Coy Christmas of Fasetto
An exclusive Tech Tribune Q&A with Coy Christmas, the founder and CEO of Fasetto, which was honored in our:
Tell us the origin story of Fasetto – what problem were you trying to solve and why?
I didn’t start out with any intention of having a company like Fasetto, but we started with a really viable platform idea for the education industry, which then led us to focus our business efforts within the cloud storage space. As much larger companies dominated the market like Dropbox, Box, Apple, etc, we made the conscious decision to start looking at storage and communication solutions between devices from a local level. And that’s where we are today. All of us at Fasetto , and especially me, get great joy out of the challenge of achieving something no one else has made.
What was the biggest hurdle you encountered in your journey?
We haven’t had anything too specific to overcome, but in general, the entrepreneurial road can be stressful and expensive. And you have to be open to changing direction, which we’ve been fortunate enough to be able to do.
We’ve been lucky to have amazing investors, and without them, we wouldn’t be here. They’ve given us the freedom to let the company run, execute our vision, support us, and not put incredibly restrictive terms on what we’re doing. It’s a great relationship to have. If the investment terms are too restrictive from the VC, even though the funding is awesome, you can lose the initial vision of the company. We’re really fortunate to have the investors we have.
What does the future hold for Fasetto?
I believe we are bringing the clearest idea of IoT to the world, while removing the lag, security risk, and dependency on the internet to operate.
First, we have to consider Fasetto’s core technology, Gravity. It’s a software architecture that adds intelligence to any network. It provides hyper-connectivity capabilities to the devices it’s installed within and enhances the way they work together – Gravity devices require no router or internet to communicate. Within this self-aware, localized network, devices can share resources like cameras, displays, and even processing power.
By creating this ad-hoc, localized network of devices that can share resources, you can leverage all the resources of the device network in new ways. You can give smart processing power to simple connectivity devices that don’t currently have it. You can take a video call on your TV and your phone can act as the microphone. And Gravity doesn’t stop by connecting only two devices – it can enable 3, 4, or more devices to work together simultaneously.
Smarter travel, cars, homes, manufacturing – Gravity enables all that in ways we have yet to imagine, and in a more secure way (without the internet), with so much more flexibility than what’s emerging today.
What are your thoughts on the local tech startup scene in Scottsdale?
We’re excited to be here in Scottsdale and to do more connecting with other companies. Since we’re relatively new to the area, we haven’t met everyone we’d like to. But so far, everyone has been open, collaborative, and welcoming. We’re also excited to see such a great population of talented people and companies here.
What’s your best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Here are 5 tips I’d give to anyone who’s on an entrepreneurial path:
- It will take longer. Nothing works the way you put it down on paper. It always takes longer than you want it to. Always.
- It will cost you double. Whatever you think your budget is, it will cost you double or more. There are so many unknown costs along the way. Or something doesn’t come out right and you have to do it again, etc.
- Try to balance and prioritize. This is not always a sprint – you have to have ebbs and flows in your business so you can take time to reflect and know how to move ahead.
- Read the book Good to Great by Jim Collins. Amazing book.
- Don’t be afraid to say no. Don’t cut your nose to spite your face. If you think you’ll always have to say yes, you might get something in the short term, but it could be sacrificing the long-term vision.