# #056 - Not too early, not too late - how to get the timing right for your innovation, with your host Balint Horvath, Switzerland

- Show: [The Hardware Entrepreneur](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur)
- Published: 2018-06-06
- Length: 10m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2018-06-06-056-not-too-early-not-too-late-how-to-get-the-timing-right-for-your-innovation-w
- Listen: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/thehardwareentrepreneur/056_-_Not_too_early_not_too_late_-_how_to_get_the_timing_right_for_your_innovation_with_your_host_Balint_Horvath_Switzerland.mp3

## Summary

Host Balint Horvath discusses the critical importance of timing in hardware innovation, arguing that ecosystem maturity is often more decisive than product quality. He cites Pebble as a company that failed because it was too early, while Kodak missed the digital photography revolution due to internal inertia. Horvath uses the S-curve model to explain how technologies like HDTV required decades to mature alongside their supporting ecosystems before achieving mainstream adoption.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2018-06-06-056-not-too-early-not-too-late-how-to-get-the-timing-right-for-your-innovation-w#t=0) Introduction: The Primacy of Timing

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)

## Mentioned

- Pebble (product)
- Fitbit (company)
- Apple Watch (product)
- Kodak (company)
- HDTV (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Breakthroughs Delayed](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2022-02-15-breakthroughs-delayed) (Oxide and Friends)
- [13 Reasons Why New Hardware Products Fail](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2022-11-23-13-reasons-why-new-hardware-products-fail) (Predictable Designs Podcast)
- [#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)
- [Live From HIBT Summit: Payal Kadakia, Tristan Walker, and Perry Chen on Innovation](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-07-22-live-from-hibt-summit-payal-kadakia-tristan-walker-and-perry-chen-on-innovation) (How I Built This)
- [Maturity and Adoption in the IoT Space | Avnet's Mike Powell & Avnet Abacus' Martin Keenan](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2020-11-16-maturity-and-adoption-in-the-iot-space-avnets-mike-powell-avnet-abacus-martin-ke) (IoT For All Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2018-06-06-056-not-too-early-not-too-late-how-to-get-the-timing-right-for-your-innovation-w. 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 Hardware Entrepreneur.