How to start a successful hardware company? Four points should be remembered

Tencent Science and Technology music May 2 compiled reports for a long time, entrepreneurs and investors will intentionally or unintentionally avoid the hardware business. Now, it all seems to be changing, and hardware business is starting to be favored. Chris Dixon, a famous American investor, recently wrote about the elements of creating a hardware start-up. In his view, the founder of a successful hardware company needs to be prepared from four aspects of production, defense, planning and Business-to-business. Paul Graham, founder of Combinator, a famous American incubator, said of the reasons for the hardware's popularity: "Hardware is very popular on the public web." The popularity of tablets has made it possible to develop new things around them. Electric cars have improved a lot. Now, different kinds of wireless internet are commonplace, and the production process has become very simple. Arduino open platform, 3D printer, laser cutting machine and CNC milling CNC milling, making hardware easier. As consumers rise to online shopping, retailers are no longer a bottleneck in restricting hardware sales. "Another important reason for the popularity of hardware start-ups is the author of the Long Tail theory, and Chris Anderson, the editor-in-chief of Wired magazine in the United States, called the" peace dividend of the smartphone war ":" All components of smartphones-sensors, GPS, cameras, The ARM core processor, wireless technology, memory and battery-can now be bought in just a few dollars. They are the product of economies of scale and innovative machines such as Apple and Google (Weibo). Ten years ago, they were all rare objects. They were cutting-edge technologies used in the military industry, and now you can easily buy them from the retailer RadioShack. "In fact, the world's most valuable companies (Apple) and some of the most exciting startups (such as Nest, Jawbone, Leap Motion) are also producing hardware. If you want to start a hardware company, here are a few things you need to keep in mind: 1. In the process of turning production from prototype to mass production, many hardware companies have suffered failures. Entrepreneurs tend to live in China for months or even years to get a clear picture of production. In contrast, hardware entrepreneurs tend to have more work experience than software entrepreneurs because production itself is a very complex process. 2. Defensive hardware companies often have economies of scale, but hardware products do not have a network effect. This means that as soon as you find the market, you will face competition from low-cost producers. The best startups use software and services with network or platform effects to make up for hardware deficiencies. Use hardware to generate revenue, use software and services to create profits. 3. Planning development-testing-duplicate patterns are popular in software companies, but not for hardware companies. Reasonable planning is necessary because some mistakes cannot be repaired. For example, your setIt may not meet environmental requirements, but you will not find it until a few years later when you are ready to market the product. 4. Business-to-business consumer hardware is often more of a concern, but business-to-business hardware has many advantages. For the first time, you will have fewer competitors because there are few entrepreneurs who have hardware and are familiar with the business world. Second, you will have fewer international competitors because Business-to-business hardware typically requires localized sales and service teams, making it difficult for foreign competitors to replicate your model. Finally, the production process can be done locally because higher prices mean you don't have to worry too much about labor costs.