Shoutout LA Magazine Interview
I recently chatted with Shoutout LA Magazine. Read the article here to see some of my thoughts on building businesses in the technology space.
Guide to 3D Printing Technologies & Materials
Our friends at Formlabs have put together this helpful video and guide to help you understand various 3D printing methods and available material properties. At BDH, we have FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling), SLA (Stereolithography), and SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) 3D printers.
Deal Structure: Introducing a Lower Cost of Entry to Engage Us
All except one of our past clients started as a fixed fee, defined scope of work deal. Most of our fixed fee client projects have been in $20k - $150k range. Some of those clients with ongoing product development pipelines converted to a monthly retainer model.
I’m going to flip the deal structure a bit and start offering $20k - $30k monthly retainer deals to new clients. On our end, I’m hoping this increases conversion and reduces time spent selling so we can spend more time designing. On the clients end, this lowers the cost to engage our firm and gives freedom for changing needs at a defined product development capital expenditure.
We schedule projects and capacity in a way where our quality of work, timelines, and client relationships are at the highest level (just see what our past clients have to say). This will not change.
Designer? Engineer? Product Design?
The terminology in design.. It’s a confusing world. “Product design,” “designer,” and “engineer” all get thrown around loosely with a wide array of intended definitions. The software and hardware worlds have been fighting to claim the terms & normalize them as their own. No doubt, good design translates across industries. A talented designer can excel in products, app design, websites, landscapes, architecture, etc. A great engineer can understand structures, programming, electronic devices, etc. That said, software and hardware design generally have quite different skillsets, workflows, and outputs.
So how do we define what we do? We help bring ideas to market in the hardware space. I suppose the proper terms are “industrial design” (another misnomer of sorts) & mechanical engineering. Product design is the logical, all encompassing description of what we do, but the software tech industry will fight me on that..
BDH is Seven Years Old
Time for my yearly year in review, and quite a year it’s been.
On a personal level, I had a skydiving crash last December and broke about everything you could break and still live. I was lucky beyond belief to not have any brain damage or be paralyzed. An incredible team of surgeons and doctors put me back together, but it was three months before I could even stand up again. In parallel with an ongoing physical recovery, managing the financial aspects of the accident, and just putting my life back together in general, I was running this business to the best of my ability. It’s incredible how draining being in constant pain is.. fighting for energy, fighting for creativity, and fighting just to get my brain & body out of atrophy became a months-long journey. Here we are almost a year later; finally I’m confident again with my knowledge of industry technology (it moves fast!), my ability to close deals, and most importantly, our ability as a company to continue to deliver stellar results.
The business didn’t die, but it is in a sense, rising from the ashes. When you stand still, the world moves on quiclkly. This year is in many ways, similar to our founding year. My mission is clear: to make it known that we’re here, and if your project is the right fit, we will deliver a service / product / cost value that is as good as you can get.
Lastly, I’ve received so much love and support from our clients and industry partners. To you guys & gals, thank you. You make it a pleasure to be here doing this.
We're six!
Yearly update time! Another year of evolving and adapting. Covid has been eye-opening; now more than ever, I’m beyond thankful for our customers who continue to trust us to bring their ideas to market.
Speaking of such, one of the more recent challenges with transitioning products to volume production has been ensuring an uninturrepted tiered chain of suppliers. Our go-to contract manufacturers have been fantastic with material sourcing, even as supply chains crumble in most industries.
Overall, its been business as usual. I’m excited to continue working with our longstanding clients, as well as form new relationships with businesses doing cool things in the hardware space!
Looking forward to another productive & educative year!
- Sam
We're five!
This was a crazy year. We’re powering through and we’re forever grateful for our clients that are supporting us throughout this time. Seeing so many small business close during this economic blip is eye opening, and I certainly don’t take for granted that we will sustain through this. I had to put some internal projects on hold, but looking forward to gaining growth momentum again soon.
Aside from that, since my last report, we’ve done some cool projects! Some with long-term clients, some with new clients. We’re always learning and have no complaints!
FOUR!
We’re approaching four years old! Every year, I write one of these posts to give a summary of everything BDH (formatted as a collection of random thoughts). This is the first year I’m writing it a bit early; I’m inspired because this is the most exciting update for me yet.
The last year has really been fantastic.
The most valuable lesson of the year for me has been creating time (relative to Sam of the past). I haven’t been close to as busy as I’ve been in years prior, yet our output has exceeded all previous metrics.
I took some time this summer for leisure travel. After nine countries in a few months, my biggest takeaway is that I’m so thankful to be based in Los Angeles. There’s lots of polarizing societal noise surrounding this place, but for me, it’s difficult to deny that LA cultivates creativity like no other. The weather, variety, & quality of life are more than just a bonus.
I should touch on business health & happiness. We’ve had a huge variety of client projects this year, most of which have been really fun! All sorts of niches, materials, client product goals, & people. My sincerest thank you to all of you who chose to engage with us. We’ve bought a bunch of fun new tools this year as well, 3D printers, camera’s etc. Yay, new toys are fun & we’re continuing to be on the forefront of utilizing new technology, both in hardware and software. Speaking of which, much love to my suppliers, vendors, partners, mentors, & friends who make this business fun.
BDH is at a point where I am able to make a run at a goal I’ve had since high school. More to come, but I’ll leave you with this:
What To Know About Launching New Products
Enjoyed sharing some of our thoughts on launching hardware products with IndustryStar. Check out the article here, there’s some great info! Also, we’re happy to be featured on Bold Patents 21 Best Resources for Entrepreneurs in Los Angeles.
