Hardware startup pitfalls to avoid

Why do some hardware startups succeed while others fail? The reasons are many but those who’ve worked in the industry for years recognize the patterns and common pitfalls. Mechanical engineer and hardware development expert Sera Evcimen is not only incredibly passionate about designing and building physical products, she’s dedicated to helping startups scale their systems and companies through her consultancy Pratik. She also has a podcast called The Builder’s Circle, “designed to empower hardware entrepreneurs, engineers, and builders to overcome challenges, reduce risk, and succeed in bringing their products to market.”

At Hackaday Europe in Berlin last month, she presented a deep dive on hardware startup pitfalls, drawing from her extensive knowledge and experience to look at why some hardware startups fail. Sera offers great examples and is an engaging speaker. We highly recommend watching the full video clip. 

For now, here’s a brief look at 12 pitfalls Sera highlights: 

1. Falling in love with the solution rather than the problem: This is basically where you identify a problem, identify a solution, sink time and resources into said solution, then keep going (because you’ve already sunk the resources) despite seeing signs that this may not be the best solution. 

She recommends watching the fascinating film “Pulling Power from the Sky: The Story of Makani.”

2. Poor scoping and prioritization: If you ask a bunch of your startup employees what the priorities are and you get a bunch of different answers, that’s a bad sign. Aim for priority planning that’s somewhere between post-it notes and a 35-page project plan, such as a risk register and a kanban board of weekly sprints. 

This is especially important in a startup (versus an established company) because you have unknown unknowns, hard-to-estimate task duration estimates, trial, testing, execution, planning to replan, and weekly evaluation.  

3. Over or under constraining the design: Startups tend toward under constraining, where the sky is the limit. That, in itself, becomes a pitfall. 

The classic product development comic that says it all.

4. Rushing the decision to insource versus outsource: Take your time considering this very important decision. Sera suggests considering what core competencies you want to build up in-house. What parameters matter for the product and what are the constraints? 

5. Letting early stage resource scarcity dictate future manufacturing strategy: For example, if you start out making something on a 3D printer, you may have designed it specifically for that machine, but when you scale up and would benefit from making a part en masse via injection molding, your design could hold you back. 

6. Not building the first 10–50 units in-house before outsourcing or scaling: If it’s a big system, maybe just build the first few. You gain so much critical learning and become the expert of your product understanding factors like assembly time.

7. Failing to transition from technology development to product development: The first two to five years may be spent focusing on the technology itself, but failing to transition into a product mindset (think testing, marketing, customer service) kills businesses.

The 2007 iPhone M68 development board, which you most certainly can’t fit in your pocket.

8. Approaching manufacturers and suppliers too soon or too late: The right time is somewhere between when you’re still testing the fundamentals and when the design is verified and locked.

9. Moving forward with the wrong supplier fit: Look at key factors like their annual revenue and what percentage of that you make up (good rule is 5%). Also, of course check out their minimum order quantity (MOQ) and perhaps their customer profile and diversity. 

10. Assuming you can achieve quality, low cost, and less time: Pick two. You can’t have all three. Hard stop.  

11. Not having boots on the ground at the manufacturer/supplier: Send engineers to factories! Sera emphasizes how important it is to actually see the facility. If absolutely not possible in person, at least ask for a video tour. 

12. Overutilization of equity financing: It could lead to a poor VC fit, where the wrong VC doesn’t understand hardware and wants you to work on software deadlines and pushes you to ship the wrong product. You’re not just building a product — you’re also building a company and a reputation — and all your decisions should consider all three.  

In a nutshell:

• Focus on the problem and be skeptical of your solution.
• Use risks, known issues, and opportunities to scope.
• Revisit and communicate priorities weekly.
• Have requirements written down but don’t do too much.
• Build the first 10–20 units (or 1–2 large systems).
• Plan your transition from tech dev mindset to product dev mindset. 
• Engage suppliers softly in preliminary design.
• Send engineers to factories.
• Always know you are trading off quality, time, or cost.

She wraps up with a great piece of advice that we wholeheartedly support:

Be kind, willing to teach, and patient with people learning to build hardware.

Thanks for the words of wisdom, Sera!

Sera Evcimen is a mechanical engineer, hardware development expert, and strategic advisor specializing in early-stage hard tech startups. With a track record spanning fusion energy, robotics, consumer electronics, and advanced manufacturing, she supports founders through the critical transition from prototype to scalable product. Sera works closely with technical teams to identify risks, develop manufacturing strategies, establish operational infrastructure, build resilient supply chains, and de-risk both technologies and business models. She is also the host of The Builder Circle podcast, where she shares insights and lessons from across the hardware innovation landscape, which has a season 3 launch planned in early summer!