, how can a startup create something that is at once new, while also being beautifully thought out and well executed? Anki and Nest both prove that when there is passion and dedication behind a project, taking your time is the smartest path to success.
In a panel moderated by Fast Company’s Austin Carr, Boris Sofman, Co-Founder and CEO of Anki, and Matt Rogers, Founder and VP of Engineering of Nest, will explain how carefully curated ideas have enabled their companies to bring entirely new experiences into the home.
Presenters
Austin Carr
Sr Writer
Fast Company
Austin Carr writes about design and technology for Fast Company magazine.
Boris Sofman
Co-Founder & CEO
Anki
Boris is co-founder and CEO of Anki, an artificial intelligence and robotics company. Anki DRIVE, Anki's first product was named as one of the Top 25 Best Inventions of 2013 by TIME Magazine. As an engineer and researcher with experience in building diverse robotic systems — from consumer products to off-road autonomous vehicles and bomb-disposal robots — Boris is making it his life’s work to create products that people would not expect to be possible. He earned a B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. from the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University.
Matt Rogers
Founder & VP of Engineering
Nest
Matt Rogers is founder and VP of Engineering at Nest Labs, creator of the Nest Learning Thermostat and Nest Protect: Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Alarm. By applying modern design and technology, Nest aims to revitalize these stagnant - yet very important - industries. Matt is responsible for all product development at Nest, ranging from mechanical design to software to web services, and everything in between. Matt also serves on Nest's board of directors.
Prior to Nest, Matt was responsible for iPod software development at Apple, from concept to production. He was one of the first engineers on the original iPhone, and involved in the development of 10 generations of iPod, 5 generations of iPhone, and the first iPad. He earned his BS and MS degrees from Carnegie Mellon University.