Dialogue with Yarbo Huang Yang: "Creating a new brand is better than creating a new category" | Cross border Hall of Fame Issue 51

"On In the process of building new brands, especially in mature categories, there are indeed huge challenges. However, creating a new category is the most effective way to quickly establish a new brand. ”Huang Yang, founder of Yarbo Hanyang Technology Tell Hugo Cross border 。

In the wave of brand going to sea, For most For enterprises, It is still a common practice to pursue short-term profits rather than long-term brand building 。 But for hope Through product force For companies building brands, focusing on long-term brand building and innovation rather than pursuing short-term gains is a more sensible choice, and is also a more favored target of the capital market. 【 excavate Blue Ocean Market, broaden Explosives Category ， Focus 2 024 CC EE Hugo Cross border Exhibition, And industry Catena Big sale Chat freely New products Explosives development logic 。 （ Click Appointment ） mogul Private party 】

Recently, Hugo cross-border Hanyang Technology The founder Huang Yang learned from the conversation that they already By the end of 2023, we will complete another round of A3 financing of nearly ten million dollars A2 round financing of 20 million US dollars Only a few months.

The investors in this round of financing include a strategic party, cableway investment, Xirong Shandao and Zhongxin Group. Gengxin Capital acted as the long-term exclusive strategic financial adviser.

The pen The financing will also be invested in the mass production of other functional modules and additional components, including grass cutting and leaf blowing. This will further enhance the modular advantages of Yarbo's intelligent courtyard products and create a real universal robot for all scenes in the courtyard.

Photo source: Yarbo snow sweeping robot is working on snow sweeping

Plus this A3 round of financing, In 2023 alone, Yarbo completed four rounds of financing, with a total financing amount of tens of millions of dollars, becoming one of the enterprises obtaining the most financing in the field of yard robots.

In this dialogue with Huang Yang, the founder of Yarbo, Hugo cross-border internationalization The course and industry insight were discussed in depth.

Touch the stone to cross the river and create One New category

In the process of product development, testing and user feedback, Hanyang Technology It has experienced a long development cycle.

from two thousand and fifteen Founded in, their team spent about six It has developed 5-6 Substitute products, carry out internal test and public test two thousand and twenty-one The world's first household intelligent snow sweeping robot was officially launched in Snowbot 。

two thousand and twenty-two In, it launched a three in one intelligent courtyard robot Yarbo Become the world's first modular consumer garden machine people ， It can be used in different application scenarios such as snow sweeping in winter, grass cutting in spring, summer and autumn, and leaf blowing in autumn. This product has opened up a new category, which is widely commented Kickstarter The platform robot crowdfunding project ranks first in the world.

Photo source: Yarbo three in one intelligent courtyard robot

In fact, many people do not think too much about the cost of time when doing the work they love And benefits Because what they pursue is the meaning and value of work , just like the founder Huang Yang.

Huang Yang is a man of science and engineering, He has a high pursuit of technology. he He graduated from Xi'an Jiaotong University with a bachelor's degree and Hong Kong Polytechnic University with a master's degree. He once worked for ASM, a world-famous semiconductor packaging equipment company, in Singapore.

Compared with making money, Huang Yang is more concerned with how to turn technology into useful tools to help people solve practical problems. Nearly 70% of the population in the United States live in snow areas, which means that a large number of residents need to deal with the problem of snow in winter. Traditional snow cleaning equipment has some limitations, such as manual operation, time-consuming and labor-intensive, inefficient, etc. and Snow sweeping robot can help Users Reduce physical labor, and even avoid injuries and fatal accidents caused by snow sweeping.

Photo source: Comparison between traditional hand propelled snow sweeper (left) and Yarbo (right) in actual use scenarios

For entrepreneurs, they may face the choice of whether to choose the opportunity to make money quickly or to stick to long-term value Huang Yang firmly chose the latter, Because they believe that by creating technologies that are beneficial to society, they can finally realize commercial value.

What they seek is to build a sustainable enterprise, or even become a century old shop. Therefore, although there may be no direct economic return in the short term, in the long term, solving social problems through technological innovation will eventually bring stable market position and economic benefits to enterprises.

This innovative model, which is oriented to solving practical problems, is one of the important strategies for the sustainable development of science and technology enterprises.

Get real data, "bubble" test in cold places

After eight years of precipitation, Yarbo will Successfully completed the large-scale delivery of snow sweeping robot products 。

Huang Yang defines its products as A class of consumer products Special robots, namely A special device used in a special environment, which is different from many ordinary 3C robots 。

As it is a new category, they encountered many difficulties in the process of research and development.

The first is the supply chain ， The early market could not find mature suppliers, so they had to build the whole supply chain from scratch and build their own factories, so whole body investment Of The cycle and time are relatively long 。

In the process of product polishing, they found that the battery would have problems after minus 30 degrees, All circuit structures, reducers and motors will appear Low temperature problem To solve the problem of low temperature has become their primary task. Therefore, a lot of time constraints in the product development process are supply chain problems.

With the continuous optimization of the supply chain, its shipment has gone from 100 units to 10000 units Table level Steady growth, thanks to their increased investment in the factory in 2023, the number of employees in the factory was close to 500 at the peak The decoration of the new factory is completed and put into use, estimate The production capacity will be further enhanced, and semi-automatic equipment will be introduced to improve the overall industrial efficiency.

along with The cost will gradually decrease with the maturity of technology and the expansion of production scale , whose goal is Realize the price of the product is user-friendly.

The second is testing ， because Due to the product characteristics, what they did Snow sweeping robot It needs to be tested in the snow. Early funding was limited, so they could only choose to test in China, but the one-year test cycle in snow was very short ， Huang Yang mentioned them I had to go to Mohe, Harbin and other places for testing. I stayed there for four or five months.

Photo source: Yarbo staff are testing

because he Our products are oriented to overseas markets, so different environmental factors, such as snow quality, latitude, humidity, yard and road signals, need to be taken into consideration. These factors will affect the design and implementation of the product, so field tests are needed to ensure that the product can operate normally on the customer's site 。

Now? Huang Yang and He Our team members It will spend 4-5 months in the United States every year China, Canada and other places to test to ensure the performance of products in the real environment.

Co creation with users : Crowdfunding is a stepping stone

In order to gain market acceptance of innovative products and potential user demand, Yarbo chose crowdfunding, which is also the initial stage of many DTC brands. Before the project was launched, Huang Yang mentioned that "we need to do a series of preparatory work to ensure the success of the project". Looking back, there are several keys to the success of Hanyang Science and Technology crowdfunding:

First of all, the product must be innovative and attractive enough to really touch the heart of the target group 。 Because crowdfunding participants bear high risks —— Including possible non delivery of products, quality problems or function discrepancies , so The product must provide core user value.

Secondly, delivery capability is also critical. enterprise It is necessary to prove that the company has the ability and reputation to deliver products to users. The establishment of trust can be achieved through past media reports, exhibition experience and support from well-known brands or investors. These can increase the transparency and credibility of the project.

Finally, interaction with users cannot be ignored. Crowdfunding should not only be a one-time fund raising activity, but also need to maintain continuous communication with users. Update information and share progress, so that users can feel that a real team is working hard behind. This can not only establish trust, but also continue to maintain the relationship with users after the project is completed.

Huang Yang said “ Our core concept has always been customer first, we firmly believe in the importance of putting users first, and we have invested a lot of resources to achieve this goal. We always listen to users' feedback and respond to their questions in a timely manner. ”

In the field of crowdfunding, crowdfunding participants are not just ordinary users, It is also a co creator of products, This sense of participation can make users feel that their opinions are valued, and can participate in the entire life cycle of the product, from conception to design to the final product launch.

Huang Yang It is believed that this co creation model is crucial for building strong brand loyalty and user satisfaction. By working closely with users, we can better understand their needs and expectations, so as to create more attractive and practical products. At the same time, this cooperation mode also helps to enhance users' sense of trust and belonging to the brand.

In addition, for entrepreneurs who want to go overseas through crowdfunding channels, it is particularly important to choose products that meet the needs and consumption habits of overseas markets. These products need to have certain international competitiveness and be able to meet the specific needs of overseas users in terms of design and function.

Disruptors or followers? position Decision strategy

For start-ups in transition to go overseas or give priority to overseas business, Huang Yang It is believed that, Different types of enterprise Have their own advantages and challenges, Like the pyramid, everyone has his own position. Some are subverters, innovators, and followers 。

For example, Traders usually focus on selling goods to foreign markets, and their core competitiveness lies in supply chain management and market insight. For this kind of enterprise For example, it is a feasible strategy to continue to strengthen their advantages in the field of trade, without rushing to invest a lot of resources in R&D and innovation. Of course, this does not mean that they cannot try to transform, but if they want to enter the field of brand building and product innovation, they need to reassess and adjust their organizational structure, talent team and business model, which involves considerable risks and challenges.

Factory type enterprise They may have the ability of production and manufacturing, and they may already be doing OEM or OEM for international brands. If they want to transform and establish their own brands, they need to shift from production orientation to brand and market orientation, which means that they need to invest and innovate in product design, brand marketing, channel construction, etc. Although this may bring higher brand premium, success is not easy, and many enterprises encounter failure in the process of transformation.

For those start-ups focusing on R&D and innovation, their advantages lie in product innovation and technology. These enterprises should use their technological advantages to expand their business through cooperation with international partners or direct investment in overseas markets. But at the same time, they also need to adapt to the market demand and regulatory requirements of different countries and regions, and obtain higher profit margins by improving product design and brand value.

However, no matter what type of enterprise it is, the key is to clearly understand its own advantages and limitations, and make strategic choices according to its own resources and capabilities. For some enterprises, focusing on improving the efficiency and quality of existing business may be a more prudent choice. For those enterprises who are interested in transformation and innovation, they also need to make full preparations, including capital investment, talent training and market research.

(Source: Molly talking about independent station)