Heather Spalding and Joel Teply, co-founders of Cambrian (PC: Cambrian Facebook Page)

Cambrian

Cambrian was cofounded by a power couple – Heather Spalding and Joel Teply. Joel’s tech knowledge and Heather’s neuroscience background synthesized into making a great augmented reality product. Heather was previously a neuroscience researcher at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Joel Teply is a techie who has worked at firms such as VML and EyeVerify.

In 2011, their common interest in computer vision got them brainstorming about various use-cases. After settling down on home improvement visualization, Joel built an app called Wall Painter. As they were going through a transition themselves in terms of painting and decorating their new home, they understood the challenges involved. Their app was primarily focused on DIYers (Do It Yourself). The app was an overnight success with over 12,000 users. There was a lot of interest in the app from paint companies across the world.

This interest and success got them to form Cambrian. Heather and Joel continued with their jobs while pursuing Cambrian during the nights and over the weekends. This went on for a few years till Heather left the Medical Center and joined Cambrian full time in 2016. Later that year, Joel also joined Cambrian full time.

Cambrian has been very active in the Kansas City start-up ecosystem. In 2017, Cambrian won $100,000 as a part of the LaunchKC grand prize. Joel and Heather have also been invited at various forums in Kansas City such as ACG Kansas City, 1 Billion Bits and the Regnier Institute to talk to other entrepreneurs and developers. Heather was also part of the fifth cohort of ScaleUP! Kansas City, a program focused on helping entrepreneurs scale up their business by providing them with the necessary tools and networks. Earlier this year, Cambrian featured in Startland News’ ‘Top Kansas City startups to watch in 2018’ list.

Joel (left) addressing a group of developers at 1 Billion Bits; Heather (right) addressing a gathering at 1 Million Cups. (PC: Cambrian Facebook Page)

Home Harmony

Cambrian has a home improvement visualizing app called Home Harmony that helps you see what a particular type of flooring or paint would look like in a specific area of your home given the setting. Using computer vision and machine learning, the augmented reality representation is as realistic as possible.

The app is very easy to use. All you have to do is hold up the phone, click a picture, select the colour, tap on the space to be modified, and viola, you can see what it will look like in your living room or bed room. The app also shows you what it would look like under various lighting conditions that are experienced. The representation is able to go around objects such as wall hangings and furniture. If there is a painting on the wall, the app is able to represent what the paint will look like while going around the object.

The Home Harmony app has colour options from paint companies such as Behr, Benjamin Moore, Prestige, Prestige Designers, Sherwin Williams and Valspar while the flooring options are from Shaw. The app also helps you calculate the amount of paint that would be required. The response to the app has been incredible. The Home Harmony app has over 100,000 installs on android with a rating of 3.8. The app is also very user friendly in terms of permissions.

Realistic depiction by the Home Harmony App (PC: Cambrian Website)

The DIY Revolution

The ‘Do-It-Yourself’ (DIY) projects have been a strong force for over a hundred years. In the 1970’s, there was a wave of DIY material and content being created. With the rise of modern technology, this has gone digital with dedicated sites such as instructables.com and doityourself.com.

This revolution is driven by two factors – cost and the desire for creativity. DIY activities tend to achieve the end objectives at a fraction of the cost of hiring someone else to do it. DIY activities also tend to be an opportunity for creative expression. With the rise of mundane and repetitive tasks, this is a good way to relax and explore.

Cambrian is a critical addition to this larger ecosystem. While there are platforms that provide high quality content, there is a gap that has existed for a long time – the gap between imagination and reality. Augmented Reality (AR) is able to solve this gap and make the experience much smoother for customers. Cambrian is able to bridge that gap by helping the user visualize. While we may be able to visualize what that colour or flooring might look like, we’re not sure what it would actually look like. Making decisions based on a tiny sample is difficult. Cambrian solves this visualization challenge.

Painting isn’t one of those activities that happen very often. Based on various factors such as the number of people living, the usage pattern, and the weather conditions, homes are painted anywhere between every two to ten years. If you pick the wrong colour, you’re pretty much stuck with it for a long time to come.

Team Cambrian (PC: Cambrian Facebook Page)

The Future

There is intense competition in the home improvement augmented reality space. With paint companies launching their own apps and third parties also developing their app, the market is very competitive. Cambrian has made a strategic move by developing their own Software Development Kit (SDK). Cambrian is able to licence its SDK to other companies interested in developing an app or platform. Apart from their own app, Cambrian has clients who have similar apps powered by Cambrian. Prestige Paints is one such client whose app Prestige ColorPic is powered by Cambrian.

Cambrian is looking to expand into areas such as furniture, countertops, and appliances among others. In various interviews, Heather has indicated that a round of funding may be around the corner. They have a solid product which is helping customers make better decisions while helping companies service their clients better.

The post Cambrian – Helping Customers Visualize Home Improvements appeared first on Techweek.

The Real Vision Begins

The idea behind Real Vision started off when the founders met in Spain in 2012. They were unhappy with the way financial news was being reported. While thinking of alternative ways of delivering unbiased financial content, the idea of creating a highly focused on-demand channel occurred to them. One of the major driving force has been their strong conviction that the mainstream media and banks failed investors in 2008. Content such as one-sided stories, 3-minute videos, stock tips without the frameworks behind the idea, and the treatment of financial news as entertainment didn’t go down too well with them. They felt the mainstream media was treating investor savings flippantly by covering financial news as entertainment, the same way as sports news is covered.

The Founders (Left to Right) – Raoul Pal, Grant Williams, Damian Horner, Remi Tetot and Milton – The Puppet Master

The founders embarked on a mission for “truth in finance” which has evolved into “democratize quality financial research” over time. By 2013 they began working on their platform and launched in 2014. While their first launch ran into some technical troubles, they got it right the second time around. It is interesting that Real Vision already had over 1000 subscribers before they launched. Today, they have subscribers from over 100 countries.

Real Vision has four founders, all of whom are highly accomplished in their own fields.

Raoul Pal is an industry veteran. After working at Goldman Sachs, he a ran a macro hedge fund for GLG Partners before moving to Spain and starting an independent macro research called the Global Macro Investor.  Grant Williams is also a finance industry veteran with over 30 years of experience at giants such as UBS and Credit Suisse across the globe. Damian Horner brings his experience in marketing and media and is the Chief Creative Officer. He featured in Campaign magazine’s ‘The 100 Most Influential People in Media’. Remi Tetot is the research head of Global Macro Investor and the CTO of Real Vision.

“Just Like Netflix”

Real Vision is an on-demand financial TV channel, “just like Netflix” they say.

With video becoming the most popular medium of content delivery, video content is their core product. Their video offerings include full length interviews, documentaries, trade ideas (not tips!) among other things. Interviews with otherwise inaccessible investors and experts discussing a variety of issues from successes, failures, ideas, and trends, gives viewers unparalleled insight. Experts who are constrained by time on mainstream television networks can speak for an hour on the topic, allowing them to fully convey their ideas.

Raoul Pal (left) interviews Russell Clark of Horseman Capital

Videos are created in an accessible way to cater to audience with diverse backgrounds. Their content covers the fundamentals, technicals, and nuances, while also providing the big picture connecting the past and future. This allows them to present a holistic view giving different sides of the argument or story.

Rather than giving stock tips, they provide trade ideas where they show the underlying principles and ideas guiding the investment decision. This helps viewers develop their own analysis frameworks and grow as investors.

While video is their core product, they have a range of audio products and research content. Their products are a blend of original content and curation of the best available content. With investors being burgeoned with information, curation is key to ensure that investors get the best and most relevant information. Their newsletters, research reports and other such research materials are based on curation while their video content is developed in-house.

Real Vision TV product offerings

Real Vision has its “skin in the game” as its revenue model is based on subscriptions. This ensures all incentive structures are in alignment. Each of the products are priced differently. Real Vision Television is available to subscribers at $180 a year with discounted rates for students and CFA candidates. Real Vision Think Tank, the newsletter service, is available at $365 per year. Real Vision Macro Insider, their premium newsletter service, is priced at $2997 per year. With their focus on empowering people and democratizing finance, they have a weekly newsletter called ‘20/20’ and podcast (adventures in finance, now Knock-on Effect) available for free.

Real Vision is clear about their target audience and is focused on delivering content that adds value to them. Their subscribers range from students and educational institutions such as MIT and Cambridge to investor and financial institutions. They have strategically positioned themselves, striking a balance between curating and creating content. With the television and publishing businesses facing challenges, their medium and products are likely to succeed as they meet evolving consumer requirements. Recognizing this potential, a financial media firm offered to buy a 25% stake in Real Vision.

Raoul Pal (left) in conversation with Hugh Hendry

While it may be challenging for financial media outlets to create such a platform, it is not impossible as they already have all three mediums. However, each space is dominated by a different player. For example, the newsletter business is dominated by Agora, television and video space by Bloomberg, CNBC, etc. Companies such as Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters have an edge with access to investors given their additional product/service offerings. Real Vision recognizes that it cannot escape the strong position that incumbents have. They have partnered with Thomson Reuters to distribute their content to institutions. There is also a difference in focus between news and analysis.

One of the biggest challenges Real Vision faces is that of scaling up. As they broaden and deepen their content, they will have to experiment. Not all experiments will be well-received. For example, their switch from Adventures in Finance to Knock-on Effect was met with some negative response. As it gets difficult for the founders to keep driving all content, the shift to other accomplished professionals driving content may affect customer experience.

Mervyn King (left) Former Bank of England Governor in conversation with Jim Grant (right)

All that said, Real Vision definitely shows promise and is creating great content. They have a wide product offering for diverse customer types. While the success of the venture depends on subscriptions, they have already succeeded in creating high quality content.

The post A Real Vision Into Finance appeared first on Techweek.