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I wrote down every expensive hardware development mistake I've seen

I wrote down every expensive hardware development mistake I've seen

by hans863·Mar 8, 2026·11 points·2 comments

AI Analysis

●●SolidNiche GemShip It

13 copies in 24 hours from actual hardware people—unwritten knowledge finally written down.

Strengths
  • Addresses a genuine information gap: hardware development pitfalls no one documents
  • Real validation from day one: hardware practitioners immediately recognized the pattern
  • Specific, quantified lesson framework: every mistake named with costs and decision rules
Weaknesses
  • Book format limits reach to people willing to buy; early stage (13 copies) suggests market testing needed
  • No digital preview, code examples, or interactive content; trust depends entirely on author credibility
Category
Target Audience

Hardware engineers, product managers, founders building physical products

Similar To

The Lean Product Playbook · Hardware Design and Verification by John Williams

Post Description

I've spent years watching hardware teams make the same mistakes — tooling committed before thermal was resolved, manufacturing processes not validated in PVT that only showed defects at volume, components going EOL unnoticed until the factory tried to order them. The pattern was always the same. The costs were always avoidable. Nobody had written it down. The result is The Hardest Hardware Lessons — covering the full journey from first prototype to end-of-life: EVT/DVT/PVT, factory evaluation, supply chain risk, mass production operations, field failures, and product lifecycle management. https://thehardesthardwarelessons.com

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