Been there, done that. Terribly underestimated the challenge.
In 2013 I wanted to create a simple time-lapse camera: 3 intervals (every minute, hour or day - rotary switch), store on SD card, recharge via solar, weatherproof;
"Can't be that hard", I thought and started interviewing potential clients and because of the nice 3D renderings and eventual 3D prints I got back "So cool - I want one" and naiv as I was I registered a business and collected a few hundred pre-orders at $150. Even had a cheap startup booth at CES in the basement next to the washrooms one year.
When they say "Hardware is hard" they are sugar-coating it. I could rant for days about the things that happened over the 2 years that it took to ship the first camera. We underestimated everything: Optics for example and what role condensation plays when deployed outdoors for long periods of time, or the impact of temperature on batteries. Also, just having a "cool" product was not enough to launch a sustainable business. Without recurring revenue, customer support was a pain.
I was lucky that some of our early clients were enterprises who wanted to pay monthly fees for extra services, otherwise we would have gone bankrupt trying to make consumers happy.
Eventually I decided that for us "only a camera that generates MRR is a good camera" and stopped selling to consumers. But it sure makes me happy still seeing recently made videos on social media from cameras I assembled myself.
Anyway, times have changed, maybe someone wants to give it another shot, happy to share more of the experiences I had.
Be aware though, manufacturing electronics is even harder these days. I know because we still make cameras. They are a necessary evil to get the kind of data our customers in Agriculture and Construction need to operate.
I am Michael Schwanzer of Toronto based ZEITDICE INC. Happy to be contacted via LinkedIn or our website.
In 2013 I wanted to create a simple time-lapse camera: 3 intervals (every minute, hour or day - rotary switch), store on SD card, recharge via solar, weatherproof;
"Can't be that hard", I thought and started interviewing potential clients and because of the nice 3D renderings and eventual 3D prints I got back "So cool - I want one" and naiv as I was I registered a business and collected a few hundred pre-orders at $150. Even had a cheap startup booth at CES in the basement next to the washrooms one year.
When they say "Hardware is hard" they are sugar-coating it. I could rant for days about the things that happened over the 2 years that it took to ship the first camera. We underestimated everything: Optics for example and what role condensation plays when deployed outdoors for long periods of time, or the impact of temperature on batteries. Also, just having a "cool" product was not enough to launch a sustainable business. Without recurring revenue, customer support was a pain.
I was lucky that some of our early clients were enterprises who wanted to pay monthly fees for extra services, otherwise we would have gone bankrupt trying to make consumers happy.
Eventually I decided that for us "only a camera that generates MRR is a good camera" and stopped selling to consumers. But it sure makes me happy still seeing recently made videos on social media from cameras I assembled myself.
Anyway, times have changed, maybe someone wants to give it another shot, happy to share more of the experiences I had.
Be aware though, manufacturing electronics is even harder these days. I know because we still make cameras. They are a necessary evil to get the kind of data our customers in Agriculture and Construction need to operate.
I am Michael Schwanzer of Toronto based ZEITDICE INC. Happy to be contacted via LinkedIn or our website.