Ben Einstein

The Author

Ben Einstein

Product designer and lover of hardware. Founder + partner at @BoltVC

Demystifying Hardware Jargon

One of the most frustrating elements of any specialized field is the endless list of acronyms and jargon. Acronyms can be tough to avoid, but jargon has the painful side effect of making people feel inferior and unwelcome when trying to learn about a new field. Hardware...

Ben Einstein 05/17/2016

What Startups Can Learn From IKEA

Hardware startups continuously struggle with two things: sales and supply chain management. Practically speaking, this means startups must get really good at efficiently moving the right amount of stuff around the world at exactly the right time so customers can purchase it...

Ben Einstein 04/27/2016

Barriers to Entry Your Hardware Startup Isn’t Thinking About

Some industries have much higher barriers to entry than others. In many cases, there are obvious, rational reasons for this. Disrupting drug companies (Genzyme/Pillpack) takes vast amounts of capital to ensure safety and efficacy. Disrupting taxi companies (Uber/Lyft)...

Ben Einstein 04/20/2016

Meet the Drone That Already Delivers Your Packages

There’s been a lot of talk about package delivery via flying drones. While this is a pretty interesting vision of the future, current economics make this an unlikely substitute for base-load ground delivery for the next 5–10 years. Flying delivery drones can make a...

Ben Einstein 01/14/2016

How to Hack CES

In the early days of starting a hardware company, nearly everything other than building a product people love is a total waste of time. Innumerable founders, including yours truly, have struggled to avoid the temptation of wasting time by building things users don’t need,...

Ben Einstein 01/04/2016

Building Too Much Hardware

Many hardware startups don’t realize they’re building too much. When I say “too much” I really mean two things: Too many features — startups don’t know which parts of the product their target customers respond to so they develop all of them. Too many products — ...

Ben Einstein 12/16/2016

Ben Einstein

The Author

Ben Einstein

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