In my trip to the Bay Area this weekend, I was able to catch up with friends and family. My brother works at Oracle and my sister works at Intuit. So, we take for granted a lot of our friends work in high tech.
One of the good conversations I had was with Doug Case, VP of Sales for iControl.
Offer Your Customers The Next Generation of Home Protection
Specifically designed for resale by home protection companies and service providers, the Home Security 2.0 integrated solution adds broadband and mobile access, low-cost IP cameras and remote lighting, thermostat and lock controls to traditional monitored security systems for the ultimate consumer experience.
I like talking to Doug and understanding what his company is doing as a strategy. They are putting a monitoring infrastructure in the home which supports a bunch of different scenarios like security, video, temperature/thermostat, and energy. And, their first scenario is security given the marketplace and their target consumer market. When price points for devices are reached, they will add other monitoring scenarios like energy management. It does make sense their company is called iControl as it is about achieving better control of things in the home.
iControl also reached a milestone by receiving VC funding from Kleiner Perkins and getting John Doerr on their board. Here is some background on John Doerr a big guy in the Green VC space.
His success in venture capital has garnered national attention; he has been and is currently listed on Forbes Magazine's exclusive "Midas List" and is widely regarded as one of the top technology venture capitalists in the world.
Today, Doerr remains one of Silicon Valley's most influential figures. Forbes magazine estimates his net worth to be well over $1 billion. Doerr is a high profile supporter of the Democratic Party in Silicon Valley. Through the TechNet (lobbying organization) he helped found, he has devoted much time and money towards impacting legislation beneficial to the technology and venture capital industries.
Doerr has also invested heavily in "carbon trading" and is a big advocate of its use. In a 2007 TED confrence he was brought to tears using his daughters remarks on "saving the world" urging people to invest in carbon credits as a solution for global warming[[1]].
I am looking to add iControl in my next remodel as it is an interesting way to play around with the same ideas as a data center monitoring system. There are devices out there, but they are not priced for the home market.