Microsoft Innovation Center Brussels

Did you ever experience a moment in your life that just passed by without you being able to share it with your loved ones or friends? Did you actually share the first steps of your kid?

Those precious moments you can now save with Paf!, the world first wearable camera that can go back in history and store those moments you want to share after they have happened. Our camera will record all the time when you activate it, but It will only save the last 20 seconds if you click the button. All other footage is overwritten continuously.

About 6 months ago, Marc Jacobs, Evarest Schoofs and Ben Joossen came together and started this project. We met at a Startup Weekend in Brussels and through Bryo. Building a project in our free time (after work) required some additional help and advice. Therefore, we decided to also apply for the Boostcamp of Microsoft Innovation Center Brussels.

In the last couple of months, we developed a prototype from the ground up, we 3D printed our prototypes, explored the market and with help of the Boostcamp validated the business plan. Without the invaluable input from the guys and girls at the Microsoft Innovation Center we would not have been able to win the Grand Price!

During the project, we learned a lot about marketing, technical and the business side. We developed a system to find influencers in the market, who will be able to help us get the word out about our product and we analyzed the typical customers willing to buy our product.

We also dived into full geeky detail on the technical aspects of the hardware (camera, processor, battery) and software (cloud, app development, …). We actually managed to shrink down the prototype from about 20x15cm to 4x4cm!

And we drawed about 140 designs of the camera and did contests to decide the best out of them.

On top of the hard learnings, we now also better appreciate the hard work one has to put into building a startup. Doing a startup requires a skillset in a multitude of regions, all of which will together define if the project is a success. The Boostcamp definitely has helped us broaden our skillset, to give this project all the chance it needs to succeed!

For other startups out there, our advice would be:

• Validate your market as soon as possible. Build your startup using lean principles, so that you do not waste time and money on useless stuff.
• Keep your communications internally and externally top-notch. If you do this after work, meet regularly (virtually) to keep in sink.
• Do not underestimate the marketing side of your startup. You will have to get the word out about your product, and that will require significant time! Start early!
• If you want to start a Kickstarter for a physical product, count on 6+ months of work BEFORE the Kickstarter, and 10-16 months AFTER the Kickstarter campaign. Do not forget the certification required to put products on the market!

It was one hell of a rollercoaster till now, but it’s well worth the effort! The real work starts today!