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Why investing in growth-stage AI startups is getting riskier and more complicated

Why investing in growth-stage AI startups is getting riskier and more complicated

Making a bet on AI startups has never been so exciting — or more risky. Incumbents like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google are scaling their capabilities fast to swallow many of the offerings of smaller companies. At the same time, new startups are reaching the growth stage much faster than they historically have. 

But defining “growth stage” in AI startups is not so cut-and-dried today. 

Jill Chase, partner at CapitalG, said on stage at TechCrunch AI Sessions that she’s seeing more companies that are only a year old, yet have already reached tens of millions in annual recurring revenue and more than $1 billion in valuation. While those companies might be defined as mature due to their valuation and revenue generation, they often lack much of the necessary safety, hiring, and executive infrastructure. 

“On one hand, that’s really exciting. It represents this brand new trend of extremely fast growth, which is awesome,” Chase said. “On the other hand, it’s a little bit scary because I’m gonna pay at an $X billion valuation for this company that didn’t exist 12 months ago, and things are changing so quickly.”

“Who knows who is in a garage somewhere, maybe in this audience somewhere, starting a company that in 12 months will be a lot better than this one I’m investing in that’s at $50 million ARR today,” Chase continued. “So it’s made growth investing a little confusing.”

To cut through the noise, Chase said it’s important for investors to feel good about the category and the “ability of the founder to very quickly adapt and see around corners.”

She noted that AI coding startup Cursor is a great example of a company that “jumped on the exact right use case of AI code generation that was available and possible given the technology at the time.”

However, Cursor will need to work to maintain its edge. 

“There will be, by the end of this year, AI software engineers,” Chase said. “In that scenario, what Cursor has today is going to be a little less relevant. It is incumbent on the Cursor team to see that future and to think, okay, how do I start building my product so that when those models come out and are much more powerful, the product surface represents those and I can very quickly plug those in and switch into that state of code generation?”

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#investing #growthstage #startups #riskier #complicated


Gudtrip is a cannabis vape pen from blockchain hardware manufacturer Puffpaw that is touting its ability to allow consumers to earn bitcoin while they smoke weed. Each of the company’s individual vape pen products has $2-3 worth of bitcoin attached to it, which can be redeemed via a QR code or NFC connection within the company’s associated mobile app. While Gudtrip has been criticized for effectively gamifying smoking marijuana, they claim that there is no direct reward tied to hitting the vape pen and seemingly have changed language on their website that previously claimed “Every hit earns crypto.”

Currently, Gudtrip’s vape pen is sold only in California, where recreational cannabis is legal. Buyers activate the pen by scanning a QR code or tapping via NFC to connect it to the Gudtrip app, which unlocks the bitcoin reward as an upfront loyalty payment. The app then tracks puff-seconds of usage and displays the data purely as a personal awareness feature, much like a step counter or sleep tracker on a fitness device. Users can check in daily to build streaks that boost non-monetary virtual points awarded in the app, but according to Gudtrip, those points exist only for record-keeping inside the app and cannot be redeemed for cash, products, or any other value. Puffpaw describes Gudtrip as building a user-powered network that mixes cannabis, Bitcoin, and artificial intelligence.

Gudtrip has opted for using bitcoin for their crypto rewards program rather than creating their own crypto token out of thin air. Many marketing gimmicks have been tried around crypto rewards that turned out to be nothing more than pump and dump schemes by many businesses over the years, including in the marijuana industry. Perhaps the most notorious crossover between the crypto and marijuana industries was Potcoin. Dennis Rodman infamously went to North Korea on a trip that was sponsored by the marijuana-themed altcoin. The promotion drove an immediate price surge, with the coin jumping nearly 97% to more than $0.18 shortly after Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on June 13, 2017, lifting its market capitalization near $40 million. However, after Potcoin hit an all-time high of roughly $0.51 in late 2017, it has since lost more than 99% of its value and now trades around $0.0008.

With all that said, reporting from DL News has indicated Puffpaw did at one point explicitly tell customers that a token would be launched in the future in a now-deleted post on X. Additionally, reward points in crypto-related apps are oftentimes eventually converted to crypto tokens with real monetary value. Previous reporting from Protos also indicates Gudtrip previously said rewards would be made via a token known as VAPE.

Gudtrip has also faced some backlash due to the perceived gamification of vaping (a characterization that the company explicitly rejects). Health researchers raised specific concerns to DL News after reviewing the product’s marketing. Joshua Gowin, an associate professor who studies frequent cannabis use, said gamifying cannabis use certainly sounds like habit-formation is the goal. Janna Cousijn, who leads the Neuroscience of Addiction Lab at Erasmus University Rotterdam, called it potentially a very dangerous and unethical device that could stimulate the development of addiction. Other experts warned that incentives tied to frequent use could impair health decisions and increase risks such as anxiety, memory issues, and respiratory effects.

In response, Gudtrip founder Reffo Tse posted on X to correct what he called factual errors in media coverage. Tse wrote that the product records puff-seconds for user awareness only and that there is no financial reward of any kind tied to consumption. He emphasized that the bitcoin loyalty payment is issued upfront to every customer and is not scaled to, gated by, or associated with the level, frequency, or duration of use. “We believe that an adult in a legal market who has visibility into their own consumption is better positioned to avoid problematic use than one who does not,” Tse added.

The gamification of everything is becoming an increasing concern of many, and crypto often plays a key role in this trend of turning the entire world into one big casino. One recent example is Tuyo, a DeFi-powered Visa debit card that runs on crypto and includes a “buy now, pay maybe” feature that randomly waives fees on selected purchases through an undisclosed algorithm. The system frames ordinary spending as a game of chance, with critics describing it as engineered addiction that preys on the same psychological triggers found in casinos and loot boxes.

Prediction markets have drawn similar scrutiny. Platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket allow bets on real-world events including elections, but reports show campaign staffers have used non-public internal polling data to place profitable trades before the information reached the public. A U.S. soldier is also facing federal charges related to prediction market trades surrounding the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro. These prediction market platforms have suspended users for suspected insider activity and are increasingly cooperating with law enforcement, but regulators and lawmakers continue to highlight the uneven playing field that favors those with inside information.

Gudtrip itself also includes the ability for awarded bitcoin to be seamlessly transferred to other more speculative, AI-directed investments such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and prediction markets. The website claims, “Users can choose to allocate eligible rewards into open-source AI agent tools that explore opportunities across DeFi (decentralized-finance), Gudtrip-native incentives, prediction markets, and selected RWA (real world assets) strategies.”

#Smoke #Weed #Earn #Bitcoin #Vape #Pen #Increasingly #Dystopian #NightmareBitcoin,Crypto,gamification,vaping,weed">‘Smoke Weed and Earn Bitcoin’ With This Vape Pen in Our Increasingly Dystopian Nightmare
                Gudtrip is a cannabis vape pen from blockchain hardware manufacturer Puffpaw that is touting its ability to allow consumers to earn bitcoin while they smoke weed. Each of the company’s individual vape pen products has -3 worth of bitcoin attached to it, which can be redeemed via a QR code or NFC connection within the company’s associated mobile app. While Gudtrip has been criticized for effectively gamifying smoking marijuana, they claim that there is no direct reward tied to hitting the vape pen and seemingly have changed language on their website that previously claimed “Every hit earns crypto.” Currently, Gudtrip’s vape pen is sold only in California, where recreational cannabis is legal. Buyers activate the pen by scanning a QR code or tapping via NFC to connect it to the Gudtrip app, which unlocks the bitcoin reward as an upfront loyalty payment. The app then tracks puff-seconds of usage and displays the data purely as a personal awareness feature, much like a step counter or sleep tracker on a fitness device. Users can check in daily to build streaks that boost non-monetary virtual points awarded in the app, but according to Gudtrip, those points exist only for record-keeping inside the app and cannot be redeemed for cash, products, or any other value. Puffpaw describes Gudtrip as building a user-powered network that mixes cannabis, Bitcoin, and artificial intelligence.  Smoke weed and earn @Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/sj8jHFETQy — Gudtrip (@Gudtrip) October 24, 2025  Gudtrip has opted for using bitcoin for their crypto rewards program rather than creating their own crypto token out of thin air. Many marketing gimmicks have been tried around crypto rewards that turned out to be nothing more than pump and dump schemes by many businesses over the years, including in the marijuana industry. Perhaps the most notorious crossover between the crypto and marijuana industries was Potcoin. Dennis Rodman infamously went to North Korea on a trip that was sponsored by the marijuana-themed altcoin. The promotion drove an immediate price surge, with the coin jumping nearly 97% to more than alt=

touting its ability to allow consumers to earn bitcoin while they smoke weed. Each of the company’s individual vape pen products has $2-3 worth of bitcoin attached to it, which can be redeemed via a QR code or NFC connection within the company’s associated mobile app. While Gudtrip has been criticized for effectively gamifying smoking marijuana, they claim that there is no direct reward tied to hitting the vape pen and seemingly have changed language on their website that previously claimed “Every hit earns crypto.”

Currently, Gudtrip’s vape pen is sold only in California, where recreational cannabis is legal. Buyers activate the pen by scanning a QR code or tapping via NFC to connect it to the Gudtrip app, which unlocks the bitcoin reward as an upfront loyalty payment. The app then tracks puff-seconds of usage and displays the data purely as a personal awareness feature, much like a step counter or sleep tracker on a fitness device. Users can check in daily to build streaks that boost non-monetary virtual points awarded in the app, but according to Gudtrip, those points exist only for record-keeping inside the app and cannot be redeemed for cash, products, or any other value. Puffpaw describes Gudtrip as building a user-powered network that mixes cannabis, Bitcoin, and artificial intelligence.

Gudtrip has opted for using bitcoin for their crypto rewards program rather than creating their own crypto token out of thin air. Many marketing gimmicks have been tried around crypto rewards that turned out to be nothing more than pump and dump schemes by many businesses over the years, including in the marijuana industry. Perhaps the most notorious crossover between the crypto and marijuana industries was Potcoin. Dennis Rodman infamously went to North Korea on a trip that was sponsored by the marijuana-themed altcoin. The promotion drove an immediate price surge, with the coin jumping nearly 97% to more than $0.18 shortly after Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on June 13, 2017, lifting its market capitalization near $40 million. However, after Potcoin hit an all-time high of roughly $0.51 in late 2017, it has since lost more than 99% of its value and now trades around $0.0008.

With all that said, reporting from DL News has indicated Puffpaw did at one point explicitly tell customers that a token would be launched in the future in a now-deleted post on X. Additionally, reward points in crypto-related apps are oftentimes eventually converted to crypto tokens with real monetary value. Previous reporting from Protos also indicates Gudtrip previously said rewards would be made via a token known as VAPE.

Gudtrip has also faced some backlash due to the perceived gamification of vaping (a characterization that the company explicitly rejects). Health researchers raised specific concerns to DL News after reviewing the product’s marketing. Joshua Gowin, an associate professor who studies frequent cannabis use, said gamifying cannabis use certainly sounds like habit-formation is the goal. Janna Cousijn, who leads the Neuroscience of Addiction Lab at Erasmus University Rotterdam, called it potentially a very dangerous and unethical device that could stimulate the development of addiction. Other experts warned that incentives tied to frequent use could impair health decisions and increase risks such as anxiety, memory issues, and respiratory effects.

In response, Gudtrip founder Reffo Tse posted on X to correct what he called factual errors in media coverage. Tse wrote that the product records puff-seconds for user awareness only and that there is no financial reward of any kind tied to consumption. He emphasized that the bitcoin loyalty payment is issued upfront to every customer and is not scaled to, gated by, or associated with the level, frequency, or duration of use. “We believe that an adult in a legal market who has visibility into their own consumption is better positioned to avoid problematic use than one who does not,” Tse added.

The gamification of everything is becoming an increasing concern of many, and crypto often plays a key role in this trend of turning the entire world into one big casino. One recent example is Tuyo, a DeFi-powered Visa debit card that runs on crypto and includes a “buy now, pay maybe” feature that randomly waives fees on selected purchases through an undisclosed algorithm. The system frames ordinary spending as a game of chance, with critics describing it as engineered addiction that preys on the same psychological triggers found in casinos and loot boxes.

Prediction markets have drawn similar scrutiny. Platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket allow bets on real-world events including elections, but reports show campaign staffers have used non-public internal polling data to place profitable trades before the information reached the public. A U.S. soldier is also facing federal charges related to prediction market trades surrounding the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro. These prediction market platforms have suspended users for suspected insider activity and are increasingly cooperating with law enforcement, but regulators and lawmakers continue to highlight the uneven playing field that favors those with inside information.

Gudtrip itself also includes the ability for awarded bitcoin to be seamlessly transferred to other more speculative, AI-directed investments such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and prediction markets. The website claims, “Users can choose to allocate eligible rewards into open-source AI agent tools that explore opportunities across DeFi (decentralized-finance), Gudtrip-native incentives, prediction markets, and selected RWA (real world assets) strategies.”

#Smoke #Weed #Earn #Bitcoin #Vape #Pen #Increasingly #Dystopian #NightmareBitcoin,Crypto,gamification,vaping,weed">‘Smoke Weed and Earn Bitcoin’ With This Vape Pen in Our Increasingly Dystopian Nightmare‘Smoke Weed and Earn Bitcoin’ With This Vape Pen in Our Increasingly Dystopian Nightmare
                Gudtrip is a cannabis vape pen from blockchain hardware manufacturer Puffpaw that is touting its ability to allow consumers to earn bitcoin while they smoke weed. Each of the company’s individual vape pen products has $2-3 worth of bitcoin attached to it, which can be redeemed via a QR code or NFC connection within the company’s associated mobile app. While Gudtrip has been criticized for effectively gamifying smoking marijuana, they claim that there is no direct reward tied to hitting the vape pen and seemingly have changed language on their website that previously claimed “Every hit earns crypto.” Currently, Gudtrip’s vape pen is sold only in California, where recreational cannabis is legal. Buyers activate the pen by scanning a QR code or tapping via NFC to connect it to the Gudtrip app, which unlocks the bitcoin reward as an upfront loyalty payment. The app then tracks puff-seconds of usage and displays the data purely as a personal awareness feature, much like a step counter or sleep tracker on a fitness device. Users can check in daily to build streaks that boost non-monetary virtual points awarded in the app, but according to Gudtrip, those points exist only for record-keeping inside the app and cannot be redeemed for cash, products, or any other value. Puffpaw describes Gudtrip as building a user-powered network that mixes cannabis, Bitcoin, and artificial intelligence.  Smoke weed and earn @Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/sj8jHFETQy — Gudtrip (@Gudtrip) October 24, 2025  Gudtrip has opted for using bitcoin for their crypto rewards program rather than creating their own crypto token out of thin air. Many marketing gimmicks have been tried around crypto rewards that turned out to be nothing more than pump and dump schemes by many businesses over the years, including in the marijuana industry. Perhaps the most notorious crossover between the crypto and marijuana industries was Potcoin. Dennis Rodman infamously went to North Korea on a trip that was sponsored by the marijuana-themed altcoin. The promotion drove an immediate price surge, with the coin jumping nearly 97% to more than $0.18 shortly after Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on June 13, 2017, lifting its market capitalization near $40 million. However, after Potcoin hit an all-time high of roughly $0.51 in late 2017, it has since lost more than 99% of its value and now trades around $0.0008.

 With all that said, reporting from DL News has indicated Puffpaw did at one point explicitly tell customers that a token would be launched in the future in a now-deleted post on X. Additionally, reward points in crypto-related apps are oftentimes eventually converted to crypto tokens with real monetary value. Previous reporting from Protos also indicates Gudtrip previously said rewards would be made via a token known as VAPE.

 Gudtrip has also faced some backlash due to the perceived gamification of vaping (a characterization that the company explicitly rejects). Health researchers raised specific concerns to DL News after reviewing the product’s marketing. Joshua Gowin, an associate professor who studies frequent cannabis use, said gamifying cannabis use certainly sounds like habit-formation is the goal. Janna Cousijn, who leads the Neuroscience of Addiction Lab at Erasmus University Rotterdam, called it potentially a very dangerous and unethical device that could stimulate the development of addiction. Other experts warned that incentives tied to frequent use could impair health decisions and increase risks such as anxiety, memory issues, and respiratory effects.  Today we received a media request from @dlnews @DefiLlama regarding ethical concerns raised about @Gudtrip.  To set the record straight, we’re publishing our response openly – for our users, and for the public. Hi @dlnews team, Thank you for reaching out and for offering… — Reffo (@web2reffo) April 30, 2026  In response, Gudtrip founder Reffo Tse posted on X to correct what he called factual errors in media coverage. Tse wrote that the product records puff-seconds for user awareness only and that there is no financial reward of any kind tied to consumption. He emphasized that the bitcoin loyalty payment is issued upfront to every customer and is not scaled to, gated by, or associated with the level, frequency, or duration of use. “We believe that an adult in a legal market who has visibility into their own consumption is better positioned to avoid problematic use than one who does not,” Tse added.

 The gamification of everything is becoming an increasing concern of many, and crypto often plays a key role in this trend of turning the entire world into one big casino. One recent example is Tuyo, a DeFi-powered Visa debit card that runs on crypto and includes a “buy now, pay maybe” feature that randomly waives fees on selected purchases through an undisclosed algorithm. The system frames ordinary spending as a game of chance, with critics describing it as engineered addiction that preys on the same psychological triggers found in casinos and loot boxes. Prediction markets have drawn similar scrutiny. Platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket allow bets on real-world events including elections, but reports show campaign staffers have used non-public internal polling data to place profitable trades before the information reached the public. A U.S. soldier is also facing federal charges related to prediction market trades surrounding the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro. These prediction market platforms have suspended users for suspected insider activity and are increasingly cooperating with law enforcement, but regulators and lawmakers continue to highlight the uneven playing field that favors those with inside information. Gudtrip itself also includes the ability for awarded bitcoin to be seamlessly transferred to other more speculative, AI-directed investments such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and prediction markets. The website claims, “Users can choose to allocate eligible rewards into open-source AI agent tools that explore opportunities across DeFi (decentralized-finance), Gudtrip-native incentives, prediction markets, and selected RWA (real world assets) strategies.”      #Smoke #Weed #Earn #Bitcoin #Vape #Pen #Increasingly #Dystopian #NightmareBitcoin,Crypto,gamification,vaping,weed

Gudtrip is a cannabis vape pen from blockchain hardware manufacturer Puffpaw that is touting its ability to allow consumers to earn bitcoin while they smoke weed. Each of the company’s individual vape pen products has $2-3 worth of bitcoin attached to it, which can be redeemed via a QR code or NFC connection within the company’s associated mobile app. While Gudtrip has been criticized for effectively gamifying smoking marijuana, they claim that there is no direct reward tied to hitting the vape pen and seemingly have changed language on their website that previously claimed “Every hit earns crypto.”

Currently, Gudtrip’s vape pen is sold only in California, where recreational cannabis is legal. Buyers activate the pen by scanning a QR code or tapping via NFC to connect it to the Gudtrip app, which unlocks the bitcoin reward as an upfront loyalty payment. The app then tracks puff-seconds of usage and displays the data purely as a personal awareness feature, much like a step counter or sleep tracker on a fitness device. Users can check in daily to build streaks that boost non-monetary virtual points awarded in the app, but according to Gudtrip, those points exist only for record-keeping inside the app and cannot be redeemed for cash, products, or any other value. Puffpaw describes Gudtrip as building a user-powered network that mixes cannabis, Bitcoin, and artificial intelligence.

Gudtrip has opted for using bitcoin for their crypto rewards program rather than creating their own crypto token out of thin air. Many marketing gimmicks have been tried around crypto rewards that turned out to be nothing more than pump and dump schemes by many businesses over the years, including in the marijuana industry. Perhaps the most notorious crossover between the crypto and marijuana industries was Potcoin. Dennis Rodman infamously went to North Korea on a trip that was sponsored by the marijuana-themed altcoin. The promotion drove an immediate price surge, with the coin jumping nearly 97% to more than $0.18 shortly after Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on June 13, 2017, lifting its market capitalization near $40 million. However, after Potcoin hit an all-time high of roughly $0.51 in late 2017, it has since lost more than 99% of its value and now trades around $0.0008.

With all that said, reporting from DL News has indicated Puffpaw did at one point explicitly tell customers that a token would be launched in the future in a now-deleted post on X. Additionally, reward points in crypto-related apps are oftentimes eventually converted to crypto tokens with real monetary value. Previous reporting from Protos also indicates Gudtrip previously said rewards would be made via a token known as VAPE.

Gudtrip has also faced some backlash due to the perceived gamification of vaping (a characterization that the company explicitly rejects). Health researchers raised specific concerns to DL News after reviewing the product’s marketing. Joshua Gowin, an associate professor who studies frequent cannabis use, said gamifying cannabis use certainly sounds like habit-formation is the goal. Janna Cousijn, who leads the Neuroscience of Addiction Lab at Erasmus University Rotterdam, called it potentially a very dangerous and unethical device that could stimulate the development of addiction. Other experts warned that incentives tied to frequent use could impair health decisions and increase risks such as anxiety, memory issues, and respiratory effects.

In response, Gudtrip founder Reffo Tse posted on X to correct what he called factual errors in media coverage. Tse wrote that the product records puff-seconds for user awareness only and that there is no financial reward of any kind tied to consumption. He emphasized that the bitcoin loyalty payment is issued upfront to every customer and is not scaled to, gated by, or associated with the level, frequency, or duration of use. “We believe that an adult in a legal market who has visibility into their own consumption is better positioned to avoid problematic use than one who does not,” Tse added.

The gamification of everything is becoming an increasing concern of many, and crypto often plays a key role in this trend of turning the entire world into one big casino. One recent example is Tuyo, a DeFi-powered Visa debit card that runs on crypto and includes a “buy now, pay maybe” feature that randomly waives fees on selected purchases through an undisclosed algorithm. The system frames ordinary spending as a game of chance, with critics describing it as engineered addiction that preys on the same psychological triggers found in casinos and loot boxes.

Prediction markets have drawn similar scrutiny. Platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket allow bets on real-world events including elections, but reports show campaign staffers have used non-public internal polling data to place profitable trades before the information reached the public. A U.S. soldier is also facing federal charges related to prediction market trades surrounding the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro. These prediction market platforms have suspended users for suspected insider activity and are increasingly cooperating with law enforcement, but regulators and lawmakers continue to highlight the uneven playing field that favors those with inside information.

Gudtrip itself also includes the ability for awarded bitcoin to be seamlessly transferred to other more speculative, AI-directed investments such as decentralized finance (DeFi) and prediction markets. The website claims, “Users can choose to allocate eligible rewards into open-source AI agent tools that explore opportunities across DeFi (decentralized-finance), Gudtrip-native incentives, prediction markets, and selected RWA (real world assets) strategies.”

#Smoke #Weed #Earn #Bitcoin #Vape #Pen #Increasingly #Dystopian #NightmareBitcoin,Crypto,gamification,vaping,weed

Irrigreen apps: You create a zone, then use the app to define its boundaries. Similar to the aforementioned systems, Oto’s sprinkler is designed for precision watering, firing water in a beam in a single direction instead of a wide spray. That said, Oto’s spray is comparably narrow, only hitting a single, designated patch instead of producing a two-dimensional curtain of water like Irrigreen’s “water printing” system. You get a nice preview of this as you set the boundaries of your yard.

Like its competitors, Oto lets you set each zone as a spot (for watering a single tree, perhaps), a line (for a flowerbed), or a 2-D area (for a yard). I tested all of these modes but spent most of my time working with area zones, which are the most complex option. When defining an area zone, I found Oto’s system to be virtually identical to that of Irrigreen and Aiper, though ever so slightly slower to respond to commands. Even so, it’s very easy to use: A simple interface lets you drop points around the sprinkler to define the boundaries of the zone. When you’ve made a full circle around the sprinkler, the area is complete.

Once configured, you can assign each zone a schedule, with copious options available around which days to water (odd days, even days, select days of the week, every day), and designate a start time (though there is no tying time to sundown or sunrise). Each schedule also gets a weekly watering limit (in inches of depth), which you’ll then parse out over each week’s watering runs. Weather intelligence features let you elect to skip watering if your zip code receives measurable rainfall or if winds are high (both based on internet reports); the user can tweak both the amount of rain and windspeed needed to trigger a skip. The app logs the 20 most recent runs and includes a calendar that details upcoming events.

When watering an area, Oto takes a novel approach to covering the lawn, first moving in circular arcs directly around the sprinkler, then slowly increasing in range with each successive swipe. When finished, it does additional “clean-up” runs to hit any areas that the initial watering arcs didn’t reach. The speed is slow enough and the size of the water’s beam is large enough that the resulting coverage is solid. After test runs, I found the yard to be plenty wet across the entire zone, with no dry patches.

As with all sprinklers, changes in water pressure can make for occasional over- or underwatering of areas, but I found this to be a minimal problem when using the Oto. However, when watering at the terminus of Oto’s range, the power needed to throw the water that far can make for a strong splashdown, which may result in some soil erosion or damage to more sensitive plants.

The Oto also has a “play mode” option that lets you use the sprinkler for a watery game of chase or a more random “splash tag” mode, aka “try to avoid getting hit by the water.” Pro tip: It’s impossible not to get hit.

#SolarPowered #Smart #Sprinkler #Lawn #Watered #Power #Cablesshopping,review,reviews,household,home,smart home,backyard">This Solar-Powered Smart Sprinkler Keeps My Lawn Watered Without Any Power CablesOnce configured, setup proceeds much like the Aiper and pricier Irrigreen apps: You create a zone, then use the app to define its boundaries. Similar to the aforementioned systems, Oto’s sprinkler is designed for precision watering, firing water in a beam in a single direction instead of a wide spray. That said, Oto’s spray is comparably narrow, only hitting a single, designated patch instead of producing a two-dimensional curtain of water like Irrigreen’s “water printing” system. You get a nice preview of this as you set the boundaries of your yard.Like its competitors, Oto lets you set each zone as a spot (for watering a single tree, perhaps), a line (for a flowerbed), or a 2-D area (for a yard). I tested all of these modes but spent most of my time working with area zones, which are the most complex option. When defining an area zone, I found Oto’s system to be virtually identical to that of Irrigreen and Aiper, though ever so slightly slower to respond to commands. Even so, it’s very easy to use: A simple interface lets you drop points around the sprinkler to define the boundaries of the zone. When you’ve made a full circle around the sprinkler, the area is complete.Once configured, you can assign each zone a schedule, with copious options available around which days to water (odd days, even days, select days of the week, every day), and designate a start time (though there is no tying time to sundown or sunrise). Each schedule also gets a weekly watering limit (in inches of depth), which you’ll then parse out over each week’s watering runs. Weather intelligence features let you elect to skip watering if your zip code receives measurable rainfall or if winds are high (both based on internet reports); the user can tweak both the amount of rain and windspeed needed to trigger a skip. The app logs the 20 most recent runs and includes a calendar that details upcoming events.When watering an area, Oto takes a novel approach to covering the lawn, first moving in circular arcs directly around the sprinkler, then slowly increasing in range with each successive swipe. When finished, it does additional “clean-up” runs to hit any areas that the initial watering arcs didn’t reach. The speed is slow enough and the size of the water’s beam is large enough that the resulting coverage is solid. After test runs, I found the yard to be plenty wet across the entire zone, with no dry patches.As with all sprinklers, changes in water pressure can make for occasional over- or underwatering of areas, but I found this to be a minimal problem when using the Oto. However, when watering at the terminus of Oto’s range, the power needed to throw the water that far can make for a strong splashdown, which may result in some soil erosion or damage to more sensitive plants.The Oto also has a “play mode” option that lets you use the sprinkler for a watery game of chase or a more random “splash tag” mode, aka “try to avoid getting hit by the water.” Pro tip: It’s impossible not to get hit.#SolarPowered #Smart #Sprinkler #Lawn #Watered #Power #Cablesshopping,review,reviews,household,home,smart home,backyard

apps: You create a zone, then use the app to define its boundaries. Similar to the aforementioned systems, Oto’s sprinkler is designed for precision watering, firing water in a beam in a single direction instead of a wide spray. That said, Oto’s spray is comparably narrow, only hitting a single, designated patch instead of producing a two-dimensional curtain of water like Irrigreen’s “water printing” system. You get a nice preview of this as you set the boundaries of your yard.

Like its competitors, Oto lets you set each zone as a spot (for watering a single tree, perhaps), a line (for a flowerbed), or a 2-D area (for a yard). I tested all of these modes but spent most of my time working with area zones, which are the most complex option. When defining an area zone, I found Oto’s system to be virtually identical to that of Irrigreen and Aiper, though ever so slightly slower to respond to commands. Even so, it’s very easy to use: A simple interface lets you drop points around the sprinkler to define the boundaries of the zone. When you’ve made a full circle around the sprinkler, the area is complete.

Once configured, you can assign each zone a schedule, with copious options available around which days to water (odd days, even days, select days of the week, every day), and designate a start time (though there is no tying time to sundown or sunrise). Each schedule also gets a weekly watering limit (in inches of depth), which you’ll then parse out over each week’s watering runs. Weather intelligence features let you elect to skip watering if your zip code receives measurable rainfall or if winds are high (both based on internet reports); the user can tweak both the amount of rain and windspeed needed to trigger a skip. The app logs the 20 most recent runs and includes a calendar that details upcoming events.

When watering an area, Oto takes a novel approach to covering the lawn, first moving in circular arcs directly around the sprinkler, then slowly increasing in range with each successive swipe. When finished, it does additional “clean-up” runs to hit any areas that the initial watering arcs didn’t reach. The speed is slow enough and the size of the water’s beam is large enough that the resulting coverage is solid. After test runs, I found the yard to be plenty wet across the entire zone, with no dry patches.

As with all sprinklers, changes in water pressure can make for occasional over- or underwatering of areas, but I found this to be a minimal problem when using the Oto. However, when watering at the terminus of Oto’s range, the power needed to throw the water that far can make for a strong splashdown, which may result in some soil erosion or damage to more sensitive plants.

The Oto also has a “play mode” option that lets you use the sprinkler for a watery game of chase or a more random “splash tag” mode, aka “try to avoid getting hit by the water.” Pro tip: It’s impossible not to get hit.

#SolarPowered #Smart #Sprinkler #Lawn #Watered #Power #Cablesshopping,review,reviews,household,home,smart home,backyard">This Solar-Powered Smart Sprinkler Keeps My Lawn Watered Without Any Power Cables

Once configured, setup proceeds much like the Aiper and pricier Irrigreen apps: You create a zone, then use the app to define its boundaries. Similar to the aforementioned systems, Oto’s sprinkler is designed for precision watering, firing water in a beam in a single direction instead of a wide spray. That said, Oto’s spray is comparably narrow, only hitting a single, designated patch instead of producing a two-dimensional curtain of water like Irrigreen’s “water printing” system. You get a nice preview of this as you set the boundaries of your yard.

Like its competitors, Oto lets you set each zone as a spot (for watering a single tree, perhaps), a line (for a flowerbed), or a 2-D area (for a yard). I tested all of these modes but spent most of my time working with area zones, which are the most complex option. When defining an area zone, I found Oto’s system to be virtually identical to that of Irrigreen and Aiper, though ever so slightly slower to respond to commands. Even so, it’s very easy to use: A simple interface lets you drop points around the sprinkler to define the boundaries of the zone. When you’ve made a full circle around the sprinkler, the area is complete.

Once configured, you can assign each zone a schedule, with copious options available around which days to water (odd days, even days, select days of the week, every day), and designate a start time (though there is no tying time to sundown or sunrise). Each schedule also gets a weekly watering limit (in inches of depth), which you’ll then parse out over each week’s watering runs. Weather intelligence features let you elect to skip watering if your zip code receives measurable rainfall or if winds are high (both based on internet reports); the user can tweak both the amount of rain and windspeed needed to trigger a skip. The app logs the 20 most recent runs and includes a calendar that details upcoming events.

When watering an area, Oto takes a novel approach to covering the lawn, first moving in circular arcs directly around the sprinkler, then slowly increasing in range with each successive swipe. When finished, it does additional “clean-up” runs to hit any areas that the initial watering arcs didn’t reach. The speed is slow enough and the size of the water’s beam is large enough that the resulting coverage is solid. After test runs, I found the yard to be plenty wet across the entire zone, with no dry patches.

As with all sprinklers, changes in water pressure can make for occasional over- or underwatering of areas, but I found this to be a minimal problem when using the Oto. However, when watering at the terminus of Oto’s range, the power needed to throw the water that far can make for a strong splashdown, which may result in some soil erosion or damage to more sensitive plants.

The Oto also has a “play mode” option that lets you use the sprinkler for a watery game of chase or a more random “splash tag” mode, aka “try to avoid getting hit by the water.” Pro tip: It’s impossible not to get hit.

#SolarPowered #Smart #Sprinkler #Lawn #Watered #Power #Cablesshopping,review,reviews,household,home,smart home,backyard

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