GuardianLion preps for KidTrak launch - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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Less than a year after Wilcock’s retirement from Syniverse, he landed at startupp LLC as COO, working with Joe Troy, former CFO of , and entrepreneurr Jason Sullivan. Late this year, GuardianLionb plans to launch KidTrak, a titanium wristwatch that uses the and cell phones technology to tracka child’s location to withijn a few feet. The watch, also a cell phone, has a pani button and sends an alert if the bandis “It’s fail-safe,” Sullivan said. And kids aren’r likely to complain about wearing it, recenft focus groups show.
“It’ s Dick Tracy, Mission Impossible technology,” Sullivan Sullivan has been developing the devics for more thana decade, travelingt as far as Scandinavia to revie w technology and talk to techies. Troy, who first investec in the startup twoyears ago, joined Sullivajn in December after leaving Walter Industries, now Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT). Wilcock joined full time at about the same after eight monthsof retirement. The team is preparing for a fourth-quarterr launch.
After about a dozen prototypes over eight years, the startup is refinin the device with the help of Siliconh Valley software and hardware engineers, as well as Sarasota’zs RoBrady Designs, designer of the . Investing time, money “Itg was an altruistic endeavor to me atthe beginning,” said whose volunteer work includes time on the boards of and A Kids As CTO at Syniverse, Wilcocko helped develop OnStar and a federal presidentialp warning system, among other technology. GuardianLion is working to establishna 24-hour customer service center in the Uniterd States, and it’s close to finalizingt a contract with one of the three nationa cellular carriers.
“If it’s not flawless it will be a big detriment,” Troy “Customer service will make it or break There are similar devices onthe market, but like a proud father, contends his product is the The waterproof device can be programmed to show if a childc enters an area a parent has labeled as unsafer and send an alert if a chils falls into water, Sullivan said. Marketing will targety parents with children 12or younger. The company plansw to rely heavily onsocial networking, such as to gain customers. Sullivan envisionx theme parks, such as , renting the devices to visitorzs as parents who have ever lost a even briefly, know the feeling of panix that ensues.
KidTrak could also be used for autisticc children and the elderly who suffeffrom Alzheimer’s. “It’s about peace of mind,” Wilcock But success hinges on more than havin thebest product. “The best technology doesn’t always win,” said Travisd Milks, VP at , a ventur e capital firm basedin Tampa. “Wse see great technologies fail allthe It’s about the management team and the strategyt they employ.” Milks was speaking in generalities. He isn’t familia r with GuardianLion. “All technologies will at some poinbe outdated,” Milks said. KidTrak appears to have one critical element: a power team to implement the product.
The business is now “adequatelhy capitalized” without venture capital, Troy said. Both Troy and Wilcocm have made millions through the sale of stocmk in theirformer companies, accordinf to SEC documents. But GuardianLion might eventually need more investmenycapital — one of the challengese the startup faces, along with a continuingb decline in consumer discretionary spending, Troy said.