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Ask HN: Resources for making hardware ideas into products

1 points by collyw ↗ HN
I am a software developer. I have a reasonably good idea about how to start a software based company from reading articles on this site. I sometimes come up with ideas for hardware, or a mix of software and hardware (something that plugs into your phone, and gets triggered by the accelerometer for example).

Are there any good resources to learn how I would go about putting my ideas to life. I could probably build a proof of concept prototype using Arduino, or Rasperry Pi, but then what? I would have no idea where to go from there.

4 comments

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phantom_oracle
Then you go from being a prototype designer and software/hardware developer into a businessman.

If you are building something that can acquire a patent, you do that first. Make sure your patent applies to the big markets (US, Europe, China).

You'll now need to hustle to discover manufacturers in the worlds factory (aka China). You may also be able to find an OEM in Taiwan or another high-tech country that can help you refine your designs and turn the prototype into a working product.

You'll also need to develop sales/marketing channels, work out logistics, costing, life of product, etc.

Basically, if you are more interested in the technical side of things, you'll quickly grow frustrated with everything else.

Before thinking of building a great hardware product, first see if your profile fits that of an entrepreneur.

collyw
Thanks, that's a nice high level overview. Are there any good sites for reading a little more in depth about how to go about each of these steps?
phantom_oracle
There are plenty, I'd just advise you to avoid websites that speak about patents, etc. Ideas can be stolen by some website planting some malware into your system.

Try sites like entrepreneur.com, bplans.com, etc. Each part of the building process is a big market within itself, so maybe you should try researching them separately. If you're in a university or you are an alum, you could also speak to people that deal with these kinds of matters (perhaps the electrical engineering department and the business management department).

Be careful what you say though... All the best.