I've put small/niche little projects out the door with less than $500K of my own money, and I've seen hardware startups blow $40M with nothing to show for it.

I've put small/niche little projects out the door with less than $500K of my own money, and I've seen hardware startups blow $40M with nothing to show for it. I didn't give the full breakdown, but the numbers I used above also take into account that you're building an actual company. Where you're paying people vs. having people work in their spare time, and you have other overhead (rent, etc.). Also accounting for a moderate PR and tradeshow budget, which would all be typical if you're trying to build a Consumer Electronics product, even with the ref. designs and such out there today. There are a lot of variables involved, and a lot of places to save money. Prior experience on your team also works in your favor.