How economic shifts and inflation affect discretionary hardware sales

Seattle’s consumer-hardware ambitions are once again colliding with economic reality. The struggles of Glowforge and Rad Power Bikes echo a long regional history of big raises, high hopes, and hard landings — shaped by the pandemic, VC, and the unforgiving nature of building real products. 

GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook recorded this conversation for the purpose of providing the audio to an AI tool that turned the conversation into a written column that was edited and reviewed before publication. Check it out here.

Related Stories: 

• Glowforge hits restart: After restructuring, co-founders acquire key assets of laser engraver startup
• Rad Power Bikes faces possible shutdown as it tries to survive ‘significant financial challenges’

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