Sup Forums, im going to enter an entrepreneurship program for my university. the prize is $10...

Sup Forums, im going to enter an entrepreneurship program for my university. the prize is $10,000 and it relies on a business idea, business plan, and then a presentation to judges, much like the TV show shark tank.

I gave the idea already but need help on how to implement the product example. this is optional but usually influences the judges heavily to have a working demo of some minor sort.

My idea / product is an open source / free and transparent self-hosted cloud server and device controller for the future "smart home". Instead of relying on other services and companies, you can buy a server and software from the company and have it presetup or do it yourself on your own hardware. the server would run a web interface for controliing smart home utilities like temperature, ac, window blinds, fridge all that stuff. easy to use so your layman could use it.

free and open source so u know the product isnt selling you out.

the business plan would be selling product support, feature updates subscriptions, a smart home product line, and extra hardware. security updates are always free.

how could i create a demo for this idea? the money could help pay off my student debt. i have until april to do this.

this is a competition. I've talked with a lot of other competitors about their ideas and none are as ambitious as mine. However, they are more succinct and easier to demo.

Sorry for the typos. I did this on my phone's terrible soft-keyboard and didn't proof before posting.

The thing with simple ideas is they are easy to demo. One girl is going to do a gluten free bakery, for example. All she needs to do is bake and bring in baked goods and a business plan.

your idea is shit, open source doesnt sell, consider telling them its proprietary and secret that will make them more interested and will vote your idea (even if its a lie), also who is that semen demon?

the product would have most self hosted utulities that a good home server would too. cloud storage, carddav caldav server, media streaming, security cameras, wifi control, just a big hub for the futuristic "smart home".

Do you really want to buy and recommend a service in home that will have microphones and cameras at your home? I wouldn't. I think even your layman these days at least understands that putting that stuff in your home is a privacy risk. People are aware of the risks of surveillance with technology. The goal here is to make a highly convenient and free/privacy centric offering that is modular and easy to use.

doesn't have to be implemented just pitched and demoed as a bonus.

Ill worry about the business income and plan. i could use some help designing a demo though.

people are willing to sacrifice privacy and freedom for convenience. we know this well by now. but a product that was convenient to use but also respected user privacy and freedom could work if done right.

people used to hate computers and thought they were confusing until Apple came along and convinced them it wqs so easy to use apple. It just works. Ultimately it was a ruse but it got people to try and use their products which were optimized for the user experience. A user centric designed experience could work well in something like that.

Perhaps I should focus on demoing a tech product that is easy to use and very feature-ful!

the semen demon is bjork and then some random ass Asian cutie. but lets get back on track here

free doesn't rhyme with business

Sure I'll work for you if you pay me half the prize upfront.

not free as in $0

i know

Ok, 500$

im just asking for some suggestions for a small tech demo of it. i can design a good looking html/css webpage portal for it to show.

the pitch here is that you own and control the device so it doesn't spy on your own home, which is something a lot of people as apprehensive about.
also, its easy as hell to use and maintain with automatic security updates and an easy to use ux

im starting to think i should go talk to /diy/ and just make threads here when i want to install a gtk theme for linux. fuck.

and of course, its a unifying central device for IoT appliances and all computing devices.

>Do you really want to buy and recommend a service in home that will have microphones and cameras at your home?

i agree too but the markets disagrees. The market is composed by idiots and idiots will buy anything.
Amazon echo,Iphones ect ect all those devices spy on you activly and passively but the public still buys them...

>suggestions for a small tech demo

Well what are the most visually impressive features of a smarthome? Probably something like turning on hallway lights when you get home (when your phone connects to wifi, maybe) or telling the voice recognition units to open your blinds (or google stuff I guess), as you mentioned.

So your tech demo would either have to be you physically bringing in some lamps and blinds and shit, and controlling them with your phone, or you could make a "conceptual demo" in some 3d software and show a dude walking around his house doing shit with his phone or whatever.

I dunno man, I'm not even sure if a smarthome is the same thing as Google Home or Alexa. All I ever see in those ads are "Google turn off the lights. Google, what's the weather" and random searches you could easily do on a computer or phone

i agree but this isnt a real product. at least now. its a competition against some normie sophomores.

i agree people will likely follow social brands and trends. just need to pitch a good product and the twist here is that its self hosted.

if this was to be made, id probably do a much more community development focused project with the same philosophy. i think there are enough people who understand the need for a good IoT solution to get involved and buy and support the brand. not a huge market but dont always have to focus on just raw sales, could be niche.

i think a video demo with some brought in props would work. didn't think of a video demo at all for some reason. thanks. this seems feasible. should i put ukulele music in it? jk.

really appreciate this comment.

yes i suppose its not nearly the same as google home or alexa but we relate conceptual things to implemented because its what we are familiar with and comfortable with. alot of this stuff couldnt be too hard to design and implement sending motor control instructions to a blind over tcp ip or a turn off signal to a lamp.. i wonder why we dont have these solutions yet. probably because companies haven't figured out how to monetize it effectively yet. that sort of makes me more suspicious of alexa. they must really plow her for data.

I always thought the reason these things aren't more common is an issue with interfaces. Personally, I would love to turn my home into a "smarthome" but I know jack shit about electrical systems. How would I get my lights connected up to the wifi? Is it just a matter of changing out every light switch with IoT ones? What about things like the air conditioner? Do I have to replace it? Would someone have to install a panel/touchscreen somewhere, so I can control all this stuff? Sounds expensive.

That being said, I live in an old apartment, and I think newer houses are being built with this kind of stuff in mind. I've also not really done any serious research into it, except for looking at some DIY arduino/rpi type stuff.

essentially it would just be a electrical-controller hooked up to a network or computer.