The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
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Einstein: Hiring software armies is a death sentence for incumbent hardware firms
“So I think most of the big companies are really struggling with this and, you know, having to hire armies and armies of software people To sort of help augment their existing product line is, is usually a sort of death sentence for many of these big companies,…”
Einstein: Jawbone failed to match Fitbit due to unfocused brand positioning
“Jawbone really built a horizontal, you know, Bluetooth business, right? So all their products have Bluetooth, they build speakers, they have headsets, they have they have the up tracker, the, you know, the sort of Fitbit clone. Fitbit is laser focused on a bra…”
Einstein: Hardware startups fail due to founder inexperience, not inherent difficulty
“And so the big, Problem with hardware being quote unquote hard is, is not the inherent nature of hardware. It's the fact that most people that are in the startup community have never done it before. And so they don't know what to look for when they're trying t…”
Einstein: Crowdfunding and 3D printing are minor drivers of hardware boom
“The press loves to call attention to, I think these sort of sexy, cool trends things like crowdfunding and three printing and that kind of stuff, which I actually, I think is actually a very small part of the story.”
Einstein: Growing hardware startups must focus on supply chain over manufacturing
“Really what actually happens with most hardware companies now, their core focus as they grow is actually less about hardcore manufacturing and molding and quality control. And it's more about gaining expertise in your own supply chain.”
Einstein: Hardware is a Trojan horse for software in new environments
“So really hardware is this really great Trojan horse to get software into places that it can't currently exist.”
Einstein: Dropcam achieved a 35% attach rate on its $10/month subscription
“And then they, you know, I think Dropcam had about a 35% tax rate on a 10 dollar a month service.”
Einstein: Contract manufacturing benefits far outweigh supply chain friction
“The cost benefit analysis of not having to deal with, you know, hiring and firing workers and people stealing stuff and you know, all the capex you need in order to build it and yada, yada, yada is totally worth it. Versus the supply chain management issues th…”
Einstein: Hardware-enabled services will yield the most consumer hardware devices
“There's a category, which is probably the most interesting and we'll see the most devices, especially in the consumer space, which we call sort of hardware enabled services.”
Einstein: Hardware products must be designed around recurring revenue strategy
“You redesigned a product based on how you're going to monetize its recurring revenue going forward.”
Einstein: Brand is the most critical element for consumer hardware companies
“Yeah, a hundred percent agree with you when it comes to consumer products, that brand is, it's actually the most important thing. And it's a little bit of a red herring because brand encompasses so much of what a company is. You know, it's really, I think peop…”
Einstein: Early hardware prototyping should prioritize speed over quality
“Always build more build more than you ever think. Definitely caring less about quality and more about speed, and especially in the beginning and using those prototypes to actually talk to humans about how they would use them which is a very important part of p…”