The Boring Startup

What was supposed to be a drop-in replacement display has turned into a nightmare. Goals for the Week Ahead Truly Launch the Pre-Order Site Test OpenOCD debugging in VSCode Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kevinsidwar Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/SfZnKMC Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

In this episode I talk about how my job almost pushed me over the edge. I lost my way exploring alternatives and I talk through those and how ultimately I landed in a great place.  Goals for the Week Ahead Finish testing hardware and fix issues. For real this time Test the new e-paper display....for real this time Submit next prototype order Launch pre-orders website for holders Let's Connect!  I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kevinsidwar Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/SfZnKMC Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

We finally have ESP32 hardware to test with. I made a few stupid mistakes on the layout that I discuss and we also got accepted into the AWS Founder program which gives us $1000 in AWS credits. I also give an update on how the "sawdust" project is going. Goals For the Week Ahead Test the new e-paper display Test JTAG debugging Have several biz dev meetings Fix the PCB issues on the new hardware Sell more dev kits AWS Founder Program Link - https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2020/02/aws-launches-activate-founders-package/ Let's Connect!  I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kevinsidwar Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/SfZnKMC Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

Smart Pucks are out for now so we need another direction. In this episode I talk about what that direction is and how we plan to move forward with it. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kevinsidwar Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/SfZnKMC Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

How do you balance "fake it till you make it" with being true to yourself and leaning into your identity as a small business? Honestly, I don't know but I talk about it for 10 minutes in this episode. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kevinsidwar Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/SfZnKMC Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

You want to make money but at what point are you exchanging your happiness for that money. In this episode I talk about the precarious balance between seeking revenue and getting trapped in doing things just for the money. I also touch on why this balance is causing me to rethink the direction of the company. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kevinsidwar Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/SfZnKMC Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

In this episode I talk about navigating the emotions of the coronavirus and what I'm doing during this time of lockdown. Also an update on things that are going on. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kevinsidwar Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/SfZnKMC Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

In a previous episode I talked about the mental rollercoaster you go through trying to start a company and thinking about quitting your job. This episode is an update to that view and how it's not as binary as I thought. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kevinsidwar Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

Recently I've been thinking a lot about this question. Do I want to turn my work into my hobby or do I want to turn my hobby into work? Tune in on this episode as I dissect that question and where I stand on it. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kevinsidwar Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

I'm upping my content game across all of my distribution channels. I'm a big believer that you can give away helpful content for free while also getting something in return in the form of attention and future sales. In this episode I talk about how I'm approaching my content right now and also give an update on how things are going with the redesign and dev kit creation. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kevinsidwar Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

The first attempt at monetizing the StatFeedr "sawdust" is going to be in the form of an e-paper dev kit based around the ESP32 module. In this episode I talk about the thought process around pursuing this as a potential revenue source. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kevinsidwar Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

In this episode I talk about what the "sawdust" is from the StatFeedr product. I break down all the things I've created as part of the product that aren't really the main value-add. I also cover why this might be valuable to other pro makers and startups. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kevinsidwar Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

In this episode I talk about why I'm ditching Particle and moving to the Espressif ecosystem. I talk about why I originally chose Particle, why I'm making the decision to leave and why ESP32 is my choice going forward. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kevinsidwar Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

In this episode I talk about the consumer psychology around pricing Internet of Things products. There are essentially 2 basic models and both are extremely difficult to make profitable. This and other insight into why making a consumer hardware product is really really hard. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

I'm going to officially call this season 2 of the podcast as we slightly switch the focus of the podcast to something I'm super excited about. In this episode I talk about what that change is and what to expect going forward.  Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

We attended our first industry show in Las Vegas to introduce the StatFeedr tech to the industry. In this episode I talk about how it went and what we learned. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

Oftentimes when you think of attending industry shows you think about the excitement of walking the floor and making that key contact and scoring that perfect partnership or contract. That makes for great episodes of Silicon Valley but there is a lot of boring work that is required ahead of time that nobody is making TV episodes about. Tune in to this episode as I cover the slog of prepping for our first industry show. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

In this episode I share the excitement I'm feeling of doing mundane stuff to ship pucks. No flashy VC-funded process here. I'm literally cutting out thank you cards with scissors. Hear about this and more boring stuff that goes into delivering product to customers. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

In this episode I talk about a very important milestone. The StatFeedr store is live and pucks are shipping. It's simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying that people are paying money for a product I made. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com

In the quest to get team pucks into customers hands I finally decided to bite the bullet and purchase a CNC mill. Screw the machine shops that won't return my calls or want to charge me an arm and a leg. We're going to try to machine the pucks ourselves to get started. I have no idea if this will work or if it's a good use of very limited funds but we have to try. Let's Connect! I would love to hear from you. Thoughts, opinions, or even just to introduce yourself so I can get to know you better. You can find me in the following places: Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinsidwar Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sidwarkd Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sidwarkd Email: kevin@sidwar.com