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Hardware startups, 2026

Factory sourcing for hardware startups

Finding the right manufacturers for other founders' products, then taking the founders to the factory floor to meet them.

Curtis with founders and factory staff in a factory lobby, giving a thumbs up.
Client
Hardware startups
Year
2026
My role
Sourcing and manufacturing adviser
Forces
  • Manufacturing
  • Launch

The problem

A good product can still fail at the factory. The wrong partner quotes twice what a part should cost, or cuts a mould that won't hold tolerance.

The limit

Every decision had to be made in two weeks on the ground, so the research had to be finished before anyone got on a plane.

What I did

  • Researched and ranked manufacturers, more than 26 of them for one product.
  • Broke down the bill of materials to find where the cost sat.
  • Planned a two-week route through Guangdong's factories.
  • Travelled with the founders, ran the meetings and the evening debriefs.
  • Helped choose the manufacturers and review the agreements.
  • Designed the retail packaging for one of the products.

The result

Each founder came home with a scored shortlist and a recommended manufacturer.

Curtis with two founders on an electronics factory floor.
On the factory floor.
A group of founders listening to a guide on an assembly line tour.
A line tour.
Founders across a meeting table from a factory manager, with a presentation on the screen behind.
The first meeting.
A meeting table covered in product prototypes, with a mould-flow analysis on a tablet.
Design review with a supplier's engineers.
Six people in clean-room coats and shoe covers on a circuit board assembly floor.
A circuit board assembly floor.
Four people in purple clean-room coats outside a factory building.
Suited up for the clean room.
Curtis with founders and factory staff in front of the Ryder Industries sign.
Ryder Industries, Guangdong.
Curtis and two founders with a factory representative in a showroom lobby.
Another factory, another shortlist.
Curtis and the founders on a Shenzhen street at night.
Shenzhen, after the last meeting.

More images to come from the project files.

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