Hi friends, Akarsh here from Dio. I'm kicking off my first monthly newsletter of 2025 since my annual Founder's Letter last month. Also, a very happy Easter to all who celebrate!
Lots of exciting things have happened so far this year. Here are the topics for today's newsletter.
- Dio is the buzz of the Apple blog-o-sphere
- Our In-Kind Gift Partnership at TED 2025
- Akarsh's founding journey - CanvasRebel interview
Missed the last newsletter? Check it out here, where we talked about our new merch and our feature in Freaky Tech Reviews.
Buzz in the Apple blog-o-sphere
Dio became quite the buzz in the Apple world over the last two months. Nearly every major Apple-centric publication picked up our product for review – entirely unpaid and organic!
This kind of press is exciting on its own, but to me, it’s also been an opportunity to calibrate: Did we really make the right product?
When I first set out to build Dio, it was to bring three guiding principles back into the audio industry: Simplicity, Flexibility, and Privacy. So I created a chart to summarize each review against our three pillars, as well as other important factors like Sound Quality and Price.
Looks like we’re right on track with our core principles and generally excelling as a speaker system!
However, I made a point to note some of the things that the reviewers wanted to improve in our product such as sound quality, USB-C, and Android compatibility. I thought this would be a great opportunity to hear from you, our Dio community - what do you think we should be building next? Whether you’re a current customer or someone who decided not to purchase from us just yet, I’d love to get your input in this quick poll:
It was also interesting to see every writer compare our product against Apple’s HomePod Mini. I decided to write a detailed blog to highlight the key differences between our product and HomePod Mini, using Apple Insider’s article as the basis for the comparison. If this has been a question on your mind, check it out!
An In-Kind Gift Partner at TED 2025
Earlier this month, we had the privilege of donating 120 Dio Node speakers to the non-profit organization responsible for bringing TED Talks to the world. Dio was an In-Kind Gift Partner at the TED 2025 conference in Vancouver, Canada.
Here are some fun pictures of Dio Node at the event.
My founding journey - CanvasRebel Magazine
Ever wondered what it takes to create a tech product from scratch? I had the opportunity recently to share my startup journey with CanvasRebel Magazine.
During the interview, I had the chance to share everything - from my background before Dio, to the problems I faced with audio that led to the "aha!" moment for the Dio idea, to the challenges of manufacturing and launching the product. I'd love to invite you to step in and see how Dio got to where it is today.
That's all for today's newsletter. Until next month!
-Akarsh