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

Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 726 posts

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#41

Post by agloe_dreams »

StephenSmith wrote: post #31
DDickson wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this were a camera that identified when and for how long a software engineer showed up to the office and notified their employer of "unwanted behavior", how long would it take for that story to end up on the front page of this site and torn apart as invasive and infantilizing?

I guess I would say that subcontractors are more like hourly workers (who are time tracked meticulously in almost all industries) - not salaried like software engineers, who would deserve the respect and absence of tracking.

Not really, in the housing industry, it is generally job bid instead. The contractor taking longer just means they get paid later and don't get as many jobs done.

Also, Unions hate this right?

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#42

Post by devmunchies »

I come from a traditional full-stack engineering background (web frontend + backend) and recently founded a smart toy company[1], the first product built on ESP32-S3. I took a few weeks for me to get comfortable writing firmware (although there is another more experienced engineer doing the primary work and electrical).

I'm really excited for Espressif (the chip maker) to roll out newer versions of their microcontrollers on RISC-V. I would love to see a renaissance of inexpensive personal devices.

[1]: We're pre-launch so nothing to share now.

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#43

Post by iancmceachern »

screye wrote: post #33

Loads of hardware startups, but the communities are not in the Bay, Seattle or NYC. Most of the activity is not being generated by Americans or in America. Lots are being started in India, Dubai and China. Even the ones based out of the US or Singapore spend most of their time in Shenzen. In the US, I routinely see robotics and Healthcare hardware startups in Boston or San Diego, pseudo attached to the local universi…

I think there is a huge hardware startup ecosystem in the bay, I'm part of it. Especially for certain hardware specialties like medical,semiconductor, defence, space, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#45

Post by b112 »

kokanee wrote: post #22

I work on software at a hardware startup that is designing and manufacturing a next-generation electrolysis plant for the production of green hydrogen. My personal experience has led me to believe that opportunities to participate meaningfully in climate tech are exclusively available at hardware companies. Anyone attempting to solve climate change with software is at best skimming value off of the work being done by…

Please contact me, see link in profile.

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#46

Post by konschubert »

proee wrote: post #36
konschubert wrote: post #20

I am making and selling an eink smart screen. It can display a google calendar. You can also point it to any url that serves an image. Is it okay to post a link? https://shop.invisible-computers.com/products/invisible-cale... I am planning to release more applications for it and I am opening the platform for 3rd party applications.

Very cool! Are you able to make a full-time living off this product yet?

Not yet. I’m hoping to, so I can fully focus on it.

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#47

Post by wiskinator »

konschubert wrote: post #25
greesil wrote: post #6

As someone who used to work at an IoT company the consumer space is brutal. Unless you've got something you can sell for 10x BOM, or there's naturally a subscription based model then it's not worth the blood, sweat, and tears.

10x BOM? Why is the bar so high for profitably? There are manufacturing costs, marketing and inventory risk. But still… what am I missing?

NRE into the production line, especially hard tooling for plastic is huge. Plus all those things you mentioned, especially inventory risk are often underestimated.

Don't forget that any manufacturing run itself is a huge risk. Tiny changes that need to be made to address anything from RF performance to fit and finish can invalidate a run and just burn up hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars (depending on scale)

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#48

Post by Topgamer7 »

DDickson wrote: post #21
StephenSmith wrote: post #8

We make a camera system for construction sites. Using computer vision, we can identify when and for how long subcontractors show up as well as notify our customers of unwanted behavior on site. https://bedrockwireless.com/ Fun fact, we probably have the best port-o-potty detector in the world.

If this were a camera that identified when and for how long a software engineer showed up to the office and notified their employer of "unwanted behavior", how long would it take for that story to end up on the front page of this site and torn apart as invasive and infantilizing?

I think if these got to the point of "worker stared at floor for 7 minutes" it would be invasive. If it tracks when a vehicle shows up to site and leaves.

That being said, as someone with digestion issues, tracking bathroom habits is offensive.

In short, yes this is invasive. But much like AI, this type of thing isn't going away, there is just going to be more lawsuits about it in the future.

Re: Ask HN: Any hardware startups here?

#49

Post by wiskinator »

kokanee wrote: post #22

I work on software at a hardware startup that is designing and manufacturing a next-generation electrolysis plant for the production of green hydrogen. My personal experience has led me to believe that opportunities to participate meaningfully in climate tech are exclusively available at hardware companies. Anyone attempting to solve climate change with software is at best skimming value off of the work being done by…

This sounds like great tech. Keep at it for the benefit of all of us.
Post reply on HN