Topics
Episodes across every show, by what they cover
Product design & engineering
- Industrial & consumer product designHow a physical product looks, feels and is used: form, ergonomics, CMF (colour, material, finish), user experience of the object. Any product category.
- Mechanical engineeringMechanisms, enclosures, structures, tolerances, thermal design, CAD models and mechanical failure.
- Materials & manufacturing processesChoosing and working materials and processes: injection molding, sheet metal, casting, machining, textiles, composites, wood, food formulation.
- Packaging designDesigning the box, label and unboxing, and packaging that protects, ships or sells the product. Not fulfilment logistics.
- Prototyping & iterationGetting from idea to working prototype and iterating: breadboards, 3D printing, quick-turn parts, looks-like/works-like builds, user testing of prototypes.
- Analog & power electronicsAnalog and mixed-signal circuits, power supplies and converters, grounding, noise and data converters.
- PCB design & layoutSchematics and board layout, stack-ups, signal integrity, EMC-aware layout and PCB fabrication choices.
- EDA & CAD toolsThe software used to design products: KiCad, Altium, Fusion, SolidWorks, Onshape, simulation tools, PLM/PDM, and choosing or switching between them.
- Embedded firmwareSoftware that runs on the device: firmware architecture, RTOS, toolchains, debugging code on hardware, testing firmware.
- Microcontrollers & dev platformsChoosing processors and modules, and dev boards and ecosystems such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi, ESP32, nRF, STM32.
- Chips, FPGAs & semiconductorsFPGA and ASIC design, RISC-V, semiconductor companies and fabs, the chip industry.
- Batteries & low-power designBattery chemistry, charging and safety, energy harvesting, and designing for long battery life.
- Wireless & RFRadio design and connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LoRa, cellular, satellite, antennas, RF testing.
- Sensors & measurement in productsSensing the world: sensor choice, MEMS, sensor fusion, calibration of what a product measures.
- Test & measurementTest equipment and how to use it (oscilloscopes, meters, analyzers), validation testing and lab setups.
- Debugging & failure analysisFinding why something does not work or broke: troubleshooting, root cause, post-mortems, field failures.
- Connected products & IoTProducts that connect to apps and the cloud: IoT architecture and platforms, companion apps, OTA updates, device fleets.
- Security & privacySecuring devices and data, hacking and reverse engineering, privacy of users and their data.
- AI & machine learningAI in products (edge AI, computer vision) and AI used to design, build or run the business, including AI tooling for engineers.
- Robotics & autonomyRobots, drones, autonomous vehicles and automation products, from hobby builds to industrial robots.
- Medical & health devicesMedical, health and wellness devices, clinical use and their regulatory path.
- Energy & climate techHardware for energy and climate: solar, batteries at grid or home scale, heat pumps, EVs, carbon removal, grid technology.
Manufacturing & supply chain
- Design for manufacturing & NPIDesigning so it can be made, and the prototype-to-production transition: DFM/DFA, new product introduction, pilot runs, tooling.
- Manufacturing partners & offshoringWorking with contract manufacturers, co-packers and factories: choosing them, China and overseas production, reshoring, audits, relationships and disputes.
- Scaling productionGoing from small batches to volume, in-house production and assembly, capacity, production planning and the growing pains of scale.
- Quality & yieldQuality control and assurance, inspection, yield, defects, returns and recalls.
- Sourcing & supply chainFinding and buying parts and materials: suppliers, distributors, lead times, shortages, BOM risk, inventory strategy.
- Factory operations & automationRunning a factory: operations, ERP/MES, digital transformation, industrial automation, maintenance, lean and continuous improvement.
- Certification & complianceGetting a product legally to market: FCC, CE, UL, EMC testing, FDA, safety standards, labelling and regulatory strategy.
- Logistics & fulfilmentMoving product: shipping, freight, warehousing, fulfilment, customs and duties, delivering to customers or backers.
- Sustainability & circular productsEnvironmental impact of products and production: materials, repairability, recycling, sustainable sourcing.
Building the business
- Starting a product companyFounding a company that makes physical products: the idea, first steps, co-founders, why hardware is hard, early survival.
- Validation & product-market fitFinding out whether people want it: customer discovery, demand testing, early customers, pivots.
- Crowdfunding & preordersKickstarter, Indiegogo, Crowd Supply and preorder campaigns: planning, running them, and delivering to backers. Not crowdsourcing (designs or ideas from a community) and not fundraising from investors.
- Fundraising & investorsRaising money: venture capital, angels, accelerators, grants, debt, bootstrapping as a choice.
- Pricing, margins & unit economicsPricing a product, cost of goods, BOM cost and cost reduction, margins, cash flow and working capital.
- Retail, wholesale & distributionGetting into stores and channels: retailers, wholesale, distributors, trade shows, big-box and channel economics.
- Direct-to-consumer & e-commerceSelling directly online: DTC brands, e-commerce, Amazon, subscriptions and customer acquisition online.
- Marketing & brandBrand building, storytelling, content, social media, PR, influencers and B2B marketing.
- Intellectual propertyPatents, trademarks, licensing, NDAs, copying and knock-offs, and protecting ideas.
- Leadership, teams & cultureLeading and managing people, company culture, team structure and communication, delegation.
- Hiring & workforceRecruiting, skills gaps, workforce shortages, training and retaining people, especially in engineering and manufacturing.
- Growth, exits & acquisitionsScaling the company, acquisitions, IPOs, selling a business, succession, and companies that failed or shut down.
- Policy, trade & tariffsGovernment and economics affecting physical products: tariffs, trade, industrial policy, incentives, regulation beyond product certification.
Careers, craft & community
- Careers & educationEngineering and product careers, learning and teaching, STEM education, career changes and advice.
- Maker community & eventsMakers and hobbyists, makerspaces, maker fairs, conferences, hackathons and community projects.
- Fabrication & craftHands-on making: woodworking, metalworking, CNC, laser cutting, 3D printing, electronics projects, shop tools and workshop setup.
- Creator businessMaking a living from content about making: YouTube, podcasts, sponsorships, courses and audience building.
- Open-source hardwareOpen hardware designs, licenses and communities, and businesses built on open source.
- Founder wellbeingStress, burnout, mental health, work-life balance and motivation of the people building things.