Why a GPS Security App for Families Scrapped Side Projects to Maintain a 'Ruthless Focus' on Its Core Offering 'Don't be afraid to frequently disrupt yourself and your offerings to stay one step ahead of your competitors.'
By Nick Dimengo
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Life360 is a GPS tracking and safety app that aims to bring families closer together with smart features like location-sharing for security and private "circles" for organization.
Entrepreneur spoke with David Rice, COO at Life360, to see how the new technology aims to provide families less stress and more security via a constant connection.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What does your company do?
Life360 is a safety and coordination service for families that brings them closer with smart features designed to protect and connect those that matter most.
How do you define success?
Success is creating a service that solves the various core needs of families worldwide. For example, parents contact their kids nearly six times a day, asking, "Where are you?" With the Life360 app, you no longer need to send that text or call to ask; you can quickly check the map and see the answer for yourself. Ultimately, making family life easier to coordinate and stay connected is how we measure success.
How important is your company culture?
A great workplace environment is the first step to making great products, so we make company culture a top priority at Life360. Our dedication to culture is reflected in the multiple company culture awards that we've received over the past year alone. Life360 has five company core values, and they act as the DNA of our company; even our employee review process is structured around them.
Any critical lessons you've learned as your company has grown?
Stay focused because it's okay to say no. As Life360 started to grow and we began to have more funds, we started to explore a lot of ideas and take on too much that strayed away from our core focus. We soon realized that our core offering is what had massive consumer interest, so we decided to kill the majority of other projects we were working on. Since then, we've fought constantly to maintain a ruthless focus on our core. There are lots of shiny pennies; leave them. Stay focused on the pot of gold.
What differentiates you from your competitors?
Our relentless commitment to quality. Not only do we provide a solution to make families lives easier, but we also make sure that the services we offer have the best and most reliable user experience. Families can trust our technology and are continuously surprised by its accuracy; that's why a large portion of Life360's growth has been and continues to be through word of mouth.
What advice would you give an aspiring entrepreneur?
Because the digital world moves so quickly and technology is constantly evolving, don't be afraid to frequently disrupt yourself and your offerings to stay one step ahead of your competitors.
