Blog
Insights on hardware, AI, and building for the physical world.
The Hidden Tax of Excel BOMs
Jun 8, 2026 · 7 min read
Excel BOM files hide their true cost until something breaks. Here's how version chaos, file naming, and single-person dependencies compound into real losses.
Arena PLM Alternatives for Hardware Startups
Jun 5, 2026 · 7 min read
Arena PLM costs $10K minimum and takes six weeks to implement. What that means for hardware startups, and what the actual alternatives look like.
Duro PLM Alternatives After Altium Acquired Duro
Jun 4, 2026 · 6 min read
Altium acquired Duro in 2025, ending self-serve access and transparent pricing. What changed and what to look for in alternatives.
PDM vs PLM: What Each Does and When You Need Both
Jun 2, 2026 · 10 min read
PDM stores your engineering files. PLM connects them to everything downstream. What each one does, what the real tools cost, and when you need both.
What Is a PDM System? A Hardware Founder's Answer
May 29, 2026 · 6 min read
PDM is where your engineering files live — CAD, schematics, datasheets, with version control. What product data management means for hardware startups.
Your BOM Is Not a Process
May 22, 2026 · 5 min read
What the BOM management process actually is, when to formalize revision control, and the specific triggers that tell a hardware startup it's time.
BOM, PDM, PLM: What Hardware Startups Actually Need
May 15, 2026 · 6 min read
BOM, PDM, and PLM are not the same thing. Here's what each one actually does, how they relate to each other, and what a hardware startup needs today.
The Minimum Viable ECO
May 8, 2026 · 7 min read
You already do change control. You're just doing it in Slack. Here's what a minimum viable ECO actually needs — and when to add more process.
Writing It Down: The Hardware Documentation Rule
May 6, 2026 · 6 min read
Every hardware team has a documentation gap. Here's the full list: BOM, ECOs, assembly instructions, and why change orders are the one most teams skip.
Hardware BOM Example: A Real Bill of Materials
May 1, 2026 · 7 min read
A real BOM for a real IoT asset tracker — seven line items, one of them a lie. What every row should contain and why the PCBA placeholder will cost you later.
When Does a Hardware Startup Need BOM Software?
Apr 24, 2026 · 9 min read
Spreadsheets work until they don't. Learn the real trigger points that signal a hardware startup should move to dedicated BOM management software.
What Is BOM Management Software?
Apr 22, 2026 · 8 min read
What BOM management software is, what it actually does, and how the market segments — from enterprise PLM to startup-friendly tools.
Why LLMs Won't Be Your CAD Designer
Apr 15, 2026 · 4 min read
Text-to-CAD tools are getting a lot of attention, but they're missing something fundamental about why CAD exists in the first place.
You Don't Have a PLM Problem. You Have a Much Bigger One.
Apr 9, 2026 · 5 min read
Hardware startups are flying blind and most don't know it yet. The culprit isn't your CAD tool or your spreadsheet — it's the missing layer between them.
Why Every AI Agent Needs a Feedback Loop
Mar 20, 2026 · 4 min read
Without feedback, a system cannot correct itself. How the principle behind control systems applies to AI agents — and why most deployments get it wrong.
Hardware Engineers vs AI Tools: A Familiar Pattern
Mar 17, 2026 · 3 min read
The Reddit comments on hardware AI tools sound a lot like what software engineers were saying two years ago. That pattern is worth paying attention to.
FPGAs and LLMs: From CERN to Your Desk
Mar 5, 2026 · 12 min read
The TPU rabbit hole led to a particle accelerator, 40 million collisions per second, and a chip that may change how we think about local AI inference.
TPUs and LLMs: A Hardware Engineer's Research Rabbit Hole
Mar 3, 2026 · 7 min read
What are Tensor Processing Units, how do they power AI at scale, and why can't the Coral Edge TPU run local LLMs? A hardware engineer's research notes.
Why Hardware Founders Need Better PLM Tools
Feb 25, 2026 · 8 min read
Enterprise PLM was built for Boeing, not a 4-person startup. Here is what went wrong and how a new generation of tools is fixing it.
BSD Systems for IoT and Embedded Hardware
Jan 26, 2026 · 5 min read
A hardware engineer explores whether BSD systems offer advantages over Linux for embedded and IoT work, and what "hardening" really means in practice.
Redefining TRL for IoT Startups
Jan 19, 2026 · 3 min read
The TRL framework was built for aerospace and defense, not IoT startups. Here's how to apply it to hardware products before you rush to production.