WoW Woman in WearableTech | Gabby Stein, co-founder of Luboo
Interview by Ima Miri
What is the idea behind your project / product and how did you come up with it?
We came up with the idea when at an Easter show with our young children (aged 3 and 5 at the time). The little one went missing temporarily and it really spooked us. We later met with friends and we all said how convenient it would be if we had a tracking product we could rent at venues and events, rather than buy. We looked online and quickly realize that the wearable tracking market was saturated with high price points and technology that did not make sense to the average parent. We wanted to take away those barriers and just give parents something they could use, just when they needed it in crowded environments. To take the stress of having to figure out data plans and technology and various products and just give every parent access to peace of mind. That set us off on our course.
When did all start and do you have other members in your team? How long did it take you to be where you are now?
We’re a husband and wife team who started about three and a half years ago.
What was the biggest obstacle?
The biggest obstacle has been the hardware. As part of our product gives the anonymous, aggregated tracking data back to the venue, most off the shelf tracking devices did not fit our use case for various reasons, so we had to create our own. Finding the right engineers and the right solution was difficult.
What are your biggest achievements to date?
The traction from our first use case, theme parks, has been fantastic. We are B2B and B2C, and B2B bit has been fun and consistently positive. Our biggest achievements can’t be discussed publicly yet, but they’re close. Really though, the current biggest achievement for us is that we have made a product.
What are the challenges of being an entrepreneur in the niche you are in? How about being a female founder / entrepreneur?
The challenges for us is that people see us as hardware first, rather than thinking about the big picture. I think that’s tough for a lot of hardware companies.
In terms of being a female entrepreneur I haven’t noticed any immediate bias in terms of our B2B traction. I don’t have anything to compare it to and haven’t tried to crack Silicon Valley yet, so maybe that question will be more relevant then.
What are your projects you are currently working on?
Focused on our soft pilots now and our real launch in the summer of 2020 in the United States in a few theme parks.
Is #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
Yes, 100% important because the best thing about being a startup co-founder is the support and mentorship of the community.
What is the most important piece of advice you can give to all female founders and female entrepreneurs out there?
Keep putting one foot in front of the other. And I know cliché, but it is a marathon and not a race. As soon as I accepted that there will 100% be bugs and setbacks, it helped me get things into perspective. And, surround yourself with community and other female founders.
What will be the key trends in the wearable tech industry in the next 5 years and where do you see it heading?
I think there will be really cool developments with ways of charging batteries and WIFI. We’re trying to stay ahead of it so that we can adapt to the new technology. But again, one step at a time!
Who are your 3 inspirational women in wearable tech?
I think in my space, I admire women creating solutions for safety for other women. To be honest, I don’t know a lot of women in wearables and I would love to meet some more. That would be amazing.
Website: www.luboo.com
This interview was conducted by Ima Miri, Women of Wearables ambassador in Sydney. She has over 13 years of experience in the tech industry. She’s passionate about creativity and innovation. In her own words “my best artistic moments are when I’m working on a new project to bring new ideas to life”. Learning new technologies and playing around with them to build awesome products is always interesting to Ima. Her mission is to bring more awareness about new tech trends and encourage more girls to learn new technologies and work with them. LinkedIn: Ima Miri, Twitter: Ima Miri