Reimagining reading with VR featuring Sol Reader CEO Ben Chelf | E1772
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.2 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 6 July 2023
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This Week in Startups is presented by: .Tech Domains has a new program called startups.tech, where you can get your startup featured on This Week in Startups. Go to https://startups.tech/jason to find out how!
Crowdbotics. Great ideas can change the world, and Crowdbotics is the fastest way to turn those ideas into code. Get a free scoping session for your next big app idea at crowdbotics.com/twist
Issuu is the all-in-one platform for creating and distributing beautiful digital content. Get started with Issuu today for free or sign up for an annual premium account and get 50% off when you go to Issuu.com/podcast and use promo code twist.
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Today’s show:
Sol Reader CEO Ben Chelf joins Jason to discuss Sol Reader’s design (1:24), how wearable e-readers will create more focused readers (28:06) the ways in which devices reshape the human brain (24:37), and much more!
Follow Ben: https://twitter.com/bchelf
Check Out Sol Reader: https://solreader.com/
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Time stamps:
(00:00) Sol Reader CEO Ben Chelf joins Jason (4:00) Ben presents the prototype and demos Sol Reader (8:28) LLM and future integrations for Sol Reader (12:40) .Tech Domains - Apply to get your startup featured on This Week in Startups at https://startups.tech/jason (14:04) Overcoming the challenges of a hardware startup (17:59) Sol Reader’s business model (21:09) Audio integration and transcript features (23:22) Optimizing Sol Reader's first product launch (26:38) Crowdbotics - Get a free scoping session for your next big app idea at https://crowdbotics.com/twist (28:06) The origin of the wearable e-reader concept and efforts to diminish screen time (38:45) Issuu - Sign up for free or get 50% off an annual premium account by using promo code twist at https://issuu.com/podcast (40:05) Initial product testers' feedback
(44:59) Apple’s Vision Pro headset
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Even from the first time I put the first prototype, which was essentially toilet paper rolls and the like |
| 0:05.3 | Baseball cap full of like electronics and I realized this |
| 0:09.0 | Well, that's when I realized these two worlds came together one the like the comfort aspect of lying and bed reading and then two |
| 0:14.2 | You know this this nicotine gum idea of like well |
| 0:17.0 | Where are we gonna go with personal computing devices? |
| 0:19.0 | And I really do think that this is better for humanity if we figure out how to provide other |
| 0:24.9 | Options besides just my iPhone for personal computing and that's what that's what you threw me back in this week and startups is brought to you by |
| 0:33.2 | Dot tech domains has a new program called startups dot tech |
| 0:37.2 | Where you can get your startup featured on this weekend startups |
| 0:41.2 | Go to startups dot tech slash Jason to find out how crowd bodics |
| 0:46.3 | Great ideas can change the world and crowd bodics is the fastest way to turn those ideas into code |
| 0:52.0 | Get a free scoping session for your next big app idea at crowd bodics dot com slash |
| 0:57.8 | Whist and |
| 0:59.8 | Issue is the all-in-one platform for creating and distributing beautiful digital content |
| 1:05.1 | Get started with issue today for free or sign up for an annual premium account and get 50% off when you go to |
| 1:12.5 | Issue dot com slash podcast and use promo code twist |
| 1:17.4 | That's I S S U U dot com slash podcast and use promo code twist |
| 1:24.4 | Hey, everybody welcome back to the program. I was on the Twitter and I saw a really creative idea go by and I said |
| 1:31.5 | Get me this person for the podcast and that idea was a pair of glasses |
| 1:36.9 | That are essentially a kindle in sunglasses format and the company's name is so S O L and |
| 1:44.0 | The founder's name is Ben |
| 1:46.8 | shelf |
... |
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