Living the Dream: Clocky (1 lone designer/entrepreneur) = $2 million revenue in 2008
It's the entrepreneur's dream. Come up with a great idea for a product, build it, and they will come. But for Gauri Nanda, it's true. Inc Magazine reports that 2008 revenues were projected to be over $2 million. It's an alarm clock that rolls off the table and demands that you find it somewhere in your room when it goes off in the morning. Designed for a class project at MIT's Media Lab, the project was an overnight hit once she sourced online through alibaba.com.
The commercial success of the product was largely launched off of
coverage by engadget, gizmodo and boingboing. Pretty amazing what this
new attention economy means for entrepreneurs. A compelling story
suddenly can build value massively, just for the sheer fact that people
surf their RSS readers constantly while at work.
Now that's inspiring. Her next challenge is to figure out how to
turn
this great success story into an enduring business for Nanda Home, her
design firm. I can't wait to hear what's next.
6 comments
Gauri worked on Final Cut Pro for a while before inventing Clocky. We actually shared an office for nearly a year.
Now, if this could be combined with the concept of the Roomba and the George Foreman Grill, that would be something.
Picture this: your alarm clock goes off, backs up out of its refrigerated self-charging dock, starts vacuuming your house while simultaneously cooking up some bacon.
Sizzling bacon, clean floors, and no more sleeping through the snooze button. Win-win-win.
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