Fan Dian, founder of XSmart Technology, is an outlier in today’s smart hardware sector.
Fan was among Xiaomi’s founding employees and previously served as general manager of its internet-of-things platform. He also chaired Xiaomi’s artificial intelligence-of-things strategy committee during his tenure.
Over the past two years, hardware startups have largely followed a familiar playbook: raise capital on the strength of a founder’s resume, quickly build a product for crowdfunding, generate media attention, and use that momentum to raise more funding.
Fan took a different route. He spent three years building his first product.
His choice was also unusually niche. Instead of developing AI-driven wearables or mattresses, categories that already have market validation, he explored a different product type: a bedside lamp.
