Kova · Consumer hardware · Founder advisory, 2025

Cut three product lines to grow the fourth

Kova made four smart-home products with a team built for one. Nine months of founder advisory ended with a hard decision and a much healthier company.

revenue from the line they kept: +62%
months of runway: 14 → 26
support tickets: −55%

The problem

Kova started with a well-reviewed indoor air monitor, then added smart plugs, a kitchen scale and a baby monitor to reach more shelves. By early 2025 it had 32 people, four supply chains, and 14 months of cash.

Karim Haddad, the CEO, came to advisory to work out how to raise the next round. Within the first month it was clear that the round wasn’t the problem; the product range was.

What we did

Margin by line

True margins for each product after returns, support and inventory, which nobody had added up before.
Customer reality

Interviews with retailers and buyers showed the air monitor was the only product people sought out.
A dated plan

Sell through and retire three lines over two quarters, with partners told first.
Fortnightly sessions

To hold the decision through the difficult months that followed.

The result

Kova stopped making three of its four products by the end of 2025. Revenue from the air monitor grew 62% in the following two quarters as the whole team worked on one thing, and support tickets fell by more than half.

Runway went from 14 months to 26 without new funding, and when Kova did raise, in 2026, it raised as a focused company with one clear story.