You have a product idea that you believe will change the world. It’s Hard.

Here and again, the oft-spoken notion with regard to hardware is that it is hard. Keller Rinaudo of Romotive, the maker of Romo, told VentureBeat’s Dylan Tweney:

“It is so hard to produce stuff at scale,” Rinaudo said. “You don’t appreciate Apple or Samsung making millions of new devices every six months until you’ve tried to do it yourself.” (“Making hardware is hard – just ask Apple or Samsung,” VentureBeat, June 28, 2013)

Ben Rooney of the WSJ wrote:

“Tony Fadell, father of the iPod, was right. “There is a reason they call it hardware—it is hard,” he said at the LeWeb conference in Paris last year. But that hasn’t stopped many tech entrepreneurs from eschewing software for physical products.” (“Hardware is Hard, That’s Why They Call It Hardware,” WSJ, June 17, 2013)

Sascha Segan has this to say in PCMag:

Hardware development isn’t something that can be done easily in a Silicon Valley garage or a DUMBO loft. Hardware concepts can be done, and Pebble and Ouya are both great concepts. But actually building a reliable, functional product requires expertise in supply chain management, mass hardware QA, and negotiations with component makers and assemblers that these companies by and large entirely lack.” (“Why Kickstarter’s Ouya Looks Like a Scam”, PCMag, July 12, 2012)

Community matters.

Funding alone is not the answer to building and delivering exciting, innovative products. Community, a robust support network of peers, is necessary. The problems of manufacturing your idea to scale, at high-quality standards, and delivering it on time require much more. The process of bringing dreams to life in the hardware sphere can be an arduous process for Creators.

You might ask yourself, “What distinguishes HWTrek from other crowdfunding platforms?” We’re a matching platform and online community for Creators, Experts, and Smart Customers, where disruption and innovation happen daily.

The HWTrek platform was inspired by an observation we made on other crowdfunding platforms that many hardware startups failed to get on the platform or attain their target funding, not because of their lack of creativity or feasibility but due to their inability to provide a proof of concept or failure to scale to mass production. Through the resources of the network of design and manufacturing experts, we can facilitate and actualize the innovative hardware projects of Creators who seek to launch their products on HWTrek.

Together, we are building a community of design and manufacturing Experts at HWTrek (Hardware Trek) for Creators to take their ideas from dreams to delivery to Smart Consumers who fund the projects. The platform leverages a network of leading OEM/ODMs in Asia, including some of the world’s largest, such as Pegatron and Wistron. Just in case you didn’t know, Pegatron built successful hardware crowdfunding products like NEST and Ouya. In fact, HWTrek has confirmed the partnership of more than 30 individuals and companies to join our expert community.

HWTrek Experts share their knowledge of materials, design, pricing, production costs, and manufacturing with the community of Creators who seek to bring their ideas to life. Creator project teams are paired with Experts who help to ensure that their project ideas are designed and delivered at the highest quality available, on time, and on budget to hardware enthusiasts excited to back promising product innovations. Experts guide the projects from concept to production and finally delivery to hardware enthusiasts excited to back promising product innovations. These are the frequently cited risks for the hardware Creators that cause projects to fail or result in late delivery or underwhelming products for which HWTrek aims to provide a solution.

The personal interaction between the Creator and Smart Consumer provides both validation of the product concept for the market and the process of innovation by supporting the Creators’ visions. The HWTrek community channels the crowd wisdom of funders and hardware enthusiasts.

This ultimately builds collective trust between Creators, Experts, and Smart Consumers within the HWTrek community. Trust in the community leads to continued support of innovative ideas that we hope will change the world.

It’s the Journey.

To begin, HWtrek is a place for Creators to set out on the journey of manufacturing their dreams with the help of highly knowledgeable Experts. It’s a space for Experts to look for new products, innovators, and business opportunities. Finally, it is a site for Smart Customers, the early adopters, who continually look for interesting gadgets that point the way to innovation.

Welcome to the Hardware Trek!

The HWTrek Team