In today's Coredump Session, François Baldassari and Chris Coleman sit down with Ultrahuman co-founder Vatsal Singhal to unpack what it takes to build and scale a hardware startup in the fiercely competitive health wearable market. From transitioning from software to hardware to building responsibly with AI and machine learning, Vatsal shares what it means to blend deep engineering rigor with a mission to improve human performance. This conversation explores the challenges, surprises, and future of health-tech innovation at the edge.
Key Takeaways
How Ultrahuman transitioned from a software-first mindset to mastering complex hardware development.
Lessons learned moving from large-scale software systems to building precision-focused health wearables.
Why building hardware for health requires a fundamentally different level of accountability and rigor.
The role of machine learning at the edge and how it enables better, faster insights while managing battery and compute tradeoffs.
How responsible use of AI in health applications shapes product design and user trust.
The importance of rapid iteration cycles and adopting software methodologies in hardware innovation.
Insights into how Ultrahuman’s internal teams use AI not just in engineering, but across all business functions.
A look at what’s next for health-tech — and where innovation is heading in wearables and bio-sensing.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro & Teasers03:43 From Software to Hardware: The Leap of Faith07:49 The Harsh Realities of Hardware10:40 Iterating Fast Without Breaking People15:17 Redefining A/B Testing in Hardware21:40 Why Ultrahuman Built Its Own Factory26:56 Scaling Production Across Continents29:48 Managing Complexity: 20 Hardware Revisions in a Year35:08 Firmware Velocity & Observability with Memfault43:42 Health Tech Meets Regulation47:55 Shared Codebases & Fast Iteration Across Products50:39 Building the Machines That Build the Rings54:34 Responsible AI & The Future of Health Wearables56:35 Closing Reflections & Key Takeaways
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