In the technology industry, the cliche is that hardware is hard. And while that is undoubtedly true, in many ways, boutique makers have never had it so good. Access to low-cost manufacturing and components, better software for the entire stack, finance via crowdfunding, marketplaces and the advent of direct-to-consumer commerce, has helped to create a hardware renaissance. 

Hardware is also incredibly rewarding, at least from a creative point-of-view, something I’ve now experienced first-hand. This month I finally got to launch my first commercial hardware product, which has already generated a few thousand pounds in revenue. Nobody is going to get rich off this thing, but it’s gratifying to see an idea validated with actual paying customers (a concept that may seem alien to some readers of this newsletter!).

In partnership with Siam Modular, a small Eurorack synthesiser company in Thailand, I co-designed “VCO’s LIttle Helper” (VLH). It’s a tiny module that adds vintage sounds to a Eurorack synthesizer. It’s not an original idea in the purest sense, but - like many of the best music products - takes an old concept and refines it for today’s musicians. 

To celebrate the launch, and in the name of provenance marketing (I don’t even know if that’s a thing), we shot an 8 minute documentary about the collaboration. One fun part of the story is that I reached out to Pete at Siam Modular with the idea entirely cold, after I’d written a feature on Eurorack synthesisers for TechCrunch. Without ever meeting in person, we then developed the product from a back of the napkin sketch all the way to a commercial release. Little did we know at the time that it would all have to happen during the worst health crisis of a generation.

A few weeks ago I recorded a podcast with Matt Clifford, co-founder of Entrepreneur First, the so-called ‘talent-first’ investor that backs founders pre-idea and helps them start companies. He also writes a regular newsletter called Thoughts in Between - and his new podcast is an extension of that. 

We discussed new social media apps like Clubhouse, regulation and European tech, Silicon Valley’s media backlash and its relationship with journalism, and my strong - albeit still forming - views on diversity and inclusion in the tech industry and where I think the D&I agenda in this part of the world needs to course correct (spoiler: it should be more anchored in equality of opportunity and social mobility).

The podcast benefited from being recorded on a very relaxed Saturday. I think you’ll enjoy it.

LISTEN HERE.

I recently moderated a panel for TechCrunch Sessions: Justice – on how to design for accessibility. When managing editor Henry Pickavet asked me if I wanted to moderate, I initially hesitated: I never want to be the disabled journalist covering disability tech. At the same time, Henry and I both agreed that I could probably moderate the topic better than most people and so my ego got the better of me. I was quite tired on the evening of recording, but, luckily, all three panelists had plenty of interesting things to say. 

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Be kind to each other,

Steve