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YC for Hardware

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: YC for Hardware

#31

Post by redthrowaway »

acgourley wrote: post #28
apendleton wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to nitpick, but at least some of these arguably haven't gotten far enough along yet that they can reasonably claim to be "successful." Thalmic is just getting early products to market, Helion hasn't yet built a commercial fusion reactor, etc.

I'll just point out that going into the 3rd or 4th year of YC's existence, everyone was asking this about the software companies they were funding.

It doesn't follow from YC's success with software companies that the model will be similarly successful for hardware companies. It's still very much an experiment at this point, and "it was once an unknown for software companies" doesn't imply that hardware companies will achieve similar success with the YC model.

Re: YC for Hardware

#32

Post by chrisBob »

apendleton wrote: post #19
beambot wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pebble, Boosted, Cruise, Double Robotics, Pantelligent, Thalmic, UPower, Helion, Terravion, SoundFocus, SwapBox, Amulyte, Coin, IxiPlay, TrueLink, Estimote, Senic, ...

Not to nitpick, but at least some of these arguably haven't gotten far enough along yet that they can reasonably claim to be "successful." Thalmic is just getting early products to market, Helion hasn't yet built a commercial fusion reactor, etc.

I thought the goal of a startup was funding. Who needs commercial products?

Re: YC for Hardware

#33

Post by fudged71 »

pcmonk wrote: post #2

I'm a bit out of the loop on hardware startups, but has YC funded many successful hardware startups? The only one I've heard of is Pebble. Lowering the barrier to hardware startups is an awesome thing, of course. Hardware has a greater potential to directly impact lives at this point than software. There's tremendous software power locked up in the small, awkward-to-use computing devices we call phones, tablets, lapt…

BufferBox

Re: YC for Hardware

#34

Post by jeorgun »

redthrowaway wrote: post #31
acgourley wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll just point out that going into the 3rd or 4th year of YC's existence, everyone was asking this about the software companies they were funding.

It doesn't follow from YC's success with software companies that the model will be similarly successful for hardware companies. It's still very much an experiment at this point, and "it was once an unknown for software companies" doesn't imply that hardware companies will achieve similar success with the YC model.

Sure, but it does mean that "few successful companies so far" shouldn't be taken as a death knell for YC's forays into hardware. By fairly direct analogy, the majority of startups not making a profit in their first month will fail, but the majority of successful startups weren't making a profit in their first month.

Re: YC for Hardware

#35

Post by rasz_pl »

hugs wrote: post #17
anujdeshpande wrote: post #13

I read it twice to see if there was any mention of the word 'Shenzhen'. It's difficult to not keep that in the loop, for a hardware startup anywhere in the world. Even SF.

I make robots in Chicago and sell them on Tindie. My top two competitors are in Finland and Japan. Yes, I hear Shenzhen is crazy awesome, but try not to let location dominate your world view of what is easy or difficult. Making a good hardware product is difficult, no matter where you make it.

>I make robots in Chicago and sell them on Tindie

sounds very scalable

Re: YC for Hardware

#36

Post by bravo22 »

fudged71 wrote: post #33
pcmonk wrote: post #2

I'm a bit out of the loop on hardware startups, but has YC funded many successful hardware startups? The only one I've heard of is Pebble. Lowering the barrier to hardware startups is an awesome thing, of course. Hardware has a greater potential to directly impact lives at this point than software. There's tremendous software power locked up in the small, awkward-to-use computing devices we call phones, tablets, lapt…

BufferBox

In all fairness they weren't really a hardware company. Their "hardware" was off the shelf. They sold the service, not the hardware.

Re: YC for Hardware

#37

Post by bravo22 »

ahhrrr wrote: post #27
shashanksamala wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The resources listed here are geared for prototyping that allows rapid iteration of designs and ideas. From electronics prototyping (Tempo Automation) to mechanical (Fictiv). Having been to Shenzhen for manufacturing, it is absolutely great once you get to large volume - you can't beat the robust ecosystem anywhere. For initial runs of designs (quantity 1-10 of something), TIME is absolutely key: dealing with Shenzhe…

Absolutely. At Other Machine Co., ( https://othermachine.co/ ) our volumes just aren't big enough to go to Shenzhen yet. Not to mention the fact that the upfront costs require significant upfront capital investments. That's why we make a product that lets companies (including our own) prototype PCBs and other parts themselves.

You can't mill any serious PCBs. Not for prototype and certainly not for production.

What about vias, or soldermasks?!

That machine is great for CNCing plastics and metals however.

Re: YC for Hardware

#39

Post by anujdeshpande »

shashanksamala wrote: post #26
anujdeshpande wrote: post #13

I read it twice to see if there was any mention of the word 'Shenzhen'. It's difficult to not keep that in the loop, for a hardware startup anywhere in the world. Even SF.

The resources listed here are geared for prototyping that allows rapid iteration of designs and ideas. From electronics prototyping (Tempo Automation) to mechanical (Fictiv). Having been to Shenzhen for manufacturing, it is absolutely great once you get to large volume - you can't beat the robust ecosystem anywhere. For initial runs of designs (quantity 1-10 of something), TIME is absolutely key: dealing with Shenzhe…

Assembling is being democratized, PCBs are being made available faster than ever, but that still doesn't level up with the ecosystem that is China. Especially, when you are prototyping. Link i posted in earlier comment points out exactly this : http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=4297 It's a great initiative by YC, but hopefully there is more to come.

Re: YC for Hardware

#40

Post by spike021 »

pcmonk wrote: post #2

I'm a bit out of the loop on hardware startups, but has YC funded many successful hardware startups? The only one I've heard of is Pebble. Lowering the barrier to hardware startups is an awesome thing, of course. Hardware has a greater potential to directly impact lives at this point than software. There's tremendous software power locked up in the small, awkward-to-use computing devices we call phones, tablets, lapt…

I believe FiveStars is another hardware one, if you count NFC cards (or whichever tech they're using) as hardware.
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