8 INSIGHTS FROM MAYHT Building ‘the best speaker ever’

Catch them young

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Timothy: “We have been building the ‘best speaker ever’ since we were very young. Our father had a subwoofer and the doors vibrated when he played music. Wow, I thought! Sound is a powerful thing. Very soon we were buying second-hand speaker boxes and taking them apart to see how they were made. The first prototype of our technology was made of cardboard, stuck together with Pritt Stick.”

The smaller the better

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Mattias: In the past, when it came to loudspeakers, it was a case of ‘the bigger the better’. These days the reverse is true. Our technology means that we can make speakers a tenth of the original size without having to compromise on the maximum output. Or we can produce ten times more sound with speakers of the same format. This technology can be used in a wide range of consumer electronics.”

Keep it simple

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Timothy: “The principle behind our technology is simple. We wanted the membrane – the component that produces the sound in the speaker – to displace as much air as possible. The more air displaced, the more sound is produced. We have therefore removed the most important technical components behind the membrane, such as the coil, and placed them beside it, so that there is more room for movement.”

Dogged does it

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Timothy: “One of the challenges was to ensure that our speakers have the same lifetime as regular loudspeakers. Membranes are made of paper. More air pressure meant that this material tore and we had to go looking for an alternative. And we had to make numerous other modifications before we had a robust product, which meant building endless new prototypes.”

5 It is not easy to combine entrepreneurship with studying

Mattias: “I was doing my final project for my BSc Industrial Design Engineering at TU Delft when we set up Mayht. I did get my degree but did not do a Master’s because I was building up this company. It was already taking up 150% of my time so doing a degree at the same time was complicated. That being the case, I would warn entrepreneurial students to think carefully before starting a business.”

6 Do not try to reinvent the wheel

Mattias: “We could have started our own factory and produced speakers ourselves but the business cases we developed soon revealed that ‘licensing’ was the most attractive approach. Our mission was to open up a new market and the best way to achieve that was with existing manufacturers who had the means to do so. Sometimes it is more sensible to hitch a ride on the established industry.”

Dare to take your time

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Timothy: “We waited five years until we really began to commercialise. In that period, we were continually improving our prototypes so we were ultimately able to join forces with a big player: Sonos. In retrospect that was the right strategy. The cultures match really well. Sonos shares our passion for audio and innovation. It is one of the few companies with the drive to try something new in audio.”

There is sound in everything

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Mattias: “Our technology will not necessarily lead to new applications but will make existing products better. A lot of people listen to music on their telephones but the sound is not very good yet. The same applies to televisions. We make sure that the sound is just as the artist intended it to be, whatever the format. There is sound in everything. That is where the potential is.” ■