Breaking the Isolation of Entrepreneurship
Building hardware is not just challenging—it’s lonely.
As a hardware leader, you face a unique paradox. Your work requires specialized manufacturing partners, often located far from innovation hubs. Your development cycles stretch for years rather than months. Your technical challenges are deeply specific to your product category. Your high capital requirements demand strict confidentiality.
These realities create a profound isolation that software founders rarely experience. You make critical decisions with limited perspective. You solve problems others have already overcome. You face manufacturing hurdles without the guidance of those who’ve navigated them before.
This isolation isn’t just emotionally taxing—it’s expensive, risky, and inefficient.
Transform your hardware journey
HardTech Hub’s Peer Advisory Groups fundamentally change the hardware leadership experience by connecting you with 12-16 non-competing hardware executives who truly understand what you’re building—because they’re building it too.
Each group brings together leaders at similar stages with complementary expertise, creating a trusted circle where you can:
- Share challenges you can’t discuss with your team, board, or investors
- Test critical decisions before committing resources or capital
- Learn from others’ manufacturing setbacks and supply chain strategies
- Find solidarity with people who understand your unique pressures
- Build relationships that extend far beyond the boardroom
How it works
Monthly Half-Day Sessions
- Work through your most pressing issues in a confidential environment
- Each session is balanced between structured topics and member-driven challenges
- Facilitated by an experienced professional who ensures productive discussion
- Held in-person to foster genuine connection
Hardware-Specific Expertise
- Focus on challenges unique to physical product development
- Access to specialized knowledge across manufacturing, supply chain, and scaling
- Practical frameworks tailored to hardware’s unique capital and timeline requirements
Community Beyond Meetings
- Connect with your group between sessions during critical decisions
- Access the broader HardTech Hub ecosystem of resources and experts
- Build relationships that provide support throughout your hardware journey
What Makes Our Peer Groups Different
Hardware-Exclusive Focus
Unlike general entrepreneurship groups, we exclusively serve hardware leaders. Our discussions center on the unique challenges of physical product development—from DFM to supply chain, certification to scaling manufacturing.
Stage-Appropriate Grouping
We carefully match members at similar development stages, ensuring relevant discussions while maintaining diverse perspectives. Early-stage groups focus on prototype-to-production challenges, while growth-stage groups tackle scaling and expansion.
Experienced Facilitation
Each group is led by a Chair with extensive hardware leadership experience—someone who has navigated the journey from prototype to scale and understands the unique pressures of hardware development.
Non-Competitive Environment
We meticulously screen for potential competitive conflicts, creating spaces where members can speak candidly about challenges without concern for proprietary information.
Membership Details
Time Commitment
- 12 half-day sessions per year (one per month)
- Optional one-to-one coaching sessions
- Brief preparation before each meeting
Application Process
- Submit your application
- Initial interview with HardTech Hub team
- Group matching based on stage, scale, and compatibility
- Introduction to potential group
- Mutual decision to proceed
Investment
- Our membership investment varies based on company stage and specific program elements.
- Contact us for detailed information about our current membership options.
for Entrepreneurs at Every Stage
For Early-Stage Founders
- End the isolation of prototyping and first manufacturing runs
- Connect with others navigating DFM, supplier selection, and certification
- Learn from those who’ve recently overcome the exact challenges you face
- Avoid costly mistakes that others in your group have already made
- Find guidance from growth-stage leaders who remember the early struggles
For Growth-Stage Founders
- Break through the loneliness of scaling hardware when few peers understand
- Work through manufacturing scale-up challenges with those who’ve succeeded
- Gain perspective on organizational design for hardware-specific teams
- Maintain connection to emerging innovations through early-stage members
- Share your hard-won wisdom while gaining fresh insights
FAQ
Have questions about our peer groups?
Schedule a call with our team to learn more about how HardTech Hub can support you.