Rishi Krishna CEO of Symbionic - On building an affordable, assistive tech startup that makes prosthetic devices.

Building bionic arms for people with disabilities! Today I speak to Rishi Krishan, the CEO & Co-Founder of Symbionic. Symbionic is an affordable, assistive technology startup that makes smart prosthetic devices. 

It all started due to a freak bus accident which led to him losing his arm.  So in this episode he talks about the huge challenges building a bionic arm. He talks about how he validated the idea by being a human guinea pig. Talks about how they build empathy into the product and the market size. 

Talks technology and the business model. Talks about the key takeaways in building the first prototype  , talks about user experiences and 3D printing. Talks about what makes this bionic arm so special. Why your users should be your first investors. Getting great advice from AssisTech Foundation (ATF). 

Talks about being able to ride a bike again! Predictions for 2022. And finally he talks about advice he would give to his younger self and what first time founders should be focusing on.

In this conversation we also talk about:-

• Using 3D printing customisation and sensors
• Breaking out of the biases.
• Having small breakthroughs 
• 10 million amputees in India. 
• How would he sum up his journey so far?
• Thoughts on recruiting & why you shouldn't always hire the most experienced person. 
• Working with a great team
• Existing solutions did not work
• Building something cooler, functional and cheaper.
• Using it in public and dealing with the reaction.
• Funding
• Creating crowdfunding campaigns
• Working in a niche market
• Feedback loops & dealing with the steep learning curves. 

and much more!

Links 

http://thesymbionic.com/

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music by Punch Deck.

 https://open.spotify.com/artist/7kdduxAVaFnbHJyNxl7FWV