# "Impedance Matching" with Davidson and Vandenbout - Presbytes Pushing Portfolios

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2015-01-15
- Length: 1h 53m
- Episode: 232
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-01-15-impedance-matching-with-davidson-and-vandenbout-presbytes-pushing-portfolios
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/232-impedance-matching-with-davidson-and-vandenbout-presbytes-pushing-portfolios/

## Summary

Bob Davidson of Ambient Sensors and Dave Vandenbaum of XS Corporation discuss the realities of building physical products, from prototyping pitfalls like melting solar cells to the strategic value of open-source hardware and energy harvesting for IoT. They contrast the innovation-driven culture of small companies with the bureaucratic inertia of large corporations like Bell Labs and HP, emphasizing that execution and customer experience matter more than just the idea. The conversation also covers advice for engineering students, advocating for building a portfolio of projects over chasing grades, and critiques the academic focus on research over practical application.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-01-15-impedance-matching-with-davidson-and-vandenbout-presbytes-pushing-portfolios#t=0) Introduction and Prototyping Lessons
- [21:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-01-15-impedance-matching-with-davidson-and-vandenbout-presbytes-pushing-portfolios#t=1292) IoT, Bluetooth Low Energy, and Energy Harvesting
- [55:45](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-01-15-impedance-matching-with-davidson-and-vandenbout-presbytes-pushing-portfolios#t=3345) Big Company Inertia: Bell Labs and HP
- [1:17:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-01-15-impedance-matching-with-davidson-and-vandenbout-presbytes-pushing-portfolios#t=4620) Advice for Engineering Students and Education
- [1:31:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-01-15-impedance-matching-with-davidson-and-vandenbout-presbytes-pushing-portfolios#t=5492) Small vs. Large Companies and Startup Reality
- [1:39:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-01-15-impedance-matching-with-davidson-and-vandenbout-presbytes-pushing-portfolios#t=5998) Prototyping Tools, Manufacturing, and Book Writing

## Topics

- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Batteries & low-power design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/batteries-and-low-power)
- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies, large enterprises

## Mentioned

- Ambient Sensors (company)
- XS Corporation (company)
- Contextual Electronics (company)
- Pres Bytes (company)
- Bluetooth Low Energy (other)
- iBeacon (product)
- Keysight (company)
- Rigel (company)
- HP (company)
- AT&T (company)
- Bell Labs (company)
- Motorola 6801 (chip)
- MAC-4 (chip)
- Zipuino (product)
- ESP8266 (chip)
- Espressif (company)
- Tensilica (company)
- Linear Technology (company)
- LTC 3330 (chip)
- Tadiran (company)
- TL4935 (product)
- OSH Park (company)
- Sunstone (company)
- Seeed Studio (company)
- Western Electronics (company)
- Computrol (company)
- Nordic Semiconductor (company)
- Adafruit (company)
- O'Reilly (company)
- Getting Started with Bluetooth Low Energy (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [293: Skateboard Tricks (Repeat)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2021-12-23-293-skateboard-tricks-repeat) (Embedded.fm)
- [#016 - Developing with a hardware engineering company, with Karoly Molnar of ProDSP Technologies, Hungary](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-03-08-016-developing-with-a-hardware-engineering-company-with-karoly-molnar-of-prodsp) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [181: Work on It for Ten Years](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-12-30-181-work-on-it-for-ten-years) (Embedded.fm)
- [Introducing: It's only a Prototype Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/its-only-a-prototype/2025-04-09-introducing-its-only-a-prototype-podcast) (It's Only a Prototype)
- [102: How Students Start Successful Hardware Businesses](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-11-17-102-how-students-start-successful-hardware-businesses) (Product Startup)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-01-15-impedance-matching-with-davidson-and-vandenbout-presbytes-pushing-portfolios. 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 The Amp Hour.