On this episode of DevReady Podcast, Andrew and Anthony speak with Hamed Ghajarnia, Managing Director and polymer engineer at DreamLaunch, a company that helps people bring hardware visions to life.
During the conversation, Hamed speaks to the processes surrounding idea generation and execution for hardware needs. He also breaks down what it’s like for a new company to wrestle with their software and hardware development needs. They discuss the value of investing in research early on in the design process, and the difficulty in trying to bring a new idea to market rather than capitalizing on the existing competition. Hamed also breaks down the nature of prototypes and how businesses can best use them to develop great products.
The key takeaway from their conversation with Hamed is that, like many others they’ve had on the show, listening to the customer is paramount. There is no skill more valuable than being able to hear what a customer’s needs are and allowing that information to inform your processes at every step. That’s how you can guarantee success.
Topics Covered:
- Building processes with hardware business partners.
- Is your design manufacturable?
- The development process.
- Searching online is a skill in and of itself.
- The difficulty of building a market for a new product.
- Considering costs for getting developments off the ground.
- The price of patenting your products.
- Differences between alpha and beta prototypes.
- 3D printing is advancing rapidly.
- Investments on Kickstarter and crowdfunding in general.
- You need to know your manufacturing costs before fundraising.
Key Quotes :
- “You can design anything that looks great, but that doesn’t mean it’s manufacturable.” (5:40)
- “You need to find out how much you can actually sell your product for.” (6:45)
- “Most people fall in love with their own ideas.” (10:15)
- “You don’t necessarily have to be the first in a market.” (17:30)
- “Research and market research doesn’t cost that much upfront—so do it.” (20:35)
- “You don’t want to spend a lot of money patenting your product.” (26:30)
- “It’s a creative process.” (36:45)
- “Your main costs are going to be in manufacturing.” (42:35)
- “Focus on your customers’ problems, not your solutions. (50:00)
- “Collaboration is king.” (53:50)
