The Hardtech Podcast
The Hardtech Podcast pulls back the curtain on the bold ideas, design challenges, and engineering breakthroughs behind today’s most innovative hardware products — and the people who make them happen. From first sketch to final build, we dive deep into the minds shaping the future of physical tech.
Episodes
Most people optimize their workouts and their meals, then spend a third of their life doing nothing intentional about sleep. Eight Sleep built a business on closing that gap, and in this episode Sam Kang, the company's Chief Product Officer, joins DeAndre Harakas and Grant Chapman to talk about what it actually takes to build the Pod, the smart mattress cover that heats and cools your bed.
Eight Sleep has surpassed $500M in Pod sa...
Mobile phones are supercomputers in our pockets, yet turning them into ergonomic gaming machines or daily-use handhelds requires an extraordinary degree of mechanical precision. ohSnap has built a brand around ultra-thin, magnetic, high-utility phone accessories and controllers—products that live on your person 24/7 and must feel flawless every single time you touch them.
In this episode, Head of Engineering Shafae Ali sits ...
What if the gait analysis that normally takes a lab full of motion-capture cameras could ride along on every run? That's the bet behind Alenthia Run. Cooper Boydston, the company's CTO, joins DeAndre and Grant to talk about turning lab-grade running science into a small wearable that sits on your sacrum, reads your biomechanics, and flags the form problems that lead to injury.
It's two conversations in one: how the technology a...
This one is a crossover. Grant sat down with the team behind Venture Declassified, a podcast about what it actually takes to invest as an angel, for a freewheeling conversation about how hard tech companies get evaluated differently from software at the earliest stages. Grant plays the founder in the room and asks three active investors, Jacob Schpok (Elevate Ventures), Mike Kelly (Start Something Ventures), and Ben Pidgeon (Vision...
If you have ever rehabbed a knee, you know the cruel irony: the muscle you need most is the one that wastes away fastest. Articulate Labs is going after that problem with a wearable that turns everyday movement into physical therapy, using electrical muscle stimulation timed to how you actually move. Co-founder and CEO Josh Rabinowitz and hardware and firmware lead Herbie (Larry) Kirn join DeAndre and Grant for one of the most tech...
This one is a deep dive into the unglamorous reality of building a prescription medical device. Kelly Roman, co-founder and CEO of Fisher Wallace, flew in from New York to sit down with Grant Chapman and Drew Westrick (Glassboard's CTO is back in the co-host seat) to talk about brain stimulation for depression, anxiety, and insomnia, and the nearly 17-year road to getting it through the FDA.
Kelly's path is anything but typical...
What's actually happening inside a quantum computer, and why might one end up in your phone someday? On this episode, DeAndre and Grant sit down with Cesar Martinez Delgado, hardware engineering manager at Quantum Computing Inc. (QCI), for a refreshingly plain-English tour of quantum co...
Season 3 is back, and this one's a treat. Justin Sirotin, founder and CEO of OCTO, sat down with DeAndre and Grant, and the three of them were so deep in agency talk before we hit record that we basically lost the first few minutes to it. Justin and Grant have walked the same road from opposite ends: industrial design and engineering, accidental consultancies that outgrew the "real" company, and years of learning the unglamorous ec...
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, and now lea...
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 investors ...
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 lessons on buil...
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 beyond typic...
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 dives deep i...
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 partner: ...
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 life and...
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 of a dec...
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 saf...
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 rather th...
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 clinical impact...
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 a ...
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