Hardware Workshop NY 2013

Andres and I checked out the Hardware Workshop here in NYC last weekend.

We were blown away!

Hardware Workshop is a two-day-long event for hardware entrepreneurs to learn about the process of getting products to market. (Read more about Hardware Workshop here.)

We intended to stop in to chat and get some feedback on some new features we're contemplating for Octopart, but the speakers -- all experienced operators of hardware ventures -- were so interesting that we stayed the whole time. Some lessons from founders of Boxee, SocialBicycles, Grand St. and Canary were also nicely applicable to software and what we do. On top of this, we got to meet a slew of hardware startups -- not just the excellent batch in the R/GA Accelerator, but also entrepreneurs who came by to check it out.

My favorite takeaway from the event was a theme that Tyler Mincey (FictiveKin, Ex-Apple) kept coming back to in his session -- to think of everyone on your team as a designer; whether s/he is an EE, a sourcing professional, or anything else.

"Real innovation happens when you move constraints, not design with them -- figuring out how to get a part cheaper is just as important a part of design as any."

Congrats to Marc, Haytham, Idan, Calvin and team for pulling together a great event. We're excited for the next one!

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