3 ms·

> You need to be generating revenue within a few months of starting. If your product solves a real problem people will pay money for less than the minimum produ

> You need to be generating revenue within a few months of starting. If your product solves a real problem people will pay money for less than the minimum product just to make sure your company survives long enough to build the minimum product. No wonder nobody does hardware startups. It seems unrealistic that you'd have a prototype that anyone would be comfortable paying for within a few months, unless you're selling something as simple as a pre-programmed Arduino in a box.

onion2k 6y ago
It seems unrealistic that you'd have a prototype that anyone would be comfortable paying for within a few months If you're thinking "No one would pay for that" without asking customers then you're doing it wrong. Let the customer decide what they're happy to pay for. Some of them will give you money even after you've made very little progress.
mdorazio 6y ago
Be careful not to confuse consumer hardware with business hardware. There are plenty of business hardware use cases where customers are definitely willing to pay money for something that amounts to a few hundred dollars worth of off the shelf components, custom PCBs, well-written control logic, and fanatical customer support. You just probably don't encounter this kind of hardware because it's out of the public eye in manufacturing, logistics, etc. operations and getting to those customers requires knowing the target industry (or knowing people who do).
- grawprog 6y ago
  I've got a real life case I can provide an anecdote for. I recently got to try out a candy depositor with a temperature controlled hopper. The machine costs about $12000. The machine consists of a base depositor that can be purchased on its own for about $2000-$3000. The heating elements consist of a few metal plates worth maybe a couple hundred dollars, a couple of off the shelf temperature controllers worth less than $100 each and some housing and circuitry for the controllers that's can't be worth more than $1000. Overall, I'd say the temperature controlled depositor has maybe about $7000 worth of parts in total, being generous. That's a decent markup for something comprised nearly entirely of off the shelf parts.
- R0b0t1 6y ago
  I work in this area and the customers are still very picky. A lot of our funding has come from a few very large purchasers that are okay with a farther horizon, but most customers don't care about the product no matter how good it will be in the future. They want it good now.
spixy 6y ago
Maybe in US there are not many hardware startups, but look at Shenzhen/China: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY

onion2k 6y ago

It seems unrealistic that you'd have a prototype that anyone would be comfortable paying for within a few months If you're thinking "No one would pay for that" without asking customers then you're doing it wrong. Let the customer decide what they're happy to pay for. Some of them will give you money even after you've made very little progress.

mdorazio 6y ago

Be careful not to confuse consumer hardware with business hardware. There are plenty of business hardware use cases where customers are definitely willing to pay money for something that amounts to a few hundred dollars worth of off the shelf components, custom PCBs, well-written control logic, and fanatical customer support. You just probably don't encounter this kind of hardware because it's out of the public eye in manufacturing, logistics, etc. operations and getting to those customers requires knowing the target industry (or knowing people who do).

grawprog 6y ago
I've got a real life case I can provide an anecdote for. I recently got to try out a candy depositor with a temperature controlled hopper. The machine costs about $12000. The machine consists of a base depositor that can be purchased on its own for about $2000-$3000. The heating elements consist of a few metal plates worth maybe a couple hundred dollars, a couple of off the shelf temperature controllers worth less than $100 each and some housing and circuitry for the controllers that's can't be worth more than $1000. Overall, I'd say the temperature controlled depositor has maybe about $7000 worth of parts in total, being generous. That's a decent markup for something comprised nearly entirely of off the shelf parts.
R0b0t1 6y ago
I work in this area and the customers are still very picky. A lot of our funding has come from a few very large purchasers that are okay with a farther horizon, but most customers don't care about the product no matter how good it will be in the future. They want it good now.

spixy 6y ago

Maybe in US there are not many hardware startups, but look at Shenzhen/China: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY