Lessons from the Raspberry Pi CEO
I recently listened to a podcast featuring the founder and CEO of Raspberry Pi, Eben Upton. The conversation was wide-ranging — he talked about the story of Raspberry Pi, how it got started, how it gained traction, compelling use cases for Raspberry Pi, product development, supply chain issues, and more.
Raspberry Pi is an incredibly interesting company. They sell cheap ($35 and under) computers than can be programmed and modified to build out almost any idea imaginable. They are in direct contrast to closed-off and expensive computers like MacBooks, PCs, and smartphones.
The talk was fascinating; Upton seems like an incredible entrepreneur. He's technical enough to understand and contribute to the engineering of the products and also incredibly business-minded with his understanding of supply chain, management, and distribution. I learned a lot from the talk; here are some major lessons.
Think small and narrow at first
Raspberry Pi had a specific and narrow goal when the company started. Upton worked as the director of studies of Computer Science for the University of Cambridge, and he noticed a decrease in the number of applicants applying, so he wanted to do something about it. He created Raspberry Pi as a way for kids to become more interested in computer science. The sole goal of the company was to increase the number of applicants. It was a focused and achievable goal that allowed the company to get off the ground quickly and inexpensively. Huge, ambitious goals can work for some people, like Elon Musk, but for most entrepreneurs, I think it's important to stay focused on a specific problem. Once you solve that initial problem, you can expand the scope, but starting focused allows you actually to start something and start it fast.
Build stuff you want to see in the world
Upton and the Raspberry Pi team have one main philosophy when deciding what to build next. They ask the question, "what would we want?" The team is comprised of like-minded computer geeks, so they understand what kind of hardware they’d like to see exist. Upton mentions that since they want it, many other people will likely want it too. It's a great way to decide what to build. Rather than surveys, focus groups, and data to decide what to build, ask yourself, "what do I want to see in the world?"
Sacrifice short-term profits for long-term gain
Raspberry Pi is in the business of selling cheap general-purpose computers. The interviewer, Nilay Patel, noted to Upton that many companies buy Raspberry Pi's to repurpose them and then sell them to customers for much more money. He gave the example of a company called HOOBs, which sells $100 Raspberry Pi kits that integrates Apple products with Amazon products. Patel asked Upton why they don't try to get into those kinds of markets and sell Raspberry Pi's for a specific purpose at a higher price. Upton answered that they would never do that; they love customers like HOOBS because it gets more people into Raspberry Pi's and turns them into lifelong customers who will keep purchasing more and more Pi's. Further, HOOBs themselves are great customers of Raspberry Pi — they directly purchase many thousands of Pis from them. Upton and the company are sacrificing short-term profits to stay true to the mission of providing cheap general-purpose computers to whoever wants them. They are not in the business of picking winners and competing with great customers. This will only benefit the company long-term, and customers’ trust in Raspberry Pi will continue to grow.
Since listening to the episode, I've become fascinated by Raspberry Pi products and the surrounding community. It’s made me purchase one and start to build out an idea related to AI! There’s so much to learn from Upton, Raspberry Pi the company, and Raspberry Pi the computer.