Apple Stole My Idea

This week, Apple finally announced their much anticipated “AirTags”. AirTags enable people to find their lost items using their cell phone. It’s a product I’m extremely excited about because…well…some friends & I came up with the idea 13 years ago and spent about a decade of my life getting the product to mass adoption.

So Apple stole my idea and I couldn’t be happier.

Beginnings

The idea began at UCSB in a business plan competition. We had to come up with a product to do a business plan around and we didn’t have any ideas. One weekend we went surfing and kiting at Oceano Dunes where you can drive on the sand. I (idiotically) parked below the high tide line and then when I got out of the water the tide started coming up and hitting the tires. I went to get my keys from out of my wetsuit and couldn’t find them. We searched frantically in the sand to find the keys while the water started to rise higher and higher on the car. Luckily 2 people with metal detectors came walking down the beach, I offered them $100 to find my keys and 15 minutes later they found them. This experience inspired Christian…