Hardware Startup

Renee DiResta (@noupside) is Vice President of Business Development at Haven, a marketplace for ocean freight shipping, and a cofounder of the IoT Syndicate on AngelList. She was previously a Principal at O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures (OATV), where she spent four years as a VC investing in seed-stage technology startups. Prior to OATV, Renee spent seven years an equity derivatives trader at Jane Street Capital, a quantitative proprietary trading firm in NYC. For fun, she plays with data sets, helps run The Maker Map open-source project, and is an avid crafter. Renee holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Political Science from the Honors College of SUNY Stony Brook.

Brady Forrest (@brady) runs Highway1, PCH's accelerator. You can see his day-to-day work with hardware startups on Syfy's Bazillion Dollar Club (to be released Fall 2015). He cofounded and shepherds Ignite, a global talk series, and is part of the team currently organizing Ignite SF. He's a Venture Advisor to 500 Startups and helps arts organizations via CAST-sf.org. Formerly, he worked on a number of things at O'Reilly Media, including the Radar blog, Web 2.0 Expo, Where 2.0, ETech, and Foo Camp. Most years, you can find him on the playa.

Ryan Vinyard is the Engineering Lead at Highway1, a hardware-focused startup accelerator located in San Francisco under parent company PCH International. He is a mechanical engineer who came to PCH through its consulting arm Lime Lab, where he developed consumer products for Fortune 500 brands. Previously, Ryan worked at startups in the cleantech and electric vehicle space, where he developed novel powertrain, motor control, and thermal systems. Ryan holds a B.S. in Product Design from Stanford University.

Chapter 1The Hardware Startup Landscape
Early Makers
Technology Enables Scale
The Hardware Companies of Today
Chapter 2Idea Validation and Community Engagement
Your Fellow Hardwarians
Your Cofounder and Team
Your Mentor(s)
Your True Believers and Early Community
Chapter 3Knowing Your Market
The Who, What, and Why of Your Product
Researching Your Market: Trends and Competition
Segmenting Your Market
Customer Development
Chapter 4Branding
Your Mission
Brand Identity and Personality
Brand Assets and Touchpoints
Positioning and Differentiation
Chapter 5Prototyping
Reasons for Prototyping
Types of Prototyping
Assembling Your Team
Outsourcing Versus Insourcing
Integrated Circuits
Connectivity
Software Platforms
Software Security and Privacy
Glossary of Terms
Chapter 6Manufacturing
Preparing to Manufacture
Where to Manufacture?
Supply Chain Management
Importing from Foreign Manufacturers
What to Look for During Manufacturing
Certification
Packaging
Sustaining Manufacturing
Chapter 7Acceleration
Lemnos Labs
HAXLR8R
AlphaLab Gear
PCH
Flextronics
Choosing an Incubator or Accelerator
Chapter 8Crowdfunding
The Crowdfunding Ecosystem
Planning Your Campaign
Campaign Page Marketing Materials
Driving Traffic
While Your Campaign Is Live
Beyond Crowdfunding: Fundraising for a Company
Chapter 9Fundraising
First Things First
Bootstrapping, Debt, and Grants
Friends and Family
Angel Investors
Venture Capital
Strategics
Structuring Your Round
Chapter 10Going to Market
Business Models for Hardware Startups
Pricing
Selling It: Marketing 101
Distribution Channels and Related Marketing Strategies
Chapter 11Legal
Company Formation
Trademarks
Trade Secrets
Patents
Manufacturing Concerns
Regulatory Concerns and Certification