“You’re not taking this prototype home. I’m buying it.”
That’s the kind of response every hardware founder dreams of. And Sergei Ignatiev, the founder of Bobsla, was lucky enough to hear it from one of his first potential customers.
Bobsla, an Austrian startup, is a masterclass in nailing customer value propositions. Back in 2018, Sergei built a prototype—a mix of an electric go-kart and a snowmobile. Fast forward six years, and he’s selling Bobsla vehicles to ski resorts, working on autonomous snow transporters, and gearing up to disrupt the snowmobile industry—all while bootstrapping with minimal investment.
Today, while recording my next WattsUpWithStartups podcast episode with Sergei, I reflected on two key lessons for hardware founders:
✅ Sell the experience, not just the tech. Yes, Bobsla is electric, but customers don’t buy it because it’s green. They buy it because it’s fast, fun, and safe—with sustainability as an embedded feature.
✅ Start small, then disrupt. Bobsla follows the classic disruptive tech playbook. It started with a niche market (ski resorts) and is steadily working its way toward reshaping the snowmobile industry.
Hard tech moves at its own rhythm. If you want to hear what it takes to build, sell, and scale a hardware startup, stay tuned for my next podcast episode with Sergei. It’s packed with insights from the frontlines of clean mobility and startup grit.
What’s the best customer reaction you’ve ever received? Drop it in the comments!