064: Preparing and Executing Your Product's First Production Run

Mike ran a design firm in Hong Kong back in the 90s, then was a Senior Industrial Design Lead at Sunbeam, before contributing as a Design Manager at Hewlett Packard and, subsequently, spending 10 years with Dell running their entire business desktops design division. He has made over 50 trips to China for manufacturing sourcing and has consulted dozens of hardware startups on overseas production. He is also a mentor at Techstars and Capital Factory. Today, Mike is going to share some valuable knowledge on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can best plan for and optimally execute their first overseas manufacturing run. 

Today you will hear us talk about:

• Great manufacturing starts with great design.
• Don’t try and do it all as a hardware startup.
• Have a boots-on-the-ground relationship with your factory overseas.
• You may be able to work with good factories when you have strong connections.
• What to think about in regards to financing your product development and manufacturing.

Episode Links

The Product Startup Podcast Links:

• Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/
• Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/
• Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent

Mike Morton Links:

• Company Website: https://www.mortoncg.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-morton-design/

Mako Design Links:

• Website: https://www.makodesign.com/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MakoInvent/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/MakoDesign/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MakoInvent/
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/MakoInvent/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MakoInvent/

Kevin Mako’s Links:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/
• Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/

Thanks for tuning in! See you next time.