As the adage goes, you learn more from failure than from success. For French serial entrepreneur, Sam Hickmann, this has proven to be true time and time again. His failures as much as his successes have taught him lessons on the importance of perseverance and reengineering.
Sam has founded six companies encountering many obstacles and wins along the way. His latest endeavor is the culmination of years of research and testing. It’s a blend of connecting families and making home life easier for parents and kids alike.
And this student of life continues to learn. He’s passing on his knowledge for tech and getting startoffs off the ground with his company’s newest product, Calmly, a current Kickstarter success already surpassing its fundraising goal.
Some would say startups are his superpower.
He is now co-founder and CEO at JOY Familytech, a HAX company specializing in behavioral technologies for families. Taking this home life experience as a parent and his love for technology and innovation, the company provides what Sam likes to say is “the training wheels for good habits.” He’s merged behavioral health with cutting-edge tech to create children’s devices that solve problems.
Take a father of two, a natural-born entrepreneur, and an angel investor, and place him in the hub of Silicon Valley tech. When you mix that all together, it’s the ingredients for a successful business venture that touches at the heart of daily family life.
JOY FamilyTech’s hero product is Octopus Watch, the first icon-based watch that empowers kids by teaching good habits and the concept of time. It’s a watch, a scheduler, and an assistant. It helps kids foster responsibility, independence, and self-esteem.
Octopus Watch raised more than $2 million on Kickstarter and Indiegogo and was sold in Target and Walmart. Garnering the 2017 CES Innovation Awards and receiving national media recognition is a testament to the product’s ingenuity and popularity. The retail industry has followed suit with family tech buyers now more focused on carrying products that use smart technology for their youngest consumers.
Sometimes the best ideas are right there in front of you.
The idea of getting kids to do their chores was nothing new to this dad. Sam has seen firsthand the challenges parents face when trying to establish a routine. Instead of getting frustrated, he channeled this into JOY FamilyTech and its growing product line.
With Octopus Watch developed and on the market, the company’s follow up product, Calmly, is in keeping with the brand’s mission to make the world happier and more successful through virtual coaching and daily routines. Calmly does just that.
Calmy is a storyteller device that offers audio stories, calming sounds, and light ambiances perfectly adapted to kids of all ages. It creates a relaxing atmosphere that boosts imagination, fosters curiosity, and lets kids discover new cultures, all the while helping to soothe and set the mood for a good night’s sleep.
“JOY helps families live in harmony thanks to technology,” said Sam. “The way I see it, there is no escaping our technological-focused world. So, why not make it work in favor of parenting? Research has shown that it’s important for children to create healthy routines and that’s exactly what our products accomplish.”
Sam is a published author of a book about gamification, a topic which earned him a USPTO patent (13/864,493). His gaming background (he previously founded the mobile second screen gamification platform, Kwater) contributed to the interface design and user-friendly concept for Octopus Watch and Calmy.
This time around with JOY FamilyTech, Sam has formed a passionate, diverse team with backgrounds in child development, engineering, business, and communication.
“People often ask me, what does an entrepreneur know about behavioral health? The answer is simple. The experience of day-to-day life is the foundation of my company coupled with a team that has allowed me to adapt new ideas during development and a crowdfunding source that backs our projects with tremendous enthusiasm. Once shown the benefits, it’s terrific to hear how these forward-thinking products are changing lives for the better.”
Sam enjoys sharing his experience with fellow entrepreneurs. He occasionally invests in promising startups (i.e. Front, Station) and seats as an advisor.
For Sam, turning a napkin idea into a full-fledged business has happened more than once. The need to reiterate an idea to perfection is in his blood. Launching a new product is exhilarating, something akin to the extreme sports he enjoys.
With Calmly about to enter production, it begs the question, what will Sam and JOY Familytech do next?
