Written by Babs Carryer, serial entrepreneur and Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at CMU.

Seema never had any plans to go into business and never in a million years thought she’d start a company. But the opportunity fell into her lap and she couldn’t resist taking the plunge. Seema was always into robots. She participated in robotics clubs as a kid. Her family lived in Florida and they went to Disney World all the time. In the Magic Kingdom, she had her first exposure to robotics – moving human robots on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Seema was entranced by how expressive they were. She asked all kinds of questions to which her mom didn’t know the answers. Especially, “Is the hair real?”



- Money – Funds have been a key issue for Interbots with a capitalization of less than $300K in the five years since founding. Seema tells me, “Consumer hardware is one of the most difficult things to raise money for. There is an obvious need here. No one before Interbots has made an affordable robot that fills this need.”
- Time – The company is going on five years but is just getting out of the gate in a dubious commercial marketplace. It’s very satisfying to Seema and her team to make a difference for children suffering from a terrible condition, but can she make a strong business case for this entry point? It has taken a lot of time to get here and the road ahead still looms long.
- Perseverance – Seema has a lot of stick-to-itiveness. I have known her for several years and every time I see her I see the determined glint in her eyes that communicates: “I WILL do this.”

Copied with permission from New Venturist.
Written by Babs Carryer, serial entrepreneur and Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at CMU.
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