We launched SoloKeys less than 1y ago. For content, we make hardware & firmware ourselves, we did a first batch in China and now we're manufacturing in Italy.

We launched SoloKeys less than 1y ago. For content, we make hardware & firmware ourselves, we did a first batch in China and now we're manufacturing in Italy. 1) speed it up. We went from idea to shipping in less than 4mo, and I highly encourage you to aim for a much shorter timeline. You'll be late anyway (we shipped the 2nd product with 3+ mo delay), but that's fine. 2) don't worry. 3) rpi is a computer, it's pretty different from hardware. Can you prototype in arduino, for example? Can you do the board yourself? Otherwise you need a hardware & firmware person. 4) To reply to Shenzhen as well, you need to go where you are comfortable and have connections. If you search for a cheap contractor in a country you don't know, your risk to get screwed up is high. You should find the equivalent of a cofounder that partners with you to create the product, and late to manufacture. I'm happy to talk more if you'd like, feel free to reach out directly.