Robots, Entrepreneurship and AI

I recently spoke to Elnaz Sarraf, CEO and founder of the award winning Roybi Robot, the world's first-ever AI-powered smart to teach children language and STEM skills. Roybi Robot was named on TIME magazine's Best Inventions list in 2019, on the 2019 CNBC Upstart 100 list as one of the world's most promising startups and on Fast Company's 2019 World Changing Ideas. Roybi Robot uses facial recognition and emotion detection, teaching a variety of subjects, including math, science, English, geography, and more, and comes with 70,000 words and 50+ languages, delivering personalized content to children (ages 3-7) based on their pace and interests.

Growing up as a woman in Iran, Elnaz witnessed the limited opportunities in education, leading her on journey to create technology that would empower children by providing access to personalized learning and an education that prepares them for a better future. With fifteen years of experience as a serial entrepreneur, Elnaz leads ROYBI (creator of Roybi Robot) and drove its recent $4.2 million seed round. Before starting ROYBI, Elnaz co-founded and led a consumer electronics/IoT company, iBaby, serving as the company's President.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Elnaz: Thanks, Adam for giving me this great opportunity to connect with your audience members. I have had an amazing journey since I moved to the US 13 years ago. Back in Iran, 15–20 years ago, there were not enough opportunities for women, especially in tech. But this didn’t stop my parents from providing what I needed as foundational skills. I was very fortunate that my parents made sure from a very young age that I learn skills like painting, English language, music, or even assembling computers. Because of those skill sets, I became very fascinated with art and technology. I remember designing web pages and animations and bringing them to life with C++, HTML and other languages when I was a teenager.

So when I moved to the US, I followed my passion and got my bachelor’s degree in arts. However, I was still curious about the possibilities that technology can provide and wanted to combine art with technology as I believe any innovation starts with creativity. I started a couple of startups, failed, and learned a lot of lessons from these experiences which helped me to eventually create Roybi Robot which is an AI-powered educational robot for kids ages 3–7 in language learning and basic STEM. 

To get to this stage, I experienced many challenges, such as running out of cash, countless rejections, setbacks in technological limitations especially when AI is involved, and many more. The most important way that I was able to overcome these obstacles was my determination to never stop and continue to move forward with my goals and vision no matter the hardship. As long as you have this mindset, doors will open for you in ways that you could not even imagine. 

Adam: How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas?

Elnaz: When you look at the education system, you see that it is one of the industries that has not been changed quickly by technology and it is still missing a lot of opportunities especially when it comes to early childhood education. I saw a huge opportunity here to help children by creating our educational robot to utilize artificial intelligence and gradually develop personalized content to children based on their learning pace and interests. 

Ideas cannot become great overnight. So, you need to have patience, ask for advice as much as you can, talk with experts, and be open to change. 

Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?

Elnaz: Spending over 10 years in the tech industry and over 5 years with parents through my first startup, I’ve learned that there is a huge gap in education and utilizing advanced technology. With that in mind, my team and I spent countless hours and days researching the market and we came to the conclusion that early childhood education is the most critical time in children’s lives and most impactful time for developing a successful future. However, we did not see any technology being used for personalized learning rather than the one-size-fits-all approach. That is why we decided to bring Roybi Robot to life and use the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning to help children learn based on what interests them. 

We put this idea to test in a small focus group consisting of our family and friends. Once we got positive feedback, we started talking more about our idea in larger gatherings, then pitching on stages; these steps helped us create the product you see today.  

Adam: You have spoken in the past about the keys to getting funded as a female founder and an immigrant. What are your best tips?

Elnaz: I’d say at all times focus on your vision and believe in yourself. You know your product and industry the best and you are more than capable of persuading your inventors to also believe in your vision. I have been fortunate to have worked with many industry leaders who understood the challenges we face in tech as female entrepreneurs and have supported me to overcome those quickly. I also try to give back whenever I can!

My advice is to focus on who you are and what you are doing. No matter how difficult or lonely sometimes it may feel, you will get results. It is only a matter of time and persistence. Don’t get discouraged, it is a tough but absolutely rewarding journey!

Adam: What do you believe is the future of AI? What is the future of AI in the field of education?

Elnaz: Artificial Intelligence will truly transform our lives for the better. It can help us be more efficient in areas that previously would be time-consuming, not accessible, or even dangerous. With AI, we can quickly learn new skills or even understand our capabilities better. For example, in education, if we can help children to know where they perform better and where they need help before they even start going to school, we can have a tremendous impact on their growth and future success by the time they graduate college and they are ready for work. 

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Elnaz: I believe a strong and effective leader should be able to listen more. If you can truly listen to your team, customers, partners, and advisors, you would be able to make better decisions. But a lot of times, I see many leaders act in a way that discourages people to openly talk. At ROYBI, we try our very best to create a safe and open environment for people to talk and make suggestions. We are in the same boat and going towards the same goal. So, always encourage your team members or audience to talk about their thoughts and have the patience to listen.

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams during the early growth phase and while scaling up?

Elnaz: It is extremely important to build your core team right because they are the ones helping you to shape the future of your company and its culture. Spend more time on getting to know people, ask about their goals, passion, and what motivates them to achieve their highest potential. It may take some time and a few tries to find the right people. Once you built your core team, spend time ensuring they completely understand your mission and core values. Continue reminding them to make sure as the company grows, they are able to transfer that to others who join later. 

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?

1- Trust your team and their skills. Give them enough room even if they make mistakes. This is how we all learn.

2- Hire more creative and smarter people than yourself. This is the only way to grow your company.

3- Give credit when it’s due. 

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Take some time to reflect on the achievements you’ve had, appreciate what you have today and continue climbing the ladder!