Today start-ups have much fewer barriers to entry and can develop much faster. The Lean startup methodology has made it possible for software products to launch with an alpha version, while crowdfunding has allowed hardware startups to validate their concept before going to manufacturing. Wearable tech products are at the intersection of hardware and software, and the definition of a lean process applies on all fronts, providing users with a great design, reliable product, and most importantly, a meaningful user experience. Thus, customer engagement becomes part of the product architecture itself, and actually begins at product purchase, continuing well after. Hind is the founder and CEO of Instabeat, an award winning startup developing a heads-up display for swimmers to monitor their workouts, dubbed as the “Google glass meets Nike Fuelband for swimming”. A big believer in the power of technology to improve the quality of life, she is an active member of the Quantified Self organisation, and has founded the Beirut Chapter, becoming a pioneer in the movement’s launch in the Middle East. In 2012, Hind was selected as one of the top 5 Pan Arab innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review tr35. Instabeat won the best of Wearable Technology at CES 2014, 1st prize of the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab Business Plan competition in 2012, and was chosen as one of the 7 hottest Global startups of 2013 by Forbes.

1. Hind Hobeika

8. ?!

9. Tracking
freak
+
mechanical
engineer
=
toolmaker

12. 2010 2011 2013

13. Technology
moves
faster
than
prototyping

14. People
want
different
things
over
;me

24. Instabeat crowdfunding campaign

27. NOT
ONLY

29. “If you love them, set them free.
If they come back then they’re yours.”

30. Integrate
your
community