From Prototype to 200k Products: The Embr Labs Story with Sam Shames

“What happened was just the market need was so strong… it kept pulling us forward.” — Sam Shames In this episode, Chris sits down with Sam Shames — materials engineer, MIT grad, and co-founder of Ember Labs, the company behind the Ember Wave: a wearable that helps people regulate temperature and reclaim comfort on their terms. Over the last 12 years, Sam has led Ember from a student side project to a real business, launching two hardware generations, shipping over 200,000 units, and recently pivoting to a subscription model that’s rare in consumer wearables. We talk product-market fit in hardware, solving real pain points like hot flashes, scaling with a lean team, and what it really takes to make a physical product company sustainable, both financially and environmentally. Key Takeaways: 🚀 The prototyping contest that sparked Embr Labs, and the overheated lab that started it all 🚀 From student side project to Kickstarter success (and 4 years of learning in between) 🚀 Building circularity into hardware, and why refurbishment isn’t just a sustainability play 🚀 Subscriptions in wearables, how $20/month changed everything for Ember 🚀 Designing for real needs, from aesthetics to AI that predicts hot flashes 🚀 Founder evolution; why Sam stepped back and hired a CEO to scale the business Memorable Quotes: 🟰 “We thought it was going to take six months. It ended up taking four years.” 🟰 “It's never too early to think about manufacturing. Prototypes and products are worlds apart.” 🟰 “At some point, we realized this wasn’t just a cool project. It needed to become a real business.” 🟰 “The leap from Gen 2 to Gen 3 will feel like going from a flip phone to a smartphone.” Resources & Links: 🌍 Connect with Sam Shames on LinkedIn 🧊 Explore Embr Labs  https://www.embrlabs.com🎥 Watch full episodes on YouTube 📸 Follow on Instagram 🎵 TikTok: @_whydesign 👥 Join the Why Design community: events, huddles, and workshops → teamkodu.com/events  🔗 Follow Chris Whyte on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/mrchriswhyte 🎧 Listen to Why Design on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Amazon Music. 💬 PS – Subscribe so you never miss an episode! About Kodu Why Design is produced by Kodu, a recruitment partner to ambitious hardware brands, design consultancies, and product start-ups. We help founders and teams identify, attract, and hire the best talent across industrial design, mechanical engineering, and product leadership. Learn more at teamkodu.com.