Matteo Franceschetti on Eight Sleep's F1 cooling gloves, investing in 20 YC companies per batch, and the dearth of consumer hardware
Jun 11, 2025 with Matteo Franceschetti
Key Points
- Eight Sleep built cooling gloves in three days after Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc said F1 cooling vests don't work, then gained organic demand from padel and tennis players after Leclerc posted the prototype.
- Eight Sleep CEO Matteo Franceschetti invests in roughly 20% of each YC batch by backing founder conviction over sector fit, including an 18-year-old high school dropout building AI tools for teachers.
- Franceschetti predicts consumer hardware will enter a new wave once AI software commoditizes, with robotics as the entry point, while Eight Sleep itself pivots toward computer-vision sleep monitoring and health platform capabilities.
Summary
Matteo Franceschetti, co-founder and CEO of Eight Sleep, covered three topics at YC Demo Day: a new hardware product from an F1 partnership, his investing cadence at YC, and the trajectory of consumer hardware.
Cooling gloves for Charles Leclerc
Franceschetti and co-founder Max built cooling gloves in three days after talking with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who said cooling vests used on the F1 grid don't work. The body cools most effectively through the palms of the hands. A team member flew to Barcelona with the prototype, handed it to Leclerc at 35°C, and Ferrari posted a photo to Instagram without planning or payment. Demand from padel and tennis players came immediately. Eight Sleep is now building out the product for several retailers.
Investing roughly 20 companies per YC batch
Franceschetti invests in around 20% of each YC batch and has done so for two years. He picks on founder conviction rather than sector fit. His clearest example is an 18-year-old high school dropout who left school to build an AI tool for teachers and is now selling it back to his former teachers. He backs that kind of founder regardless of the company's outcome.
Consumer hardware and what comes next
Consumer hardware is genuinely hard. Most companies that started alongside Eight Sleep have struggled. YC has largely stayed away from AI-connected appliances, and Franceschetti thinks that's the right call for now. Once AI software commoditizes, he expects a new hardware wave to follow, with robotics as the entry point. He sleeps on Eight Sleep's next-generation pod. The company is doubling down on computer-vision-based body scanning during sleep with the goal of turning the bed into a health monitoring platform.