Movers & Shakers Interview with Peter Weizs, CEO - Foxsmart Systems GmbH
Published Date: 1/27/2021
Peter Weisz is Swiss-Israeli Entrepeneur, Inventor and Investor. Born 1970 in Munich, Germany. MBA from LMU, Munich.
- Founder of Fitinstructor, a health conditioning and nutrition webservice.
- Founder of WM Fahne 2006, sold more than 4 Million Car flags during the FIFA 2006 World Cup in Germany and the 2008 FIFA EURO in Austria/Switzerland.
- CEO of Swiss Nahrin AG, managed successful turnaround of Nahrin daughter companies in Russia, Ukraine, Estonia and Latvia between 2009 and 2013.
- Invented and developed the Findy Eyeglasses tracker, smallest and lightest tracking device in the world
Vishal Sapru (VS), Co-Founder, Cognitio Research Inc. had an opportunity to conduct a Movers & Shakers interview with Peter Weisz (PW), CEO, Foxsmart Systems GmbH
VS: Please, describe your product for our readers? How does it work and are there any similar products available in the market?
PW: Findy attaches with adhesive stripes to the inner part or the end (temple tip) to the temple of Eyeglasses. It works with a free App “Findy by Foxsmart” available on the Google Play Store and the App Store. The App is really a piece of cake. We tried to keep it as simple and functional as possible. There is only one main screen. The icons on the screen are large enough so you can see them even if you don’t have your glasses. The large circle icon in the middle of the screen is grey if there is no connection to the Findy and turns green as soon as a connection is established. Our customers now simply tap the green circle to make the Alarm of the Findy sound.
The App also has a “last connection” function by which a map is displayed and the location of the last established connection is displayed, in case that you left your glasses behind outside your home or your office.
There is also a “smart track” function, in case you don’t want to sound an Alarm to locate your misplaced Eyeglasses. In this scenario the App will ask you to take a position in the middle of a room, turn 360 degrees counterclockwise and as a result the direction to your Findy will be displayed. As soon as you start walking into that direction the App will indicate the distance from your Findy.
VS: What inspired you to start the company?
PW: I lost a pair of expensive sunglasses once, a long time ago , when playing ball with a friend in the Mediterranean sea. After the game was finished I realized that I had lost my sunglasses. As I am kind of stubborn person, I took a pair of swimming goggles and screened the whole seebed while swimming to the shallow water. It took me 3 hours but eventually I found my sunglasses. I guess, that was the moment, the Findy was born.
VS: What is your vision for the company?
PW: Continue to provide an easy and affordable solution for many people who just don’t want to look for their lost glasses anymore. We will continue to make the product smaller, leaner and thrive to increase the connectivity distance.
VS: What’s your core market? Who is your ideal customer?
PW: Our core market is the US right now. We only sell through pure organic traffic via our website www.foxsmart.eu. I guess we must have done something right in SEO. A typical customer is a person who knows someone who often loses or misplaces his/her glasses. These are often people suffering from mild Dementia or Alzheimer. Findy is often purchased by caregivers (who are mostly family members of Dementia patients.). Another important target group are parents of kids, who often lose their glasses in school.
VS: What are some of the likely challenges Foxsmart Systems is likely to face in the market and what strategy do you have in place to overcome it?
PW: The only theoretical challenge that could come up in the future is that someone develops a Eyeglasses locator, which is even smaller than the Findy. As we, ourselves, try to be at the edge of technical advancements of most of our potential component suppliers we think that we will stay ahead of the market at all times. Another possible thread would be the development of a GPS capable tracker small enough and light enough to fit on glasses.
VS: What is the most critical initiative you are working on now and how do plan on achieving it?
PW: We have opened a spin off called PulseWave which thrives to revolutionize the way CVD Patients are remotely monitored. This solution will also be associated with Eyewear.
VS: What is the unique value proposition of your product and its key competitive differentiators? Are there any unique features of your product that address unmet customer needs?
PW: Findy is, today, the only Bluetooth locator device that is suitable for Eyewear. The customer need, which the Findy meets is to free people from asking “where are my glasses”
VS: What is your strategy in regards to offering best value to customers for the price, compared to similar offerings from competitors? if any? At what price point do you intend to bring the device to market?
PW: It’s important to emphasize that the Findy is sold in international markets already. This is not something that is in the future. It is here already. Findy retails for $39.95. As a main differentiator from our competitors each Findy comes with a free adapter which allows our customers to attach the Findy to other items, except eyeglasses. With the adapter it can be attached to any other item, which is often lost or misplaced, such as keys, bags, etc. The adapter is free! The Findy, therefore, is the only tracking device on the market which can be used for Eyewear and anything else you don’t want to lose.
VS: What do you want the company to accomplish in next 5 years and how will you define success?
PW: We are showcasing at CES2021 in order to find distribution partners in Europe, North America, South America and APAC. We will regard is a huge success if the Findy will be picked up by retail chains and introduced to a broad audience. One of our KPI’s is to achieve a market share of 10% of the general tracker markets in the aforementioned countries.
VS: Is the product commercially available or is it still in production stage? Also, do you foresee the acceptance of your product to have influence (trend setter) on the overall direction of the market?
PW: As mentioned above the product is available already. We have high hopes that Findy will change the perception of the Eyewear industry. As of today many Eyewear professionals have an approach of: “it is ok if my customers lose their glasses. They will buy more glasses from me if the lose them”. Findy has set out to change that fundamentally.
VS: Are there any vendors in the market with complementing or similar products. How do you compare yourself with such competitors in regards to offering Best-in-Class solution?
PW: Our main competitors in the Bluetooth locator market are TrackR, Tile and Chipollo. None of them has a rechargeable solution, which is small and light enough for Eyewear. From that point of your Findy is best in class in it’s own class.
VS: Do you plan to form any strategic alliances and/or partnerships? How do you plan to build and strengthen the brand? Have you partnered with eye glass companies and retail channels to push your product?
PW: We would be happy to form strategic alliances and partnerships with any organization that can help to spread the Findy solution. We tried to partner with eye glass companies in the past but were rejected because of their approach mentioned above. It already looks like CES2021 has changed that.
VS: As a general conclusion, what do you think the future holds for your product?
PW: We will be able to enhance the connection range of Findy already from the 2nd quarter of this year. We will implement full Bluetooth 5.1 standard by then and provide the best locator range on the market. We will also implement a new, rechargeable battery with an even longer lifetime.