Hardware Podcasts

Jeri Ellsworth and the demise of CastAR

The Amp Hour · 29 May 2018 · 1h 59m · Episode 394

What this episode covers

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.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Playground Global, Valve Software, Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, Scopely, Gearbox Software, Unity, Xiaomi, Jawbone, Sonos, Touchstone Semiconductor, Maxim, TSMC, DARPA, Google
Products
Cast AR, GoPro, Nest, Project Loon
Tools
Form Lab

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