Hardware Podcasts

Lessons from a Recovering Hardware Founder | Bluesmart, ROOM, Kite Compliance | Brian Chen

TRADEOFFS · 9 Jun 2026 · 59m · Episode 14

What this episode covers

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.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Kite Compliance, OFS, Y Combinator, Apple, Tesla, WeWork, Endeavor, Hall Capital Partners, Magic Patterns, LIFX, Owlette, TSMC, MercadoLibre, Canary, Casper, Fitbit, GoPro, Nest, Amazon AWS, Informal, Ruma, Hallman and Friedman, Fairlawn Capital, General Motors, DoorDash
Products
Bluesmart, ROOM
Also
Indiegogo, MIT Sloan, UL, FDA, Climate Tech, Reid Hoffman, Katie Hall, Morris Chang, Alfred Sloan, Michael Klein, Tony Hsu, Alex Michael, Tanya Shica, Nate Padgett, Chris Rill, Brian Chen

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