=HOW TO RUN AN OPEN SOURCE HARDWARE COMPANY= In this session open source hardware pioneers Limor "Ladyada" Fried of Adafruit Industries and Phil Torrone of MAKE magazine show how anyone can start their own open source hardware business. The talk will show how Adafruit runs its open hardware business, top to bottom - from choosing a PCB (printed circuit board) manufacturer to selecting which open source online shopping cart works best for selling electronics online. Limor and Phil will also give a detailed overview of the top 10 open source hardware businesses, what they do and what you can learn from their projects and products. If you're considering turning your electronics hobby in to a full-fleged business this is a session not to miss. =SPEAKERS= Limor "Ladyada" Fried - Founder of Adafruit Industries and recipient of the EFF pioneer award for her work in open source hardware. Phillip Torrone - Senior Editor of MAKE magazine, contributing editor to Popular Science and founder of Hack-a-day.

1. How to run an open source
hardware company
Businesses designing and selling open source hardware, making millions
pt@makezine.com
limor@ladyada.net

2. What is open
source hardware?
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3. The designer will:
• Provide design files (in the preferred format for making
modifications to them).
• Allow the modification and redistribution of the design files.
• Allow the manufacture, sale, distribution, and use of devices
from the design files or modifications of the design files.
• Publish documentation and/or any software it has developed
that is essential to the proper functioning of the device.
Source: OSHW definition v 0.2 4/30/2010
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4. The designer may require
others to:
• Provide attribution when distributing design files based on the
original designer's.
• Provide attribution when manufacturing devices based on the
original designer's design files or derivatives thereof.
• Release as open-source hardware devices based on the
original designer's design files or derivatives thereof.
Source: OSHW definition v 0.2 4/30/2010
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5. Manufacturers of a derivate
device must not:
• Imply that the device is manufactured, tested, warrantied,
guaranteed, or otherwise sanctioned by the original designer.
• Make use of any trademarks owned by the original designer
without explicit permission .
Source: OSHW definition v 0.2 4/30/2010
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6. Open source
hardware projects:
Total projects
400
300
200
100
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 est. 2011 est.
Source: OSHW annual - Torrone, MAKE magazine
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7. Who is doing open hardware?
Approaching $1m Over +$1m Over +$10m
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8. Adafruit
Industries
New York, NY
Educational electronics,
Arduino products, tutorials
& culture jamming
Over one+ million in revenue
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9. Arduino
Italy, worldwide
Open source physical
computing platform. Open
dev, documentation, ADC,
I/O. Over 150,000 sold
Over one+ million in revenue
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10. BeagleBoard
Worldwide
Low cost fan-less,
computer board.
Expandable, 3rd party
manufactures, Digikey,
Mouser TI
Over one million in revenue
Make:

11. Bug
Labs
New York, NY
“LEGO” computers. Plug
and play, modular system
for building devices, rapid
prototyping, VC funded
Approaching one million
in revenue, est. 2010
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12. Chumby
San Diego, CA
Open source ambient
computer. Web connected,
licensing to 3rd parties.
Chumby patent, VC funded
Over one+ million in revenue
Make:

13. Dangerous
Prototypes
Netherlands
Open source reverse
engineering tool, new to
OSH, started as a
community project on
Hack-a-day
Approaching one million
in revenue, est. 2010 - 2011
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14. DIY
Drones
San Francisco, CA
Open source micro-sized
civil UAVs for aerial
mapping and education.
Community driven, project
co-founder EIC Wired
Approaching one million
in revenue, est. 2010
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15. Evil Mad
Scientist Labs
Oakland, CA
Open source educational
projects. Craft and hack,
hardcore OSH. Fully OSS
tool chain. Fun projects
Approaching one million
in revenue, est. 2010
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16. MakerBot
Industries
Brooklyn, NY
Open source 3D printer kit.
Based on RepRap.
Companion 3D repository
“Thingaverse”, funded
Over one million in revenue
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17. Maker
Shed
Sebastopol, CA
Bring making things to pop
culture, Make magazine, TV
show, Maker Faire - gift
shop is the Maker Shed
Over one+ million in revenue
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18. Parallax
Rocklin, CA
Kit heritage (BASIC stamp,
PIC). Robotics, education,
tutorials, “New” entry in
OSH
Over one+ million in revenue
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19. Seeed
Studios
Shenzhen, China
Arduino derivatives, break
out boards, sensors, rapid
manufacturing & proximity
to supply chains
Over one million in revenue
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20. Solarbotics
Calgary, Canada
Educational electronics,
robot kits, BEAM robotics,
solar kits, OSH - Arduino
related
Over one+ million in revenue
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21. SparkFun
Electronics
Boulder, CO
Educational electronics,
break out boards, large
selection, BatchPCB, rapid
manufacturing
Over TEN million in revenue
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22. The numbers
the future
• These are just a few companies representing approx. $50 million
• There are currently about 200 OSHW projects, 300+ in 2011
• Most of the $1m+ companies are rapidly approaching $5m
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23. How we run
our business
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24. Open source
Software
LAMP
Linux
Apache
MySQL
PHP
Adafruit.com
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25. Hosting
Provider
ServInt
VPS $80 plan
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26. Shopping
Cart
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27. Make:

28. Make:

29. Make:

30. Make:

31. Make:

32. Make:

33. Make:

34. Make:

35. Credit
Card processor
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36. Paypal
Payments
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37. Paypal
Payments
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38. Embedded
Content (blog)
Wordpress
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39. Embedded
Content (blog)
Wordpress
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40. Measurements
(Traffic, source, etc..)
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41. Forums
Customer support & community
phpbb forums
+
tweaks
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42. Documentation
Customer support & community
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43. Documentation
Customer support & community
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44. Documentation
Customer support & community
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45. Documentation
Customer support & community
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46. Documentation
Customer support & community
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47. Documentation
Customer support & community
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48. Documentation
Customer support & community
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49. Documentation
Customer support & community
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50. Documentation
Customer support & community
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51. Documentation
Customer support & community
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52. Documentation
Customer support & community
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53. Documentation
Customer support & community
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54. Documentation
Customer support & community
Make:

55. Documentation
Customer support & community
Make:

56. Documentation
Customer support & community
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57. Tools
Shipping, office & beyond
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58. Tools
Shipping, office & beyond
Make:

59. Tools
Shipping, office & beyond
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60. Tools
Shipping, office & beyond
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61. Tools
Shipping, office & beyond
Make:

62. Tools
Shipping, office & beyond
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63. • You need a skill or interest
•
•
Think of a memorable name for your company
Register the domain name, file a DBA
Your turn
• Get a digital camera
• Get 2 to 4 projects under your belt
• Take photos, take the “money shot” - show product in action
• Put documentation online
• For pricing, allow a 40% profit margin or about a 66% markup (resellers too)
• Buy enough parts to make 25, start off with Paypal “buy it” button
• Create a support network, mailing list / forums, make a FAQ, update it
• Fill out the web site with all purchasing info, make it easy to copy/paste for lazy bloggers
• Include contact information
• Send emails to sites in your arena
• Watch the web stats
• Repeat
• Profit
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