Building Hardware and Taking on the Phone Giants

People often say that building a hardware company is like “playing on hard mode”. Building a hardware company during a global pandemic, with the unpredictability of supply chains and markets, is harder than hard. Trying to penetrate the phone market in particular – where only a few players own almost all the market share – is REALLY hard.In today’s episode we chat with Carl Pei, founder of Nothing. Between Nothing and previously co-founding OnePlus, Carl has twice managed to do what many others have failed to do. Nothing has sold over 1m units and built a team of over 400. In this episode, Carl chats with us about why he’s at it again, what it takes to successfully build hardware, and how he thinks about making technology fun again.Timestamps:02:11 - The hardware market02:53 - Breaking into the phone market05:19 - Securing factories and stakeholders07:39 - Differentiating products10:32 - Hardware design11:53 - Strengthening software proposition16:04 - Table stakes17:49 - Marketing and Youtube19:34 - Underestimating the value chain21:50 - Manufacturing23:27 - Supply chain26:05 - Remote work27:36 - The future of hardware30:45 - Breakthrough hardware32:35 - Making tech fun againResources:Nothing website: }https://us.nothing.tech/Nothing’s Youtube channel: }https://www.youtube.com/@NothingTechnologyFind Carl on Twitter: }https://twitter.com/getpeidFind Nothing on Twitter: }https://twitter.com/nothingNothing’s recently launched Ear (2): }https://us.nothing.tech/products/ear-2Stay Updated: Find a16z on Twitter: }https://twitter.com/a16zFind a16z on LinkedIn: }https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16zSubscribe on your favorite podcast app: }https://a16z.simplecast.com/Follow our host: }https://twitter.com/stephsmithioPlease note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.