February 7, 2019

Staying Flexible as a Startup

UVeye is putting together technology that has an immense range of uses, is wildly innovative, and is—putting it plain and simple—cool! The company produces under vehicle inspection systems, that use deep learning—a sort of AI-derived machine intuition—to say “hey, something about this car doesn’t seem right” and flag it for inspection. This can help stop dangerous contraband or weapons from being smuggled into secure areas, but the use cases don’t stop there.

Though in an ideal world these scanners wouldn’t be needed, Ohad Hever and David Oren understand the importance of having this sort of capability. As COO and CSO, they’ve had to figure out how to market this product in a fairly private industry, while leveraging a bunch of partners, and all on a meager budget. Learn how they do it on this episode of RTU.

 

Don’t miss out on Ohad and David’s experience. Tune in!

 

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What You’ll Learn

Raising awareness of a challenge your company can solve

Imagine this: it is 2019. Acts of terrorism are on the rise worldwide. Protection is a need, but how? Drew reminds everyone of the B2B marketing technique called the “FUD factor.” Creating fear, uncertainty, and doubt is a way to raise awareness of a challenge your company can solve. UVeye does just that by reminding its audiences of this issue of safety. UVeye also positions itself as the company to solve this problem. Through demonstrations and videos, UVeye shares how it can detect abnormalities under cars, such as a car bomb or even an oil leak. This technology can be sold to government agencies or individuals. No longer do you need to rely on a security guard crawling beneath a car to see if it is safe to drive, this surveillance of a car’s undercarriage is efficient and able to detect abnormalities as small as a USB. It can also protect the average person by detecting when car maintenance is needed.

 

How to foster brand engagement

As a brand, UVeye has several audiences. They must foster brand engagement with each. For governments, UVeye provides security. When approaching governments with its product, UVeye looks for a local partner. These partners are already in communication with government and are known companies in distribution or sales.

Currently, UVeye is focussed on breaking into the market of car manufacturers. Its technology can help provide data and preventative maintenance on cars. To create brand engagement, the company is focused on implementing a brand that provides a competitive advantage. What can UVeye offer to the manufacturers to make their lives easier? David and Ohad explain that their goal is creating a brand around “certified by UVeye.” Meaning “certified by UVeye” provides protection of having a vehicle inspected completely from the inside out. They want this term to be a stamp of approval, known by the average Joe.

Marketing on a limited budget

David and Ohad explain that as a startup technology company, the majority of their funding went to creating the product. 14 million was spent on developing the inspection system and distributing it to other countries. There was little money left for marketing. However, UVeye has found that its team can attend conferences even without having an exhibit. These conferences have been a lower budget marketing tool that can create lead generations and partnerships. UVeye has been a part of large security conferences, which are very niche and cost-effective. UVeye has also attended CES. CES has been so effective in the past – even with a tiny display – that David and Ohad used their small marketing budget to have a larger exhibit and demonstration. Prior to the conference, they generated a lot of buzz around the fact that UVeye would be at CES and what they would be sharing. This created engagement prior to the event.

Timeline

  • [2:03] UVeye’s beginnings and how the product works
  • [5:22] The process of development and going to market
  • [7:52] Brand engagement: targeting governments
  • [10:22] Running a successful pilot
  • [14:55] Where UVeye chose to spend its money as a new company
  • [20:47] Target audiences: who will buy the technology first?
  • [24:45] Lessons for those wishing to start or run a company

Connect With Ohad Hever and David Oren:

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect with Drew

Quotes from Ohad Hever & David Oren

You can focus on a big thing or a small thing, but focus on them. Not on 100 other things, at once.
Generally about startups—you're going to make mistakes. And it's okay. It's totally okay.