There’s a lot of startups out there. Tons of em. Widget companies. Cloud companies. Gadget companies. Streaming companies. In fact it’s almost hard to imagine more new companies, yet the river never stops, it just ebbs from time to time. With all those startups however, it’s rare to find the company that is not only highly innovative but also sparks creativity and innovation in others. Bug Labs is one of those companies, and I’m proud to be involved with them.
Peter, the company’s CEO, put together two blog posts regarding the company’s anniversary. Part one is a bit of a look back, analyzing the “hits and misses” the company’s made. Part two is a look forward, sharing the vision and plans for the future. Give em both a read.
I’ve always viewed the BUG as two different products. The first is a fun kit for programmers. By and large, programmers today have one environment to work in, it involves a keyboard, mouse, and display (even mobile apps are only a minor variation on this theme). These days I personally don’t really hack much outside of some occasional PHP scripts. But if I had stuck with the ol’ C++ and Java, I think I’d be fascinated by a programming environment that enabled me to use the same functions, routines, and libraries and be able to interact with sensors, GPS, motion detectors, and other fun stuff.
The second BUG is a prototyping/deployment tool for … well, anyone who makes devices. Whether it’s in the healthcare, automotive, industrial, or any other industry that spends huge capital to build a small number of electronic products for very narrow/specific purposes. It seems pretty obvious to me that companies large and small would be better off investing in the relatively low learning curve for a product like BUG as compared to the typically not-reusable time and money investment into custom, proprietary systems.
So far, the company has engaged with both types of customers and learned a lot from it. There’s a long story ahead still for them, and I’m looking forward to seeing the next chapter.
This is awesome. I still think bug labs is one of the more refreshing ideas out there.