HorseBit Technologies
This was my first foray into entrepreneurship. I co-founded the company and our goal was to develop a wearable biosensor that's primary purpose was detecting colic in horses. This journey taught me a lot about the industry and what it takes to bring a product to market.
Quick Specs
- Industry: Equine
- Product Type: Wearable
- Sensors: Body Temperature, Heart Rate, IMU
Project Details
This start-up took shape in June 2018 and my role was CTO. I was responsible for developing a plan to engineer and bring our device to market. I
had the opportunity to speak with a variety of experts and potential customers who helped me clearly define the requirements and assess
the feasibility.
I sponsored and managed a team of 6 electrical engineering seniors who completed a MVP as part of their capstone project. I worked
with them over 8 months to develop a device that could gather temperature, heart rate, and movement data. The MVP transmitted over
3G and stored the data in a cloud database for later analysis. They also developed a simple website a customer could use to view the
data being obtained from their horses.
After the students finished their project, I then connected with several engineering firms who specialized in the development of novel
devices. I worked with these companies to set product requirements and create development timelines. Upon the completion of this process,
it was clear significant funds would need to be raised and I had doubts about the quality of the final project the engineering firms would
be able to deliver. If I was in a similar situation again, I would seek to hire an experienced team of engineers who could join the start-up
team and would be able to iteratively develop and improve the product.
While working with the engineering firms, we were also carrying out a patent search with lawyers to better understand the IP landscape of this
space. Unfortunately the patent search returned a report that depicted a densely patented industry. The patent search lawyers advised us of several
key patents our HorseBit would likely infringe upon if we began to sell the product how it was currently envisioned.
Due to my concerns with the level of funding that would have been required to get the device where it needed to be successful and the risks
associated with IP infringement, I stepped away in April 2019.
This journey was a major learning experience and I was fortunate to have met and worked with many inspiring people.
Capstone Team Design Road Map
Below is the design report for an MVP designed by the capstone engineering team: