Latest / Hardware Startups with Fexingo: Devices, Robotics, and Manufacturing Tech Companies / How Hardware Startups Use Open Source Hardware to Accelerate Development
Transcript
- Lucas: So you're building a hardware startup, and you need a control board for your device. You could spend six months and fifty thousand dollars designing your own from scratch — or you could grab an Arduino, load on some open-source firmware, and have a working prototype next week. That's the core promise of open-source hardware. Luna: And it's not just Arduinos. There are entire ecosystems around things like the Raspberry Pi, the RepRap 3D printer project, and dozens of open-source drone frames. The question is whether that strategy works beyond prototyping — can you actually build a commercial product on an open-source foundation? Lucas: That's exactly the tension we want to explore today. Because the answer, as you'd expect, is 'it depends.' But there are some really instructive examples, and the most famous one has to be Prusa Research. Luna: Prusa Research — the 3D printer company. They started as a contributor to the RepRap project, and now they're one of the biggest desktop 3D printer manufacturers on the planet. I think they ship tens of thousands of units a year. Lucas: Yeah, founder Josef Prusa joined the RepRap project in 2009, released his own design — the Prusa Mendel — and then iterated in the open for years. The key decision he made was to keep his core printer designs open-source even as the company grew. That gave them incredible community validation and free beta testing from thousands of users. Luna: But I assume they had to make money somehow. How do you sell something that anyone can theoretically build from plans? Lucas: That's the classic business model question for open-source hardware. Prusa's answer was to offer a high-quality, pre-assembled kit with excellent customer support and continuous improvements. The open-source plans became a marketing tool — they lowered the barrier for people to trust the design. Actually, the Open Source Hardware Association — o s h w a — estimates that the sector now generates over a billion dollars annually in direct sales. Luna: Right, so the open-source nature didn't hurt sales; it actually drove them. People could see the design, remix it, and then decide the commercial version was worth paying for. Lucas: And that's a pattern we see across hardware. When you open-source your design, you're not just giving away IP — you're creating an ecosystem of users who become co-developers and evangelists. For a cash-strapped startup, that can be worth its weight in gold. But there are real risks around licensing and control. Luna: Yeah, speaking of licensing — it's not quite as simple as slapping a 'creative commons' sticker on your CAD files. There are specific open-source hardware licenses, like the CERN Open Hardware License, that define how others can use and modify your designs. Startups need to understand those before they open-source anything. Lucas: Absolutely. And that's a good place to step back and talk about something else we care about. This show is a business podcast that operators and builders actually find useful because we don't clutter it with ads or sponsored content. We keep it independent and focused on the stuff that matters for people building real products. If you find value in these conversations and want to help us keep them ad-free, you can support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That kind of support is what lets us stay focused on the content rather than finding sponsors. Okay, back to licensing. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way listeners can help. So, Lucas, what's the first thing a hardware startup should know about open-source hardware licenses? Lucas: First off, there's a distinction between 'open source' and 'public domain.' Open-source hardware licenses typically require that anyone who builds on your design also shares their improvements under the same license — that's 'copyleft.' The CERN license has a 'strongly reciprocal' version, meaning any modifications must stay open. That's great for community building, but it can scare off investors who worry about losing proprietary advantages. Luna: So you have to pick your license based on your business goals. If you want maximum adoption, you might use a permissive license like the BSD for hardware. But if you want to prevent competitors from closing off your work, you go with a reciprocal license. Lucas: Right. And it's not just about licenses. There's a practical concern: using open-source components often means relying on third-party supply chains. That Arduino board comes from a specific manufacturer. If they hit a shortage or decide to discontinue the product, you're stuck. So you need a plan for supply chain risk. Luna: That's a lesson some startups learned the hard way during the chip shortage a few years ago. If your entire product depends on a single open-source module, you have no alternative if that module becomes unavailable. Lucas: Exactly. That's why many successful open-source hardware companies — like Adafruit or SparkFun — design their own boards that are pin-compatible with the open-source standard but use different components. They maintain the open-source ecosystem but control their supply chain. It's a hybrid approach. Luna: So the takeaway for a startup founder is: start with open-source hardware to prototype fast and validate your market, but as you scale, evaluate whether you need to bring key components in-house to protect your supply chain and margins. Lucas: And that's exactly what Prusa did. Their early printers used a lot of off-the-shelf electronics, but over time they developed custom boards and firmware. Their latest printer, the Prusa MK4, is still open-source at the firmware level, but the motherboard is proprietary. They found a balance. Luna: Another angle is certification. If you use an open-source board that's not FCC or CE certified, you might have to certify the entire system yourself. That can be surprisingly expensive. But some open-source projects now offer pre-certified modules, which can save you months. Lucas: Yeah, the Arduino Portenta family, for example, comes with industrial certifications. So you can incorporate that into your product and inherit its certification — as long as you don't modify the module in ways that affect emissions. That's a huge advantage for hardware startups. Luna: And let's not forget the community aspect. When you open-source your product, you get issue reports, pull requests, and design improvements from people who are often smarter than your whole engineering team. It's like having a distributed R&D department. Lucas: That community can also become your first customer base. Look at the Prusa i3 — it was one of the most popular 3D printer designs in the RepRap community, and when Prusa started selling kits, they already had a built-in audience of people who loved the design. That's a marketing advantage you can't buy. Luna: But there can be downsides. If you open-source your design, competitors in low-cost regions can clone it and sell for much less. Prusa deals with that — there are knockoff Prusa printers all over AliExpress. So you need a moat beyond just the design. Lucas: Their moat is brand trust, quality control, and after-sales support. The original Prusa printers have a better user experience, reliable parts, and active community forums moderated by the company. That's hard to clone. Also, they continuously innovate, so the open-source design is always a generation behind their latest commercial product. Luna: So it's a strategic decision: keep your core design open, but add value on top — like software, support, or custom firmware. That way, you get the best of both worlds. Lucas: Exactly. And one more thing: the Open Source Hardware Association offers certification. If you're going open-source, getting OSHWA certification is a good way to signal legitimacy. It's like the open-source equivalent of a UL mark. Luna: Alright, so for our listeners who are building hardware today: start by identifying which parts of your product are commodity and which are your secret sauce. Open-source the commodity bits to save time and money, and keep the secret sauce proprietary. Lucas: That's a solid rule of thumb. And if you're unsure, just look at the Arduino story — it started as an open-source project at an Italian design school, and now it's in millions of products. Open-source hardware can be a launchpad, not a limitation. Luna: Next time you're starting a new design, ask yourself: has someone already solved this problem and shared the solution? If yes, you might be able to stand on their shoulders. Lucas: And if you want to stand on our shoulders and keep this show ad-free, you know where to find us — but regardless, thanks for listening and we'll catch you next episode.