# An Interview with Ray Ozzie (Blues Wireless)

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2022-09-26
- Length: 1h 16m
- Episode: 603
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2022-09-26-an-interview-with-ray-ozzie-blues-wireless
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/603-an-interview-with-ray-ozzie-blues-wireless/

## Summary

Ray Ozzie, founder and CEO of Blues Wireless, discusses his journey from creating Lotus Notes and serving as Microsoft's Chief Software Architect to founding Blues Wireless. He explains how his experience with the SafeCast radiation monitoring project after the Fukushima disaster revealed the complexity of integrating cellular connectivity into IoT devices, leading to the development of the Note Card. Ozzie details how Blues Wireless simplifies this by providing a pre-certified, embeddable data pipe that handles cellular protocols, allowing developers to focus on application logic via simple JSON commands. He emphasizes the company's philosophy of treating developers well and enabling massive scale for commercial IoT deployments without requiring end-to-end software solutions.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2022-09-26-an-interview-with-ray-ozzie-blues-wireless#t=0) Introduction: Ray Ozzie and Blues Wireless Note Card
- [3:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2022-09-26-an-interview-with-ray-ozzie-blues-wireless#t=194) SafeCast and the Fukushima Disaster Experience
- [13:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2022-09-26-an-interview-with-ray-ozzie-blues-wireless#t=815) Microsoft Career and Shift to Services
- [17:02](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2022-09-26-an-interview-with-ray-ozzie-blues-wireless#t=1022) Early Software Career: Visicalc and Lotus Notes
- [33:47](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2022-09-26-an-interview-with-ray-ozzie-blues-wireless#t=2027) Relearning Hardware and Building the Note Card
- [46:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2022-09-26-an-interview-with-ray-ozzie-blues-wireless#t=2778) Blues Wireless Business Model and Developer Experience
- [50:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2022-09-26-an-interview-with-ray-ozzie-blues-wireless#t=3052) Technical Implementation: JSON, Queues, and Note Files
- [1:01:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2022-09-26-an-interview-with-ray-ozzie-blues-wireless#t=3693) Cost, Data Plans, and Power Management
- [1:09:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2022-09-26-an-interview-with-ray-ozzie-blues-wireless#t=4197) Future of IoT: Cellular, LoRa, and Edge AI

## Topics

- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)
- [Wireless & RF](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/wireless-and-rf)
- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Blues Wireless (company)
- Microsoft (company)
- Lotus Notes (product)
- SafeCast (product)
- Note Card (product)
- Azure (product)
- Visicalc (product)
- TR80 (product)
- Arduino (product)
- Grafana (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Tips for Accelerating Your IoT Solution | Blues Wireless' Brandon Satrom](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2022-05-26-tips-for-accelerating-your-iot-solution-blues-wireless-brandon-satrom) (IoT For All Podcast)
- [Breaking IoT Connectivity Barriers with Chris Baird, CEO of OptConnect](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2024-07-25-breaking-iot-connectivity-barriers-with-chris-baird-ceo-of-optconnect) (Over the Air)
- [How Does Crowdsourcing Connectivity Impact the IoT Industry? | Micha Benoliel, CEO of Nodle | #IoTFounders E049](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2020-01-23-how-does-crowdsourcing-connectivity-impact-the-iot-industry-micha-benoliel-ceo-o) (IoT For All Podcast)
- [228: Pedantic or Andrantic](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2018-01-03-228-pedantic-or-andrantic) (Embedded.fm)
- [Brandon Satrom Returns! Blues SVP talks Starnote, and cheap Satellite Communication!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-electromaker-show/2025-02-05-brandon-satrom-returns-blues-svp-talks-starnote-and-cheap-satellite-communicatio) (The Electromaker Show)

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