[tarikjn]

I am a Software Engineer like you. I got started in making physical products in 2017 first with 3d printing, and today I do design for manufacturing.

This might surprise some here, but if you can do 100% of the design and get good at it, it's possible to bootstrap a hardware company, even as a solo founder. I know it because I've done it.

However I intentionally started with physical products with no electronics in them. I also tried manufacturing in the USA initially but quickly realized it to be uneconomical and too slow, especially for bootstrapped consumer products.

My advice: 1. make a breadboard prototype @ home & design the product on your computer 2. have prototype parts made in China until you are satisfied with the final assembly 3. once you have pre-order volume, have the molds & dies made in China, import the tooling in the USA and setup your own shop.

The other thing is getting good at Industrial design takes a few years, it's not necessarily intuitive -- you have to understand the processes that you are designing for and get good at making drawings and hiring shops. It won't happen in a year unless you just focus on one part/process, so I would team up with someone who has that experience.

Feel free to contact me, info on my profile, happy to chat & help out.

[medler]

> get good at making drawings and hiring shops

What is “hiring shops?”

[tarikjn]

Machining & Prototyping shops or "on-demand manufacturers". That involves choosing a region, evaluating the options/making a list, contacting a few and having a NNN ready for them to sign, getting 3-4 quotes for every parts in different MOQs, managing information on a need-to-know basis (to have some level protection beyond your NNN), managing these relationships etc. There is a lot more as the processes move to die/mold making as you go up in quantities and these have their own design requirements & ownership agreements.