Episode 17: Hacked Jeeps and hardware’s broken funding model

This week we discuss what happens when you’re driving along in your automobile, and suddenly you’re not in control of the wheel, as happened to a Wired reporter. While, he was lucky, Kevin and I discuss the very real threat this can pose and what the industry and lawmakers propose we do about it. A great resource for the topic is I Am the Cavalry, which we have featured on Episode 2 of this podcast discussing the safety challenges of connected vehicles. After discussing the serious topic of connected cars, we move onto the worrisome future facing the Wink come hub as described by Quirky CEO Ben Kaufman at last week’s Brainstorm Tech event in Aspen.

sproutling-product-family

Kevin also spent a bit more than 5 minutes describing his new connected home setup which consists of Sylvania Osram lights, the Wink hub and an Amazon Echo, but we’re calling the Osram Lightify lights our 5-minute review anyhow. Our guest this week is Sproutling CEO Chris Bruce explaining how the crowdfunded hardware startup model is dead.

Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel
Guests: Chris Bruce, CEO of Sproutling

  • Hacking a Jeep on the freeway is good for headlines but bad for drivers
  • Here’s a starting place for talking about securing connected cars
  • More details on Quirky and Wink from CEO Ben Kaufman
  • Why the crowdfunding model is broken for hardware startups
  • Manufacturing lessons for those building hardware in the U.S. or in China