Today our guest is Alex Klein, the co-founder and CEO of Kano Computing.

He invented a computer for kids to assemble when he was challenged by a 6 year old cousin who wanted to make his own computer, but to be as simple and fun as Lego. Although the idea appeals to kids, it’s not the exclusive target of their products. The spirit of the design process is the beginner’s mind.

The goal of Kano is to tell a story that could be comprehensible to any culture, language, and geography. However, the products are particularly caught on in the US. 

Alex caught the opportunity and expanded business in the US, from London where the company was set up. Although that was a very successful move for him, he has a lot of advice on how to be careful when deciding to make that kind of move. 

“If you see an opportunity to do any business in the US, the one that could even be 20-25% of your annual run rate, then take it, because it may expand well beyond that, as it did for us.” - Alex Klein

1:30 What Kano does
3:10 Where the idea came from and how it developed further
5:40 Why they set up in London
9:00 How conquered the US market
10:20 What type of a person their product should appeal to
11:23 When is the right moment to go to the US with the business and why do it
15:57 How they chose the person for running the US office
18:15 Why the product is more popular in the US than in Europe
18:55 How they funded the expansion
19:47 What kind of state you should be in when you want to raise money
20:25 What are the do’s and dont’s if you want your company to expand
23:30 How the US customer is different from the rest of the world
25:10 How things in London were done after the expansion

Send us questions you want answered to info@mtbonnell.com

Kano Computing
Mount Bonnell Advisors

Episode Transcript

Connect with Alex Klein:
LinkedIn profile

Connect with Sebastian Sauerborn:
Website

Connect with Nastaran Tavakoli-Far:
LinkedIn