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The True Cost of Machine Ownership

One of the most popular questions I get from hardware companies concerns the pros and cons of 3D printer ownership. The question generally goes something like, if i’m iterating all the time, doesn’t it make sense for me to buy my own machine that I can access whenever I need it? That’s precisely the question I […]

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Living Hinge Design: How to Design a Living Hinge

If you’ve worked with consumer electronics, you’ll have come across living hinges. They are found in a wide variety of components – clamshell packaging, attached bottle caps, and electronic cases, just to name a few. They are low cost, easy to manufacture, and have little wear or friction involved in operation — understandably a popular […]

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3D TLC: Best Practices at One of the Bay Area’s Top 3D Print Shops

Moddler is widely known as one of the top boutique 3D print shops in the Bay Area. Founded by vfx veteran and Emmy Award winner John Vegher, the company enjoys a glittering line-up of clients and a solid reputation for quality, care, and customer service. Moddler’s focus on producing the highest quality parts for their customers, regardless […]

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Accelerating Through Success: Start Local, Scale Global

Every startup knows about accelerators, but not every startup knows how to read between the lines of an accelerator experience to transform those golden nuggets of expertise, resources, and connections that these organizations offer into a viable new brand. In this week’s Spotlight we share the story of Peeple, the smart caller ID for your front […]

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Part Incubator, Consulting Firm & Makerspace: Radicand is a Radical New Collaboratory for Hardware Startups

We’ve all heard of the digital divide. But in Silicon Valley, there’s another kind of gap—the chasm between software and hardware. Hardware developers have watched for years as their software dev friends pulled down free pieces of code from GitHub, spun off app after app from their dorm rooms and garages, and wooed millions of […]

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Industrial Design vs Mechanical Engineering [VIDEO]

We recently hosted experts from 3 of the top product design firms in the country, Whipsaw, Mindtribe, and Synapse as well as over a hundred San Francisco designers and engineers to explore the give and take between design and engineering in the development of hardware products. We captured the discussion on video and look forward to continuing the conversation!

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3 Most Common Product Development Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Every day, we work with young hardware startups to help them bring new products to market. While there is no deficit of passion and motivation in these zealous hardware entrepreneurs, we do see them make mistakes from time to time. Here are the 3 most common mistakes we see and strategies to avoid them so […]

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How Aeon is Elevating GoPro Videos Everywhere with Its Sleek Camera Gimbal

You know those hypnotic GoPro videos of skateboarders flying down flights of stairs as if they had wings, surfers gliding along massive waves, and James Stewart killing it out on the dirt? You can’t just get a GoPro camera and expect to get that kind of quality right out of the box. You need a […]

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How Small Manufacturers Can Thrive in a Shifting Industry

The manufacturing industry is a system that’s incredibly difficult to navigate. Engineers are continuously trying to wade their way through the complex landscape of manufacturing capabilities to find the right partner to bring their product to market. One of the biggest challenges here is that the best manufacturing partners are often: As an engineer I’ve […]

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Rolling with the Punches: Jabber on Designing Toys for Kids

Here in the Bay Area we probably have the greatest concentration of electronic gadgets, and the people who make them, this side of the planet. That can be a problem when it comes to parenting—even if you hide all your devices under your sofa, your kids will still come home raving about their best friend’s […]