The Hardtech Podcast

What does it really take to build a hard tech company from the ground up?

In this episode, DeAndre Harakas welcomes Davide Dantonio, Director at gBETA Accelerators (part of Generator), to talk about the mechanics of building hard tech and Industry 4.0 startups in Indiana and across the Midwest. Davide brings a global perspective; studying in Italy, France, Spain, and London before working at Kraft Heinz and Amazon Pay, an...

In this episode of The Hardtech Podcast, hosts DeAndre Harakas and Grant Chapman sit down with Dr. David Albert; serial founder, inventor with 100+ patents, former chief scientist of GE Healthcare Cardiology, and the mind behind AliveCor's KardiaMobile, the world's first smartphone-connected FDA-cleared EKG.

Dr. Albert shares how a viral YouTube video in 2010 accidentally launched AliveCor into the spotlight, attracting i...

In this episode, Norbert dives into the complex and critical world of medical device development. He shares his expert insights on the ongoing push for hardware miniaturization, the importance of intuitive industrial design, and how integrating IoT is ultimately driving better patient outcomes. Whether you are in the medtech space or simply fascinated by hardware innovation, this conversation is packed with valuable lesson...

What does it take to turn a kitchen appliance into a tool for global climate action? In this deep dive on the Hardtech Podcast, DeAndre Harakas and Grant Chapman sit down with Bert Muthalaly to discuss the mission behind Electra.

With a career spanning 15 years at the intersection of tech and climate, Bert Muthalaly is now tackling one of the biggest hurdles in home electrification: the kitchen. The conversation moves bey...

In this episode of the Hardtech Podcast, host DeAndre Harakas and co-host Grant Chapman sit down with Martin Wyeth, the visionary founder of powerTee.

With over 20 billion balls hit on their systems to date, powerTee has fundamentally changed how golfers practice. Martin shares the story behind the invention, born from a desire for better training, and the gritty reality of scaling a hardware company. The conversation div...

Taking a hardware concept from a basic sketch to a market-ready product is never easy. In this episode, Sam brings a wealth of hands-on experience to help founders and engineers navigate that journey. From the earliest stages of design to the final hurdles of manufacturing, this conversation is loaded with actionable advice on how to build smarter and scale faster.

What We Discuss:

Choosing the right product development ...

In this episode of the Hardtech Podcast, hosts DeAndre Harakas and Grant Chapman sit down with Tiffany Mayo, Director of Product Management for Connected Devices at Yale and August Home. Tiffany opens up about her unique career path, transitioning from marketing into the complex world of hardware product management.

The discussion highlights the specific challenges of building connected devices, such as optimizing battery...

In this episode of the Hardtech Podcast, hosts DeAndre Harakas and Grant Chapman welcome Michael Ragsdale, Founder of Bailout Systems, along with engineer Alex Bowersox. The conversation begins with Michael sharing the company's powerful origin story inspired by the tragic events of Black Sunday and details the strategic pivot toward the arbor market to scale their safety technology.

The group discusses the gritty reality...

In this episode of the Hardtech Podcast, hosts DeAndre Harakas and Grant Chapman welcome Bernie Youngblood, the Director of Partnerships at Hot Logic. The conversation dives deep into Bernie’s entrepreneurial journey and his mission to revolutionize the food service industry. Bernie explains how Hot Logic is challenging the dominance of the microwave by offering a solution that prioritizes nutrition, convenience, and food ...

On this episode of the Hardtech Podcast, hosts DeAndre Harakas and Grant Chapman are joined by Katie Ittenbach and Mike York from SMARI, a premier market research firm. Together, they explore how the landscape of market research has shifted from traditional methods to modern, data-driven strategies that prevent companies from building products nobody wants.

The conversation centers on the danger of relying on assumptions ...

In this episode of the Hardtech Podcast, host DeAndre Harakas and co-host Grant Chapman sit down with Sharlene Jerome from Sensoria Health Inc. to explore the cutting edge of wearable medical technology.

What began as a company focused on high-performance smart socks has evolved into a global leader in Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) and AI-driven healthcare solutions. Sharlene shares the journey of pivoting toward clinic...

In one of the most actionable medtech episodes we’ve ever recorded, The Hardtech Podcast welcomes Geoff Hutchins, VP of Operations at IntuiTap Medical. IntuiTap has created a first-of-its-kind device that uses a force-sensing array to image spinal anatomy and guide lumbar punctures a breakthrough for epidurals, diagnostic LPs, and emergency medicine.

Geoff walks through:

How IntuiTap navigated the De Novo FDA pathway for...

Oculogica is reshaping concussion assessment with EyeBOX, the first and only FDA-cleared, baseline-free eye-tracking device for detecting concussion. In this conversation, CTO Joel Sanderson joins DeAndre and Grant to unpack the full journey from the neurosurgical insight that sparked the technology to the engineering breakthroughs required to commercialize it.

Joel shares how EyeBOX uses 500-fps infrared eye tracking, sp...

When paramedics guess patient weight in the field, lives are at risk. What began as a college project for Tristen Hazlett turned into Hinckley Medical a hard-tech, FDA-regulated medical device company bringing real-time patient-weight measurement to ambulances across the U.S.

In this episode, DeAndre and Grant sit down with Tristen to unpack one of the most fascinating hard-tech origin stories we’ve ever featured. From ea...

In this episode of The Hardtech Podcast, hosts DeAndre Harakas and Grant Chapman are joined by Ashley Phillips, Head of Product at Aura Frames, to discuss how technology and design can foster genuine human connection.

Ashley shares her journey from the world of software to leading product at a company that blends elegant hardware and powerful software to help families stay close without turning users into products. She re...

How do you take an idea built for elite athletes and turn it into a scalable sports tech platform?

In this episode, hosts DeAndre Harakas and Grant Chapman talk with Alex Krause, Director of Hardware at Trace, about the art and complexity of building hardware that learns, adapts, and performs in real-world conditions.

Alex walks through his transition from Apple and The Boring Company to leading a small, scrappy team at ...

Jeff Bennett joins hosts DeAndre Harakas and Grant Chapman on The Hardtech Podcast to talk about the creation and mission of Morari Medical a startup changing the conversation around sexual health through innovation and openness.

In this candid conversation, Jeff shares lessons learned from decades in the medical device industry and how they shaped the development of Morari’s first product, designed to help men overcome p...

In this episode of The Hardtech Podcast, hosts DeAndre Harakas and Grant Chapman welcome David Gil, Managing Partner at VERT Performance, a company pioneering jump and load measurement technology for volleyball athletes.

David shares how VERT’s sports tech platform has become an essential tool for coaches and trainers tracking jump counts, monitoring fatigue, and analyzing landing techniques to reduce injuries. The discus...

CBQ shares his journey from exited founder to building a new venture through the venture studio model, highlighting the importance of customer discovery, hyper-specialization, and building in public. The conversation dives into how software updates transform hardware performance, why listening to customers is the ultimate competitive edge, and how to find product-market fit in crowded industries.

Whether you’re a founder,...