Struggling to find people building hardware products — where are they hiding?
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Hey everyone,
I’m currently building a platform focused on helping people turn hardware ideas into actual working prototypes (connecting them with engineers, fabricators, etc).
But I’ve hit a wall I didn’t expect.
I’m finding it surprisingly hard to locate people who are actively trying to build physical products. Not people interested in hardware, but people who are actually in the process and need help.
So I’m curious:
If you’ve ever tried building a hardware product, where did you go for help?
Where do builders like this usually hang out?
And what was the hardest part for you, design, electronics, manufacturing?
Not here to pitch anything, just trying to understand the space better.
Would really appreciate any insights 🙏
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minimalist phone: creating folders
It seems to me that there are very few people building hardware. Everyone has immersed themselves in software, and even more so with AI.
Have you tried them? https://www.thehardwaremafia.com/
Finding real hardware builders is like a game of hide-and-seek because they’re usually buried in PCB designs or manufacturing stress in niche corners like r/hwstartups. Most of them hit a wall at the "industrialization gap," where making a prototype is easy but making it manufacturable is a total nightmare. They usually look for help in expert circles like Hackster.io because the general software-heavy scene just doesn't get the hardware grind. It’s a specialized crowd, but once you find them obsessing over BOM costs, you’ve definitely found your people!
Do you think their biggest headache is finding the right talent or just the scary upfront costs of moving to a factory?