Notion co-founder and CTO, Ryan Margoles, worked hard with his team to find ways to make Notion better than ever. With the release of Gen 3, customers will see a drastic improvement in the signal range of our sensors and bridges.
These product updates included help from Silicon Labs, the company Notion has partnered with to manufacture the microcontroller in our sensors and bridges.
Read Ryan's interview with Silicon Labs below:
Tell us about the history of Notion. What was the impetus for starting the company and what were the immediate challenges?
The idea for Notion was literally sparked by a sounding alarm in the middle of the night. My wife and I had just adopted a puppy and our carbon monoxide alarm went off at 2am; it was a pretty jarring experience. We jumped out of bed and opened all the windows and exited the house. Fortunately it was only the furnace fizzling out. The next day, I called my business partner and childhood friend, Brett, with the idea to make a WiFi connected smoke/carbon monoxide alarm. We set out to learn more about the value proposition of a smart smoke alarm, and how we could make it valuable for customers. We learned quickly that people loved the use case, but were not used to buying smoke or CO2 alarms; they are usually already installed in the apartment or in the home you buy.
The product evolved and coalesced into a concept of a single sensor that could do multiple things: listen for smoke/CO2 alarms, detect movement, doors and windows opening/closing, freezing temperature, and leak detection. The competition offered several single-function sensors: a door sensor, a temperature sensor or a leak sensor. In our opinion, this was a barrier to entry for people who aren’t as tech savvy. We knew we had found the right idea to pursue.
What is your background?
I have a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Colorado. My background is in product development, manufacturing and big data. I spent most of my early career with Titleist and Callaway developing smart golf clubs.
When you set out to do this, size and battery power were obvious considerations. What were some other known design challenges?
There were three challenges on the onset: 1.) Battery usage: Battery power and replacing batteries every three months is tough for a customer to get used to; it’s a hassle. Our Gen 1 kit had a coin-cell battery that was difficult to swap out. We learned over time that just two AAA alkaline batteries was important since they are readily available and easy to change out. 2.) Ingress protection: Devices that are placed outside, in really cold environments or used for water leaks need to limit the amount of water that gets into the devices. 3.) Simple user experience: it was a challenge to design a simple user setup. One of the areas of opportunity was the pairing process.With most smart devices, you have to go through a pairing process. We identified that as a pain point for users so we developed our own protocol for pairing devices. Our goal is ease-of use. Every device is the same. It detects all five “senses” and device tasks are 100% configurable in the Notion smartphone app.
How did Silicon Labs became part of Notion?
First and foremost, the account management team at Silicon Labs is easy to work with. We were able to get the answers we needed to make important decisions and the SiLabs team availed themselves to all-levels of the Notion organization, from executives to hardware engineers. Second, the Gecko platform allows us to configure specific protocols and free our team to focus on other things. Previously, the Notion team developed everything - from OTA update mechanisms to the security protocols. It was very labor intensive. SiLabs helped alleviate much of this burden, Third, the Silicon Labs team spent the time building rapport and working with us on a pricing model that worked for our start-up.
What’s been the market’s response to Notion?
Overwhelmingly positive. It’s the best multi-functional sensor on the market with its simple 15-minutes-or-less set up, increased range, and long battery life. Our channel strategy includes not only B2C, but also B2B; we are partnered with several of the top insurance companies in the U.S. Similar to car sensors that help lower your insurance premiums for good driving, we’ve pursued a similar path for home ownership. Now a homeowner or renter can augment their monthly premium by installing Notion. Additionally, we’re the first IoT company to have a partnership with HomeAdvisor. So if you have a water leak, we not only detect it, but we can connect you with an available plumber in your area within 30 seconds.
What do you see is the vision for the future of Notion, and the IoT in general?
We believe the services extension of IoT is changing what it means to have a smart home. Being a homeowner is hard and our mission is to help you take care of your home. We have a 10-year goal of making Notion a requirement to obtain property insurance -- that’s how powerful we think our product and data is. We partnered with one of our insurance partners, Hippo, to be the first fully-integrated smart insurance product on the market. Every customer who buys Hippo insurance receives a Notion starter kit for free. Once the customer sets up their Notion system, they get an exclusive discount on their premium. We’re driving insurance to make a change while adding thoughtful services to the Notion brand to help homeowners take care of and secure their home.
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