Ask HN: Where are all the hardware startup jobs?
I should graduate in two years with an EE degree, and I've wanted to work in the startup space for some time now. It's rather dissuading to ctrl-f every Whoishiring thread to find 1-2 hardware-related positions for every 500 software developers wanted. In addition, I can't remember ever seeing someone post an individual job for an EE/ME on here. Even when I look at hardware startups I admire, they just seem to want more software or data science people. Where are all the hardware jobs? Am I just looking on the wrong site?
4 comments
I find this is generally a poor place for hardware-related startups.
Places to check (and network with)—I'd try checking in with your university's tech transfer office: they might be able and willing to clue you into recently-formed startups licensing university IP. Another would be your university's professional practice office (may go by another name), i.e., the office that sets up student internships. Another is with your department's industry relations rep (if you have one). A fourth place would be in any hacker spaces or tech villages in town. A fifth would be with the local angel investor groups.
A really great possibility is to take your senior design project seriously. It's not unheard of for those to turn into something commercially viable.
Places to check (and network with)—I'd try checking in with your university's tech transfer office: they might be able and willing to clue you into recently-formed startups licensing university IP. Another would be your university's professional practice office (may go by another name), i.e., the office that sets up student internships. Another is with your department's industry relations rep (if you have one). A fourth place would be in any hacker spaces or tech villages in town. A fifth would be with the local angel investor groups.
A really great possibility is to take your senior design project seriously. It's not unheard of for those to turn into something commercially viable.
Make contacts with the local FAEs (field application engineers) for the major chipmakers (Freescale, NXP, Atmel, etc) as well as the distributors (Arrow, Future). Maybe even some of the sales guys if you're comfortable with that. Ask for invites to their sales and tech conferences (you get blasted with these all the time once you're working).
They tend to have their ears to the ground and their hands in a lot of local companies simultaneously. They know who is hiring and who is being let go.
that said...
I've worked for a hardware startup and I can say from experience that normally if someone has come up with an interesting circuit or board design, they were the EE that designed it in the first place.
It's more rare to see come up with an idea, grab a bunch of VC money, then hire a EE to whip up the product. VCs don't like throwing money at phantom hardware. If they do get money, they will be looking for a lab tech to help with prototyping and bench work. It's not glamorous, but it's a foot in the door and a track upward to real EE work eventually.
They tend to have their ears to the ground and their hands in a lot of local companies simultaneously. They know who is hiring and who is being let go.
that said...
I've worked for a hardware startup and I can say from experience that normally if someone has come up with an interesting circuit or board design, they were the EE that designed it in the first place.
It's more rare to see come up with an idea, grab a bunch of VC money, then hire a EE to whip up the product. VCs don't like throwing money at phantom hardware. If they do get money, they will be looking for a lab tech to help with prototyping and bench work. It's not glamorous, but it's a foot in the door and a track upward to real EE work eventually.
Consider being more specific than "hardware". PCB design is not injection molding is not VHDL development.
In general, any moderately-complex hardware is going to be expensive, which dissuades the classic "two friends in a garage" model. It also limits the scalability of any profits, dissuading VC.
Consider keeping an eye out for any entrepreneurially-minded co-students, visit a few conferences or meetups to find the professionals, or even just look at Kickstarter to see who's working on making new hardware a reality.
In general, any moderately-complex hardware is going to be expensive, which dissuades the classic "two friends in a garage" model. It also limits the scalability of any profits, dissuading VC.
Consider keeping an eye out for any entrepreneurially-minded co-students, visit a few conferences or meetups to find the professionals, or even just look at Kickstarter to see who's working on making new hardware a reality.
They exist.
I haven't seen them here.
I don't know where you find them either.