Hardware Podcasts

S1 E6: Pivots, Trials, Errors, and Validation in Product Development with Madhavi Gavini

The Builder Circle · 13 Jun 2023 · 1h 05m

What this episode covers

Madhavi Gavini, CEO of Droplet, discusses the company's journey from a medical device concept to a consumer skincare platform, detailing three major pivots: shifting from rare skin diseases to daily skincare, moving from a B2B dermatologist channel to direct-to-consumer sales during the pandemic, and scrapping an over-engineered chip-reader system to reduce costs. She explains how Droplet manages insourcing core engineering and capsule automation while outsourcing precision manufacturing to partners like East West, and emphasizes the importance of rigorous lifecycle testing to prevent firmware failures. Gavini highlights the sunk cost fallacy, noting how scrapping half a million pre-ordered chips allowed the company to pivot the app’s functionality from simple tracking to multi-mode treatment, ultimately creating a more valuable product for users.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Droplet, East West, Tufts Medical Center, CVS, Amazon, Whole Foods
Also
FDA, Alibaba

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