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

- Show: [The Builder Circle](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle)
- Published: 2025-09-30
- Length: 1h 16m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir
- Listen: https://rss.com/podcasts/thebuildercircle/2245007

## Summary

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.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir#t=0) Introduction: Jon Hirshtick and the Builder Circle
- [4:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir#t=260) Software as a Tool and Earning Workflow Adoption
- [9:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir#t=557) Lessons from Early Failures and Customer Visits
- [13:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir#t=807) Inferring Needs vs. Surface Requests
- [23:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir#t=1390) The Origin Story of the Feature Manager
- [28:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir#t=1710) Overcoming User Adoption Inertia
- [33:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir#t=2010) Marketing Strategies: From Trade Shows to Cloud
- [40:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir#t=2440) Measuring Success: Usage vs. Sales
- [49:47](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir#t=2987) Blackjack Lessons: Failure, Persistence, and Teams
- [55:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir#t=3309) Hardware Horror Story: The Zooter Scooter
- [1:00:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir#t=3636) Key Moments: Fundraising and WebGL
- [1:03:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir#t=3791) Lightning Round: Modeling, APIs, and Digital Twins
- [1:11:47](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir#t=4307) Final Advice and Essential Software Stack

## Topics

- [EDA & CAD tools](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/eda-and-cad-tools)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)

## Most relevant to

large enterprises

## Mentioned

- SolidWorks (product)
- Onshape (product)
- PTC (company)
- Creo (product)
- Pro/ENGINEER (product)
- AutoCAD (product)
- Solid Edge (product)
- Sonos (company)
- WebGL (tool)
- Slack (tool)
- Teams (tool)
- Jira (tool)
- Codebeamer (product)
- ANSYS (company)
- SimScale (company)
- Neural Concept (company)
- Physics (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [S5E52 Jon Hirschtick | Founding & Developing the Solidworks and Onshape CAD Systems](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-12-27-s5e52-jon-hirschtick-founding-developing-the-solidworks-and-onshape-cad-systems) (Being an Engineer)
- [Jon Hirschtick | Founding & Developing the Solidworks and Onshape CAD Systems](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2023-02-10-jon-hirschtick-founding-developing-the-solidworks-and-onshape-cad-systems) (Being an Engineer)
- [122: Modern Methods for New Product Development](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-04-13-122-modern-methods-for-new-product-development) (Product Startup)
- [T-25-007 : Valentina Ratner - Mechanical Engineer to SaaS for Hardware CEO](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/tradeoffs/2025-03-21-t-25-007-valentina-ratner-mechanical-engineer-to-saas-for-hardware-ceo) (TRADEOFFS)
- [129: The Best Hardware Product Development Processes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-06-15-129-the-best-hardware-product-development-processes) (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-builder-circle/2025-09-30-s3-e1-mastering-tech-adoption-and-the-hardware-development-workflow-with-jon-hir. 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 Builder Circle.