Gauri Nanda, The Woman Behind Clocky.
One of our favourite tech product finds is the ingenious alarm clock that will roll off your nightstand and sound an alarm if you don’t get up the first time: Clocky!
Behind this alarm clock with feelings is Gauri Nanda. A "tech chick" at MIT, she designed the clock for her own use and soon realized everyone else wanted one too. Scarlett Lounge recently chatted with this savvy entrepreneur to see what makes her – and Clocky – tick.
Scarlett Lounge: You created Clocky, one of your most famous inventions, while a graduate student at the MIT Media Lab. Was your academic setting what inspired your creativity?
Gauri: I was inspired by my own difficulty in getting out of bed on time. There were mornings where I hit the snooze button for hours, half-asleep, not realizing how late it was getting. MIT gave me the opportunity to put my ideas to life. The Clocky I made at MIT was a very rudimentary prototype that barely worked, but it gave me a great starting point that allowed me to communicate the idea to others.
Scarlett Lounge: What was one of the first hurdles in getting your invention made and really building your brand? What advice do you have for female entrepreneurs facing obstacles?
Gauri: Not knowing anything about how to put a product out on the market, I spoke to many entrepreneurs, learning how they had made their products, and what kind of approach they recommended.
The problem is you get a lot of advice and it's difficult to sort through it all. So the most difficult part was determining the best way for me to get the product out. I opted to work on the design myself alongside a manufacturer [so] I didn't lose any control over the product. I had a vision I wasn't ready to give up and I was willing to put in the time; [plus this] was the cheapest approach.
The next challenge is to find the appropriate people to work with, and sometimes it takes working with the wrong people until you figure out what's right.
Scarlett Lounge: Do you have any new and exciting inventions you're working on, if so, please share with excited Scarlett Lounge shoppers!
Gauri: We're working on the next version of Clocky, which will have a really great iconic design, friendly touch interface; and options for getting your own sounds and MP3s into the product. We've got a bunch of other things in the works, but it's too early to disclose!
