Lessons from a Recovering Hardware Founder | Bluesmart, ROOM, Kite Compliance | Brian Chen
Brian Chen, founder of Kite Compliance, recounts his journey from co-founding Bluesmart, the smart-luggage startup that raised $2.2M on Indiegogo before airlines banned non-removable batteries, to scaling ROOM, a modular office furniture company that reached $60M in annual revenue before being sold to OFS. He explains how Bluesmart's decision to embed lithium-ion batteries for IoT purity led to regulatory backlash, while ROOM succeeded by focusing on direct-to-consumer pricing and supply chain agility. Today, Chen uses his experience to build Kite Compliance, an AI-powered platform designed to help hardware companies navigate complex certification and regulatory hurdles.