Hardware Podcasts

122: Modern Methods for New Product Development

Product Startup · 13 Apr 2022 · 32m

What this episode covers

John McEleney, Co-Founder and CEO of Onshape, explains how cloud-based 3D CAD software enables hardware startups to iterate faster and achieve product-market fit. He contrasts Onshape’s real-time collaboration and version control with legacy desktop systems like SolidWorks, highlighting how features like branching and FeatureScript reduce friction in the design process. McEleney emphasizes that modern tools allow teams to get prototypes into customer hands quickly to observe usage, rather than relying on static file exchanges. The discussion covers the shift from local installation to cloud-native platforms, enabling parallel workflows and agile product development for small teams and large enterprises alike.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Onshape, Computer Vision, Raytheon, Mako Design + Invent
Products
SolidWorks, Solidworkss, Pro Engineer
Tools
FeatureScript

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Hardware Entrepreneur · 54m

    #062 - How a hardware SaaS company wants to help you not get lost in your data during product development, with Michael Corr of Duro Labs, USA

    Michael Corr, co-founder and CEO of Duro Labs, explains how his cloud-based SaaS tool helps hardware companies manage product data from prototype to production, addressing the inefficiencies of using Excel or antiquated PLM systems like SAP and Oracle. He discusses the gap between rapid prototyping technologies like 3D printing and the slow, manual nature of mass production, arguing that digitizing supplier interactions and implementing version control for CAD files are critical for agile hardware development. Corr also shares personal advice on networking and the importance of process in scaling startups, drawing on his 20-year background in telecom, IoT, and clean tech.

    Scaling productionEDA & CAD tools
    7 chapters

  • Being an Engineer · 1h 15m

    Jon Hirschtick | Founding & Developing the Solidworks and Onshape CAD Systems

    Jon Hirschtick, founder of SolidWorks and Onshape, and current Chief Evangelist at PTC, explains how he used personal funds from his time as a professional blackjack player to launch SolidWorks in 1993, targeting the gap between expensive Unix-based 3D CAD and 2D AutoCAD. He details the technical challenges of building a solid modeler on Windows and licensing Parasolid, leading to its success, and later founded Onshape to solve persistent user pain points like version control, installation failures, and file-based collaboration by creating a true cloud-native CAD and PDM system. Hirschtick discusses Onshape's features, including real-time collaboration, FeatureScript, and its subscription model, arguing that cloud-native architecture enables faster innovation and better security than legacy file-based systems.

    EDA & CAD toolsStarting a product company
    10 chapters

  • The Builder Circle · 1h 16m

    S3 E1: Mastering Tech Adoption and The Hardware Development Workflow with Jon Hirshtick

    Jon Hirshtick, founder of SolidWorks and Onshape, discusses the evolution of hardware development tools, emphasizing that software is a tool rather than a solution. He explains how customer visits and inferring needs drove the creation of features like the feature manager and cloud-native workflows. Hirshtick advises software founders to focus on usage metrics, understand market size realistically, and avoid the gap between demo and real-world complexity. He also shares lessons from his time on the MIT blackjack team regarding failure, persistence, and team dynamics.

    EDA & CAD toolsValidation & product-market fit
    13 chapters

  • Being an Engineer · 55m

    S6E39 Sam Holland | Informal Engineering Collective, the Hardware Handbook, & Donut Hole-Der

    Sam Holland, co-founder of Informal.cc, explains how his freelance collective connects startups with a network of 450 contractors to handle hardware design, manufacturing, and go-to-market strategy. He details the creation of the Informal Hardware Handbook to educate first-time founders and discusses his passion project, the Donut Hole-Der, which serves as a marketing Trojan horse to engage Dunkin' and teach engineering processes. Holland also advocates for Onshape as his preferred CAD tool due to its cloud-based collaboration and low hardware requirements, while sharing strategies for accelerating product development through lean teams and parallel workflows.

    Starting a product companyIndustrial & consumer product design
    8 chapters

  • Moore's Lobby · 56m

    VC-Backed Hardware Design Collaboration is the (All) Spice of Life

    Valentina Ratner and Kyle Dumont, co-founders of Allspice, explain their mission to bring Git-style version control and collaboration workflows to hardware engineering, addressing the industry's reliance on outdated methods like printed schematics and PDFs. Chrissy Meyer, a general partner at Root Ventures, discusses her transition from electrical engineering at Apple to VC, explaining how she recognized the visceral pain of inefficient design reviews and invested in Allspice to solve these collaboration gaps. The team details how Allspice Hub enables asynchronous design reviews and connects disparate tools, aiming to bridge the gap between electrical engineering and software development practices.

    EDA & CAD toolsStarting a product company
    10 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Product Startup. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.