Robots? Not in my home

I wrote about the unexpected demise of startup Anki, maker of the playful toy robot Cozmo. It's a punch in the gut for the nearly 200 employees losing their jobs today. It's also another disappointment for robot enthusiasts who hoped Anki's life-like creations would help spark a wave of sociable robots in the home. Among the Cozmo owners I talked with for this story is superfan David Schaefer, who owns 14 Cozmos and two Vectors (Cozmo's newer cousin) and uses them to create short films on his Life with Cozmo channel on YouTube. He's helped start a #SaveAnki hashtag in hopes that a bigger company (Amazon? Microsoft? Mattel? Hasbro?) might scoop up the startup and keep its products going. Anki says it's already been exploring a lot of options and a last-minute negotiation with a significant investor didn't work out. All of this raises questions about whether there's a marketable future for this kind of personality-driven home robot. What do you think?

All good things must come to an end, but this one hurts. It’s been a hell of a ride with Anki for the past almost 6 years and it honestly was one of the best companies I have ever worked for. I am so proud of what we have achieved over the years. More importantly I am proud of having been part of an outstanding group of driven, smart, genuine folks that became family. I would vouch and work with anyone of them again in a heartbeat. If you are looking for A-players let me know and I will happily make a connection. Thank you Anki and a heartfelt thank you to our partners, supporters and friends along the way, for an incredible run. #robotics #startups #retailing #channelmarketing #newbeginnings #marketing #retail #management #brickandmortar #peoplemanagement #instoremarketing #peoplemakeithappen

To all of the dreamers, designers, and builders of Anki we are so sorry to see an end of this chapter in consumer robotics. #robot #robotics At Silicon Valley Robotics and Circuit Launch we know intimately how hardware is hard! We would like to offer the employees of any hardware startup that suddenly goes under a free 3 month entrepreneur level membership* (24/7 access to all facilities, shared labs, tools and equipment). Take some time to work on a personal project, get together and brainstorm, and network with our hardware community! #founders #startups #hardware #hardwareishard

I'm sad to say the wonderful experience that Anki has been for me the past almost 5 years at its end. We pushed the boundaries of practical robotics, AI with emotional intelligence, and gave it our best but in the end couldn't make it. I will truly miss the wonderful, diverse, generous group of people I've had the privilege to work with. #Anki On to the next adventure. If you've got a good idea for me send me a message.

Anki was a special place. The tech is stellar, the people even better and a culture that will be hard to match. This was my first internal role after doing the agency grind for nearly a decade and will truly miss telling Anki's unique story to candidates day in and day out. With that said, doors open and close all the time, and I'm looking forward to what the future will entail. Hit me up if you know of any contract recruiting or FT needs. Happy to network and help these lovely people the best I can! https://lnkd.in/gvzNeYX

Devastated and shocked that the amazing journey at Anki has come to a sudden end. It’s been a privilege to have been part of such a talented team and to work with such groundbreaking product that brought joy to so many. Hoping that everyone at Anki can find something new quickly - if any of my contacts are looking for “A team” players across sales, marketing, channel marketing, PR, customer care, ops etc in the UK or beyond, please get in touch Time to raise a glass to the amazing achievements that our little team and robots delivered in just a few short years... ?? ?? #robots

NO! NO! NO! My favorite robotics company goes bust. R.I.P. ANKI https://lnkd.in/gFKRswR #robotics #anki

Anki is shutting down. Wow. As an entrepreneur, I can’t tell you how many times in the past people said to us “You guys are killing it!” while in reality we were struggling mightily on a daily basis. It’s never as easy as it appears on the outside looking in. Well, I’m guilty of it in this situation. I have been watching Anki since the start. Brilliant founders from Carnegie Mellon, well funded and what seemed to be an incredible product pipeline with multiple successes. They had terrific placement, won several product awards and were darlings of Silicon Valley (which is not easy to be when you make toys). Businesses, like life, are fragile. Every day matters and you can never take your eye off the ball. I empathize with you, Anki and you deserve to be viable and thriving. So sorry to read this. https://lnkd.in/ejBNiVc