Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask Us Anything: Y Combinator Hardware Companies Crowdfunding

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 150 posts

Re: Ask Us Anything: Y Combinator Hardware Companies Crowdfunding

#121

Post by hongquan »

Hykso wrote: post #81
drabie wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, you don't. You just need to focus on building something that people want and making sure that the experience you deliver is better than any other. Further, if you start to think about your hardware as a means of delivering something else (for us, that's food), then getting copycatted on the hardware won't be as hard to deal with from a business standpoint.

+1 with the boys above! By the time someone replicates you, you should have an improved version of your stuff on both software and hardware.

Depends on your development cycle, but this is one area that startups should have an advantage over bigger competitors. We got copied on a few things (logo, tagline, product) by a bunch of people in 3, 6, 9 months time. Of course we're already working on our second model, so no worries!

Re: Ask Us Anything: Y Combinator Hardware Companies Crowdfunding

#122

Post by jmcmahon443 »

Hykso wrote: post #27
jmcmahon443 wrote: post #3

What are the pros and cons of crowdfunding, vs. self-funding, vs. VC-funding for a hardware startup? When should I be using which sort of funding?

Hi jmcmahob443, My name is Khalil, CEO of Hykso (www.hykso. Are you talking about product crowdfunding like Kickstarter and Indiegogo or equity crowdfunding?

Both.

Re: Ask Us Anything: Y Combinator Hardware Companies Crowdfunding

#123

Post by fudged71 »

jonbarker wrote: post #118

What are some cost effective options for rapid prototyping (preferably mostly doing it myself in a shop type environment) in the bay area?

There are lots of hackerspaces/makerspaces in the bay area! Plenty of equipment available for next to nothing.

Re: Ask Us Anything: Y Combinator Hardware Companies Crowdfunding

#125

Post by elijahparker »

I'm just about to launch a new hardware product and was planning on using Kickstarter (it would be my 2nd time), however a partner (and reseller) in the industry brought up the option of them preordering my entire Kickstarter goal so I can get to selling/shipping the final product sooner at retail price.

Seems like an enticing option, my main concern is how much of the Kickstarter market might I miss?

Are people who buy on Kickstarter a subset of those who buy a finished product, or is it an entirely separate group?

I can see pros and cons of both ways, and I know a lot has to do with my specific market (niche time-lapse), but would love to hear any comments or insight. Thanks!

Re: Ask Us Anything: Y Combinator Hardware Companies Crowdfunding

#126

Post by spacebug »

thebiglebrewski wrote: post #30

I have a bunch of hardware stuff lying around. Arduino kits, soldering equipment, even a pocket oscilloscope! I had good intentions with it but now it's mostly just sitting there. Any small cool project ideas to build? Also I always have this problem where I'm missing one tiny component (I live in NYC in Brooklyn) and have to run to a store in Manhattan or wait for an online order to fill it...any tips on things to k…

Try doing some connected device, esp8266 that turns on an led when you POST to a server (minimal soldering maximal programming). And develop from there. Also there are a lot of tuts for this things. Later try to integrate some sensors. A lot of hardware today is software inside a plastic box.

Re: Ask Us Anything: Y Combinator Hardware Companies Crowdfunding

#127

Post by [deleted] »

thebiglebrewski wrote: post #30

I have a bunch of hardware stuff lying around. Arduino kits, soldering equipment, even a pocket oscilloscope! I had good intentions with it but now it's mostly just sitting there. Any small cool project ideas to build? Also I always have this problem where I'm missing one tiny component (I live in NYC in Brooklyn) and have to run to a store in Manhattan or wait for an online order to fill it...any tips on things to k…

[deleted]

Re: Ask Us Anything: Y Combinator Hardware Companies Crowdfunding

#128

Post by MechSkep »

I have a plan for overhauling/replacing Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing. The way it's done now consumes way too much design time, and honestly is a bit silly considering the inputs and outputs of the system.

I'd like to talk to someone with experience interfacing with factories in China about how the current approach could be replaced. Any suggestions?

Also, if I developed this tool-chain, what is the best way to attach to the market?

Re: Ask Us Anything: Y Combinator Hardware Companies Crowdfunding

#129

Post by jonesb6 »

grape_ wrote: post #107

YC and many other incubators provide startups technology incentive programs (Digital Ocean providing $250k credits, Azure providing $500k in credits, etc.). Are any of the hardware startups here utilizing any of the incentive programs? If so, how so? Very interested to hear about cloud strategies, especially as they relate to hardware companies (APIs, IOTs, etc.).

From my brief research digital ocean only provides credits to YC companies unlike Microsoft, Azure, and even IBM's SoftLayer. I'd just like to point that out. That immediately disqualifies DO for large cloud products due to their pricing and product offerings.
Post reply on HN