This Week in Startups · Video summary
The Gadget That's Better in Crowds Than Your Phone + Ring’s Founder Before Amazon Bought It | E2349
Totem Labs founder Carter Fowler discusses his company's consumer device, the Totem Compass, which helps people stay connected in crowded environments where cell phones struggle.
Watch on YouTube ↗Key takeaways
- 📱The Totem Compass is a consumer device designed to keep friends connected in crowded environments where cell phones typically fail.02:00
- 🌐The device operates on an autonomous mesh network, meaning the more Totems in an area, the better the network performs, unlike cellular networks.07:00
- 🛰️Totem Compasses use GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) for highly precise positioning, achieving meter-level accuracy, significantly better than typical smartphone GPS.09:13
- 💰The company's business model prioritizes user ownership, with a one-time purchase and no recurring subscription fees for core functionality, a philosophy that initially challenged traditional VC funding expectations.17:14
- 🤝Totem Labs raised more capital from crowdfunding (customers) than from venture capitalists, indicating strong product-market fit.19:57
- 📊The anonymous, aggregated data collected by Totem devices is used to build predictive models for crowd flows, offering significant value to event organizers for planning and safety.24:30
Chapters
- 0:00Intro
- 1:53Meet Totem Labs
- 3:37How the Totem Compass Works
- 7:19The Unity Mesh Network
- 15:07GNSS and GPS Drift
- 24:04Business Model and Fundraising
- 38:10The Value of Data
- 45:09Future Use Cases
The digest
In an increasingly crowded world, staying connected with friends and family at large events can be a significant challenge. While our smartphones are indispensable for daily communication, they often falter in high-density environments like music festivals, sports events, or even busy city centers. This is precisely the problem that Totem Labs aims to solve with its innovative consumer device, the Totem Compass.
The Totem Compass: An Offline Lifeline
The Totem Compass is a unique gadget designed to keep groups connected when cellular networks are overwhelmed. Worn as an amulet or pendant, this lightweight device features a 9-axis IMU that automatically activates a compass mode, pointing users in the direction of their pre-selected friends or family members. It's an offline communicator, meaning it doesn't rely on cell service, making it ideal for chaotic environments. Beyond directional guidance, it can also send SOS signals and will soon offer offline texting through a dedicated mobile app. The device's intuitive design displays lights on different corners, each representing a friend, and the size of the light indicates relative distance – growing larger as you get closer and glowing brightly when your entire group is reunited.
Keep reading in The Digest
The full 3-minute article, 4 more sections, and every new episode from This Week in Startups and the creators you follow.
- The Power of the Unity Mesh Network
- Precision Positioning and Offline Communication
- Business Model and Investor Reception
- Future Applications and Data Value
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