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Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

simonberens.com

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Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#271

Post by Cthulhu_ »

hahahahhaah wrote: post #95

Love the intersection of geopolitics and hardware design lead times. Trade wars can be waited out why getting the design right.

While true, who knows how long said trade war will last for? And in that time you're paying for storage / other expenses, your investors are waiting (although Kickstarter backers are often pretty patient), etc.

And they got the design right, insofar as they could see at that point, hence having 500 units built. In a lot of cases you can't have a single unit built as a one-off.

Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#272

Post by numpad0 »

wnissen wrote: post #133
Animats wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lack of UL approval is a concern. This thing draws over 500 watts and runs hot.

Is it really not UL approved? Hard to call it a premium product in that case.

I wouldn't know but the exploded view do look a little sus even from a printing hobbyist's perspective

Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#273

Post by MrBuddyCasino »

riotnrrd wrote: post #43
nicoburns wrote: post #17

Oh boy, I want one of these. This would absolutely perfect for winter depression (I suspect much better than the "SAD lamps" marketed for this purpose which are bright not even close to this bright). But £889 is a lot of money for a lamp!

If you're not afraid of DIY and it looking (much) uglier than these lamps, you can buy extremely bright "cob lights" and make something yourself: https://meaningness.com/sad-light-lumens

Not even DIY, the 600W 92000 lm "UFO lamp" is just 170€: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DD4J7GMC/?tag=meaningness-20&th=...

Basically a hanging version of the "Brighter" lamp.

Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#274

Post by Schlagbohrer »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #242
Maxion wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone living in the Nordics my experience already with central Europeans and especially so Americans is that these cultures are already much more high context than the Nordics. I guess up here we're all borderline autistic?

I am entirely convinced that the entire country of Germany suffers from Asperger's. Denmark is a bit better, maybe because they drink more ? Dunno.

Germany answers the question, "What if autistic engineers got to have their own nation?"

Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#275

Post by lylejantzi3rd »

pinkmuffinere wrote: post #208

I would not advise jumping to mass production for your first deliveries, i think your story would have had less stress and more lower risk of failure of the first n (maybe 10?) units was bespoke, made lovingly by hand in a machine shop somewhere. I don’t think this is unusual advice, it matches the ethos of the lean startup, and pg’s “do things that don’t scale”. We made our first hardware by hand, i believe we did 1…

The product in question has a cast part. How do you do that in low quantity by yourself? Sand casting?

Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#277

Post by fnordian_slip »

nicoburns wrote: post #17

Oh boy, I want one of these. This would absolutely perfect for winter depression (I suspect much better than the "SAD lamps" marketed for this purpose which are bright not even close to this bright). But £889 is a lot of money for a lamp!

I have the Amaran 200d S, which is about 250 pounds I think. It's not as stylish, but has not only a CRI of 96+, but more importantly an SSI (D56) of 87+, which is hard to beat imho.

I rather like the way it releases concentrated light towards you, as the sun does through a window, but not everyone wants harsh shadows. At the same time, the reflector makes the 20.000 lumens feel like a lot more, as the light doesn't have to illuminate the whole room, just where you're sitting.

Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#278

Post by XRG »

rxt_ian wrote: post #258
fxtentacle wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any recommendations for FCC/CE testing providers?

I'm really curious how they handled certification of a design that was changing apaprently up to the minute it was delivered...

My first guess was that they used an external brick for the power supply with a relatively low output voltage--that would eliminate a lot of the CE test load. However, a cursory glance at the product photos suggests the power supply sits within the base of the lamp. Maybe the product developer can shed some more light on this. ;-)

Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#279

Post by johannes1234321 »

leoedin wrote: post #257
Rychard wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lights are indeed outdoor, and cover most of my backyard. It's a neighborhood within a major metropolitan area, but the light doesn't bleed beyond my property lines. As for the "why", the answer is security. If someone attempts to hide in my yard, they'll find it quite difficult to remain unseen. Most of my neighbors have floodlights of their own (though mine are easily the brightest), and I've gotten no complain…

My neighbour has a motion activated flood light. It's annoying. Not annoying enough to risk a feud by telling them though. It also completely ruins any natural habitat for nocturnal animals. The whole concept of permanently lighting your garden is crazy! Where do you live that you're so worried about people hiding in your yard? Could you not solve that with cameras and an infra-red floodlight?

Even infrared is weird to me. Insects and other creatures living in the garden have issues with it, while they are important for a healthy environment ...

Re: Lessons learned shipping 500 units of my first hardware product

#280

Post by bojan »

myst wrote: post #224
nomel wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Working with a Chinese vendors is an adversarial first relationship, where 差不多 is deeeeep in the culture (and, from my experience, tends to survive trips across the ocean). There are professional communication/training courses for working with Chinese vendors/colleagues that spell all of this out, because it's not some secret. It's just a very different culture, with high context communication (I'll let you read what…

Googled that ‘yes’ thing. Not different from my experience in other parts of the world. ‘Yes’ means ‘yes, sir’ only in the army. What is your environment?

> ‘Yes’ means ‘yes, sir’ only in the army.

Not really, if you get a "yes" in the Netherlands, Nordics, Germany or Poland it does mean, simply, yes.

The consequence of which is that actually getting a "yes" takes a lot of work.

I don't dare speak for other countries, no experience there.

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