#179 Minimis: Declaring War on Garmin
Episode
41 min
Read time
2 min
Topics
Productivity, Investing, Startups
AI-Generated Summary
Key Takeaways
- ✓Prototype presentation strategy: Bring a 3D-printed mockup of the target form factor alongside any functional prototype. All four investors passed primarily because they couldn't visualize the final Oakley-style design from the bulky Frankenstein prototype. A non-functional visual model bridges the imagination gap and keeps investors focused on the vision rather than current hardware limitations.
- ✓Standalone vs. connected hardware: Validate whether standalone functionality is truly a core user requirement before engineering it in, as it dramatically increases complexity and cost. Minimus found through customer research that users wanted phone-free running, but investors noted that most recreational athletes still carry phones for music and podcasts, suggesting the feature may only resonate with competitive triathletes and dedicated cyclists.
- ✓Price point segmentation: At $699 COGS of $350 dropping to $200 at volume, the product targets competitive triathletes and cyclists who spend $20,000 on bikes. Investors noted a $300 price point would open a broader addressable market. Hardware founders should map price sensitivity across athlete segments before committing to a production cost structure that locks in a premium-only customer base.
- ✓Competitor validation as a sales tool: When Meta released Strava-integrated Oakley glasses weeks after the pitch, Minimus used the press coverage as passive market education. Joe pitched 50 bike shops in San Francisco, converting roughly 11, by referencing the Meta announcement. Founders in emerging hardware categories can leverage big-tech adjacent launches to accelerate retail conversations without spending their own marketing budget.
- ✓Accelerator geography matters: Joining Founders Inc's Blueprint program in San Francisco — a hardware-focused cohort of 50 builders — enabled Minimus to iterate prototypes using professional lab equipment while simultaneously pitching local retailers and angel investors. The three-month Bay Area stay directly produced their first VC check from Entrepreneur Ventures plus 18 angel investors, demonstrating that physical proximity to hardware ecosystems compounds fundraising momentum.
What It Covers
Australian co-founders Joe and Paul pitch Minimus FLOW AR — fully standalone smart sunglasses for runners and cyclists displaying real-time stats via heads-up display — seeking $2M at a $699 retail price point. All four investors pass, citing prototype form factor concerns, but the founders later raise $270K and secure 11 bike shop distribution deals.
Key Questions Answered
- •Prototype presentation strategy: Bring a 3D-printed mockup of the target form factor alongside any functional prototype. All four investors passed primarily because they couldn't visualize the final Oakley-style design from the bulky Frankenstein prototype. A non-functional visual model bridges the imagination gap and keeps investors focused on the vision rather than current hardware limitations.
- •Standalone vs. connected hardware: Validate whether standalone functionality is truly a core user requirement before engineering it in, as it dramatically increases complexity and cost. Minimus found through customer research that users wanted phone-free running, but investors noted that most recreational athletes still carry phones for music and podcasts, suggesting the feature may only resonate with competitive triathletes and dedicated cyclists.
- •Price point segmentation: At $699 COGS of $350 dropping to $200 at volume, the product targets competitive triathletes and cyclists who spend $20,000 on bikes. Investors noted a $300 price point would open a broader addressable market. Hardware founders should map price sensitivity across athlete segments before committing to a production cost structure that locks in a premium-only customer base.
- •Competitor validation as a sales tool: When Meta released Strava-integrated Oakley glasses weeks after the pitch, Minimus used the press coverage as passive market education. Joe pitched 50 bike shops in San Francisco, converting roughly 11, by referencing the Meta announcement. Founders in emerging hardware categories can leverage big-tech adjacent launches to accelerate retail conversations without spending their own marketing budget.
- •Accelerator geography matters: Joining Founders Inc's Blueprint program in San Francisco — a hardware-focused cohort of 50 builders — enabled Minimus to iterate prototypes using professional lab equipment while simultaneously pitching local retailers and angel investors. The three-month Bay Area stay directly produced their first VC check from Entrepreneur Ventures plus 18 angel investors, demonstrating that physical proximity to hardware ecosystems compounds fundraising momentum.
Notable Moment
Six months after being rejected by all four investors, Joe cycled into San Francisco bike shops cold and converted roughly 11 out of 50 into signed distribution agreements — a conversion rate achieved largely by opening with his near-crash story, a pitch structure recommended by their coach Mark Danenberg.
Episode Transcript
Welcome to The Pitch, where startup founders raise millions and listeners can invest. I'm Josh Muccio. And I'm Lisa Muccio. And on the show today, we have co founders Joe and Paul with Minimus. They're raising $2,000,000 These guys are crazy. I can't believe they're trying to build the thing they're building. It's like Google Glass, but it's for runners and cyclists so that you can see what your stats are in front of you instead of looking down at your watch while you're running. Not only are these guys crazy for getting into this market, they're not who you'd expect to do this. I definitely think of Joe and Paul as a bit of an odd couple, but it made for really good social media content. Yeah. On their post about them coming to the pitch event, Joe put on the customs form that Paul, his cofounder, was his stepdad. Stepdad's Qantas Gold status gave us access to the Admirals Lounge, by far the best lounge I've been to. Food here was amazing. It was definitely fun to watch their stuff. Yeah. He's not the stepdad. He's the cofounder who stepped up. But, you know, maybe they're the right kinda crazy combo to bring this to market. Maybe. The pitch for Minimus is coming up after this. And if you wanna join us for the live taping of season 16, we're gonna be in Tampa this April. Learn more about our upcoming show at pitch.show/tampa. And if you're a founder, apply to pitch @ pitch.show/apply. Support for the pitch comes from Adobe. Life is unpredictable. So is your work. You need a system that adapts with whatever gets thrown at you. That means mastering the ability to pivot and collaborate with others to reach your goals. Adobe gets that, which is why they made a tool that's just as flexible as you are. PDF spaces in Acrobat Studio. Your PDF files are no longer static. Instead, they're living documents that flex with you and your project's needs. Learn more @adobe.comslashdothatwithacrobat. Welcome back to the pitch for Minimus. Let's meet the investors. Charles Hudson with Precursor Ventures. Sometimes a business is what it is, not what you want it to be. Elizabeth Yin with Hustle Fund. Can I ask you a very direct question? Jesse Middleton with Flybridge. I'm so sick of people that are building stuff for building stuff's sake. And Dawn Dobris with Capital F. Do not grow one more inch until you improve this brand. Okay. Do it again. There you go. I know. There you go. You're as good as Josh did this already. I've never done that. That's actually feels really fun. Hi. Hello. Hi. Hello. Hi. Nice to meet you all. Dawn. Dawn. Nice to meet you. Charles, nice to meet you. It was great to meet you. Oh, Alright. Alright. So we've flown here all the way from Sydney. And, wow, we're here to show we're here to show you our glasses. So …
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Tools
“When Meta released Strava-integrated Oakley glasses weeks after the pitch, Minimus used the press coverage as passive market education.”
Products
“Australian co-founders Joe and Paul pitch Minimus FLOW AR — fully standalone smart sunglasses for runners and cyclists displaying real-time stats via heads-up display — seeking $2M at a $699 retail price point.”
“All four investors passed primarily because they couldn't visualize the final Oakley-style design from the bulky Frankenstein prototype.”
company
“Joining Founders Inc's Blueprint program in San Francisco — a hardware-focused cohort of 50 builders — enabled Minimus to iterate prototypes using professional lab equipment.”
“The three-month Bay Area stay directly produced their first VC check from Entrepreneur Ventures plus 18 angel investors.”
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