Startup Idea Every Day #12: Integrated Home Electronics

Why does Sonos crush it? Because I can control the speakers in my house without getting up, I don't even have to stop what I'm doing. Sonos adds a phenominal amount of convenience to the home, which is exactly what this startup idea is about. Sonos is great for speakers, but what my coffee maker, my refrigerator, or even my lights? Could I get a push notification when the water is running? How about a text if my stove is on too long? If you wanted a startup idea with exorbitantly high startup costs and huge potential return, you got it.

I've had a sneaking suspicion that people are getting very sick of software, and that computer interfaces are becoming less and less desirable, while the practical, wearable, and tangible technology is growing rapidly (have you seen Jawbone, Fitbit, and Fitbug?). So let's assume that yes, people do want to control their blender with their smartphone, how badly would it suck to have to download an app for your blender, stove, oven, lighting, heating, cooling, speakers, cabinets, and water? The idea behind this company is to create a suite of home products that all run on one interface, for consistent user experience. The same way you can pick up any iPhone in the world and immediately know how it works.

The way to start a company like this? Create a smartphone app that has an SDK and API, so that when Keurig comes out with their new coffee maker, they can take an extra step in development to make it connectable to your app. This way you could avoid the costs of building an manufacturing all of these products yourself.

In short, integrating household electronics is going to the most baller move for mobile devices in this decade.