Startup Stories: Featuring Robbox Inc
This week we are excited to be featuring Andrei Matei, Co-Founder & Business Development Manager at Robbox Inc, a Consumer Electronic company that is developing the first generation of Smart Digital Power Tools for the everyday consumer.
Robbox wants to change the tool industry as a whole by introducing the first-ever Smart Drill with an integrated touchscreen. They believe smart tools are the next step for the tool industry and are at the forefront of the digital revolution.
We first met Robbox back in 2016 (before we evolved into Volition!) when Andrei’s father, Andy, pitched the company at one of our events at Launch Academy.
Andy then introduced us to his son during pitch coaching and investor strategy sessions with our co-founder, Paul Brassard. Andrei went on to pitch on behalf of the company, earning Robbox at least one Top Pitch spot over the years.
From the beginning, we were extremely impressed by the team’s ingenuity and ability to execute and are proud to have been a part of Robbox’s journey in the early days!
Hello Andrei! To start, can you share what your first pitch experience was like?
It was definitely more than a year ago! My first experience was back when Volition was still Elevator Ventures.
That first experience was nerve-racking but the people were very welcoming. It was a very good experience and the energy that Paul brought to the group helped a lot because it made the event less serious and much more fun and enjoyable for everyone.
I still have the video recorded during that first pitch. It was one of the tougher things I had to do. I’d presented many times in school and it was fine but because I was in a class full of people I knew.
Pitching it’s different because everyone is a stranger and that really brought out the nerves in me. I had no real idea or strategy of how to build the story for the pitch at that point, but that is where the sessions I took with Paul at Volition came of help.
Eventually, after three or four pitches, I was able to construct something that was good enough and actually got a chance to present in front of a panel of investors.
Tell us about your journey since your first pitch night.
After I felt confident enough with my pitch skills, I decided to try my luck in other areas of the world and I spent almost all last year traveling throughout North America, including New York, San Francisco, Washington, and Philadelphia.
I went to a bunch of different pitching competitions where I was able to use the lessons I learned from Volition and made some very good connections (that I still have).
They introduced me to a number of individuals that have helped me, both directly and indirectly, and we were also able to get some fundraising from various angel investors and private investors.
What are some company highlights/wins you’d like to share?
I’m very proud of our accomplishments.
We’ve received the Pinnacle Innovation Award 2018 from the United Inventors Association of America and we got an article in the “Innovation & Tech Today” Magazine.
Also, we got featured on Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation on CBS (USA). We got a lot of media from it, all free publicity! After that, 620 people reserved a tool with a formal pre-order.
We got the feature from the Consumer Electronics Show that I attended personally, where I used the same skills I learned from pitching but tailoring my pitch towards our consumer base. It’s the same thing except that I’m not asking for funding but I was pitching the product and asking for the customer’s information.
At that show I talked to probably 500 people, it was a very long show, but at the end of it we were contacted by a company that airs on CBS because they wanted to feature us on Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation show, so that was a result from all the connections I made at the show.
What are your next steps from here?
Right now we have the tool but it’s not launched yet. We’re finalizing prototype 4 and that is going to be pretty close to the production model.
We will be running a Kickstarter campaign in January, along the same time as the Consumer Electronics Show in 2020, so we will promote the campaign there. That will lead us into the short-run production and we will have the first batch of tools delivered to the early backers by fall 2020.
And throughout this journey, what has been your greatest challenge as an entrepreneur?
One of the greatest challenges when building a startup is finding those certain individuals that believe and understand your vision and what you’re trying to accomplish – investors, employees, and various members of the public.
Introducing a new concept or a new tool that has never been made before can be difficult for others to understand, but communicating it effectively will really help get your idea off the ground.
So what is one piece of advice you would give to someone just beginning their startup journey?
When building your business, it’s important to understand that there will be highs and lows along the journey.
A critical trait to have along the way is perseverance. That will get you out of those tough times and lead you to success — and sometimes that success is just around the corner.
On that note, as you may know, we define Volition as ‘the will to do what you want and to get it done’. What is your volition?
Impacting people’s lives that in many cases I may never meet.
We want to empower people with data and guidance in using tools so everybody has a know-how and they don’t have to be nervous.
And now for another one of our regular questions–what is your ask here today?
We are actively searching for potential investors who are interested in Early Stage companies with a Hardware & Software focus.
We are also launching our crowdfunding campaign around the first week of January and it will go on for about 30/40 days. So stay tuned for that!
Is there anything else that you would like to share before we sign off?
I just want to say that Volition has been amazing to me!
It has been such a great learning experience working with them, especially Paul. He helped me a lot and has attended some of our investors events as the MC. I really think he is a real showman, he is great at what he does.
Without Volition, I would not have been able even to formulate my message to get it across to different people in different areas of the world. The pitching that I do today would definitely not be the same without the guidance that I received through Volition.
Also Volition is like a family, everyone that I met through them has been very helpful and very friendly, and I would definitely recommend them to any entrepreneur or founder just starting up who feels nervous about where to begin because they’ll definitely lead the way and direct you towards success.
Thank you, Andrei! We appreciate your support and were so glad to have you back ‘in the fam’ and pitching at our Anniversary event. So, how can people best connect with you?
Instagram/Twitter/Facebook: @RobboxTools
