Sleep: Who Needs It? Students Mix Business with Studies

By Lynn Austin Manning '76

Media buzz about SleepSmart, a sleep-monitoring alarm clock that wakes you when your brain waves say you are ready, has been huge. The founders of Axon Sleep Research Laboratories -- Eric Shashoua '04.5, Jason Donahue '05 and Ben Rubin '05 -- have been interviewed by the BBC in England, Scotland, and Australia, Newsweek Poland, Radio Europe Mediterraneo, PBS, and The Boston Globe. Coverage has appeared in the Japanese and German press. You may have even read about them in the Brown Daily Herald.

Although the prototype won't be ready until 2006, eager customers already are making reservations on Axon's Web site. A board of directors has been established, investors are coming on board, and a brochure is in the works.

How did the three Brown students manage to start, run, and publicize a business while earning their bachelor's degrees? It wasn't easy. Shashoua needed an extra semester to get it done, and Donahue and Rubin half-seriously thought of dropping out on several occasions.

But the young men remain firmly optimistic: "In the long run," kidded Donahue, "this product will attract women, make our hair better, and wake us up in the morning."

"And make us successful!" Shashoua added, definitely not joking.

The road to success took shape in the fall of 2003, when a friend of Shashoua awoke groggy and did poorly on an exam. She talked with a cognitive science student at Brown (who has since gone on to grad school) and with Shashoua about an idea for an alarm clock that would wake you up alert. "We got together and we thought, wow, we should start a company around this and see if we could build a product," said Shashoua.

Donahue and Rubin came on board shortly thereafter. Remembered Rubin, "I heard through the grapevine from some of the electrical engineers I was studying with that people were working on this; I started going to meetings and got involved." Shashoua knew Donahue from his freshman-year residence hall unit and got him to join in.

The science behind the product is sophisticated yet simple: People cycle through various stages of sleep (light, deep, and rapid eye movement) several times each night. If you are woken from a lighter stage, no matter how many or how few hours you've slept, you will feel recharged and alert. SleepSmart users wear a soft headband that passively monitors brain activity waves and wirelessly communicates with an alarm that wakes them at the ideal moment (up to 15 minutes before a set desired time, but never after). Said Shashoua, "Everyone really gets the idea right away, which may be one reason this has captured the imagination of the media so quickly."

What characteristics helped the trio turn an idea into a business? Each took turns describing their partners: About Shashoua (23, a computer science and French literature concentrator, now company president): "Infinite energy and passion; as much organization as we have, he brings." About Donahue (23, a public and private sector organizations concentrator, now director of business development): "Very sharp, a go-getter and self-starter. When he wants something, he puts all his energy into it." About Rubin (22, a computer engineering concentrator): "Obviously a genius. Both a big picture guy and a details person who quickly grasps everything new that we face."

Once the core team got together, they dug into their own pockets for funding. "We'd all had summer jobs so we had some savings," said Shashoua. "We believed in this enough that we wanted to put that in, but we didn't have very much so we applied for a grant -- which came through!"

More grants, a business plan competition, and extensive support from Brown's Entrepreneur Program (EP) created networking opportunities that identified mentors and investors, some of whom are now on Axon's board of directors.

Two of these are Jeff Stibel MA'00, and Terri Alpert '85. "This team is the most incredible group of young people I've seen in my six years working with EP," said Alpert. "Theirs is a product which may dramatically increase the quality of life for people." Said Stibel, "They were a bright group and had some amazing technology so I agreed to help them commercialize it. I'm helping for selfish reasons -- I want the first SleepSmart off the shelf!"

Headquartered in Barus and Holley while undergrads, the leadership team of Axon left the shelter of Mother Brunonia this past spring for larger office space on Waterman Street. They could have done other things, said Donahue. "Ben and I interviewed for a lot of consulting jobs as a result of our experience with Axon -- but we ended up turning down every offer. Now we're in positions with Axon that we couldn't be in with another company for twelve years."

"This is the opportunity of a lifetime," said Shashoua. "You don't find many 20-year-olds doing something like this."

Photo by Peter Goldberg