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Aug 8

Root Cause #1: The Technology, Product, & Strategy Matrix

The most significant thing I learned in my time in the smart glass industry is that the underlying technology, manufacturing processes, and the product design are significant determinants of whether or not a company will be successful.  That may sound like an exaggeration, but I believe this combination of factors are leading indicators of success. 


I observed the cascading effects of technology and product selection playing out like this: 

  1. Technology and product specification dictated equipment selection 

  2. Equipment selection established capabilities 

  3. Capabilities established the role in the market, and 

  4. Role in the market defined the company’s strategy. 


Journey to success from tech to product to strategy

Therefore, the combination of technology and product specification defines the strategy. 


To illustrate, let’s map this out for View and HALIO and compare the differences in strategy: 


View, Inc

Product Spec: EC chemistry coated onto the outboard lite on surface 2, encapsulated by the air gap in the IG

Major Equipment: Sputter Coater and the full range of glass processing equipment required to make an IGU 

Capabilities: EC deposition, IGU manufacturing 

Roles in the market: Technology developer and Fabricator (and eventually electrician and glazier) 


Strategy

As the technology developer and fabricator, View had an overwhelmingly large scope to manage.  It started with selling a developer on using the technology, pulling that spec through with architects, GCs, glaziers and electricians, manufacturing the smart IGU, and project managing the coordination of trades and commissioning of the system. 


The overhead costs to staff this strategy alone are staggering, but the complexity to coordinate it all was even worse. By the time View declared bankruptcy, they had extended even further beyond the roles of tech developer and fabricator when they began self-performing the electrical scope and then eventually trying to buy out the glazing scope as well.  The scope and risk creep had them way out over their skis in their attempt to manage the pull through and execution of a project.  


HALIO, Inc

Tech: Slot Die Coated EC 

Product Spec: EC chemistry encapsulated by laminated 1.2mm borosilicate thin glass, and integrated into an IGU via lamination between two 5mm or 6mm carrier lites.  

Major Equipment: Slot die coaters and all supporting equipment to create an EC thin glass laminate

Capabilities: EC thin laminate manufacturing 

Role in the market: Technology developer and supplier to fabricators


Strategy

HALIO primarily went to market as a supplier to the market, supplying their EC laminate to a fabricator and working alongside them to sell a project.  On paper, this model was setup to leverage the respective strengths of each player - HALIO would focus on winning the product spec with the developer and architect and would manufacture the underlying smart glass technology, and the fabricator would manage their long standing relationship with the glazier and build a quality IGU with the aesthetic and performance features that the project required. 


In practice, this model had a number of challenges, largely as a result of the fragility of the EC device, the degree of difficulty and cost in fabricating it, and the EC manufacturing site being located in Asia.  Additionally, the fabricator and the technology company had competing needs, where the fabricator’s primary need was to manage risk and protect their core business, HALIO’s core need was to demonstrate traction to their investor base by winning projects and scaling revenue to attract follow-on investment.

 

The challenges these two companies faced as a result of their tech/product/strategy choices leave a blueprint for future companies and their investors to carefully consider as they chart a path forward. 




About the Author:

Jonathan Hafemann

Jonathan Hafemann is the Vice President Growth and Commercialization at NEXT Energy Technologies. He is an expert at developing scalable go-to-market strategies for early-stage property and climate technology solutions. His focus on sustainable solutions for the built market accelerates the transition to a net zero future. Follow Jonathan on LinkedIn



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