Loomia Engr245 2021 Lessons Learned
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The document outlines a startup's journey in developing e-textile technology for the automotive industry through extensive interviews and market research. Over ten weeks, the team identified key customer needs, developed a valuable proposition targeting tier 1 suppliers, and progressed towards obtaining proof of concept contracts with notable companies. They emphasize the importance of integration, lightweight components for electric vehicles, and building relationships within the fragmented automotive sector to achieve market traction.
Loomia Engr245 2021 Lessons Learned
- 1. 110 Total Interviews Technology looking for a problem Easy-to-integrate components for automotive suppliers Madison Maxey Nabil Mansouri Sophia Rose Williams David Franks Alessia Morales Stanford B.S Materials Science & Stanford GSB MSx Stanford P.h.D Student Electrical Engineering Stanford GSB Stanford GSB
- 2. + Forming a Team to Find a Market HAD: ● 5 fully granted patents ● Experience working with customers ● A scalable, and functional technology ● Manufacturing partner WANTED: ● Product market fit
- 3. Week 1: Boil the Ocean 14 Interviews Across 5 Industries
- 4. “We believe that e-textiles are the future.” -Director of Strategy and Digitalization Signal from the Noise WEEK 1
- 5. Week 1: Boil the Ocean
- 7. Conducted 16 more interviews with engineers, designers, biz development at a variety of automotive companies Developed a clearer understanding of the landscape and needs across various players Week 2: Deep Diving into Auto
- 8. Auto is a Fragmented Business “The auto industry is fragmented, you need to choose a sub-part of the industry to get traction.” CTO Renovo WEEK 2
- 9. Trying to Find our Place Week 1 Week 2 Low High Confused
- 10. Week 3: Where Do We Focus? Tier 2 Suppliers Tier 1 Suppliers Car Brands (OEMs)
- 11. “Talk to trim engineers about merging seat heating and auto trim together. Eliminating a step would represent real cost savings. ” - Automotive Seating Engineering Leader WEEK 3 Integrating Existing Parts
- 12. “Conversations globally on the future are all EV-related with a focus on the lightweight component. How do you reduce weight in every part of the car, whether interior cabin or vehicle architecture?” - President, Sage Automotive WEEK 3 Electric Vehicles Need Lightweight Parts
- 13. Learning #1: Lightweighting and integrating for electric vehicles Lightbulb moments! WEEK 3 Learning #2: Our customer is the Tier 1 Supplier
- 14. We Think We Have a Customer and a Value Prop! Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Low High Confused Excited!
- 15. Week 4: Value Proposition Testing with Tier 1 Suppliers Steering Wheels & Seat Heating Lighting & HMI Headliner Lighting & Cabling Lighter, Easy to Integrate, and Battery Efficient Components
- 16. New MVP: Technical Deck ● Scalable ● Robust ● Low Resistance ● Can perform many functions ● Up to 30 Layers (unlike traditional e-textiles) WEEK 4
- 17. MVP Progress WEEK 4 From a Technology to an Application- Specific Deck
- 18. “This is Utopia!” - Technical Director, Eissman WEEK 4 Grabbing it Out of Our Hands
- 19. We Have a Customer and Validation! Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Low High Confused Excited!
- 20. Week 5: Turning “we love you” into an order… We needed to map the sales cycle
- 21. OEM Led Tier 1 Led R&D makes a POC or gives a RFI/ RFQ *must be connected to HQ to move forward* Brings POC to Business Unit Business Unit requests additional development and testing Solution Validated Solution Presented to OEMs OEM Tells Tier 1 to work with specific startup *but the OEM will also countersource pother solutions* R&D makes a POC *must be connected to HQ to move forward* Solution Presented to OEMs Business Unit requests additional development and testing Loomia sales team Does Direct outreach to high-up R&D at OEMS and Tier 1s Initial Meeting to present solution Send a sample or do a demonstration in person Receive RFP from Innovation budgets ( $100k) Send Project Proposal Technical meeting with Sales Engineering Projects can start with an OEM or a Tier 1 “Pull Method” “Push Method” Design Win Get Paid (Must negotiate good terms to avoid delayed payment) Design Win Get Paid (Must negotiate good terms to avoid delayed payment)
- 22. OEM Led Tier 1 Led R&D makes a POC or gives a RFI/ RFQ *must be connected to HQ to move forward* Brings POC to Business Unit Business Unit requests additional development and testing Solution Validated Solution Presented to OEMs OEM Tells Tier 1 to work with specific startup *but the OEM will also countersource pother solutions* R&D makes a POC *must be connected to HQ to move forward* Solution Presented to OEMs Business Unit requests additional development and testing Loomia sales team Does Direct outreach to high-up R&D at OEMS and Tier 1s Initial Meeting to present solution Send a sample or do a demonstration in person Receive RFP from Innovation budgets ( $100k) Send Project Proposal Technical meeting with Sales Engineering Projects can start with an OEM or a Tier 1 “Pull Method” “Push Method” Design Win Get Paid (Must negotiate good terms to avoid delayed payment) Design Win Get Paid (Must negotiate good terms to avoid delayed payment) The Sales Process is Not Easy ● Could be led by the OEM or by the Tier 1 ● But both have to have buy-in from each other ● Can take years to get in a car, and many points along funnel when we could drop
- 23. “Speak with investors and CEOs. Is this a business that you want to be in?” - Paraphrased from Steve B and Steve W WEEK 5 Is this a venture-fundable business?
- 24. Reality Sets In... Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Low High Confused Excited! Skeptical
- 25. Week 6: We Need Patient Capital Startups Investors Strategics and projects are the best way to fund this business
- 26. “Once you make it on a vehicle, there’s big money, fast.” - CEO Cellink (paraphrased) WEEK 6 A Light at The End of the Tunnel
- 27. Confusion About Funding Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Low High Confused Excited! Skeptical
- 28. Isn’t integrating many functions into one the real value? WEEK 7 Refining our Value Proposition
- 29. Week 7, 8 & 9 : Testing our Customer-Centric Value Prop! Easy Integration into Trim Turn multiple parts into one part, and deliver the entire unit with Trim attached COGs reduction supply chain optimization Increased market share through superior performance Increased market share through superior aesthetics For Tier 1s For Tier 1s & OEMs For Tier 1s & OEMs
- 30. “Can you hop on a call today? I want to learn more about the technology.” -VP Profitability, Adient WEEKS 7, 8 & 9 Sensing Urgency
- 31. Can you Come to Detroit?!!! “Can you come to Detroit? We want to show you the plant so we can plan a POC” -VP of Profitability ----------
- 32. Surface Heating Opportunity “This is Utopia” - Head of Engineering, Eissman Group ----------
- 33. CEO Introductions “Keep things going with the engineering team, but we also want you to have a call with the CEO - he’ll love this” - Head of Innovation, Sigma Intl ----------
- 34. Week 9: Loomia Automotive Sales Funnel Progress • Cold calling companies • Interested piqued! Let’s keep talking Proof of Concept Contracts Mahindra Toyota Boshoku Airbus Ventures Airbus R&D Nuro Volvo Ventures Grupo Antolin Tesla Interiors Magna R&D Magna CTO Faurecia Jaguar CVG Sage Joby Eissman Sigma Int’l Marelli Adient • Let’s make this happen. POC discussions and negotiations BMW • Interested in our product. Let’s make it physical! First Call 2nd Call Exchanging samples NDA’s Signed
- 35. Excited! Motivated! Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Low High Confused Excited! Skeptical Motivated!
- 36. Automotive Tier 1s Business Model Canvas Tier 1 Director of Advanced Engineering VP if Innovation ● Application research and discovery ● Continuous technical improvement ● Funding for free customization ● Testing for auto grade ● Cost engineering Problem: Tier 1s need to make every part of EV energy-efficient and lightweight Needs: Strategic advantage for the company from technology ● Anchor customer to validate the tech ● Manufacturing Partner - Eastprint ● Material Suppliers ● Sales reps/ channel partners for B2B Sales ● Testing & certification partners ● COGS for unit sales and for R&D work ● Team overhead for R&D work ● Testing and certification costs ● Sales Rep / distributor costs ● Shipping costs for overseas customers ● Non-Recurring engineering fees ● Royalty on units produced ● License fees for patents ● Outbound targeted sales ● Tradeshows/CES/ conferences ● External Automotive Design Studios ● Manufacturing capabilities ● Patents ● Prototyping Capabilities ● Data and tech sheets on the product ● Sales Team ● Free Sampling 1 3 4 2 ● Collaborative and responsive for product development 5 6 7 8 9
- 37. Automotive Tier 1s Business Model Canvas Tier 1 Director of Advanced Engineering VP if Innovation ● Application research and discovery ● Continuous technical improvement ● Funding for free customization ● Testing for auto grade ● Cost engineering Problem: Tier 1s need to make every part of EV energy-efficient and lightweight Needs: Strategic advantage for the company from technology ● Anchor customer to validate the tech ● Manufacturing Partner - Eastprint ● Material Suppliers ● Sales reps/ channel partners for B2B Sales ● Testing & certification partners ● COGS for unit sales and for R&D work ● Team overhead for R&D work ● Testing and certification costs ● Sales Rep / distributor costs ● Shipping costs for overseas customers ● Non-Recurring engineering fees ● Royalty on units produced ● License fees for patents ● Outbound targeted sales ● Tradeshows/CES/ conferences ● External Automotive Design Studios ● Manufacturing capabilities ● Patents ● Prototyping Capabilities ● Data and tech sheets on the product ● Sales Team ● Free Sampling 1 3 4 2 ● Collaborative and responsive for product development 5 6 7 8 9 ● Clarified our value prop ● Understood our Target Customer ● Understood the key activities for a sale
- 38. From a Technology to a Business in 10 Weeks We Learned: ● That interviews are an incredible way to learn ● How it feels to have customers grab a product from our hands ● The difference between a value proposition and technical specs
- 39. We Can’t Stop Here! Visiting NDA’d leads in Michigan Apply for NSF SBIR grant to fund automotive testing Sign on automotive proof of concepts to further validate our hypothesis Contact Us: Maddy@loomia.com
- 40. THANK YOU!