TEDx Talks
7 HN mentions · mentioned in 5 months, 2016–2023
15:43 · 58K views · Apr 26, 2012
A TEDxNashville talk by uBeam founder Meredith Perry about becoming a technology innovator and her plan for wireless charging of phones.
Cited critically as an example of overhyped startup claims and of presentations by founders whose product never worked.
7 comments from Hacker News
Missing Meredith Perry and her uBeam trying to sell idea of ubiquitous wireless charging. Tedtalk this video Analysis [LINK] "for each technological hurdle deemed insurmountable by the experts I would spend just a few hours thinking about the problem from a variety of approaches so I was able to solve problems when the PhD experts couldn't with just a few hours of really simple research every single argument over why the technology couldn't work has been indisputably wrong has taught me to be skeptical of experts the expertise represented a narrow way of looking at things engineers are inherently linear thinkers and tend to take a very binary approach to solving problems as a non expert I had an advantage because I could look at a problem from different angles because I just didn't know it was possible by thinking outside the box by thinking around corners you can out think the top thinkers and now eight months later I have four of the top ultrasonic engineers in the world working for me we're working with me it's going to work and it's going to be awesome and I can't wait to give the middle finger and smiled all the engineers that criticize the crap out of me" Spoilers: She is a fraud, it never worked, one of the ultrasonic engineers she boasted about hiring even ran a blog debunking her claims [LINK] . >$20 million from Andreessen Horowitz/Mark Cuban/Marissa Mayer down the crapper. At least it didnt manage to IPO.
1) This is the blog by the former VP of Engineering that the article references: [LINK] 2) Does anyone know if she ever apologized for this awful speech? this video 3) This uBeam shit is literally one of the reasons why I created a beginner's course in wireless power. It drives me nuts that investors have gotten ripped off so many times in this industry and the degree to which the media has been complicit in the hype train. If Mark Cuban or any other VCs happen to be reading this, please watch this course before putting any more money into wireless power. I created a coupon so you can watch it for free. [LINK]
I looked into uBeam a while back. The technology is unproven and unlikely to work because of basic physics. (They are trying to transmit energy using ultrasonic sound and it usually has severe health consequences for any significant amount of power delivered.) The CEO, Meredith Perry, delivered a TED talk[1] which was nauseating. She was basically saying it doesn't matter what the experts say, if you're a plucky disruptor you should just follow your half-baked ideas. [1] this video
Here's Dave Jones ripping into it pretty hard. [LINK] The talk by the uBeam CEO he links is also pretty infuriating. this video Her core hypothesis that experts can often get stuck "inside the box" is certainly valid, but on the other hand "I sat down and solved complex engineering problems in a few minutes with pencil and paper" (almost an exact quote from the talk) is just plain dumb. Not to mention the not subtle implication that good engineers are all socially retarded...
I trust Hinton and LeCun who have actually created the trends and bigger picture and invented the now "current" techniques over commentators who show up years later and offer shallow non peer reviewed analysis and predictions. Reminds me of this talk by the failed tech startup's non technical CEO who apparently was able to see the bigger picture that scientist aspergers needs weren't able to see. this video