# Jeri Ellsworth and the demise of CastAR

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2018-05-29
- Length: 1h 59m
- Episode: 394
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-05-29-jeri-ellsworth-and-the-demise-of-castar
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/394-jeri-ellsworth-and-the-demise-of-castar/

## Summary

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.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-05-29-jeri-ellsworth-and-the-demise-of-castar#t=0) Introduction: Jeri Ellsworth and Startup History
- [8:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-05-29-jeri-ellsworth-and-the-demise-of-castar#t=502) Buying Cast AR Assets and New Vision
- [10:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-05-29-jeri-ellsworth-and-the-demise-of-castar#t=600) Cast AR Technology and Kickstarter Origins
- [16:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-05-29-jeri-ellsworth-and-the-demise-of-castar#t=1015) Scaling, Leadership Changes, and Board Control
- [26:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-05-29-jeri-ellsworth-and-the-demise-of-castar#t=1603) Prototype Failures and Rebranding Chaos
- [46:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-05-29-jeri-ellsworth-and-the-demise-of-castar#t=2789) EVT Hardware and Final Shutdown
- [55:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-05-29-jeri-ellsworth-and-the-demise-of-castar#t=3310) Fundraising Mistakes and Zone of Insolvency
- [1:07:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-05-29-jeri-ellsworth-and-the-demise-of-castar#t=4077) Lessons Learned and New Company Strategy
- [1:51:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-05-29-jeri-ellsworth-and-the-demise-of-castar#t=6692) Ham Radio Projects and Technical Hobbies

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Cast AR (product)
- Playground Global (company)
- Valve Software (company)
- Form Lab (tool)
- Texas Instruments (company)
- Analog Devices (company)
- Scopely (company)
- Gearbox Software (company)
- Unity (company)
- GoPro (product)
- Nest (product)
- Xiaomi (company)
- Jawbone (company)
- Sonos (company)
- Touchstone Semiconductor (company)
- Maxim (company)
- TSMC (company)
- DARPA (company)
- Google (company)
- Project Loon (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Leaving a Startup and Lessons Learned from Plethora with Nick Pinkston (Part 3 of 3)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2022-10-25-leaving-a-startup-and-lessons-learned-from-plethora-with-nick-pinkston-part-3-of) (Manufacturing Happy Hour)
- [93 Rejections, One Revolution: How Indiegogo Changed Crowdfunding Forever](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-12-15-93-rejections-one-revolution-how-indiegogo-changed-crowdfunding-forever) (How I Built This)
- [085: Scaling Your Product Up After Crowdfunding](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-07-21-085-scaling-your-product-up-after-crowdfunding) (Product Startup)
- [Squarespace: Anthony Casalena](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2019-03-04-squarespace-anthony-casalena) (How I Built This)
- [Riot Games: Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-12-14-riot-games-brandon-beck-and-marc-merrill) (How I Built This)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2018-05-29-jeri-ellsworth-and-the-demise-of-castar. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Amp Hour.