When Google released its Chromecast wireless dongle that let users stream content from phone apps and web browsers to any TV it could be plugged into, it was well received in all the markets it launched in, for its simplicity and affordability.
Around eight months later, Indian buyers got the choice of another device that did the same things, and allowed them to play their local media content on their television wirelessly.
Teewe, as this device is known, was designed and manufactured by Bengaluru-based Creo, a company that has since gone on to introduce their tweaked version of the Android OS on their own smartphone, the Mark 1.
In some ways, Creo, which was started in early 2014 by Sai and co-founder Shubham Malhotra, represents the startup culture of Bengaluru, a community of young people with a desire to build things. “We started out as a bunch of movie and TV buffs who wanted to build a really cool set top box that could play live television and also stream content from the Internet and home media,” says Sai, adding that they abandoned that plan when they realised it was a closed ecosystem that was difficult to change.
“So we went about building a device that could play your local media wirelessly, and the fact that we launched a few months after Chromecast was a huge coincidence.”
Sai believes that products like theirs would inevitably end up in cities like Bengaluru.
“It's just the culture Bengaluru has, with a lot of engineers and designers who just want to build things. There was no terrific market researched involved, we just wanted to build something we would use, and that is what happens with a lot of companies, and those devices get accepted by consumers.”
After refining Teewe with a better form factor and hardware, Sai and team decided to try their hand at some software. "Teewe runs on Android, and over time we automated it to a point where a couple of people could manage the whole thing, so we decided to use that expertise to make a mobile operating system based on Android."
The result was Fuel OS, a version of Android with features developed by the Creo team. And to showcase the software, which Sai eventually hopes to provide to other phonemakers, the team went ahead and made their own phone, the Mark 1. However, Sai holds firm that getting into product design and manufacture was not to go against the grain for the sake of it. "We felt that to explain what we wanted to do, we had to build the hardware ourselves, and it was a gruelling process. Not to say that software startups do not have their own struggles. But we've never been afraid to do what other people might consider stupid. If it fails, we learn from it and move on."
Another advantage of being based out of Bengaluru is the close knit community, he says. "I met Shubham my co-founder through a college friend and Rachit Rastogi our Chief Product Officer was a junior of mine from IIT Kanpur. In fact, almost all the people we recruited were referred to us, we've barely had to do any external hiring. The advantage of going on a crazy mission is that a lot of people will be ready to sign up because if we get there, it'll be worth it."
With their software, Creo hopes to help not just end customers, but also the phone manufacturers who use Fuel OS. "The fact about the ecosystem is that everyone apart from the manufacturer of the phone makes money, and when they try and sustain themselves by tying up with companies and pre-loading software, they are criticised. But a business needs to be sustainable, and we want to help manufacturers monetise the software in a non-intrusive way," he says, explaining that the company also tries to incorporate suggestions from its users and develop features for them.
While giving hardware the same focus as software in a service-dominated city has been rewarding, it has had its tough moments. "If you look at it, every great revolution in technology was aided by hardware. Even Facebook and Twitter would not be as massive as they are today if not for the smartphone. We tried local manufacture but that did not work out, and there is also a lack of mentorship when it comes to building hardware at the moment. But thankfully, we had a lot of support.”
Sai says that Creo's next objective is to make Fuel OS a functional part of daily life for its users, and to get more feedback from the local community in Bengaluru. "We are still a ways from embracing our own products. So I would want to make great products and sell them to the guys in this city, because they are the best people to give me feedback.”
