1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,000 Kevin Mako: Hello, product innovators. Today we learn five big tips for hardware startups beginning the product development journey from a Six Sigma certified product design manager. 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:17,200 Kevin Mako: This is the Product Startup Podcast, a show to learn from top leaders in hardware product development, prototyping, manufacturing, product selling, and everything in between. 3 00:00:17,460 --> 00:00:23,340 Kevin Mako: Hosted by Kevin Mako, the leading expert on product development for hardware startups, and produced by Mako Design. 4 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,240 Kevin Mako: Welcome back, everyone. I'm very excited to introduce Wade Harmidy to the show. 5 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:32,900 Kevin Mako: Wade is one of the project managers at MAKO Design + Invent, working with dozens of hardware startups each year. 6 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:38,000 Kevin Mako: He has an honors bachelor of science, postgraduate certificate in quality assurance, 7 00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:41,120 Kevin Mako: and a Six Sigma Black Belt certification for project management. 8 00:00:42,250 --> 00:00:52,810 Kevin Mako: Today, Wade will share valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on the five key things that can be done when beginning the journey of product development to ensure your new product turns into a successful product business. 9 00:00:53,070 --> 00:00:54,310 Kevin Mako: Now, on to the episode. 10 00:00:54,910 --> 00:00:57,830 Kevin Mako: This show is produced by Mako Design, the original. 11 00:00:57,850 --> 00:01:02,970 Kevin Mako: firm providing end-to-end consumer product development services tailored specifically to hardware 12 00:01:02,970 --> 00:01:10,370 Kevin Mako: startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Take your product from idea to store shelves at MakoDesign.com. 13 00:01:10,610 --> 00:01:14,390 Kevin Mako: Now on to the episode. Hey, Wade, welcome to the show. 14 00:01:14,710 --> 00:01:16,730 Wade Harmidy: Thanks so much for having me, Kevin. Really appreciate it. 15 00:01:16,730 --> 00:01:18,750 Kevin Mako: Well, we're looking forward today to talk to you 16 00:01:18,750 --> 00:01:25,890 Kevin Mako: about your five major tips that you have for a hardware startup, an inventor, somebody who's going through 17 00:01:25,890 --> 00:01:30,330 Kevin Mako: the starting phases of professionally designing and developing their product to get 18 00:01:30,330 --> 00:01:34,890 Kevin Mako: it to manufacturing. These are the things that you as a hardware startup can do for free. 19 00:01:35,330 --> 00:01:40,790 Kevin Mako: These are things that can really help exponentially increase the probability of success in the 20 00:01:40,790 --> 00:01:44,650 Kevin Mako: development and even the business in and around the product that you're trying to create, 21 00:01:44,750 --> 00:01:48,090 Kevin Mako: which is hopefully why you're creating the product to get it to market and build a legacy. 22 00:01:48,830 --> 00:01:53,070 Kevin Mako: So today we're talking to Wade about that. Wade, Wade, obviously, gets to deal with dozens and 23 00:01:53,070 --> 00:01:55,870 Kevin Mako: dozens and dozens of inventors that are going through this very journey. 24 00:01:55,890 --> 00:02:01,130 Kevin Mako: and over the years, you've got to see really what are those few things that can help 25 00:02:01,130 --> 00:02:06,410 Kevin Mako: at the early phases to really change the odds for those inventors and for those startups as they 26 00:02:06,410 --> 00:02:12,130 Kevin Mako: start into the development process to get their product designed, prototyped into manufacturing 27 00:02:12,130 --> 00:02:17,790 Kevin Mako: and, of course, onto the market. Before we jump into all that fun stuff, Wade, I want to talk to you 28 00:02:17,790 --> 00:02:22,610 Kevin Mako: a bit about some of your experience and some of your education in the past. You've got the dual 29 00:02:22,610 --> 00:02:25,870 Kevin Mako: degrees, the diploma. You've also got the degree. And then you subsequently went on. 30 00:02:25,890 --> 00:02:31,910 Kevin Mako: to do your Six Sigma Black Belt in project management. I really want to talk about that 31 00:02:31,910 --> 00:02:36,870 Kevin Mako: and how that applies to what you're doing today because that's an impressive certification. And it's 32 00:02:36,870 --> 00:02:42,550 Kevin Mako: one that really elevates somebody to such a high level of project management and professionalism. 33 00:02:43,010 --> 00:02:49,630 Wade Harmidy: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Kevin. Yeah, the Six Sigma Black Belt is a certification that 34 00:02:49,630 --> 00:02:55,870 Wade Harmidy: really came to life in the 1980s with Motorola and understanding how to 35 00:02:55,890 --> 00:03:01,450 Wade Harmidy: reduce the amount of defects or issues in any sort of process. So this can be applied 36 00:03:01,450 --> 00:03:09,430 Wade Harmidy: from manufacturing computer chips all the way to project management and managing operations within any 37 00:03:09,430 --> 00:03:17,610 Wade Harmidy: sort of business. So it's really a widespread doctrine that can help hone in on all of these small 38 00:03:17,610 --> 00:03:23,530 Wade Harmidy: details to make a really great project and really improve any process. Yeah, it's great stuff. 39 00:03:23,530 --> 00:03:53,150 Kevin Mako: It's fun always looking at those things, a perpetual improvement as well and just constantly improving the craft of what you do every day, but then also looking at the big picture, looking at both. What can we change today that makes a difference? And then what can we plan for sometimes up to years in advance to really bring out the best in everybody? And when it comes to our applications, how do you bring the best out of the inventors, of the products, of the designers and engineers that are working on it on the team that surrounds that and continuing to do that over time. 40 00:03:53,530 --> 00:03:58,690 Kevin Mako: today, let's jump into the details about those five tips, way that you've put together. 41 00:03:59,230 --> 00:04:02,630 Kevin Mako: Just kick it off with what's tip number one? I know they're not in any particular order, 42 00:04:02,990 --> 00:04:07,330 Kevin Mako: but start with number one. And we'll just have a bit of a conversation around those and go from there. 43 00:04:07,750 --> 00:04:14,970 Wade Harmidy: Awesome. Yeah, so these aren't in any particular order, but five really key things to keep in mind when you 44 00:04:14,970 --> 00:04:22,410 Wade Harmidy: are getting into product development. The first one here is having a clear product vision. So having a 45 00:04:22,410 --> 00:04:28,450 Wade Harmidy: definitive product vision for what your invention is going to achieve or what problem 46 00:04:28,450 --> 00:04:34,430 Wade Harmidy: it's solving is very important when considering developing a product. You want to understand all 47 00:04:34,430 --> 00:04:40,150 Wade Harmidy: of the features, how it's going to achieve these features. And this can also be aided when 48 00:04:40,150 --> 00:04:45,290 Wade Harmidy: working with an experienced design team that can help with some of the more complex details that 49 00:04:45,290 --> 00:04:52,050 Wade Harmidy: a lot of inventors may not necessarily know right off the bat, you know, advanced material science, 50 00:04:52,410 --> 00:04:59,930 Wade Harmidy: engineering, industrial design, complex electronics. The more clear your vision is in the initial 51 00:04:59,930 --> 00:05:08,230 Wade Harmidy: phases and understanding your product in what it's achieving, the more a experienced team is going 52 00:05:08,230 --> 00:05:13,610 Wade Harmidy: to be able to help you achieve your vision for your product. Yeah, that's great. It's interesting 53 00:05:13,610 --> 00:05:20,490 Kevin Mako: because if you talk to as we do a first-time inventor, a startup, typically that person has been 54 00:05:20,490 --> 00:05:24,870 Kevin Mako: thinking about their product for a long time. Some people, it's been years. Others, it's 55 00:05:24,870 --> 00:05:29,030 Kevin Mako: something that's more recent, but no matter what way you slice it, by the time they make the decision 56 00:05:29,030 --> 00:05:33,090 Kevin Mako: to say, okay, I'm going to take this thing to market. I want to do something with it. I'm not just going to let 57 00:05:33,090 --> 00:05:40,030 Kevin Mako: sit idly buy, be on the shelves in my brain and never come to life when I've identified some sort 58 00:05:40,030 --> 00:05:43,790 Kevin Mako: of amazing opportunity in the world, either solving a pain point or creating an opportunity for 59 00:05:43,790 --> 00:05:50,470 Kevin Mako: your end user. But what's interesting is as a result of that, typically it's difficult to 60 00:05:50,490 --> 00:05:56,570 Kevin Mako: to communicate that in a very clear and concise way to your design team or to any member's 61 00:05:56,570 --> 00:06:01,010 Kevin Mako: number of stakeholders. So one of the easiest things that you can do as a startup is just 62 00:06:01,010 --> 00:06:05,970 Kevin Mako: write down a really clear vision. Do it on a word process or Google Docs, whatever it might be 63 00:06:05,970 --> 00:06:10,150 Kevin Mako: so that you've actually got the ability to edit and tweak and refine it. You sleep on it. 64 00:06:10,250 --> 00:06:15,250 Kevin Mako: You tweak it up a bit more. Shoot for less words than more words. And really try and just 65 00:06:15,250 --> 00:06:20,350 Kevin Mako: define very clearly in two or three sentences what your product does. 66 00:06:20,490 --> 00:06:28,150 Kevin Mako: You should be able to show somebody those two or three sentences and they know almost immediately and definitively the value that you've created. 67 00:06:28,150 --> 00:06:42,770 Kevin Mako: If it takes you minutes or even a whole phone call in order to explain why or how the product works or the end use or all of these sorts of things, then you probably don't have a complicated product as much as you might think. 68 00:06:43,010 --> 00:06:49,790 Kevin Mako: You just have a challenge in really articulating and describing the initial first version of how that product works. 69 00:06:49,790 --> 00:06:52,770 Kevin Mako: So that's such a powerful one, such an easy thing that anyone could do as well. 70 00:06:53,090 --> 00:06:57,750 Kevin Mako: And then what we found, especially if you do this thing over time, you put these things on paper, 71 00:06:58,290 --> 00:07:02,610 Kevin Mako: you will be exponentially better off describing that down the road, even if you have no professional 72 00:07:02,610 --> 00:07:06,790 Kevin Mako: training whatsoever, even if you've never really gone through this exercise before, just write it down, 73 00:07:07,070 --> 00:07:11,550 Kevin Mako: take it through, and you'll probably have a clear vision after a couple of days or even a few days 74 00:07:11,550 --> 00:07:15,030 Kevin Mako: of tweaking, modifying, thinking through that clear vision. 75 00:07:16,100 --> 00:07:19,960 Wade Harmidy: Absolutely. And one thing that can also help and is, you know, really, 76 00:07:19,980 --> 00:07:27,900 Wade Harmidy: simple is just having a simple sketch of your product, an idea of about what it looks 77 00:07:27,900 --> 00:07:35,480 Wade Harmidy: like, and that can really help understand what features it has and how it's going to accomplish those 78 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:40,320 Wade Harmidy: features. You know, even if you're not a great drawer, it always helps to have something to start off 79 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:45,780 Wade Harmidy: with. And then a great design firm can always help you bring home the aesthetic to something 80 00:07:45,780 --> 00:07:49,960 Wade Harmidy: really world class. Yeah, I mean, that's great. The sketch on a napkin thing. 81 00:07:49,980 --> 00:07:54,400 Kevin Mako: is real. We get those. And I'd much rather have a sketch on an appkin than somebody that 82 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:58,500 Kevin Mako: it never has even tried to hand sketch their product out. Drawing skill doesn't matter. As you said, 83 00:07:58,620 --> 00:08:03,540 Kevin Mako: Wade, just getting it onto paper so that you can kind of visualize. Now, a lot of people think about it 84 00:08:03,540 --> 00:08:07,820 Kevin Mako: and say, well, look, I'm not a designer. So I don't know exactly how this thing should look or feel. 85 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:13,380 Kevin Mako: That's not really the purpose of the sketch. The sketch really is just to get your vision, 86 00:08:13,660 --> 00:08:19,840 Kevin Mako: your idea of how this thing should operate or be onto paper. You can sketch a number of times. 87 00:08:19,980 --> 00:08:23,800 Kevin Mako: If you don't like your first sketch, do another one. Don't go crazy on this. Because, of course, yes, 88 00:08:23,820 --> 00:08:27,560 Kevin Mako: as you mentioned, that's what your design team's for. Eventually, they're going to take whatever 89 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:33,060 Kevin Mako: rough sketch you give them and put it into something great. But the first thing's first is you've just 90 00:08:33,060 --> 00:08:38,220 Kevin Mako: got to get your ideas down on paper. And you'd be surprised how much really starts to come out of that, 91 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:44,680 Kevin Mako: how much you start thinking through these features when you just get it on paper. So from there, 92 00:08:44,740 --> 00:08:50,250 Wade Harmidy: Wade, let's jump into number two. Awesome. Number two is considering the 93 00:08:50,270 --> 00:08:58,820 Wade Harmidy: end user and what it accomplishes for them. So throughout any project, it really is extremely 94 00:08:58,820 --> 00:09:05,540 Wade Harmidy: important to consider the user and the market. Who the target market is, how are they going to use 95 00:09:05,540 --> 00:09:12,850 Wade Harmidy: their product, and how that relates to your product development moving forward here. If you keep 96 00:09:12,850 --> 00:09:19,250 Wade Harmidy: the user and the product in mind and how the product is going to be utilized, that can help dictate 97 00:09:19,250 --> 00:09:26,420 Wade Harmidy: some of the smaller details as you move forward into the next phases. Having an idea of what 98 00:09:26,420 --> 00:09:32,820 Wade Harmidy: target market is important, but not necessary, but a good thing to keep in mind. 99 00:09:32,820 --> 00:09:38,770 Kevin Mako: Yeah, it's a good point, Wade, especially the end user functionality of the product. So kind of 100 00:09:38,770 --> 00:09:42,850 Kevin Mako: tying into number one that we talked about before, if you've got really clear vision, the next step 101 00:09:42,850 --> 00:09:48,930 Kevin Mako: is to articulate very clearly, again, write it down two to three sentences, ideally also a sketch. 102 00:09:48,930 --> 00:09:55,370 Kevin Mako: we talked about before, show how somebody uses this and say how somebody uses this on paper, 103 00:09:55,370 --> 00:10:01,050 Kevin Mako: really clearly articulate what is the use case. If you got clear product vision on what the product is, 104 00:10:01,050 --> 00:10:07,230 Kevin Mako: and then you also very clearly can say, this is how someone uses it and this is the benefit that they 105 00:10:07,230 --> 00:10:14,170 Kevin Mako: get or the pain point that they've avoided, that is more clear than I would say probably 80% 106 00:10:14,170 --> 00:10:18,870 Kevin Mako: of the product pitches that we see. Because again, you've got that that double 107 00:10:18,930 --> 00:10:24,190 Kevin Mako: edge sword there. What's the product? How does it work? And if you can really clearly articulate that, 108 00:10:24,190 --> 00:10:30,070 Kevin Mako: then even if somebody isn't 100% clear based on your product vision, by the time you actually show them 109 00:10:30,070 --> 00:10:36,390 Kevin Mako: a use case, it should totally seal up that description, really make it easy to understand the value you 110 00:10:36,390 --> 00:10:42,430 Wade Harmidy: are trying to create the vision that you see for your own product. Absolutely. And there are a lot 111 00:10:42,430 --> 00:10:48,790 Wade Harmidy: of details that can really be refined as you go into your actual product design phases. 112 00:10:49,090 --> 00:10:56,290 Wade Harmidy: those may not be completely necessary to identify at the very start of your product development process. 113 00:10:56,890 --> 00:11:08,910 Wade Harmidy: As a lot of the tenured industrial designers are going to be able to make those really detailed, refined tweaks to your product design on how it's going to be used. 114 00:11:08,910 --> 00:11:18,910 Wade Harmidy: But having a general idea and understanding of how someone is actually going to use the product is really key in having something that's going to work well. 115 00:11:19,090 --> 00:11:22,050 Wade Harmidy: and do really great once you get it to market. 116 00:11:22,810 --> 00:11:26,650 Kevin Mako: Yep, love that. Yeah, that's great way. Very powerful. All right, let's keep going. What's number three? 117 00:11:27,550 --> 00:11:36,310 Wade Harmidy: Number three is understanding MVP design for your first version. So MVP design is minimum viable product. 118 00:11:36,310 --> 00:11:44,350 Wade Harmidy: And this is a very key tenant to keep in mind when having a smooth product design for a startup. 119 00:11:45,310 --> 00:11:49,270 Wade Harmidy: Keeping the design focused on the core functionality and features, 120 00:11:49,470 --> 00:11:55,970 Wade Harmidy: allows for a swifter, less expensive, less resource-intensive development process, 121 00:11:56,310 --> 00:12:03,080 Wade Harmidy: and also to hit the market faster. A lot of features that you may want to include on the initial design 122 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:09,700 Wade Harmidy: can always be pushed back for a 2.0 product to ensure that you maintain an MVP design 123 00:12:09,700 --> 00:12:18,120 Wade Harmidy: and have a very swift and effective push through the design phase to get to the end manufacturing goal. 124 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:30,770 Wade Harmidy: A design team can help with all sorts of choices during this, during the design process, and allow for MVP design to become a core feature of your design process. 125 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:40,100 Wade Harmidy: MVP design was actually coined by Eric Rice in a book called the Lean Startup in 2011. 126 00:12:40,700 --> 00:12:47,200 Wade Harmidy: This helped transform startup product development, encompassing MVP design into what we now know today. 127 00:12:47,700 --> 00:12:49,420 Wade Harmidy: This has really been adapted. 128 00:12:49,460 --> 00:12:55,780 Wade Harmidy: from lean principles and lead manufacturing, which goes back to my 6 Sigma background. 129 00:12:56,420 --> 00:13:02,340 Wade Harmidy: You know, all of this is really focused on reducing waste, reducing inefficiency, 130 00:13:03,140 --> 00:13:10,580 Wade Harmidy: streamlining processes, and making sure that you don't waste any time on offshoots or focusing on small 131 00:13:10,580 --> 00:13:18,580 Wade Harmidy: details. And this is a philosophy that has been used by a lot of top companies, different types of companies 132 00:13:18,580 --> 00:13:26,580 Wade Harmidy: from electronics manufacturers to law firms to design firms. And it really can help 133 00:13:26,580 --> 00:13:33,230 Wade Harmidy: streamline processes to reduce waste and keep things quick. 134 00:13:34,030 --> 00:13:39,130 Kevin Mako: That's so powerful because, and I'm glad you brought this one up in particular, we talk a lot 135 00:13:39,130 --> 00:13:44,770 Kevin Mako: about MVP on the show. We've got the concept smart, minimum viable product at Mako Design, 136 00:13:44,770 --> 00:13:48,850 Kevin Mako: which we have worked on for many, many years, making sure that not only do you, 137 00:13:48,870 --> 00:13:53,190 Kevin Mako: have that MVP in terms of features, but you do it, especially for a hardware product, 138 00:13:53,270 --> 00:13:58,070 Kevin Mako: in an ultra-high-quality way. So reduce the amount of features that you're planning for your first 139 00:13:58,070 --> 00:14:03,730 Kevin Mako: version. But of those lesser features that you have, make sure you do those to a world-class standard. 140 00:14:03,930 --> 00:14:08,270 Kevin Mako: And that's all the way through to it, including manufacturing. It's super important, especially 141 00:14:08,270 --> 00:14:12,230 Kevin Mako: for a hardware startup. But the big picture here is, especially as a hardware startup, 142 00:14:12,230 --> 00:14:18,590 Kevin Mako: you do have limited resources. And so much of the textbook theory out there talks about 143 00:14:18,590 --> 00:14:24,410 Kevin Mako: all sorts of different to sign methodologies and et cetera to explore. Well, that works 144 00:14:24,410 --> 00:14:28,970 Kevin Mako: great if you're a Fortune 500 company and can spend years doing this and millions, if not 145 00:14:28,970 --> 00:14:34,090 Kevin Mako: tens of millions of millions of dollars in that R&D process. But as a startup, with an invention 146 00:14:34,090 --> 00:14:38,750 Kevin Mako: idea, so you've got this like golden nugget that you figured out. As a startup, you want to come in 147 00:14:38,750 --> 00:14:45,270 Kevin Mako: and tip of the spear style, poke your way into the market in a very aggressive, 148 00:14:45,270 --> 00:14:50,930 Kevin Mako: of high quality manner with, again, your stripped down very core feature to a very specific 149 00:14:50,930 --> 00:14:54,150 Kevin Mako: audience, going back to what you said, Wade, in terms of understanding who your customer is. 150 00:14:54,630 --> 00:14:59,250 Kevin Mako: Looking at that now paired with MVP, understanding your product vision and focusing on MVP, 151 00:14:59,250 --> 00:15:04,710 Kevin Mako: as well as understanding who that customer is, you can really find a very specific, maybe a sub-nitch 152 00:15:04,710 --> 00:15:09,170 Kevin Mako: of your existing target audience that you're thinking that you'll eventually go after. 153 00:15:09,570 --> 00:15:14,930 Kevin Mako: But focus small to start, wedge yourself into the market with a great high-quality product that is 154 00:15:14,930 --> 00:15:19,090 Kevin Mako: more specific or more tailored to that target demographic. And then once you're in, 155 00:15:19,590 --> 00:15:23,970 Kevin Mako: now you can grow and scale in many different ways. So I'm even looking further downstream. You're 156 00:15:23,970 --> 00:15:28,090 Kevin Mako: talking about before you even start development, but that leads all the way up to and including 157 00:15:28,090 --> 00:15:33,370 Kevin Mako: manufacturing and sales. You can target that market better. And then once you start selling to that market, 158 00:15:33,370 --> 00:15:37,850 Kevin Mako: they're going to give you feedback onto maybe what your 2.0 should have. Or maybe what you have is 159 00:15:37,850 --> 00:15:42,650 Kevin Mako: great. Or maybe what you have, because it's a worldwide market, would take you years to saturate. 160 00:15:42,650 --> 00:15:44,750 Kevin Mako: So you just focus on selling more of that. 161 00:15:44,930 --> 00:15:48,950 Kevin Mako: in earning the returns from that, or maybe reinvesting some of the returns into whatever 162 00:15:48,950 --> 00:15:52,830 Kevin Mako: that version 2.0 or accessory or something else that maybe you didn't even think about 163 00:15:52,830 --> 00:15:57,630 Kevin Mako: is going to have. So if you can focus on MVP all the way back to the beginning, before you even 164 00:15:57,630 --> 00:16:02,950 Kevin Mako: start design and development, as you're drafting your idea of the product vision is your number one, 165 00:16:03,190 --> 00:16:08,010 Kevin Mako: as you're drafting your idea for your ideal customer, which is your number two, that all plays into 166 00:16:08,010 --> 00:16:13,350 Kevin Mako: having great minimum viable product. But of course, in hardware, big important thing, very different 167 00:16:13,350 --> 00:16:17,970 Kevin Mako: than software, very different than a lot of other industries. You cannot sacrifice quality. 168 00:16:18,210 --> 00:16:24,150 Kevin Mako: You have to make it world class, but that's okay if you stay very focused and strip down that feature 169 00:16:24,150 --> 00:16:28,750 Kevin Mako: set and identify a really great target market from there. So let's keep going. What's number four? 170 00:16:29,710 --> 00:16:40,800 Wade Harmidy: Just one more point on MVP design. I think having a clear understanding of your product as an MVP product 171 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:46,660 Wade Harmidy: before you get started can also really help understand some of the previous things that we 172 00:16:46,660 --> 00:16:54,100 Wade Harmidy: talked about, like having a clear vision and looking at the big picture. A lot of the most successful 173 00:16:54,100 --> 00:17:01,920 Wade Harmidy: startup product development products that I have worked on have MVP design as one of the core 174 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:09,580 Wade Harmidy: driving factors for those projects. MVP design is extremely important. Yeah, that's great. I mean, 175 00:17:09,580 --> 00:17:11,100 Kevin Mako: the reality is what does MVP? 176 00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:41,040 Kevin Mako: me and especially as a product developer, we're telling you as a design firm to spend less money with your design firm. Keep it lean. Keep it focus. Get to production with your first version at a lower cost. It's quicker. All the things that Wade mentioned in terms of the benefits of MVP. And then scale from there when you have some money coming in or potentially bigger investors that have come in. Whatever the case is, once you're in the market, it changes everything for a hardware startup. So your goal as the founder, as the visionary, is to really do everything you can do to get a world, 177 00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:45,120 Kevin Mako: product to market. So MVP, again, is so important. 178 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:46,840 Kevin Mako: Wade, what's number four? 179 00:17:47,810 --> 00:17:55,490 Wade Harmidy: Number four is setting realistic timelines. So this one is extremely critical and proceeds all the way 180 00:17:55,490 --> 00:18:02,930 Wade Harmidy: through the development process into manufacturing and into further manufacturing and marketing efforts 181 00:18:02,930 --> 00:18:10,190 Wade Harmidy: beyond. So it's really critical to consider that design takes time. You know, design timelines are put 182 00:18:10,190 --> 00:18:16,810 Wade Harmidy: there for a reason and good design is usually never rushed design. So that's a really 183 00:18:16,810 --> 00:18:22,990 Wade Harmidy: key thing to keep in mind. And when you're considering any sort of a design phase going from initial concept 184 00:18:22,990 --> 00:18:31,100 Wade Harmidy: design to prototyping into manufacturing, a lot of these phases are laid out very specifically with 185 00:18:31,100 --> 00:18:37,860 Wade Harmidy: defined timelines because there's a lot of things that we need to consider when developing a product. 186 00:18:37,860 --> 00:18:45,020 Wade Harmidy: you need the right time for the proper amount of research, ideation, concept, and 187 00:18:45,020 --> 00:18:50,620 Wade Harmidy: industrial design to take place and form your product into the vision that you want it to be. 188 00:18:52,260 --> 00:18:57,920 Wade Harmidy: You know, a lot of people have the idea that maybe they can skip phases or rush things along during 189 00:18:57,920 --> 00:18:59,640 Wade Harmidy: their product development cycle. 190 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:04,470 Wade Harmidy: This is a huge mistake and is often very tempting. 191 00:19:05,250 --> 00:19:08,930 Wade Harmidy: But keeping a lot of the tenets of keeping things lean. 192 00:19:08,950 --> 00:19:16,870 Wade Harmidy: MVP design and really refining your overall vision for your product 193 00:19:16,870 --> 00:19:24,950 Wade Harmidy: lifecycle in terms of development can really reduce a lot of time, money and effort down the line 194 00:19:24,950 --> 00:19:30,070 Wade Harmidy: because you're going to reduce a lot of the mistakes that are going to happen during the big ticket 195 00:19:30,070 --> 00:19:37,290 Wade Harmidy: items like manufacturing and beyond. So well put, Wade, I appreciate it. I mean, there's nothing wrong with 196 00:19:37,290 --> 00:19:42,210 Kevin Mako: being a hustler and trying to go at something 100% and being super motivated and 197 00:19:42,210 --> 00:19:48,240 Kevin Mako: trying to do as much as you can in as quick of a timeline as you can. But there's a point there 198 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:55,140 Kevin Mako: where if you push back beyond hustling and doing your best into the realm of cutting corners in order 199 00:19:55,140 --> 00:20:01,580 Kevin Mako: to achieve speed, that's really what it all comes down to. Most of the startup failures that I see in 200 00:20:01,580 --> 00:20:07,180 Kevin Mako: the hardware space almost always, almost exclusively come down to very obvious. 201 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:11,120 Kevin Mako: and very significant corners that have been cut or attempted to have been cut. 202 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:19,300 Kevin Mako: And if you skip those steps, key critical milestones, key critical data engineering, testing, 203 00:20:19,540 --> 00:20:24,140 Kevin Mako: certification, pre-production, production, production itself, if any of those pieces, and of course, 204 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:29,300 Kevin Mako: dozens of sub-derived pieces of each of those elements, if any of those get kind of glazed over or 205 00:20:29,300 --> 00:20:34,480 Kevin Mako: skipped in the idea of saving money or saving time, it comes back to bite you five times harder 206 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:39,800 Kevin Mako: or down the road. And you're missing out on some opportunity. The other beauty of doing this 207 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:43,080 Kevin Mako: as well, we're not just talking about pain points, but we're talking about opportunity as well, 208 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:48,260 Kevin Mako: allowing the correct processes to take place to make sure that the product is world-class. 209 00:20:48,420 --> 00:20:52,180 Kevin Mako: What does world-class mean? It doesn't just mean you put a badge on it. It means you've gone through 210 00:20:52,180 --> 00:20:58,520 Kevin Mako: the efforts beyond what the norm is in order to create something that is truly great at the end 211 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:03,440 Kevin Mako: of the day, which is for a hardware startup, it's a minimum bar. If your product is not great, 212 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:07,680 Kevin Mako: don't even bother starting the process. If that's not your goal to have a great product, 213 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:11,900 Kevin Mako: now great doesn't mean feature rich, great means of the stripped down MVP product that 214 00:21:11,900 --> 00:21:17,440 Kevin Mako: you have, making sure that the quality, the reliability, the focus, the use case on that 215 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:23,420 Kevin Mako: simpler version, let's call it, or your starter version or your first version, that has done extremely 216 00:21:23,420 --> 00:21:31,600 Wade Harmidy: well. If you do that, it's a ticket to success. If you do that well. Absolutely. And just ensuring 217 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:40,420 Wade Harmidy: that your expectations and understanding of the design timelines are realistic and 218 00:21:40,420 --> 00:21:47,060 Wade Harmidy: align with whomever you're working for with the design is really important for not only having 219 00:21:47,060 --> 00:21:52,320 Wade Harmidy: an understanding of the process for yourself, but also having a successful design, 220 00:21:53,000 --> 00:22:00,460 Wade Harmidy: being able to take the time to accomplish all of the details and do all of the things 221 00:22:00,460 --> 00:22:04,420 Wade Harmidy: that you had mentioned there. Wait, let's wrap it all up. What's number five? 222 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:12,840 Wade Harmidy: Number five, we're talking big picture, planning for the big picture. So throughout all of these 223 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:19,880 Wade Harmidy: points, we have really kept a larger scope of what product design is and how we're going to prepare for 224 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:25,700 Wade Harmidy: these things. But having an idea of what the entire big picture looks like from the very beginning 225 00:22:25,700 --> 00:22:31,000 Wade Harmidy: can really help you understand and have a great product development lifecycle. 226 00:22:31,100 --> 00:22:36,530 Wade Harmidy: moving forward here. So, you know, we all know developing a product is a huge endeavor 227 00:22:36,530 --> 00:22:43,150 Wade Harmidy: and understanding all of the phases of development and post-development support are critical for 228 00:22:43,150 --> 00:22:50,230 Wade Harmidy: having a successful project. As much as you can plan for these things in a head and research and 229 00:22:50,230 --> 00:22:56,870 Wade Harmidy: utilize different resources such as this podcast to have a better understanding can really 230 00:22:56,870 --> 00:22:59,570 Wade Harmidy: have a great effect on your overall project. 231 00:23:00,540 --> 00:23:01,200 Wade Harmidy: You know, a world. 232 00:23:01,220 --> 00:23:07,680 Wade Harmidy: class design firm will always consider things like design for manufacturing, considering 233 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:14,900 Wade Harmidy: manufacturing materials and intertwining all of the industrial design within the process. So a lot of 234 00:23:14,900 --> 00:23:22,600 Wade Harmidy: these things are maintained within the design life cycle, but they can also be planned ahead of 235 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:28,690 Wade Harmidy: time during the initial phases. Planning a lot of the key milestones that you're going to be 236 00:23:28,690 --> 00:23:31,750 Wade Harmidy: working with, like patenting, project funding. 237 00:23:31,770 --> 00:23:37,330 Wade Harmidy: how and where you are planning to sell the product. All of this can help you keep 238 00:23:37,330 --> 00:23:43,810 Wade Harmidy: tight timelines and reduce any sort of bumps in the road when you're focusing on all the small 239 00:23:43,810 --> 00:23:50,980 Wade Harmidy: details. This also ensures that you see your project out to the end if you have a big picture understanding 240 00:23:50,980 --> 00:23:56,429 Wade Harmidy: of your project and all of the key milestones that need to be hit. Love it. 241 00:23:56,429 --> 00:23:58,100 Kevin Mako: That's powerful. One of 242 00:23:58,100 --> 00:24:02,520 Kevin Mako: the first things I talk about with hardware startups when I get on the phone with them is 243 00:24:02,540 --> 00:24:08,780 Kevin Mako: what is the end game? What are you trying to do with this as a business? Of course, I love design and that's 244 00:24:08,780 --> 00:24:13,980 Kevin Mako: what clients are coming to us for. They're coming to us to design a great world-class product. But what I want to 245 00:24:13,980 --> 00:24:20,440 Kevin Mako: know is after we do that, what happens next? And we, of course, help them through those processes as well. It's a 246 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:26,020 Kevin Mako: big part of the design model. We don't want to just do design, engineering, prototyping, and manufacturing. 247 00:24:26,020 --> 00:24:32,520 Kevin Mako: We want to make sure that you do all these other pieces to both launch, grow, and scale to be 248 00:24:32,540 --> 00:24:38,460 Kevin Mako: eventually an empire in one way or another. Whether you decide at the end to sell the product 249 00:24:38,460 --> 00:24:43,520 Kevin Mako: business or the IP or eventually as you're growing in sales to license it out or join brands 250 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:48,100 Kevin Mako: to have somebody else do it or to hire under you and have other people run the business or you 251 00:24:48,100 --> 00:24:53,120 Kevin Mako: build it and scale it yourself and just focus on the cash flow of growing the product manufacturing 252 00:24:53,120 --> 00:25:01,980 Kevin Mako: business. To me, the specific goals or desires aren't as important as the fact that you have one. 253 00:25:02,540 --> 00:25:06,920 Kevin Mako: And not necessarily you've picked exactly how you plan specifically to sell or whatever 254 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,420 Kevin Mako: else, but you've at least got some vision to what you actually want to do. 255 00:25:10,820 --> 00:25:14,000 Kevin Mako: Different people have different goals. Some people are building products as a hobby. 256 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:18,520 Kevin Mako: It's just totally a side business. We'll always be a side business. And that's the goal. And that's 257 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:23,960 Kevin Mako: okay. You have to identify then, okay, as a hobby business, how do you plan to eventually launch 258 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:28,920 Kevin Mako: and scale that business? And how do you plan to monetize it at the end? And then there's others 259 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:32,120 Kevin Mako: on the far end of this factor in the state, no, you know what, this is my life. 260 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:36,980 Kevin Mako: I love this thing. I want to eventually quit my job, go at this thing full time, and build 261 00:25:36,980 --> 00:25:42,720 Kevin Mako: an empire, a multi-product brand over time. Okay. That's great too. Now we can work backwards from 262 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:47,420 Kevin Mako: those ideas or anything in the middle of those things and figure out all the way back to the initial 263 00:25:47,420 --> 00:25:52,380 Kevin Mako: design and ideation. How are we going to design, build, engineer that product in order to fulfill 264 00:25:52,380 --> 00:25:56,420 Kevin Mako: that vision at the end of the road? And that's key. So I'm glad you wrapped it up with that way. 265 00:25:56,520 --> 00:26:01,000 Kevin Mako: Great way to finish off the episode. Thanks again for joining us. I know we're at the top of the hour here 266 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:06,460 Kevin Mako: for the actual podcast recording. And I'll let you get back to all the inventors 267 00:26:06,460 --> 00:26:10,240 Kevin Mako: and projects that you're working with right now. But again, thanks for being on the show and appreciate 268 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:14,640 Kevin Mako: all these words with them with the five tips for what you as a hardware startup can be thinking 269 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:20,260 Kevin Mako: about before and as you're getting into the process of developing your first hardware product. 270 00:26:21,110 --> 00:26:25,470 Wade Harmidy: Thank you so much for having me, Kevin. Really appreciate the opportunity and hope this 271 00:26:25,470 --> 00:26:30,050 Wade Harmidy: was informative to anyone who listened and looking forward to working on your projects in the near 272 00:26:30,050 --> 00:26:30,410 Wade Harmidy: future. 273 00:26:30,410 --> 00:26:32,450 Kevin Mako: Much appreciated, Wade. Thanks and take care. 274 00:26:32,950 --> 00:26:36,310 Kevin Mako: Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Product Startup Podcast. 275 00:26:36,850 --> 00:26:41,850 Kevin Mako: If you found some value in the show, please do us a huge favor and hit the like button and subscribe. 276 00:26:42,390 --> 00:26:47,710 Kevin Mako: If you have any questions, guest suggestions, or anything else, feel free to reach out to us anytime at 277 00:26:47,710 --> 00:26:53,430 Kevin Mako: our email, podcast at MakoDesign.com. This show is hosted by Kevin Mako, 278 00:26:53,730 --> 00:27:00,190 Kevin Mako: North America's leading expert on product development for hardware startups, and the podcast is produced by Mako Design. 279 00:27:00,410 --> 00:27:05,290 Kevin Mako: The original firm providing end-to-end consumer product development services tailored specifically 280 00:27:05,290 --> 00:27:11,170 Kevin Mako: to hardware startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Take your product from idea to store shelves 281 00:27:11,170 --> 00:27:18,470 Kevin Mako: at MakoDesign.com. That's M-A-K-O-Design.com. Thanks for joining and see you again soon.