I'd hop on if it was kitchen storage. Kitchens are getting smaller, the appliance list is getting longer but the only storage you get is a few drawers and a stupid cabinet.
Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?
141–150 of 464 posts
Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
>lawyers make it impossible to go to market without being sued, This would be my biggest concern. The potential field full of landmines that is the patent process would give me pause. Not spending the money to properly research because of bootstrapping the process could ultimately be more expensive if some other company comes after you for patent infringement. Whatever your idea is, I would definitely do some investi…
The trick is to tie it up in court for years, while you milk the marketplace. If you lose, pivot. That seems to be a standard playbook.
I doubt a bootstrapped company has the finances to afford lawyers to tie it up for years. That's a lawyer's wet dream of a case being extended for years. The billing on a case like that alone could make someone a partner.
Just because one side's legal playbook says delay, the other side can equally try to speed things along. Underestimate opposing counsel at your own expense, especially when they are funded with deeper pockets than yours.
Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
I disagree. The high end of the market is a proven niche and the target high-end buyer has demonstrated a willingness to spend freely on premium grade products. The is a reason why LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) is one of the most successful and valuable companies in the world. I'm not saying it's easy. Any business endeavor, regardless of product market fit, still requires execution. Easier said than done, but m…
> I disagree. The high end of the market is a proven niche and the target high-end buyer has demonstrated a willingness to spend freely on premium grade products. Are you saying there is a proven market for luxury toasters? While in general this is true I think "premium" grade home appliances generally top out around twice the cost of mid-range (I'm thinking vacuums, ovens, refrigerators etc where you compare similar…
There's also scope for improvements. For one I want my toaster to be crumb and grease free in 10 seconds.
Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?
#144I think you are greatly over-estimating how many people would be willing to pay the cost of a North American made toaster. This would require an absolute ton of capital to do it on anything above a craft scale. The challenges of design, testing, certification (very important for a device that could burn your house down), manufacturing, supply chain, and support that are all specialized careers in themselves. I've got…
> I think you are greatly over-estimating how many people would be willing to pay the cost of a North American made toaster. Who wants a $75+ toaster just because it was "Made In USA"? Is it going to make toast better than a $15 toaster "Hecho In Mexico" or whatever other country? Even making the infrastructure to make a toaster would not do much in the way of increasing the manufacturing abilities in the US. What co…
People pay hundreds of dollars for toasters already. This is another entry in that market with a marketing angle of being made in the U.S.A. which is important to a lot of U.S. consumers.
Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?
#145Given all of the regulatory obstacles and logistical headaches surrounding manufactured products these days, I personally feel that mechanical/electrical entrepreneurship is a path to ruin. Since you're in software already, would it not make more sense to create a strictly-digital product? Keep your day job, work at your own pace on software products (ideally with a partner), and see whether the market actually wants…
Enter Elon Musk with Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, & Neuralink... he seems to have it figured out
And the only thing that seems to be ruining him is the pure software play (Twitter)
Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?
#146There's always a market for a toaster that looks like a printer with infrared laser head for toasting and costs 100 dollars.
Check out Rotimatic:https://rotimatic.com/
I don't own one but it seems to be on the wishlist of every Indian living abroad.
Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?
#147If I had money and was looking for a high end toaster, I'd pay $200+ for a European toaster like SMEG. It'd be more for the aesthetics than the functionality. When you're paying that much money for a functional item, you're buying into a story. When you have a SMEG appliance, you're buying a sophisticated identity and a conversation piece. You're telling people you appreciate Dieter Rams type industrial design. Someh…
I agree, and this is just a by-the-way comment about Smeg. I always assumed Smeg was a bargain-basement brand because of its espresso machines, which appear to be rebadged Delonghi devices. There's one model that looks like a clone of the Dedica for example.
As another commenter pointed out, coffee-makers are one area where people are willing to pay thousands, e.g. espresso machines made in Italy or Germany that are robust and largely authentic.*
*Even though many follow virtually the same design and are made from near-commodity parts.
Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?
#148> as a software engineer with 0 experience building physical things, should I try building this?
No.
You’ll feel really bad when your homebrew toaster burns down somebody’s house and kills their kids.
There are very many fields you’d need expertise in to do this at all and you don’t seem to have much of an idea of what you don’t know. Getting hardware products off the ground is hard and requires tons of time and money. After all of that you’d have a really tough time selling anybody on the idea of buying your toaster which would have to be much more expensive than you imagine.
You would have to start on something way simpler.
Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?
#149I am a Software Engineer like you. I got started in making physical products in 2017 first with 3d printing, and today I do design for manufacturing. This might surprise some here, but if you can do 100% of the design and get good at it, it's possible to bootstrap a hardware company, even as a solo founder. I know it because I've done it. However I intentionally started with physical products with no electronics in t…
> get good at making drawings and hiring shops
What is “hiring shops?”
Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I think you are greatly over-estimating how many people would be willing to pay the cost of a North American made toaster. Who wants a $75+ toaster just because it was "Made In USA"? Is it going to make toast better than a $15 toaster "Hecho In Mexico" or whatever other country? Even making the infrastructure to make a toaster would not do much in the way of increasing the manufacturing abilities in the US. What co…
Id pay hundreds for a toaster built like a tank Not because I need that, I just enjoy overly heavy things
The thing about heavy things is their sheer size. There's only so much counter space and cabinet storage. Then again, if you have the disposable cash to spend that kind of money on a toaster, you probably have a kitchen larger than the majority of people's apartment