# 108: Hardware Design Tips from Apple & Intel Leader

- Show: [Product Startup](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup)
- Published: 2022-01-05
- Length: 28m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-01-05-108-hardware-design-tips-from-apple-intel-leader
- Listen: https://productstartup.com/

## Summary

Kapil Kane, Director of Innovation at Intel and former Product Design Lead at Apple, explains how startups can apply the rigorous validation processes used by tech giants to their own hardware products. He details Intel’s internal accelerator, Growth Acts, which uses a business model canvas and validation plans to test assumptions before prototyping, contrasting this with Apple’s focus on pure technical execution for products like the iPod Shuffle and MacBook Air. Kane emphasizes that successful hardware requires a triad of solid technology, user experience, and a viable business model, urging founders to be coachable and demonstrate conviction through working prototypes rather than just ideas.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-01-05-108-hardware-design-tips-from-apple-intel-leader#t=0) Introduction: Kapil Kane's background at Apple and Intel
- [2:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-01-05-108-hardware-design-tips-from-apple-intel-leader#t=171) Kapil Kane's career: Johnson Controls, Stanford, and Apple product design
- [5:29](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-01-05-108-hardware-design-tips-from-apple-intel-leader#t=329) Contrasting Apple's technical execution with Intel's business innovation
- [11:24](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-01-05-108-hardware-design-tips-from-apple-intel-leader#t=684) Apple's culture: Solution-oriented thinking and not saying 'no'
- [14:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-01-05-108-hardware-design-tips-from-apple-intel-leader#t=884) The three pillars of great products: Technology, UX, and Business Model
- [17:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-01-05-108-hardware-design-tips-from-apple-intel-leader#t=1078) Intel's Growth Acts accelerator: Business model canvas and validation
- [21:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-01-05-108-hardware-design-tips-from-apple-intel-leader#t=1287) What differentiates winning pitches: Coachability and built prototypes

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Industrial & consumer product design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/industrial-design)
- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- Intel (company)
- Apple (company)
- Growth Acts (other)
- iPod Shuffle (product)
- MacBook Air (product)
- iPhone (product)
- Mako Design + Invent (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [#066 - How to apply lean startup principles to hardware, with Ash Maurya of Leanstack, USA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2019-01-16-066-how-to-apply-lean-startup-principles-to-hardware-with-ash-maurya-of-leanstac) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [S1 E2: Mastering the Art of Modern Hardware Development and Innovation with Tyler Mincey](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2023-05-15-s1-e2-mastering-the-art-of-modern-hardware-development-and-innovation-with-tyler) (The Builder Circle)
- [S2E37 Defied the odds:  A Physical Product Development Firm That Focuses on Startups & Small Businesses, Mako Design + Invent –Kevin Mako](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2021-08-23-s2e37-defied-the-odds-a-physical-product-development-firm-that-focuses-on-startu) (Being an Engineer)
- [#063 - Your (hardware) product is not your product - think in terms of business models, with your host Balint Horvath, Switzerland](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2018-10-24-063-your-hardware-product-is-not-your-product-think-in-terms-of-business-models) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [S2E51 The Hardware Academy | John Teel](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2021-12-03-s2e51-the-hardware-academy-john-teel) (Being an Engineer)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-01-05-108-hardware-design-tips-from-apple-intel-leader. 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 Product Startup.