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 market
• 02:53 - Breaking into the phone market
• 05:19 - Securing factories and stakeholders
• 07:39 - Differentiating products
• 10:32 - Hardware design
• 11:53 - Strengthening software proposition
• 16:04 - Table stakes
• 17:49 - Marketing and Youtube
• 19:34 - Underestimating the value chain
• 21:50 - Manufacturing
• 23:27 - Supply chain
• 26:05 - Remote work
• 27:36 - The future of hardware
• 30:45 - Breakthrough hardware
• 32:35 - Making tech fun again

Resources:

• Nothing website: https://us.nothing.tech/
• Nothing’s Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@NothingTechnology
• Find Carl on Twitter: https://twitter.com/getpeid
• Find Nothing on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nothing
• Nothing’s recently launched Ear (2): https://us.nothing.tech/products/ear-2

Stay Updated: 

• Find a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z
• Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z
• Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/
• Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio

Please 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.

Stay Updated:

Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube

Find a16z on X

Find a16z on LinkedIn

Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify

Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts

Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg

Please 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. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.