Finalist | Novi Security (United States) - Take your home security with you, even on the move

Novi Security developed a security system that offers renters, homeowners, and small-business owners an all-in-one security system for an affordable price. We talked to Gavin Tanner, VP of Marketing at Novi Security, about the vision of the young company, the benefits of the product and the cool story of how they came up with the idea in the first place.

For more information visit: CODE_n Connect | Website | Facebook | Twitter

Where did your idea for the company come from?

Gavin Tanner (Novi Security): We actually started the company in a class in college at Brigham Young University. We were assigned with the task to go out into the market and find a pain that needed to be solved. So we went to the mall parking lot and just sat and observed. What we found is that car alarms were going off, but the owner of the car had no way of knowing it because they were inside shopping. So we thought it’d be a great idea to build a wireless car alarm that would notify the car owner via their smartphone if their car alarm was going off. Well, after going door-to-door and talking to hundreds of people, we found that most people didn’t care so much for the car alarm but would rather have a home alarm system that would do the similar thing. So we pivoted and have since been in the pursuit of creating the world’s most simple home security system without contracts or monthly fees.

For which kind of audience is your product or service intended and what problem is it solving?

Gavin Tanner (Novi Security): Our audience is primarily targeting homeowners and renters alike who are tired of burdensome contracts and expensive monthly fees. Also, those people who travel often and who have kids will love our security system. The problem that it solves is three-fold:

• Novi eliminates burdensome contracts that are typical with traditional home security
• Novi is getting rid of expensive monthly fees
• Novi is allowing renters to own home security because the system is not hardwired

In addition, because our system is battery powered, we’re solving the pain of having to place a camera near a power outlet and have it sitting on your table or desk.

Tell us a bit about the company’s founders like their professional or industry background and the origins of the founding-idea.

Gavin Tanner (Novi Security): So as stated previously, we started this company in college and are all recent college graduates. Wade, our CTO, is a software engineer and previously worked at a SaaS company before starting Novi. Ethan, our VP of engineering, is a mechanical engineer. Matthew, our COO, studied finance, but previously worked at a different startup (AppRaptors) as co-owner. And AJ, our VP of sales, was studying strategy at BYU before dropping out to work full-time for Novi.

Your products are not available yet. How do you handle this probably nerve-consuming pre-launch period? What are the advantages of your product compared to traditional home security options?

Gavin Tanner (Novi Security): Two great questions. To answer the first – I think it takes a lot of patience and also vision. Things just tend to go wrong in startups, and setbacks are something that you can’t get discouraged about. It’s all about being creative and overcoming obstacles. Vision helps to keep yourself motivated in those tough times.

Second, there are several advantages our product has over traditional security. 1) We don’t have contracts, 2) There are no monthly fees, 3) We eliminate false alarms because you decide if you are going to call the police based on what you see in your home, and 4) our system isn’t hardwired into the home – so you can take it with you when you move.

See Novi Security live on the CODE_n Stage on Monday, 16.03.2015.