Startupfest 2014 - With easier access to every aspect of the supply chain and increased ease of rapid prototyping, short launch cycles are no longer exclusive to software, or the clothing industry.. The winners in the next generation of connected devices will be the ones that can quickly adapt to rapidly changing consumer preferences, staying one step ahead of the increasingly nimble competition. The barriers for hardware are falling, vision, brand and distribution are what separate those that make it past their first production run from those that don't. In this talk, Katherine will share some of the trends driving rapid shifts in the hardware ecosystem today, with examples from some of today’s hottest hardware startups and emerging service providers.

1. A LOOK INTO THE
FUTURE OF
HARDWARE
Photo credit: cobalt123

2. My name is Katherine Hague

5. AYAH BDEIR OF
littleBits
DREW DOWNS
Gelaskins
ADAM SAGER
Canary
MARC BARROS
Moment
EMILY BROOKE
Blaze
MARK ARGO OF
Aesthetec Studio
KATE DRANE
Indiegogo
MAX TEMKIN
Cards Against Humanity
EDWARD TANG
Avegant
CHRIS ANDERSON
3D Robotics
BEN KAUFMAN
Quirky
NICK EVANS
Tile
ZACH SUPALLA
Spark
JAMEY STEGMAIER
Stonemaier Games
LISA FETTERMAN
Nomiku
LAURIS LIBERTS
Startup Vitamins
MAX BOGUE
3Doodler
CAMERON ROBERTSON
Lockitron
ARIEL GARTEN
InteraXon
STEPHEN LAKE
Thalmic

6. $287,472
raised on Indiegogo
$6 million
in series A financing
6 months
until product ships
M U S E

7. “I've been given a lot of advice but if I were
to give advice to another entrepreneur I
think it would be that the manufacturing
process is always going to take longer than
you thought.”

8. N O M I K U
$586,061
raised on Kickstarter
1,880
backers on Kickstarter
111 days
as part of HAXLR8R

9. “Nobody runs on money in a startup. They
run on ideas, love for each other, and love
for the product. That is what is going to pull
you through.”

10. N Y M I
7000+
Pre-Order Units
$1.3M
Seed Funding
385,946
views

11. "Focusing does not mean that you're going
to lose out on other opportunities. Focusing
means that you will flesh out the
opportunity in front of you much faster and
then if it doesn't work, you can move to the
other one."

12. L I T T L E B I T S
150,000+
circuit combos
20
awards won
700,000
views on TEDtalk

13. “My advice is to not try to rush too much
and to acknowledge and accept that
hardware cannot work as beta software, as
much as we would like to. It really requires
more attention and iteration.”

14. L U M O L I F T
$1.2M
Pre-Orders in the first month
16,000
Units

15. "The future we see for wearables is that
they will become a lot more wearable."

16. INTERVIEWS
70+
ARTICLES
200
STARTUPS
1598 MAKERSPACES
200
TOOLS
108

17. LAUNCH ACADEMY

18. S E E D R S
To guarantee success, you need to hit
35% of your goal on day one.

19. G O G E T F U N D I N G
Campaigns with day to day marketing
plans raise 180% more.

20. I N D I E G O G O
Campaigns that post 1-5 updates each
week double their contributions.

21. G O G E T F U N D I N G
Campaigns with teams raise 38% more.

23. BEFORE WE START
TALKING ABOUT THE
FUTURE, LETS SEE
WHERE HARDWARE IS
TODAY.

24. THE PIECES FOR LOWER
COST PRODUCTION
EXIST

25. NO LONGER JUST
THE BIG GUYS

26. SHORTER PRODUCTION
CYCLES

27. ACCESS TO EARLY
STAGE FUNDING

28. SO, WHAT’S THE
TYPICAL JOURNEY OF A
HARDWARE STARTUP
STARTING OUT TODAY?

29. Entrepreneurs rush into setting
up a business, attracted by the
perceived glamour and fun that
is associated with crowdfunding
and connected devices.

30. There are wonderful fairy tale
stories of young talented
designers graduating from
Stanford or MIT and then going
off to achieve fame and fortune.

31. Most startups can’t answer the
question: “Who are you
designing for? And why?”

32. MOST PEOPLE START
“PROJECTS” AND
AREN’T REALLY
PREPARED TO RUN A
BUSINESS.

33. Packing boxes at 2 am
+
Saudering and over again
+
Pouring through receipts
with an accountant will
become part of your
routine.
They likely
spend less
than 10% of
your time
designing

34. • Managing production
• Sending samples to
magazines
• Dealing with suppliers who
want their money (now!)
• Begging Techcrunch
reporters and Apple retail
to grant you a meeting
• Managing your employees
while hoping they don’t
fall ill
• And trying to eat and
bathe in between
They spend
the rest of the
time

35. They discover that even once you
have a prototype, production is
very complex one as well, even at
the smallest of scales.

36. They quickly find themselves
with customers and suppliers
scattered around the world,
requiring so much coordination
and organization.

37. They realize that it takes 6
months to two years to match
crowdfunding success.

38. They eventually realize that retail
distribution still matters, puts
pressure on cost. How do you
keep your COGS to 25%?

39. On top of all that, you have to
worry about making enough
money to one day make enough
money to provide returns for
yourself and your shareholders
for all your hard work.

40. BUT WAIT.

41. THE BUSINESS OF
FASHION

42. Photo credit: Earthworm
CROWDFUNDING AND
CONNECTED DEVICES
WITH FASHION
JUST REPLACE…

43. STANFORD AND MIT
WITH ST MARTINS OR
PARSONS
Photo credit: m01229

44. Photo credit: Fernando de Sousa
SAUDERING BOARDS
WITH STEAMING
CLOTHES

45. TECHCRUNCH AND
APPLE RETAIL WITH
ANNA WINTOUR AND
NORDSTROM
Photo credit: Mike Kalasnik

46. KICKSTARTER WITH
WELL, KICKSTARTER
Photo credit: Scott Beale

47. • No longer just the big
guys
• The pieces for production
exist
• Shorter production cycles
• Access to early stage
funding
Why haven’t the
two converged
until now?

48. Photo credit: Jenny
IF HARDWARE IS
EVOLVING TO BE MORE
AND MORE LIKE THE
FASHION INDUSTRY,
WHAT COULD BE NEXT?

49. Photo credit: Frits Klaarenbeek
EMERGENCE OF
“SEASONS”

50. Photo credit: Simon A
HIRING OF BURBERRY
CEO TO APPLE
EXAMPLE

51. DEVELOPMENT OF
RETAILS CHANNELS FOR
EMERGING DESIGNERS

52. EXAMPLE
+

53. INCREASED
COMPETITION ON
BRAND AND
COMMODITIZATION OF
MANUFACTURING

54. EXAMPLES

55. VOGUE FOR THE
HARDWARE INDUSTRY
BRINGING PRODUCTS
TO CONSUMERS

56. EXAMPLE

57. SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

58. GO:
CHINA &
SAN FRANCISCO

59. DO:
CUSTOMER DISCOVERY
·
Mom Test
·
Customer Discovery Blog
·
Lean Startup
·
4 Steps to the Epiphany

60. WATCH:
SCATTER MY ASHES AT
BERGDORFS
Photo credit: misslylestyle.com

61. READ:
THEBLUEPRINT.COM

62. katherine@theblueprint.com
@KatherineHague
@BlueprintShop