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Helping hardware founders build better companies.

In 2014 we visited 5 cities, learned from 62 different teachers, and hosted 410 hardware entrepreneurs. Plus we we shared epic stories over several meals, lots of coffee, and plenty of beers.

Thanks to the all the teachers who graciously donated their time, the amazing sponsors who made this event affordable for startups, and to all the attendees for their thirst to learn.

We are looking forward to making 2015 even better!

ATTENDEE DATA
We hosted over 410 attendees in 2014 with San Francisco quickly reaching our cap of 100 attendees. It’s evident that the Bay Area is still home to the largest demand for hardware startups.

attendees

As part of applying for Hardware Workshop, we had all of the attendees fill out a survey about their companies. Here is the cumulative data.

Is This Your First Hardware Startup?
experience

Company Stage?
stage

Level of Funding?
funding

What Skills Are On Your Team?
team

ATTENDEE FEEDBACK
Our single focus is creating the best hardware workshop on the planet, which means attendee feedback is super important. We were ecstatic that our NPS score rose to 11% to reach 80! Even better we had over 33% of the attendees complete the exit survey, up from 25% the year before. Making our increase in NPS a testament to the amazing teachers we had this year.

How Likely Are You To Recommend Hardware Workshop?
We used an NPS survey to calculate the quality attendee happiness.

  • Average Score (out of 10) – 9.4
  • NPS – 80

Length Of Each Session
Each segment was about 45-50 minutes long with a short break in between each speaker. Attendees felt each segment was just about the right time length.

  • Too Short – 4%
  • Just Right – 90%
  • Too Long – 6%

Number Of Topics Per Day
Based on feedback from last year we reduced the day down to six sessions with three before lunch and three after. It sounds like this cadence is the perfect balance.

  • Too Many – 9%
  • Just Right – 85%
  • Too Few – 6%

Topics We Missed
There are a few topics that people wanted to more depth around.

  • How to fundraise – more detail about finding investors, pitching, and closing.
  • Building a team – from founding to hiring to structuring your organization.
  • Prototyping – more details on materials, ways, and process.

What People Said

“An MBA in hardware that takes 2 days, costs less than $100, and is taught by people who actually know what they are talking about.”

“This is great workshop. It gave us the end to end details nuts and bolts of HW Mfg and also how to navigate the pitfalls and mistakes. For any one new to HW, this workshop saved there months or years of time & Money. Great efforts and great jobs.”

“I traveled 2,500 miles and it was worth it. The format with excellent speakers made understanding the whole process from A to Z much easier. From vetting your idea to finding a US partner who knows the lay of the land in the manufacturing hubs of China, it was all laid out for us.”

“With a high level of expertise and experience of the speakers, this event is a must for aspiring HW developers. Really, the best event I have been to yet, in terms of all aspects.”

THANK YOU
Thank you to all the amazing sponsors. These companies continue to support the hardware movement.