# 97: Plateaus

- Show: [Thoroughly Considered](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered)
- Published: 2023-04-06
- Length: 59m
- Episode: 97
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2023-04-06-97-plateaus
- Listen: http://relay.fm/tc/97

## Summary

Dan Provost and Tom Gerhardt of Studio Neat discuss the operational upheaval caused by successfully launching paid advertising, which forced them to build robust inventory tracking and financial planning systems from scratch using Airtable. They analyze the challenges of scaling a small physical product business, the 'plateau' growth model, and the lack of suitable software tools for their specific revenue tier. The episode concludes with a segment on iPhone longevity, the diminishing returns of annual upgrades, and the difficulties of sourcing cases for older models.

## Chapters

- [0:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2023-04-06-97-plateaus#t=8) Introduction: Studio Neat's Business Changes
- [2:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2023-04-06-97-plateaus#t=152) Paid Ads and Operational Bottlenecks
- [9:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2023-04-06-97-plateaus#t=555) Building Inventory Systems with Airtable
- [18:13](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2023-04-06-97-plateaus#t=1093) Scaling Challenges and the 'Plateau' Model
- [33:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2023-04-06-97-plateaus#t=2028) The Middle-Ground Software Gap
- [42:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2023-04-06-97-plateaus#t=2530) iPhone Longevity and Case Availability
- [53:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2023-04-06-97-plateaus#t=3235) Phone Repairability and Future Tech

## Topics

- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Sustainability & circular products](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sustainability-and-circularity)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Studio Neat (company)
- Airtable (tool)
- Shopify (tool)
- Mark One Pin (product)
- Glyph (product)
- Cosmonaut (product)
- Pataka (product)
- iPhone (product)
- Relay FM (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Advice Line with Tim Ferriss](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-08-28-advice-line-with-tim-ferriss) (How I Built This)
- [Ep. 3 - Tools While Scaling Up; How Much Structure is Too Much?](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/open-hardware-manufacturing-podcast/2023-08-24-ep-3-tools-while-scaling-up-how-much-structure-is-too-much) (Open Hardware Manufacturing Podcast)
- [Advice Line with Troy Carter of Atom Factory](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-07-24-advice-line-with-troy-carter-of-atom-factory) (How I Built This)
- [Advice Line: Scaling Strategies](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-05-22-advice-line-scaling-strategies) (How I Built This)
- [Episode 292: Diminishing Returns](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2021-01-22-episode-292-diminishing-returns) (Making It)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2023-04-06-97-plateaus. 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 Thoroughly Considered.