Livio Internet Radio Kit

By Jake Sigal – Founder and CEO Livio Radio

At Livio, day in and day out, we work on solutions to bring technology from smartphones into the car. We split our time between focusing on commissioned dashboard integration work driven from OEMs, coming up with new ideas and converting those ideas into technology we think OEMs and consumers will want in the next 3-5 years.

One area of opportunity that I’d like to see more demand from auto OEMs is the technology for tomorrow’s seniors. There is no doubt in my mind that cars will be driving themselves in the next 15-20 years, but that’s not going to help the aging boomer population. Leading edge boomers born in the late 1940s probably shouldn’t and won’t be driving before cars they will drive themselves.

Combine this with a stubbornness of boomers to never get old, there’s a crash waiting to happen in the next 3-5 years. I’d recommend starting now on case studies and focus groups to figure out what to do with boomers on the road.

Being proactive will certainly prevent the legislative mess we have today with texting and driving (mobile phone use in-vehicle) issues. It goes without saying that I’m down to work on tech to help keep all drivers safe. Some solutions could include a no-nonsense testing procedure for licenses that goes beyond an eye exam, vehicle safety settings adjusted based on the driver capabilities, or even simple convenience items, like a filter to help boomer drivers find accessible points of interest within their navigation system.

Ignoring this problem is just going to create more problems for everyone. And the current method of babying parents just doesn’t work, especially with boomers. Good luck taking away my dad’s keys to the Mustang Convertible. I don’t see that ever happening. Hopefully transportation goes through a revolution before someone tries to take my keys in 50 years.

About The Author – Livio Radio founder and CEO Jake Sigal
Jake mashed-up music and tech to make Livio Radio.

Jake Sigal quit his XM product management gig at Delphi at the age of 26, vowing to do things differently. Bolstered by a $10,000 loan from his parents, he combined his two passions, engineering and music, and started Livio Radio in 2008 from the guest bedroom of his home in Ferndale, Mich.

Jake’s rule-breaking style quickly established Livio as a leader in the car Internet radio industry. It also made Jake an accredited young entrepreneur. Through partnerships with venture capital firms and angel investors, he raised millions to fund the Livio Radio brand born under his own roof.

Before starting Livio, Jake worked at Numark as a product developer, where he invented the original ION USB turntable and co-invented the iDJ. After, Jake jumped to Delphi’s Consumer Electronics Group, working as a product line manager for XM Satellite Radio where he built a budding bromance with his boss, Massimo Baldini, who’s now Livio Radio’s president.

Before he set the consumer electronics world on fire with his innovations, Jake earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering at Ohio University, where he marched on the drumline of the infamous OU Marching 110. He now sits on the university’s Russ College of Engineering Board of Advisors. Jake is also a board member of the Consumer Electronics Association’s (CEA) Board of Industry Leaders (BIL) and the Small Business Council (SBC).

When he isn’t inventing cool tech products, you can find Jake fist pumping in his office to electro, house and dubstep, or battling Baldini in foosball. Jake is married and has a cat cool enough to be on the box art for the Livio Radio featuring Pandora.

Jake also loves riding his fixed-gear bike, letting loose at national electronic music festivals, and playing ice hockey for Team Livio.

Today, Jake still plays by his own rules – an ideology that has put more than 25 products on the market.