Blog
Insights on hardware, AI, and building for the physical world.
What Is a PDM System? (A Hardware Founder's Honest Answer)
May 29, 2026 · 6 min read
A BOM tells you what parts you have. A PDM is where the actual engineering data lives. Here's what that means in practice for a hardware startup juggling multiple CAD environments.
Your BOM Is Not a Process
May 22, 2026 · 5 min read
A BOM is an ingredients list. The BOM management process is what you build around it, and knowing when to build it matters more than most first-time hardware founders realize.
BOM, PDM, PLM: What They Actually Mean (And What Your Startup Actually Needs)
May 15, 2026 · 6 min read
BOM, PDM, and PLM are not the same thing — and the industry doesn't go out of its way to make that clear. Here's what each one actually does, and what a hardware startup actually needs right now.
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.
The Only Difference Between Screwing Around and Building Hardware Is Writing It Down
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.
Bill of Materials Example: A Real BOM for a Real Hardware Product
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 Actually Need BOM Management Software?
Apr 24, 2026 · 8 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
A clear breakdown of what a Bill of Materials is, what BOM management software actually does, and how the market is segmented — from enterprise PLM to spreadsheets.
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. The same principle that drives control systems applies directly to AI agents — and most deployments are ignoring it.
Hardware Engineers Are Clowning on AI Tools. Sound Familiar?
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 somewhere unexpected. A particle accelerator, 40 million collisions per second, and a chip that just might 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 · 3 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 in IoT and Embedded: A Hardware Engineer's Perspective
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.