152: Three Main Problems When Scaling a Hardware Startup

What this episode covers

Brad Pedersen is a founder of the hardware product Lomi which raised almost ten million dollars in crowdfunding as his most recent hit success of many. In his earlier years, he developed many new products and also distributed thousands of other hardware products all over the world, mostly in the toy and sports product fields. Today Brad is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can learn what the 3 most important elements of an emerging hardware startup are, how to avoid key pitfalls around each of those 3 areas, and how to scale your product to become the next big hit invention success. Today you will hear us talk about: People, Systems, and Cash Growth is a double-edged sword You must constantly re-invent each of the main 3 primary scaling failure areas When you find product market fit, how do you ensure that will go the distance, and people is the biggest lever You start with generalist and move to specialist Single-digit growth is annually, double-digit is quarterly, and Don’t become the bottleneck of everything. Systems allow you to best utilize your people 4 key things to a hardware startup: Smart founder and a great idea, marketing plan that is different not better, a team (your people), and execution (the systems). Hire people that are smarter than you, even pay them more than you, especially in the early days. Get the cash you need to get to your MVP Perfection is the enemy of progress Build, measure, learn. Consider selling direct to customers EPISODE LINKS: Brad Pedersen Links: Personal Website | Lomi | LinkedIn The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube PTC Links: https://www.ptc.com/ OnShape | Creo Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC’s best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.

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