I keep my eye on a handful of Silicon Valley startups and have even been lucky enough to have interviewed or worked with some of these interesting companies. Last week I noticed a pretty interesting trend among three of these emerging companies.
In the past couple of weeks all of the below developments took place.
– Innovative VOIP startup Oooma rolled out a small pilot retail and training program at Best Buy.
– On Demand movie hardware producer, Vudu, announced a more substantial pilot distribution program with Best Buy
– Electric sports car maker Tesla Motors opened the doors to their first retail dealership.
What’s interesting about these developments is that all three SV startups chose to launch these initiatives in Los Angeles.
I was initially told by an Oooma employee that Best Buy’s HQ was in LA, thus warranting a rollout in their local market. However a quick check shows that their HQ is actually in Minnesotta. Maybe he was referring to a particular office or program being headquartered in Los Angeles that is critical for establishing new retail agreements.
Regardless it seems that Silicon Valley is more than content to roll out innovative and highly anticipated yet virtually unknown products to the backdrop of Hollywood’s rich and famous. Time will tell if this a solid strategy for all three but for now it doesn’t raise any flags with Southern California being known for their embracing of luxury products in addition to their ability to start a viral buzz via celebrity ownership and endorsements.
In particular look for Tesla Motors to leverage adoption of their Roadster vehicle by Hollywood’s A list with multiple celebrities already on the waiting list.
With reports that only 10 or so Roadsters being manufactured and sold, I found it pretty interesting that a friend in Columbus Ohio is 100% confident he saw a Roadster all the way out in Ohio. He isn’t an idiot and saw it blow by Porsche in a impromptu street race. If true, one wonders who bought got one of the first Roadsters and subsequently got all the way out to Ohio.
