# 429: Start With Zero Trust

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2022-09-29
- Length: 1h 00m
- Episode: 429
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-09-29-429-start-with-zero-trust
- Listen: https://embedded.fm/episodes/429

## Summary

Duncan Haldane, CEO and co-founder of JITX, explains how his company allows engineers to design circuit boards by writing code, addressing the industry's need for stronger correctness guarantees and reusability. He discusses his background in bio-inspired robotics at UC Berkeley, including the Salto jumping robot and origami mechanisms, which highlighted the limitations of traditional hardware design tools. Haldane details JITX's approach of embedding rigorous checks into a Python-based language to prevent design errors, its integration with KiCad and Altium, and the company's recent Series A funding from Sequoia Capital.

## Chapters

- [0:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-09-29-429-start-with-zero-trust#t=7) Introduction and Background
- [3:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-09-29-429-start-with-zero-trust#t=205) Origami Robots and Salto
- [7:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-09-29-429-start-with-zero-trust#t=443) The Problem with Hardware Design Tools
- [9:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-09-29-429-start-with-zero-trust#t=543) JITX: Code-Defined Hardware
- [16:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-09-29-429-start-with-zero-trust#t=1003) Correctness and Checks
- [23:38](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-09-29-429-start-with-zero-trust#t=1418) Integration with KiCad and Altium
- [37:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-09-29-429-start-with-zero-trust#t=2239) Language Design and Solvers
- [39:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-09-29-429-start-with-zero-trust#t=2340) Future of Hardware Automation
- [47:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-09-29-429-start-with-zero-trust#t=2877) Company Status and Hiring

## Topics

- [EDA & CAD tools](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/eda-and-cad-tools)
- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- JITX (product)
- KiCad (tool)
- Altium (tool)
- OpenSCAD (tool)
- SKiDL (tool)
- Sequoia Capital (company)
- Salto (product)
- OpenRoACH (product)
- STM32 (chip)
- Adafruit (company)
- SparkFun (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [JITX Aims to Provide Superpowers to Circuit Design Engineers](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/moores-lobby/2022-12-20-jitx-aims-to-provide-superpowers-to-circuit-design-engineers) (Moore's Lobby)
- [T-25-010 :  Ioannis Papamanoglou and Narayan Powderly - Engineers transforming how we design, test, and build hardware with atopile](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2026-01-01-t-25-010-ioannis-papamanoglou-and-narayan-powderly-engineers-transforming-how-we) (TRADEOFFS)
- [Code-Based PCB Design with AI: Inside atopile](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2026-06-23-code-based-pcb-design-with-ai-inside-atopile) (OnTrack)
- [VC-Backed Hardware Design Collaboration is the (All) Spice of Life](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/moores-lobby/2023-05-30-vc-backed-hardware-design-collaboration-is-the-all-spice-of-life) (Moore's Lobby)
- [An Interview with Saar Drimer](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2016-02-12-an-interview-with-saar-drimer) (The Amp Hour)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-09-29-429-start-with-zero-trust. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Embedded.fm.