Colin Angle's 14 Failed Robot Business Models and the Roomba Success Story
Part of my job at MSI is media creation consulting to our local entrepreneurial organization, the Council for Entrepreneurial Development.

Colin Angle, co-founder and CEO of iRobot, keynoted the recent CED Tech Conference. In case you opt NOT to watch all 40 minutes (it's in 4 parts) of his presentation I wanted to excerpt his key point for you: "whatever you think your business model is when you start, you're wrong."

To illustrate, here are the 14 failed business models that lead eventually to their break through Roomba product:

1) Sell movie rights to and then perform a robotic mission to the moon
2) Sell research robots to universities and hobbyists
3) Earn royalties on robotic toys
4) Develop and license technology for nano-robots to clean plaques from blood vessels
5) Sell robots to the oil industry to stimulate production in wells
6) Sell nuclear power plant inspection robots
7) Sell educational robots to museums
8) License technology for industrial floor-cleaning robots
9) perform robotic research for the military
10) create and sell "robot wars" style location based entertainment experiences
11) sell land mine clearance robots
12) develop and license a robot operating system
13) sell robots you can control over the internet to industry
14) develop and sell planetary rovers to ballistic missile detection organizations

And for those willing to invest some time in his excellent presentation, I give you Colin Angle's CED Tech Conference 2006 keynote:

Colin Angle 1: 14 Failed Business Models
I split his presentation into four parts - this is part one in which he introduces his company and their fourteen failed business models.


Colin Angle 2: the Asymmetric Strategic Partnership
This is part two in which Angle illustrates a key partnership model for startups - the asymmetric strategic partnership.


Colin Angle 3: Engineers Learn Marketing
In part three Angle shows why, in his words, engineers should not be responsible for naming products...


Colin Angle 4: Reverse Logistics and Key Takeaways
With great success comes great responsibility... to your customers. Once the roomba took off iRobot had to learn how to handle customer service.

Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |