The Usual Profile #1
- Name: Lauren Pan
- Industry: Edge Computing
- Location: Shanghai
- Nationality: China
- Industry Experience: 10+ years. Founder of IceWhale, ex VP of DFRobot.
- Recent Product: ZimaBoard, world’s first low-cost single board server (SBS), designed for Makers and industrial applications.
- Highlights in business model: Maker product + High-end Chinese supply chain + Crowdfunding
“Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center. Big, undreamed-of things — the people on the edge see them first.”
— Kurt Vonnegut
It was my third time meeting with Lauren in person. Same as last time, he was in his hoodie and jeans, with a carefree ease — a daily look I’ve seen among Makers.
We sat down by his office at Pudong software park, which is found by the local government to support tech startups like Lauren’s new company, Icewhale.
I came for an interview with him, as I was curious about his Maker to entrepreneur path. The excitements, the drive, the challenges.
My questions were simple, and he talked for long and deep. Without coffee. Without breaks.
“So, is it becoming easier? From a maker to an entrepreneur?” I uttered my first question.
“Hell no…. In fact, in the past 10 years top players already had taken almost every bit of the industry dividend. The rationale of the Chinese supply chain remains the same — quantity rules. And the chance to turn a maker product to a market product, is still slim — maybe 1 out of 100 or 1000… Nothing is becoming any easier for newcomers in this track.”
“Then how come you still chose to start your own?”
He paused, maybe counting reasons in his head. “Because of the charm. The charm of re-constructing and challenging current product patterns. I cannot resist that, among other reasons. “ He continues, “Also, for me, running a company is like exploring myself. It enables me to understand the wholeness of the world. What I’ve always enjoyed, is understanding who I am while creating products. How the world sees products made by me, in a way, is also how it sees me, the product Maker. The relation between a product and its maker, is kinda like film and director. It’s a mirror reflecting your inner world, through which you resonate with the world and receives echos afterwards. “
Once he talks, he goes deep. He pulls answers from inside out, and uses precise yet poetic analogies to relate himself to the world.
“And that was like 10 years after joining your previous company? Anything particular about the timing? “
“Let’s put it this way…I was a pretty mild person when I was a youngster. That’s saying, the external world is a key drive that shapes me and my personality. The inward self-exploration didn’t start until I came out of school. At my first workplace, we started as a startup, and developed into a company with hundreds of millions of annual transactions. It took us almost 10 years. Along the way, though very time consuming, I’ve gradually found who “I” really am, and how “I” differed from others. And what is this one thing “I” want to do for this life. Then you come to the point when you grew the idea of starting your own… This turning point may come years later than in the western world, but surely, it will come. “
I like how Lauren was dissecting himself, the same way he dissects hardwares into components. Outer shells off, and put the innermost basics on the table.
“So that’s the inner drive. How about the external? Any observations lead you to count on this product? Zimaboard?” Zimaboard is Lauren’s newly developed single board. On its product page, it says “ World’s First Hackable Single Board Server”. Sounds revolutionary, I thought.
“Sure, we are running a company, and everyone has got bills and mortgage.” He talked swiftly. Guess he had similar questions from his team, the community, or investors. “So for the external side, what we have observed is that, in the past 10 years, Cloud service has been centralized, as a key service for online business. 20 years ago we would download songs to a local disk so that we can enjoy it locally. But now you don’t keep any music files in your phone as you listen to music via online streaming, using apps like QQ music, Spotify, etc. And that’s the Cloud. What we see is that, monopoly already came into being, since all services are centralized in Cloud. And our question is: what will happen in the coming 10 years? We believe Cloud will be decentralized — from a super concentrated center to multiple centers. In 10 years, what the future holds for us is, everything will be moving towards the end user, no matter it being Cloud or computing or service itself…for the sake of better privacy and data security, also lower cost — that’s where I see our chance stands.”
“Sounds pioneering, but I don’t see anyone around is using something like ZimaBoard in real life…can we say Maker’s product is kinda ahead of the consumer’s market? Just like the Stary Board?” Stary Board is a revolutionary electric skateboard. It was first created as a niche Maker’s product, and grew almost as a household product in a couple of years.
“Yeah, that’s part of the charm.” With a firm look, he continues “ You make the product a few steps ahead of the market. Like 3D printers, Stary, or smart home plugs … you create it 4 or 5 years earlier than people could even imagine about it. Some products got market success, but what’s in for Makers, is still the pleasure of creating stuff, instead of running a business or scaling it up. Makers help the market foresee some new product possibilities — that’s Step 1. “
He paused, and then said, “And the Step 2, commercialization, usually is in someone else’s interest. That’s also a challenge for a maker to become an entrepreneur. Because you are so used to thinking only about Step 1, but as a business, it has to survive and grow beyond that. “
I just recalled the discouraging conversion rate, 1 out of 100 or even 1000, he mentioned earlier. “So thinking about Step 2 and further counts for one challenge — are there other major challenges? As people would often ask? “ I was not sure if it’s a cliche question, but still curious.
With a laugh, he said “Look…when you build up a company, you don’t really differ major or minor challenges — you just need to solve them one after another. Building up a company is kinda like facing a huge cluster of challenges. You want to get your business running, then go clear out all blocks in the path.” He continues with a subtle smile, “And here in China, it’s often about people. If that, there’s always a way to work around it.”
Looking at the smile, I could only imagine how he and his team have come so far — tackling product quality and deadlines with manufacturers, and pushing for each and every delivery over the past 10 years. Because the rationale of Chinese supply chain remains the same — quantity rules. And that is probably the last highlight a Maker’s product could ever aim for.
Speaking of niche product manufacturing, I started browsing possible business models in my head. “Some hardware companies are expanding their business scope, for example, offering Coding courses for kids. Have you considered…”
“So what?” Before I even finished the line, he responded with a clear attitude. There was an undisguised contempt, and he went on, “It merely comes from a commercial or social drive. It might be good business as many parents send kids to learn it as a practical skill — same as learning piano or painting. Then such needs grow even more learning institutes. Such a cycle is so boring to me, as few cared if the kids were learning it out of curiosity. It’s mechanic, so distant from genuine curiosity or human nature. “
He looked at me, saying “In what way would you like yourself to grow up? I myself grow most by doing what I love. Of course it’d be better to be a positive cycle — you were curious about something, so you wanted to learn it. Then you got awarded for your learning progress. And repeat. That’s the kind of cycle I hold value for. “
With a pause, he repeated, “The drive, has to come from within. Maybe you don’t feel it at the beginning. What you can do is to go out and find resonances. It can be books, talks or interviews given by others. I myself feel very inspired by Lei Jun (founder of XiaoMi) and Elon Musk, so I went through all of their books, interviews, and talks. Yes, all of it. In the process, I had resonances, likes and dislikes… those helped me to understand the ground where I was standing.”
“It takes time, but eventually you will acquire your own traits. Look inward, and find it there.” He turned around, with a brighter smile, “And you will find it too.”
The Usual Products:
# 1
- Product Name: ZimaBoard
- Usage: World’s First Hackable Single Board Server, a hybrid of SBC and Micro Server exclusively designed for Makers, DIYers and Hackers
- Price: $69.9
- Launch date: Jan 2021
# 2
- Product Name: Single board full windows 10 computer
- Usage: It includes everything a regular PC has and can do anything that a regular PC does
- Price: 69 USD
- Crowdfund amount: $ 591K from 4000+ supporters.
# 3
- Product Name: Soul of a MacBook in a Pocket-sized Board
- Usage:The MOST powerful hackable computer runs Windows 10 and compatible with Linux, using the same Intel Core m3 processor as a MacBook.
- Price: 69 USD
- Crowdfund amount: $630K from 1900+ supporters.
