# The Importance of Your Team for Successful IoT Development | SpinDance's Brian Tol | Internet of Things Podcast

- Show: [IoT For All Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast)
- Published: 2023-01-03
- Length: 24m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2023-01-03-the-importance-of-your-team-for-successful-iot-development-spindances-brian-tol
- Listen: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/iot-for-all/episodes/The-Importance-of-Your-Team-for-Successful-IoT-Development--SpinDances-Brian-Tol--Internet-of-Things-Podcast-e28bk2a

## Summary

Brian Tol, CTO of SpinDance, explains that successful IoT development requires shifting focus from pure technology to building holistic teams that address desirability, feasibility, and viability. He emphasizes the importance of integrating hardware, software, and UX disciplines early, noting that poor industrial design and high cognitive load for users are common failure points in existing medical devices. Tol advises companies to invest in clear business cases, long-term maintenance strategies, and transparent partnerships to avoid project stalls and team burnout.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2023-01-03-the-importance-of-your-team-for-successful-iot-development-spindances-brian-tol#t=0) Introduction: The shift from technology to team-centric IoT development
- [2:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2023-01-03-the-importance-of-your-team-for-successful-iot-development-spindances-brian-tol#t=138) SpinDance overview: Strategy, software, and diverse customer base
- [3:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2023-01-03-the-importance-of-your-team-for-successful-iot-development-spindances-brian-tol#t=219) The 3 lenses of innovation: Desirability, feasibility, and viability
- [7:28](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2023-01-03-the-importance-of-your-team-for-successful-iot-development-spindances-brian-tol#t=448) System design and integrating hardware, cloud, and UX teams
- [9:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2023-01-03-the-importance-of-your-team-for-successful-iot-development-spindances-brian-tol#t=551) Selecting team members and managing partnerships
- [11:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2023-01-03-the-importance-of-your-team-for-successful-iot-development-spindances-brian-tol#t=714) Business cases, pilot stalls, and long-term maintenance strategies
- [14:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2023-01-03-the-importance-of-your-team-for-successful-iot-development-spindances-brian-tol#t=898) Transparency in partnerships and avoiding 'winner' bias
- [17:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2023-01-03-the-importance-of-your-team-for-successful-iot-development-spindances-brian-tol#t=1025) Hardware challenges: Medical device teardowns and UI/UX failures
- [18:45](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2023-01-03-the-importance-of-your-team-for-successful-iot-development-spindances-brian-tol#t=1125) User experience: Cognitive load, setup friction, and support personas
- [22:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2023-01-03-the-importance-of-your-team-for-successful-iot-development-spindances-brian-tol#t=1336) Final advice: Training teams and giving them time for multi-year journeys

## Topics

- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Industrial & consumer product design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/industrial-design)
- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Hiring & workforce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/hiring-and-workforce)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- SpinDance (company)
- spindance.com (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [#014: Why Your IoT Project Still Hasn’t Taken Off — And How to Fix It](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/coredump-sessions/2025-08-05-014-why-your-iot-project-still-hasnt-taken-off-and-how-to-fix-it) (Coredump Sessions)
- [128: Creating an App for Your Hardware Device](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-06-08-128-creating-an-app-for-your-hardware-device) (Product Startup)
- [#017 - How *not* to think about IoT, with Michael Vladimer of Orange IoT Studio, USA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-03-15-017-how-not-to-think-about-iot-with-michael-vladimer-of-orange-iot-studio-usa) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [249: It Depends](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2018-06-15-249-it-depends) (Embedded.fm)
- [Intrapreneurship, Internal Incubation, Spinoffs, and IoT Product Development](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2021-07-06-intrapreneurship-internal-incubation-spinoffs-and-iot-product-development) (Over the Air)

## Citing this page

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