Boston 2015 - Level 1 - Hardware Workshop

We are excited to announce that Hardware Workshop is coming back to Boston on February 26th and 27th, 2015.

Hardware workshop is a two day event for hardware startups. Taught by experienced operators, it’s purpose is simple: Teach important lessons to the next generation of hardware entrepreneurs.

What makes this workshop unique is the quality of the content, the deep operational experience of the teachers, and the long term connections you will make. Hand curated, each teacher covers a unique topic that falls within the startup’s life cycle from an idea to reaching market fit.

Who Should Attend?

This is our Level 1 program, for startups that are going from an idea to successfully shipping their first product. We have 12 different 60 minute sessions, taught by experienced operators, covering a variety of topics from defining your product to picking the right suppliers to successfully launching your company.

What Will I Learn?

Lots. We will have 12 different 60 minute sessions.

Hardware development process.
Defining your product (customer need -> final product).
Creating your brand.
Prototyping, protoyping, prototyping.
Picking a supplier.
Crowdfunding.
Hardware by the numbers.
Building a team.
Funding a hardware startup.
Building press relationships.
IP and patents.
Building initial distribution.

When?

Thursday, February 26th – Friday, February 27th

Doors open at 9:00am
Sessions run every hour (except for lunch) from 10am – 5pm.
Followed by Happy Hour

Where?

Bolt – 110 Chauncy Street, Boston, MA 02111

Cost?

$75.00

This includes two breakfasts, two lunches, beverages, and happy hour.
Being entrepreneurs we are sensitive to charging for events, but we found a minimum amount enables us to make the events better (good food, audio/video equipment, location, organizer help, etc), while ensuring you are committed to the event.

How Do I Attend?

First you have to apply. We only have 100 open spots. We are looking for startup teams who are working on a hardware product and who really want to attend. We aren’t judging what people are building, just verifying people are actually building hardware. Otherwise the lessons we’re teaching can’t be applied. If your application is accepted you will get an email to purchase a spot.

APPLY HERE

How Do I Buy A Ticket?

Once you are accepted you will be emailed a code to purchase your ticket.

Who Is Teaching?

Marc Barros – Moment + Contour
Marc Barros is the co-founder of Moment, the best tools in the world for mobile photographers. Prior to Moment, Marc was a co-founder and former CEO of Contour, a hands-free camera company that makes action video easy to capture and share. Shortly after graduating from the University of Washington, Marc co-founded Contour in 2004 and led the organization from a garage to a multi-million dollar company with hundreds of thousands of customers around the world. @marcbarros

Ben Einstein – Bolt
Ben Einstein is an experienced product designer and entrepreneur. Ben is currently the Managing Director of Bolt, a seed-stage fund that invests capital, personnel, equipment, and expertise in hardware startups. Bolt provides companies with capital, staff, shop equipment, and extensive expertise with manufacturing and commercialization. Prior to starting Bolt, Ben ran Brainstream Design, a product design and development consultancy in Massachusetts. Ben has been directly responsible for bringing a long list of products to market covering diverse sectors including consumer electronics, high-performance audio, sporting goods and green energy.@BenEinstein

Colin Raney – Formlabs + IDEO
Colin Raney is the chief marketing officer of Formlabs. Prior to joining Formlabs, he was managing director of IDEO Boston and an associate partner within the firm. At IDEO, Raney helped to pioneer the Business Design discipline, which uses design methodologies to develop new business ventures. Prior to IDEO, Raney was a hacker/developer for large-scale telecommunication systems. He has written for Harvard Business Review,Fast Company, and Rotman magazine. He is an advisor to several early-stage companies and a mentor at Techstars, Boston. He holds and MBA from Carnegie Mellon and bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas. @ColinRaney

Scott Kirsner- The Boston Globe
Scott Kirsner was part of the team that launched Boston.com in 1995, and has been writing a column for the Globe since 2000. His work has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Boston Magazine, and Variety. Scott is the author of the books “Fans, Friends & Followers” and “Inventing the Movies,” was the editor of “The Convergence Guide: Life Sciences in New England,” and was a contributor to “The Good City: Writers Explore 21st Century Boston.” Scott also helps organize several local events on entrepreneurship, including the Nantucket Conference and the Convergence Forum. @ScottKirsner

Joanne Domeniconi – The Grommet
Joanne is founder of the Grommet, a product launch platform for innovative new market products for both B2B and B2C markets. Prior to founding the Grommet she was VP of Product Development at Keds where she developed a deep understanding of bringing new products to market on a grad scale. And early in her career she spent a lot of time understanding retail as a merchandiser/buyer for Stride Rite Corporation. Joanne is a graduate of Simmons College and resides in Massachusetts.

Mark Roberge- Hubspot
Mark is Chief Revenue Officer of HubSpot Sales Products. Prior to this role, Mark served as HubSpot’s SVP of Worldwide Sales and Services from 2007 to 2013, during which time he increased revenue over 6,000% and expanded the team from 1 to 450 employees. These results placed HubSpot #33 on the 2011 INC 500 Fastest Growing Companies list. Prior to HubSpot, Mark founded and/or held executive positions at start-ups in the social media and mobile sector. Mark holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University. @MarkRoberge

Brian Lee – Highway 1
Brian is the Senior Electrical Engineer at Highway1 where he advises startup companies on the development of electronic systems. He specializes in RF and wireless products and has a successful track record of design and shipping hardware products at small start-ups and large corporations in regulated industries. His industry experience includes fixed broadband wireless, cable TV & data, cellular, automotive, heath information technology, and medical devices. He combines broad technical engineering skills with an education in business.

Kit Hickey – Ministry of Supply
Kit Hickey is the co-founder of Ministry of Supply, a performance-professional menswear company out of MIT. The brand creates technically-advanced professional clothing and has been featured in the NY Times, Fast Company, Elle Magazine and on the TODAY Show. Ministry of Supply launched on Kickstarter, and quickly became the highest-funded fashion project of all time, raising over $420K. Kit has half an MBA from MIT and is a mountain lover. @Kit_Hickey

Steve Schalfman – RRE Ventures
Steve is a Principal at RRE Ventures, focused on early stage investments in mobile services, hardware, and marketplaces. Prior to joining RRE, Steve was a Principal at Lerer Ventures, one of NYC’s most active seed funds.Steve was previously VP of Business Development at Stickybits Inc. /Turntable.fm and Director of Venture Investments at The Kraft Group. You can follow him on Twitter at @schlaf.

Kat Ely – PlusFabrication
Kat is a co-founder and Principal Designer at PlusFab, an industrial design firm that believes in designing for scale from the start. Kat earned her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design before starting a career that spans the breadth of the design and fabrication space: she’s worked on everything from half a million dollar glass sculptures to production plastics molding. At PlusFab, Kat has helped numerous startups navigate the design and prototyping process in a broad range of fields including medical devices, consumer electronics, and children’s toys, using her passion and experience to help bring their ideas to market.

Bill Drislane – Dragon Innovation
Bill is the VP of Manufacturing and Engineering for Dragon Innovation. Authority on Quality and Reliability Engineering. Formerly VP of Quality for Euro-Pro and Director Asia Pacific for iRobot, Bill holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Engineering, as well as an MBA, from Cornell University. Little known fact: Bill is a second degree black belt in Taekwondo.

Andy Payne – Revenio, Angel Investor
Andy is a Boston based angel investor/advisor with several companies including Pebble, GrabCAD, Care.com, and HubSpot. He was the CEO and Founder of Revenio, an engine for executing sophisticated, long-running multi-channel marketing programs. Revenio’s patented flagship product is now shipping as Vignette Dialog. Andrew also co-founded Open Market (one of the first eCommerce IPOs) in 1994, where he co-invented and co-designed the company’s commerce architecture.