The photos we treasure most are often the memories we never intended to capture. For me, they’re the countless shots of my little brother escaping hugs; And if it came down to posed photos or candid shots, I’d choose his mischievous eyes and devilish grin every time.
The difficult thing about candid photos is knowing how and when to capture them. Unless you have a team of trained professionals following you around it’s impossible to catch the genuine, twinkling eyes smiles that define our most cherished experiences.
Thanks to Antoine Balaresque and Henry Bradlow – You can consider them your personal cameramen – the candid photos of your Sunday hike or family ski excursion no longer stem from chance. (Yes, you just became a reality TV star.)
Antoine and Henry are the creators of Lily Robotics.
Lily is an autonomous flying camera. It’s connected to a wearable device and flies around you to capture photos and videos.
Aside from the camera’s central functionality, the best part about Lily is the team’s commitment to building a simple product that’s affordable for all – Two needs that are currently unfulfilled in the market.
Resourceful is always the first word that comes to mind when I think of Lily.
Along with two hardware and two software engineers, Antoine and Henry are working out of Henry’s garage in Silicon Valley (I know, hello next Apple!) to bring Lily to life.
The team’s using 3D printers to create prototypes of the camera and are in the process of finding a manufacturer to produce the product at scale.
In addition to their technical responsibilities, Antoine’s excited about the lessons Henry and him are learning leading the team.
Relationship building, leadership, and productivity remain securely at the top of the founders’ agendas.
With this in mind, Antoine’s advice to young founders is to work with individuals, whether new team members, manufacturers or investors, who are equally passionate about the vision.
When it comes to networking, the Berkeley grads are adamant about spending time with as many people as possible.
Whether they’re doing interviews, pitching investors or attending conferences, Antoine and Henry make it a habit to demonstrate company progress.
For startups that have yet to go to market, Antoine suggests highlighting new team members, new and updated features, and new investments to indicate that the startup’s reaching significant milestones.
Emphasis on company progress has been hugely beneficial for the founders leading them to receive funding from SV Angel, High Line Venture Partners, and others.
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Manufacturing is the team’s highest priority to accelerate bringing the product to market.
In the meantime, they’re focusing on adding and testing new features in Henry’s garage.
It may not be perfect at first, but if the theory is proven then we can move forward.
To learn more about Lily and stay up to date with the team’s progress tune into Antoine’s 33founders episode and sign up for Lily updates here.