Navdy made HUD (heads-up display) units for cars. A HUD projects an image onto a car’s windshield just below the driver’s line of sight. The image contains the vehicle’s speed, the current speed limit, navigation directions, and more. Along with providing information, a HUD is a safety device in that the image it projects is right in front of the driver. Because of its placement, drivers do not need to move their eyes from the road. A HUD is safer than looking at a smartphone or the screen in the center of the dashboard on a car. Navdy’s elevator pitch was to fill a gap in the marketplace. At the time Navdy launched, in 2014, HUDs were common in luxury cars but were a rarity in mainstream vehicles. Navdy created an after-market HUD for installation in any car. Navdy’s package consisted of a hardware device that sat on the dashboard (just in front of the driver) with the image being projected just above the hardware device. The image was easy to see—it was 40 times brighter than a smartphone screen and dimmed and brightened automatically depending on the lighting in the car. As with a conventional GPS, Navdy also had voice commands, such as “turn right at the next light.” To see Navdy’s system, go to Google Images and type “Navdy Heads Up Display” into the search bar. Navdy started by selling preorders on its website. The firm received \($1\) million in preorders the first week and a total of \($2.4\) million in preorders during the initial campaign. Navdy received recognition from early adopters and the investment community as well. Because of this, the firm raised \($6.5\) million during its initial seed round and a total of \($42\) million during the life of the company.....

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think Navdy conducted an adequate feasibility analysis before launching its product? What could a thorough feasibility analysis possibly reveal to Navdy before it launched?
2. If you were the owner of a mainstream car during the time Navdy was in business, would you have bought Navdy’s product? Why or why not?
3. Of the five reasons for Navdy’s failure, which one do you think was the most damaging? How could Navdy have avoided that reason?
4. What can other entrepreneurial firms learn about the dynamics of growing a firm by studying Navdy’s experience?