This is a big day for the Anova family, our loyal #anovafoodnerd community, and for the smart kitchen. Earlier today, we announced that we will be acquired by Electrolux.
I’d like to preface this post by saying that despite how momentous this day is for our company, it simply feels wrong to be in a celebratory mood in light of recent news. We started Anova with the idea that everybody should have a seat at the table and it’s continued to be a core value and key driver of the company’s unique culture. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been, the color of your skin, where you’re from, or who you pray to. It’s about what you bring each and every day. That value has been important to us since day one and it seems especially important now. We’re committed to fighting to continue to live this value at work and in our personal lives.
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Changing the Way People Cook
In 2013, I co-founded Anova with Jeff Wu, and Natalie Vaughn. We were motivated by two simple concepts: (1) we could use science and technology to change the way people cook and (2) that everyone should have a seat at the table. This meant our devices should be precise and that we should work to lower the cost of consistently getting restaurant quality results.
In 2014, we launched a Kickstarter campaign for the world’s first connected cooking product, the Anova Precision Cooker. We love our fervent Kickstarter community. Without their initial support, we’d never be in this position.
Our community has continued to drive our brand. Today, we’re happy to say we have over 500,000 #anovafoodnerds.
Cloud Cooking
When we launched, we felt that it was important that the Precision Cooker be connected, but a lot of people were skeptical. So, we made connectivity an important company metric. We call this metric a “Cook Started” or a “Cloud Cook.” Cook Started means that someone sends time and temperature from our app to the device, either through a recipe, time and temp guide, or through manual input, instead of using the controls on the device.
A Cook Started is a direct measure of the utility of connectivity and an important “Smart Kitchen” metric. Since our launch, we’ve had 2.6 million Cooks Started; 2.1 million of those cooks were started in the last 12 months and we had more than 402,000 Cooks Started in December. It’s undeniable that the smart kitchen is real and it’s here to stay and we believe that we were a big part of the start of the smart kitchen.
Team
The number one reason for our success is the great people we have who passionately work on building the smart kitchen of the future. It’s always been about the people and it will always be about the people. We believe in first who, then what. It’s about character first.
Jeff Wu and the whole Wu family has been vital to what we’ve been able to do at Anova. Jeff and I share a passion for sous vide. Much of what I cook today, originated with Jeff.
We’ve been running this business for a little less than four years. But that’s wildly misleading. Most businesses start long before an official launch date. The Wu family has been developing scientific equipment since the 90s. The sacrifices of the Wu family and the experience they had prior to our launch was vital to our success.
Most businesses are also family businesses. My wife, Courtney, is my business partner and has helped Anova more than anyone knows. From late nights thinking about how to solve hard problems, to daily sacrifices, she’s always been there. She gets none of the credit, but deserves so much of it.
Over the years, the people you work with become like family. We argue like brothers and sisters, knowing that we’ve got each other’s backs. I’m personally eternally grateful to the early crew that made this possible — Michael Tankenoff, Bill Clark, Jordan Ramsdell, and Cory Borman — I wouldn’t trade one second of the past several years we’ve spent together.
Many thanks to the rest of the nerds that kick ass on daily basis — Marius Giese, Lindsey Brink, Nicole Poirier, Hunter Conrad, Kaitlin Karp, Liz Alstott, Brennan Angel, Chris Cereske, Connor O’Callaghan, Gus Ireland, Ram Prashanth, Shannon McClenaghan, Sarah Wolfe Carr, Angel, Hernandez, Jona De Guzman, Jocelyn Damian, Cristy Jean Dajao, Peter, Garret DePass, Gregor Berkowitz, Carla Bayot, John Van Den Nieuwenhuizen, and Vitor Santa Maria.
A huge thank you to Mike Tamaru, Monto Khanna, Chris Bunn, and Goran Jovicin for migrating away from Microsoft Excel to Google Sheets.
Culture
Our unique culture is the glue that holds us together. When we started talking with Electrolux eight months ago, it was made clear that this unique culture would be protected within the larger Electrolux organization. However, the more we got to know Electrolux, the more we realized they’re a lot like us — they’re motivated by the customer experience. Electrolux employees are passionate about their company and making great products. And perhaps most importantly, they believe in their people, the value of a great team, and collaboration.
We were incredibly thoughtful about whether we wanted this partnership with Electrolux. We were won over by Electrolux’s values and mission, which are very consistent with our own. We’re well aligned, which is why this partnership has felt so natural and we believe is such a great fit.
With Electrolux, we’ll have the resources and reach to continue to change the way people cook. Electrolux is committed to helping Anova continue its mission of building the Anova Kitchen — a kitchen where devices are precise, dead-simple to use, affordable, and connected in a meaningful way to help people cook like pros every day.
Anova will continue to have its own brand identity. Our mission will just accelerate. We love being a part of people’s lives and this will give us a way to reach more lives, faster.
The notion that everybody has a seat at the table has been so important to us as a team and I’m confident that Team Anova, strengthened by the Electrolux family, will continue to live, celebrate and fight for this value at work and at home. From Anova and Electrolux, we’re happy and humbled to have you take a seat at our table. Much love to the whole #anovafoodnerd family.
- Steve