Jewelbots: Friendship Bracelets Teaching Girls to Code

I have a lot to say about Jewelbots, but the most important one of all is that NO, I would not invest in this venture. Jewelbots pain point is very simple - trying to increase female interest in STEM and coding and they have come up with the solution of creating programmable bracelets. However, the differentiation piece is where myself as an EVA needs to take a step back from this venture. There are so many products on the market that do a really good job at increasing female interest in STEM and coding (MakeyMakey/Scratch/Sphero/Merge Cube) without doing so in a way that is extremely superficial and full of gender stereotypes. Those alternate programs alone allow for so much range of interest that everyone who uses them feels included, as opposed to Jewelbots which heavily implies that all girls need to be, “girly” and only care about “the followers on Instagram.” Also, from a differentiation standpoint, the other competitive products have a direct involvement with coding in different forms. Jewelbots states in their pitch that once you take it out of the box, “no coding is required,” which seems ironic given it is marketed as a coding bracelet. At no point in the pitch does Jewelbot indicate how the “coding” system for the bracelet works, as a potential investor I would want to know how the app would work and how the coding would be set up - drag and drop? etc. Lastly, based on the elevator pitch and looking over the venture’s leaders on the Kickstarter page, I do not believe that I know enough information about them and their overall qualifications to go into business with them. For the above reasons - I’m out!

Pain Point: getting more young girls interested in coding. Solution: open-source NFC communication (?) wearable with traditionally feminine style. Differentiation: cell phone bans in schools, aesthetic (?). Marketing: Kickstarter – direct-to-consumer. Championship, Competition: unknown. The Ask: buy it (??). The Return (for the consumer): presumably immediately; the device can be programmed using an iPhone “right out of the box”. CEO & Team: Nothing is known about the team from the pitch, aside from that they like ‘girly’ things and were around during the widespread use of MySpace. Management Team: two people? Venture Concept: it is kind of original, though it doesn’t seem like there is a story. Opportunity Space: While NFC is only starting to be explored in children’s toys, the lack of a screen, DIY-ness of making it do what you want an “learning morse code”, and limited design make it seem like something that will be used for maybe one month before it is forgotten. Cheaper than a cell phone, this could generate revenue in the demographic of kids who do not own or can’t afford a phone. Competitive Edge: The bracelet seems comfortable to wear. If it is elastic, it might be preferred over a less child-friendly product, and could have diverse uses outside its use as a wearable. Market Readiness: It seems like they’re ready to sell. Exit Strategy: Unclear if they are looking to monitor the effectiveness of their product to increase girls interested in STEM. Investor Affinity: they are just selling the product (It’s crowdfunding after all). Review: NO, I would not invest in this venture, because, like most products on Kickstarter, they are geared toward a general public, not EVAs. This means the team is not looking for any investment outside of money, and as a consumer, I am not the target audience (I am neither a young girl nor do I have any young girls in my family). A company interested in the idea could potentially partner with the two women to release an updated, richer version of their product, for example, with a modular design, gyroscopes, accelerometers, GPS, etc. aimed at older girls, in the hopes that consumers will ‘graduated’ from the first ‘programmable pager’ model into the second one, looking to further their programming prowess. However, there is still the risk of who the team is. This elevator pitch includes no backstory, no design story, and establishes no credibility for the creators. As an EVA, I would be more interested in acquiring the company and improving it internally than working with people I know nothing about. Currently, it seems like a standalone project, and the website seems to have expanded its goal and design to be aimed toward all children, foregoing the flower design. There is no more information about shrinking the gender gap in STEM.

No, I would not invest in this venture, mainly because the idea is unoriginal and there are already numerous ventures aimed at increasing the number of girls in STEM. Although this pitch does well in identifying the pain point, programmable jewelry itself is not a new concept and a quick search online not only gives a similar product with a similar name (Jewliebots), but products that hold more educational value (Makey Makey), and products with better design. This pitch does not provide a clear picture for its marketability either. For higher income families, will young girls choose to buy a Jewelbot when they might already have a smartphone or an iWatch that can do everything a Jewelbot can, with apps that teach users how to code? For the lower income families, even though this Jewelbot might be affordable (though this pitch does not give information on its cost), its design is tied to owning a smartphone. The two women in the video also don't give me a lot of confidence. I do not know what their background is in. In the middle of the pitch one says that the set up of a Jewelbot is very simple, that there is no coding required. This seems counterproductive as their product is supposed to entice young girls to learn how to code. Finally, I am concerned with the whole idea that jewelry is what is going to encourage girls to learn programming. This seems sexist and out of place with the current times and I would not invest for the simple reason that this product might be sending young girls today the wrong message.