Open Hardware Manufacturing Podcast

Join Stephen and Lucian on an exciting episode of the Open Hardware Manufacturing Podcast as they chat with Bar Smith, the innovative mind behind the Maslow CNC. We hope you enjoy this talk about the world of open-source hardware and community building as Bar shares his journey from a random thought to creating a revolutionary CNC router, the Maslow 4.1.

You will learn about the struggles of developing a large-format CNC router that allows anyone access to fabrication tools while keeping everything open-source. Plus, you'll discover how Bar's unique approach to open-source development and community engagement has shaped the evolution of the Maslow project.

Whether you're a maker, an entrepreneur, or just curious about open hardware, this episode offers valuable insights into the power of collaboration and innovation.

Don't miss the chance to support Bar's latest Kickstarter for the Maslow 4.1, a testament to the ongoing journey of making CNC technology accessible to everyone. Click HERE for the Kickstarter link and be part of this exciting project!

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Do you have any questions, comments, or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

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Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

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Writing documentation is like a Greek tragedy, where you are both the best and worst person to write your own docs. In this episode, Stephen and Lucian dive deep into the art of creating effective documentation for open hardware products.

Join us as we explore the balance between text and images, the downsides of video documentation, and the ever-evolving nature of keeping your docs up-to-date. Whether you're a seasoned doc writer or just getting started, you'll find valuable insights and practical tips to enhance your documentation process.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Bill Hader - "when they tell you what's wrong they're usually right, when they tell you how to fix it they're usually wrong"
• Googles Style Guide
• Thea Flowers beautiful example of great documentation

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Do you have any questions, comments, or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

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Surprisingly, there are many other reasons why an event can benefit a company besides selling units at your booth. From making industry connections to gauging what your customer demographic wants, it can be a great place to gather data that could help you shape your company's direction. In this episode, Stephen and Lucian tell you about the trade show that opened their eyes to the fact that people wanted the LumenPnP for something we were not even considering, leading to a whole new branch of customers and a significant increase in sales.

Sit back and relax as we discuss the good and bad aspects of events in this episode of the OHM Podcast!

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Do you have any questions, comments, or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

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• Forever Young - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

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Packaging requires considering what you might need in the future, which is not as easy as you think. You don't want to bottleneck your future products because they won't fit in the packaging, nor do you want to buy all new packaging for every change you make. You'd be surprised by some of the design choices made in the name of packaging. 

Did I forget to mention that a horse kicked, bit, and stomped a LumenPnP? You never know what your packaging might go up against.

YouTube video we did about packaging a few years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku4Wvu6LsrU

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Do you have any questions, comments, or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

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Finding the right way to offer customer support can be tricky. You can't run everything yourself forever if you intend to continue your growth. There are so many ways this can go wrong, so make sure to take the time to plan this out as best as possible before you dive in.

In this episode, we will dive deep into how we handled building our support team and the hurdles that came with it.

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Do you have any questions, comments, or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Ad song:

• Forever Young - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

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It's here! The LumenPnP V4 is finally here, and we wanted to share some of our design decisions and explain why we made some of the choices we did. From wants to necessity, it wasn't easy. It took years of feedback, but we couldn't be happier with what has come from all of it. We wouldn't be where we are without the help of our community and the hard work they put into this as well. Thank you!

To learn more about the brand new LumenPnP V4.0: Opulo.io

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Do you have any questions, comments, or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You did it! You worked hard to prepare everything for launch day, but now it is time to put it all into action. Take what you have learned from the last two episodes and prepare for one of the most fun and stressful days you will ever have.

Stephen and Lucian have experienced their fair share of ups and downs with different launch days and are ready to share their best practices with you.

If you thought the hard work stopped here, guess again.

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Do you have any questions, comments, or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Ad song:

• Forever Young - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

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As we gear up for launch day, listen to the conclusion of Preparing for Launch. (If you haven't listened to Part 1, we highly recommend doing so before diving into this episode!) Stephen and Lucian will cover topics like internal work instructions, setting up your PLM software, press kits, and so much more. This is really fun to talk about because we are also in the middle of this right now. It's been fun and quite meta. We hope you enjoy this episode!

Do you have any questions, comments, or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What actually goes into launching a hardware product? What can be worked on in advance, and what has to be perfectly timed with the launch date? We'll explore how to structure the necessary planning and share some of the things we have learned through multiple launches we have done ourselves.

There is so much to unpack here that we had to break up this episode into two parts!

Do you have any questions, comments, or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Ad song:

• Forever Young - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

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What does it mean to license something in a way that works for you and your project? Does this fall under copyright or a patent? (The answer may surprise you!)

The president of the Open Source Hardware Association, Thea Flowers, stopped by to school us on open hardware licensing, and it was much needed. We start by going over the scope of permissivity regarding licenses, beginning with the most open type of license available and progressing from there. There is a lot to unpack here, so get ready to get educated!

Links for things mentioned in this episode

• choosealicense.com
• TLDRLegal
• CC Friendly Lawyers

Do you have any questions, comments, or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is challenging to succeed with open hardware while keeping it sustainable and still making enough money to pay the bills. But there are ways to do it!

In this episode, we dive into how you can succeed in doing open hardware. Plus, we talk about how vastly different open hardware is compared to open software.

Do you have any questions, comments, or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Ad song:

• Forever Young - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

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Pricing your product can be a daunting task. Set the price too high, and you risk alienating potential customers. Set it too low, and you may find yourself struggling to sustain your business. While there's no "one-size-fits-all" formula, our experience in this field has given us some perspective on how to approach it!

Adafruit Blog Post: https://learn.adafruit.com/how-to-build-a-hardware-startup/pricing-your-product

Also, Stephen was super wrong in this episode: DRM is not "Digitally Restricted Media" but instead "Digital Rights Management"!

Do you have any questions, comments, or topic suggestions? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trying to find the best way to incorporate community feedback can be tough, especially when that feedback is criticism. You have to be the director of your project's path, know where it has to go, and be opinionated. You have to assume they mean well in their criticism and you need to really show off the work that was done when a community member adds something to the project.

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

Blog post mentioned in this episode: "We Don't Do That Here" by Aja Hammerly

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Ad song:

• Forever Young - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

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When do you decide to sign a commercial real estate lease? Do you truly need one? These are challenging questions, but in this episode, we're here to help. Stephen and Lucian will walk you through what's acceptable, what's not, what factors to consider, what could be deal breakers, and all the other aspects of this decision. Getting this right is crucial, and there's a lot to consider. We hope to help you make this decision a little bit easier with this episode.

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is the process of reducing costs in your supply chain without making your product worse? This is a tricky subject and needs to be handled with care. Luckily for you, we have already gone through this many times and can help you successfully cost down your supply chain by helping you find another way to potentially save money and what to look for when picking a vendor. We also give advice on what things you should choose to cost down and more. Learn what we did to get better pricing without sacrificing the quality of our product in this episode of the O.H.M. Podcast!

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

Check out the Maslow CNC Machine

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Ad song:

• Forever Young - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

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Ever wonder if your product is truly worth the time and effort it takes to bring it to market? How can you ensure it resonates with your target audience? This episode delves into the significance of a PRD and discusses how it can pave the way for your product's success from the very beginning.

PRD Template: https://github.com/opulo-inc/prd-template

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

Google Podcast is gone! Check out this link for other sources where you can listen to us.

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A few years ago, we chose to rebrand our company and open source project. From talking with lawyers to pitching awful name ideas, this was not an easy process. We get into the list of potential names, and how Opulo might have been named Crabapple Industries.

To find out more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

To see everything else we do, including social media, check out Opulo.start.page

Don't forget that Google Podcast is going away in a few days! We will not be on YouTube Music, so you may want to check out this link for other sources where you can listen to us.

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)
• Forever Young - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we sit down with Thea Flowers, a huge advocate for open source who has done many things to be a beacon of light for others who believe in open source and open hardware as well.

From running her own open-hardware synthesizer company to working at Google, Thea has contributed to many big projects and has even been a paid musician. She really has done it all. Oh, and did we mention she is the president of OSHWA? She is very impressive yet too humble to admit it. We hope you enjoy learning about Thea Flowers as much as we did!

Thea's Blog

Don't forget, Google Podcast is going away! We will not be on YouTube Music, so you may want to check out this link for other sources where you can listen to us.

O.H.M. Podcast Merch is now here!

Links to what we do and our social media can be found here: https://opulo.start.page/

References in this episode:

• Robin Williams Commercial
• 'Working in Public' by Nadia Eghbal

Intro song:

• Complicate Ya - Otis McDonald (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you make yourself obsolete? That question may sound odd at first, but as Opulo continues to grow, how do Stephen and Lucian handle offloading their tasks to others while maintaining the speed and precision needed to keep up with demand?

This topic was a user-submitted topic from our O.H.M. Podcast Channel found on our Discord. Thank you, appaog, for the great question!

To find out more about what we do: opulo.io

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Music by: Otis McDonald

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What does it take to own your data, and when is it okay to hand over the reins? Should you self-host or not? Stephen and Lucian discuss topics like when it is okay to give up some control for convenience and how to walk that fine line. Plus, they talk about what would happen if Discord or Google went belly-up tomorrow and how that would affect your business (Even if it is very unlikely). This topic has sure been an eye-opener and has since caused changes to how we look at what we do. Tune in to find out more!

To learn more about what we do, check out Opulo.io

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