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Ask HN: What kind of challenges do hardware startups (like Nest) face?

7 points by BadassFractal ↗ HN
I was reading the article posted today about how supposedly it's near impossible to have one's hardware solution accepted into a hospital. Folks mentioned that the challenge is indeed great for most hardware devices, not just the medical ones.

A few friends and I have been discussing a device + cloud hybrid solution, vaguely inspired by Nest. We were wondering how big of a hurdle a company has to overcome in order to get a physical device into someone's home.

We'd love to know what we're getting ourselves into before we spend too much time on that path.

Thank you!

4 comments

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rollypolly
I don't know anything about hardware startups, but I'm curious to know if it's easier for them to recruit people than it is for software startups.
rmATinnovafy
You are going after a market that is not highly regulated like hospitals. Your biggest hurdle (without knowing specifics) would be convincing people that they need your stuff installed at their home. Not an easy task, unless you have good marketing.