Summary: What's the next Barbie? If you ask Paul Berberian, he'll say a small round ball, about the same size and weight of pool ball. Inside, a robot, gyroscope, and a couple of motors. Jason sat down with Paul at Tech Stars Foundercon to talk about his company Orbotix, and its programmable robotic ball, called Sphero. The 1.0 release sold about 100,000. Now in 2.0, Sphero is airtight, watertight and can travel at 7 feet per second, all controlled by a smart phone. This is an incredibly cool and smart toy. Paul predicts Orbotix will sell millions of units, setting Sphero up to be a powerful brand like Mattel's Barbie or Hot Wheels. Plus, why VCs are scared to invest in hardware.
