Hardware Podcasts

#058 - Freedom to work and play anywhere without losing power, with Nancy de Fays of Linedock, USA

The Hardware Entrepreneur · 4 Jul 2018 · 40m

What this episode covers

Nancy de Fays, co-founder of Linedock, explains how her two-person team launched a high-power USB-C docking station via Indiegogo, raising approximately $450,000 with near-zero marketing budget. She details the technical challenge of hacking the USB Power Delivery protocol to output 100 watts for laptops, differentiating Linedock from standard power banks. De Fays highlights the '90% done' fallacy in hardware, where component sourcing lead times of 40-45 weeks and complex certifications for batteries and radios caused significant delays despite a working prototype. The episode covers their strategic choice of Indiegogo over Kickstarter, the importance of early community engagement for feedback, and the cultural nuances of managing manufacturing relationships in China.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Linedock, Apple, Razer, Microchip, Texas Instruments
Products
MacBook
Also
Indiegogo, Kickstarter, USB-C

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