Hardware 101 for Software Founders - #SFTechWeek

Friday, Oct 9

2:30pm

PTET

Hosted by

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Hardware 101 for Software Founders Everything we learned building an AI device between the Bay Area and Shenzhen Most founders in this city have shipped software. Very few have shipped a physical thing, and the ones who tried mostly learned the expensive way. This is one hour of the expensive lessons, free. Harrison Jiang is the CEO of Waybox, building Miles — an AI passenger for your car — and flies to Shenzhen regularly to make it real. He'll walk through what actually happens between "we have a prototype" and "2,000 units in boxes": what EVT, DVT and PVT each really test; how BOM, tooling, NRE and MOQ turn into a gross margin (or don't); how to pick an ODM and what to check in the contract before you sign; what FCC certification costs in time and money, and how one module choice can break it; and how to run Shenzhen from San Francisco. Nothing theoretical. The real prototypes, boards, enclosure samples and a (redacted) BOM will be on the table. Pick them up. Ask about them. You'll leave with a one-page Hardware 101 cheat sheet, a working vocabulary, and the ten things he wishes someone had told him when he started. Who it's for: software founders considering a hardware product, engineers curious about physical products, and investors who want to understand what they're funding. 🗓 [Thu, Oct 8, 2026] · Doors 5:30 PM · Talk 6:00 PM · Q&A until 7:15 PM Limited to 50. Approval required — tell us what you're building. After the talk we're hosting a small dinner for hardware founders and investors. If that's you, say so when you RSVP. We're also hiring in SF (Full-Stack Engineer, Chief of Staff). Come meet the team. This event is a part of #SF TechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com.

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