156: Black Knight 2000

Embedded.fm · 16 Jun 2016 · 1h 21m

What this episode covers

Jeri Ellsworth, president of CastAR, discusses the company's mixed reality headset, which uses a belt-mounted console to keep weight and heat off the user's head. She details the decision to refund an early Kickstarter campaign to pivot from a PC peripheral to a self-contained device, a move funded by Playground Global. Ellsworth also outlines CastAR's hiring strategy, emphasizing whiteboard interviews for practical engineering problems over trivia, and their focus on social, tabletop-style gaming experiences.

Mentioned

Companies
CastAR, Playground Global, Valve Software
Products
Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Microsoft HoloLens, Commodore 64, TiVo, Black Knight 2000, Amazon Echo
Chips
6502, MOS 6502, Thyristor
Tools
Unity, Unreal

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    An Interview with Jason Cerundolo

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  • The Amp Hour · 2h 06m

    An interview with Jeri Ellsworth - Absorptive Augmented Actuality

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  • The Amp Hour · 1h 34m

    An Interview with Jeri Ellsworth - Intense Illusion Introduction

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  • The Amp Hour · 1h 59m

    Jeri Ellsworth and the demise of CastAR

    Jeri Ellsworth, founder of Cast AR, details the company's rise and fall, explaining how a $15 million Series A from Playground Global led to rapid scaling, loss of founder control, and eventual shutdown due to misaligned leadership and poor fundraising strategy. She describes the chaotic product development, including multiple failed prototype iterations (Proto-1 through EVT) and endless rebranding exercises, before purchasing the assets for pennies on the dollar to launch a new venture. The episode highlights critical failures in board governance, investor relations, and hardware execution, offering lessons on choosing strategic investors and maintaining founder control.

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