People First Leadership Meets Operational Excellence

  Photo by Christophe Hautier on Unsplash This article is co-authored with  Sera Evcimen  of  The Builder Circle by Pratik .   When should a hardware startup hire full-time vs. bring in fractional expertise? This framework helps founders and their backers make the right call at each stage. Considering whether to hire or outsource is an exciting time for any startup founder. It signifies that you have the necessary funds and a well-defined development and growth plan, and now you require additional manpower to execute your vision. This article aims to explore the advantages and disadvantages of both hiring and outsourcing, providing you with trigger questions to help you make an informed decision. Before delving into the details, it is crucial to ensure that your product development plan has matured in terms of time and product requirements. Additionally, having a clear understanding of the skills available in your current team versus the skills required for...

Founders often confuse TRL with product readiness. This post maps where technology development ends and product development begins — and why it matters for an investment. What are differences in technology development and product development, how do they interact, what helps to measure the maturity of development and what common pitfalls are seen at the intersection of technology and product development? Based upon many mentor sessions with very different early stage hardware startups, I noticed that we often spend the first sessions on defining where the company is in their development process. This article shall help to distinguish between technology development and product development and gives further reading material in reliable sources linked in the article. Technology Development Technology development focuses on research, scientific experimentation and refining a specific technology. When starting a research project, the exact outcome of the project remains unclear and develops...