I spent $$$ on Eric Ries’ Kickstarter & found out that Computer Chips & Potato Chips have more in common than you think

I just got back from China where I got to meet 14 hardware startups as well as HighWay1: a company that’s helping them turn their prototypes into products. This post is a summary of everything that happened during that trip — you’ll find it interesting if you like random facts about China, Food, Manufacturing and Lean Startup.

Software Developers, there’s no denying it — we build amazing things! However, hardware is HARD. So hard, in fact, that we should appreciate the miracle of hardware much more than we do.

Coming away from this trip I could see a few parallels between my past (CIO of foodservice company) and current job as the CEO of FOODit:

1. Hardware manufacturing and hardware business have a lot in common with food manufacturing and the food industry.
2. Lean Startup which is heavily discussed in the software world has a lot of principles around feedback, MVP and customer validation — all of which, I feel, applies just as much to a hardware startup.

14 hardware startups and the team from HighWay1

How did this trip start?

My Twitter feed got overwhelmed by the new Kickstarter campaign from Eric Ries (I’m sure he doesn’t need money.. but just want to validate his new book). Only two pledges caught my eye:

2 x THE HARDWARE ENTREPRENEUR’S TRIP OF A LIFETIME for $3000

or

3 x LUNCH WITH ERIC & JASON CALACANIS AT THE BATTERY for $5000

I love Jason Calacanis’ podcast, but I wasn’t going to pull out “five large” — as he would say, for lunch with him and Eric.

$3000, though — that’s a lot! I watched the Kickstarter page for a few days and then I saw someone else make a pledge, meaning there was only 1 space left. Naturally, my fear of missing out kicked in and I jumped on it! During my 16-year career some the best moments happened at events away from home.

HighWay1 & Eric Ries?

Marcus Gosling Co-Founder IMVU & Design Lead at HighWay1

How did Eric Ries’ KickStarter get HighWay1 as a pledge? Meet Marcus Gosling — along with Eric Ries, he was one of the Co-Founders of IMVU, the famous startup mentioned numerous times ( maybe one to many ) in The Lean Startup.

I had a great chat with Marcus about managing teams, the design process and The Long Term Stock Exchange (LTSE).

LTSE as a way to build a capital market that is conducive to entrepreneurs trying to build long-term value, rather than being beholden to the short-term exigencies of existing private and public equity marketplaces.

Day 0 : London to Shenzhen on Virgin

The entrance to Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Wing. You can get from roadside to airside in 5 mins.

Virgin Atlanic Upper Class Lounge food. They got a full-service restaurant, bar and yes I did get an pedicures in the spa also.

Being a huge fan of Virgin Atlantic, I made my way to Hong Kong in style. I used to travel a lot in my past role as CIO so I was prepared to get my 12-hour sleep on the way over to Hong Kong.

One of the most amazing things about Virgin is that you can get from roadside to airside in under 5 mins with the Upper Class Wing — back in the day they had a drive through check-in.

I did get to fly on the new Virgin Boeing 787 Dreamliner — I love how the new windows block out the sunlight.

New Design of Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Bar on Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Hong Kong International Airport

While waiting around made a small gif of this flags in Google Photo App on my iphone

It was a great flight, but I still had two hours to kill in the airport while waiting for some of the other team members from HighWay1 to come in from San Francisco.

British Standard (BS) 1363 power plug sock can be found in places like Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Cyprus, Singapore, Saint Lucia and many more

British Standard (BS) 1363 power plug socket can be found in places like Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Cyprus, Singapore, Saint Lucia and many more. It’s been 15 years since the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China, but the UK plug BS1363 is the de facto standard (just like driving on the lefthand side of the road).

A great advertising idea: while waiting for your bags you can now watch cup noodles go round for 20 minutes. I can’t believe Ryanair has not picked this up yet.

Rest of this post will be coming in Part 2 of “I spent $3000 on Kickstarter & found out that Computer Chips & Potato Chips have more in common than”…

In Part 2

1. Fireside chat with PCH
2. How to make packaging
3. Hardware version of demo day
4. The Stan Shin Smile Curve
5. Plastics & Printed Circuit Boards
6. Huaqiangbei Electronics Market ( background photo )
7. My Main Takeways