Stefan Heck of Nauto
An exclusive Tech Tribune Q&A with Stefan Heck, the founder and CEO of Nauto, which was honored in our:
Tell us the origin story of Nauto – what problem were you trying to solve and why?
Several influences converged which led me to create Nauto.
I grew up living in the same home as my grandparents in Austria. My grandfather was a railroad welder, and I grew up in his workshop helping him build things. I still love making things in my free time, and I get to do that every day at Nauto.
After moving to the U.S. to attend Stanford, I became a little bored by my classes and wound up becoming a project lead for Stanford’s student entry in a GM-sponsored competition to create the best solar car, sparking a lifelong interest in the automotive realm. I studied neural networks and AI way before it was practical, and I also studied philosophy, which meant spending a lot of time thinking about building an ethical world that we actually want to live in. I also spent over a decade as a McKinsey consultant, where I advised companies on strategy systemic investments that would optimize outcomes, their business, and society at large.
Years later, my commute to work was just a short bike ride, but I still nearly got hit by a car regularly, mostly due to distracted driving from cell phones or kids. It made me realize that cities today are still operating off of patterns from the 1880s and are much too congested to function safely. That was my “aha moment” = I knew we needed to solve distracted driving on crowded streets. That’s what led me to create Nauto’s driver behavior learning platform and AI-powered safety technology. It’s squarely at the intersection of my lifelong passion for building, cars, systems thinking, and philosophical training, not to mention my personal interest in getting to work without being run over!
What was the biggest hurdle you encountered in your journey?
The biggest challenge has persisted throughout my career: talent. During my time as a McKinsey consultant working with large companies, recruitment was easier – people are drawn to brand names. Building a startup, I had to figure out how to excite premier talent to leave the stability and relative comfort of an established company to come bet on a dream. Silicon Valley always lionizes engineers, but I’ve learned that anyone at a company, from HR to business development to product, can lead a transformation. As a result, we’re always trying new things to attract incredible people for all of our roles.
What does the future hold for Nauto?
First, it’s important to understand just how powerful our AI-powered driver behavior learning platform can be – it delivers 70 percent of the safety value of autonomous vehicles at a tiny fraction of the price. Our technology also alerts drivers in real-time so they can correct their driving (often, not looking at the road) before a collision happens. It’s the biggest in-car safety improvement since the seatbelt, and it has already detected over 100 million dangerous events for more than 550 fleets, while saving more than $175 million by avoiding collisions. So our first goal is to keep our momentum going and really scale this solution globally to keep people safe.
But that’s just the beginning.
Beyond safety, we have a massive and multi-pronged transportation problem on our hands. Uber and Lyft are a piece of the solution, as well mass transit and autonomous vehicles. But our systems are broken, our commutes are terrible, and cities just can’t handle the current status quo. We need to solve major systemic problems around convenience, equity, efficiency, and congestion. Tackling those megatrends is the next frontier for Nauto.
What are your thoughts on the local tech startup scene in Palo Alto?
Palo Alto has a lot to offer entrepreneurs. Proximity to Stanford is incredible for talent access and expertise. I’m also impressed by how Main Street and Silicon Valley intersect here. You walk into a cafe in Palo Alto and entrepreneurs are welcome – everyone is talking about deals and technology. It’s a really supportive community for innovation and entrepreneurship.
What’s your best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Be in love with the problem you’re trying to solve. Entrepreneurship is grueling work that has a lot of setbacks and near-death experiences. It’s absolutely going to be harder than you think and we all know the majority of startups fail. Being passionate about your work is a non-option – it’s foundational to success, and even then, not always enough. We decided early on that we’re not just going to follow the money and I think that’s been essential to our progress.
I’d also encourage new entrepreneurs to be very thoughtful about their first employees. The initial hires will have a profound effect on product and culture and will be instrumental in helping you get through the crises that you’ll unavoidably face, and ultimately come out stronger. Values are critical to your long-term success, and those values are driven by your people.