Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Inside Tony Hsieh's Quiet Plan To Bankroll Hardware Startups

Posted by samzenpus on from the rise-of-the-machines dept.

curtwoodward writes "Tony Hsieh made a fortune turning Zappos into a customer service-obsessed online shoe store. But as an investor, his newest obsession is ... robots? Welcome to the hardware boom, where startups making connected gadgets, smart vehicles, and drones are catching investors' eyes. A combination of cheaper components and crowdfunded pre-orders are behind the surge. But as the woman running Hsieh's hardware investments can tell you, getting those grand plans actually built overseas is the hard part."

2 of 40 comments (clear)

  1. So why not build them in the US, then? by WilliamGeorge · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "But as the woman running Hsieh's hardware investments can tell you, getting those grand plans actually built overseas is the hard part."

    So lets build them here (the US, for this writer) instead of overseas? Or if someone in Germany comes up with a startup idea, build it there. Why must everything be outsourced? Keep production local with design and management for faster communication, better quality, and better paying jobs in your area!

    --
    William George
    1. Re:So why not build them in the US, then? by boristdog · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I work for a semiconductor factory in the US. We have factories in Japan, China, Taiwan and Malaysia as well.
      Which one actually makes the lowest cost and highest quality parts? The one in the US.

      Yes, the average salaries are far lower in most of the other countries. But their quality is crap and we have to fly our engineers over there to supervise their engineers all the time. Innovations and changes only come from the US factory. The rest are content to do it the way they always have and fight us on making any change. It's a cultural thing, really.

      If we had been as resistant to change here in the US we would have closed down a decade ago and all our manufacturing would be overseas. But we're pretty dynamic and we change the way we do things fairly regularly to stay efficient.