Diane Palme MSME

Most folks engage with us early in their product development process. Much of the time, we are a great fit for the manufacturing but NOT the product development. Naturally, we look to lean on our network and make introductions to product development firms. The innovators inevitably ask us -- How do we choose the right Product Development firm for our project? (that will be another post for another day. go talk to 3-5 firms, in different places, at different sizes, and see who you like) The NEXT question folks ask is -- How much will this cost? ($100,000 - $1,000,000 is a canned answer) Ok, really though, hourly rates range from $75 to $500+, why the disparity—and how do you decide what’s right for you? Again, SUPER high level. Every project is different. BUT, at a glance... Here’s a quick breakdown: 1️⃣ Hourly Rates Vary by Expertise: Small firms/freelancers: $75–$150/hour Mid-sized firms: $150–$300/hour Large, specialized firms: $300–$500+/hour The differences are often due to experience, location, tools, and risk management. I am also seeing more firms do away with hourly and swap to a monthly retainer or per-project / per-stage fee structure. 2️⃣ How to Decide What Fits Your Needs: Low Budget (<$50k): Startups and simple designs? Freelancers or small firms can work great. Mid-Range Budget ($50k–$150k): For balancing expertise and cost, mid-sized firms are ideal. High Budget ($150k+): Complex, regulated projects? You’ll need a full-service partner. 3️⃣ Find Your Perfect Match: Define your goals: What stage are you in—ideation, prototyping, or scaling? Evaluate portfolios: Look for firms with experience in your product’s niche. Start small: Test with a limited-scope project before committing to the full journey. Maybe toe in the water with a feasibility study. 4️⃣ Domestic vs. Overseas Firms: USA-Based Firms: Offer closer collaboration, reduced communication gaps, and a better understanding of local compliance requirements. Ideal for high-touch projects or when speed to market is critical. Overseas Firms: Typically more cost-effective but may involve longer lead times, language barriers, or timezone challenges. Best suited for well-defined projects with clear deliverables. 💡 Pro Tip: Don’t overlook mid-sized firms for their mix of efficiency and expertise, especially for scaling production or optimizing designs for manufacturing. What questions do you wish you could ask a PD firm? I am toying with the idea of an interview series... Throw some questions in the comments that you'd like to have answered by subject-matter experts.

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"You can’t be truly successful without being true to yourself." I had the pleasure of hearing Kara Swisher speak at the Dean’s Speaker Series at University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business a couple weeks ago, and this quote really stuck with me. Kara was incredibly candid about her journey covering the tech world for decades, but it was her advice on authenticity that truly hit home. After the event, I asked her about her thoughts on navigating the entrepreneurship space as a founder from an underrepresented background. I’ve often found myself code-switching or "cosplaying" to fit into certain professional spaces, and I’ve been torn about whether that’s necessary in the exclusive world of venture-backed startups. Kara’s response? Focus on building the best product and staying true to the mission that drives you. That advice resonated deeply, especially as I work on building a product that addresses some of the hardest and most meaningful problems in healthcare and nutrition—areas that have personal significance for me. If you're as passionate about advancing health and nutrition through AI as I am, or if you’re building in these spaces, let’s connect. I’d love to continue this conversation and explore how we can make real impact together. #Entrepreneurship #Authenticity #HealthcareInnovation #AI #NutritionTech #FounderLife

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Mado Dynamic is my seventh tech startup and one question people always ask, no matter the company, the technology, or my specific role, is “What do I do?”. My answer is always the same: “Whatever it takes for us to deliver a great product or service to our customers.” As far back as my first startup days, I’ve lived a growth mindset (even before that was a term). What is a growth mindset, you might ask? In order to solve complex problems (which will undoubtedly arise) you need to immerse yourself in all aspects of a product or service’s development: software, hardware, industrial design, product design, user interface, manufacturing, packaging, OOBE, marketing, and storytelling. In my newest journey with Mado Dynamic, I’ve already experienced all of these things including the somewhat unexpected joy of 3D printing. Thanks Bambu Lab for your amazing printers (I have five now) and check out below how we are using these powerful printers to bring climate-friendly, energy-efficient, automated window shades recharged by solar power to market for consumers in early 2025. #MadoDynamic #GrowthMindset #Software #Hardware, #IndustrialDesign #ProductDesign #UserInterface #Manufacturing #Packaging #OOBE #Marketing #StoryTelling #3DPrinting

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I recently realized the most valuable aspect of #opensource software to me personally: It's that you can fix problems yourself. When I think back of the unsolved problems I've had over the years, they were all caused by proprietary software. Tech support is a time-consuming frustrating experience, and usually a dead end too. For open-source software I don't need tech support. The answers are all in the code. And I can save others some headache by contributing back. What do you think is the most valuable aspect of open-source software?

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Hot Off the Press - Over on SpaceNews journalist Jeff Foust penned a piece about CRV's newest company, Apex - Spacecraft Manufacturing. Get more information about the business Ian Cinnamon, Maximilian Benassi and the team are building by checking out today's article. #VC #venturecapital #funding #space #satellite

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Battery Ventures released their State of Open Cloud report last week. Really cool (and humbling!) to see Ravenna featured in the report alongside industry innovators ... including my other favorite Seattle startup Clarify - I see you Patrick Thompson Austin Hay Ondrej Hrebicek ;). The report analyzes the current AI market "supercycle," and projects a whopping $4 trillion in market value up for grabs 🤯. The point that caught my attention in the report - the emphasis on product design as a "critical force driving fast adoption and accelerating time to value" in AI-powered solutions. I couldn't agree more with this point. At Ravenna, we place a ridiculous emphasis on great product and user experience design as we believe they are essential to driving AI product adoption. Huge 🙏 to the Battery Ventures team for including Ravenna in the report! Link to the report in the comments below.   #Cloud #AI #Innovation #Enterprise #Tech #ITSM #ESM

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3 things that surprised me about my first Waymo ride. Waymo’s self-driving taxis are running in 4 US cities and growing fast, and after trying one in SF, a few things really stood out, none of which were what I expected. 1) When I opened the app, the line “world’s most trusted driver” popped up. Bold, but given how these models work, it’s kind of true. The AI has driven more miles than any human could in multiple lifetimes, getting better with each trip, while human drivers hit a ceiling and then decline. 2) My first random thought, how long will this thing wait before it gets annoyed and drives away? I wondered how much time I could spend taking photos before it would “get impatient.” I know, ridiculous. Even as someone deep in AI, I still kinda expected it to behave like a human driver! 3) My next thought, do I tip the AI? Being in the US for a few days, I was in tipping mode, trying to figure out when it’s appropriate and when I’m just getting ripped off by those sneaky screen prompts in shops. Taxis are usually tipped, but what about here? Would the AI ask for a tip? And if so, who’d get it? The developers? Maintenance crew? (Yep, the car still needs humans to clean it and change the tyres.) Obviously, that didn’t happen, but the thought was there. Imagine the headlines if Google (Waymo’s parent company) tried pulling that off. --- When I showed photos and videos, friends and family asked the same questions: - Did it feel safe? - Did you really trust it with your life? - Did anything weird happen? - So, no awkward small talk or bad music? Yes, I felt totally safe. The system let me know there were cameras, but no mics recording. The screens kept me informed about every move, and the ride was incredibly smooth, no sudden braking or jerks. And no awkward conversations! But I wouldn’t be surprised if they introduce some sort of AI chatbot for small talk to make it more mainstream. I could even pick my own music. I selected jazz, got Miles Davis. Final thoughts: 10/10. The future is here. PS: I keep seeing Tesla drivers with their hands off the wheel. Tesla’s self-driving tech is up there with Waymo's. PS2: I told people about my Waymo experience at lunch during an AI conference. 5 out of 5 had not tried it. All SF residents. #waymo #ai #robotics #sf #selfdriving

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In the earliest stages, startups have to balance two needs: capital to build now, and the focus to create the product that will bring their vision to life. We experienced this journey at Prewitt Ridge, and I had the opportunity to share parts of our story last week at AIAA ASCEND, and I wanted to share some of the highlights here, as well as the video clip captured by my teammate York Zhang! Steve Massey and I incorporated Prewitt Ridge in Dec 2019 and hit the ground running in 2020. Building on our experience as engineers working at SpaceX and Slingshot Aerospace, we set out to take a picks-and-shovels approach to build digital engineering software tooling for engineers like us, who are working at the companies out there using the picks and shovels, here on Earth and soon in space. We quickly found that there were a host of resources available to us. We received initial funding through the SBIR/STTR program, an initiative from the US government to provide early-stage technology funding for small businesses. With two STTR awards and a great university partner at UNM, we began to execute on our product vision. Simultaneously, we received phenomenal support from the Techstars Space Accelerator program. This accelerator helped us focus on the tradeoffs of bootstrapped growth through SBIR/STTR vs traditional fundraising. SBIR/STTR are fantastic sources of capital, providing a partnership that helps small businesses build through non-dilutive funding. But it’s important to remember that these opportunities are focused on specific topics and non-recurring. As a business, it's important to be disciplined on aligning the SBIR/STTR opportunities with your core product features and strategies to ensure they don't impede your teams execution. We made the decision to balance both SBIR/STTR with growth via venture capital. We successfully raised a round of funding, led by Squadra Ventures with participation from Stage Venture Partners, Aurelia Foundry, Wonder Ventures, Haystack, Acequia Capital, Techstars and GC&H We’ve had a wonderful experience working with the VC community, highlighted by the hands-on approach and national security expertise of Squadra Ventures. Going forward, we’ll continue to consider both types of funding. These resources have provided numerous connections to government and industry leaders, and in turn they have helped to focus our tool offering and capabilities. Our journey shows the importance of another balance that startups must strike: reducing risk and optimizing opportunities. Thanks to Techstars, AIAA ASCEND and all of the panelists for a great conversation! If you’re interested in discussing solutions for digital engineering, get in touch! #startups #aerospace #AIAAASCEND

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"We’re now completely sold out in the US until mid-2027"- Topher Haddad and remaining tasking availability is dwindling globally: https://albedo.com/reserve What is Albedo doing again?? We build and operate satellites that co-collect 10 cm/pixel visible imagery with 2 m/pixel thermal (LWIR) imagery. Native GSDs. ^ resolution comparable to that of imagery collected by planes, but we're doing it from space 🙃 We couldn’t be more excited about our initial customers and are stoked to see who all snags the rest of our remaining capacity. Be among the first commercial end users EVER to have access to this unprecedented dataset. Cheers! https://lnkd.in/gtBuW68c

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Team San Diego! I though you may find this as surprising as I did...we are not alone. Read this quick article from Jon Prentice's (Silicon Valley Bank) interview with with James Newell (Voyager Capital), published in GeekWire on Seattle's innovation ecosystem....they lament the SAME issues as we do in San Diego: * Lack of angel investors, (Especially, it calls out, given the local giant tech co's) * "We need low-conviction check writers." * Lack of "cachet associated with being an angel investor" - We have similar efforts (as described in the article) to drum up angel activity: NuFund Venture Group and, Interlock Capital (read the article and you'll see why the Interlock effort is tops as relates to "paying back into the ecosystem") Connect.org strives to 'connect' innovative companies with investors of all types (angel, VC, PE...) - just see "Innovation Day". Their Springboard program provides another great way for experienced entrepreneurs to give back through mentorship...as for the companies going through Springboard: "Ask for advice, and you often get $$" Your thoughts on the article or San Diego innovation ecosystem? https://lnkd.in/gfwq6mfq

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Great to see Google supporting innovation from Fervo Energy via an innovative clean energy purchase agreement with NV Energy. I expect to see an explosion of agreements like this as AI driven energy consumption skyrockets and companies struggle to find enough power (clean or not!). This intersection of AI, energy, grid resilience and clean power is creating huge opportunities for innovative startups to build global scale ups in thre coming years. And at Smart Society Ventures - we’re excited about the potential! https://lnkd.in/efdc3tth

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Roll-up strategies are a way to create a competitive moat for hardware-first companies, but they’re not the *only* way. What are some others?

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I spent over half a decade working with driverless cars. I see massive potential for these vehicles to reshape NYC real estate. Waymo recently raised $5.6 billion in a Series C round led by Alphabet and supported by many other leading companies. Meaning the future of this technology feels closer than ever. These are the biggest Opportunities & Challenges Driverless cars present in the NYC market: 1. Reduced need for parking could free up valuable urban space, converting parking lots into housing, retail, or green areas. 2. Easier commutes may drive up outer borough property values, balancing Manhattan and other more densely populated areas of the City 3. NYC’s notorious traffic, pushback from unions on automation, unpredictable weather, and high foot traffic require advanced tech and regulatory adaptation. The next steps will be crucial as real estate, tech, and policy leaders navigate how driverless cars might reimagine our cities. How do you think driverless tech will impact real estate in NYC? P.S This is me in a driverless car back in 2017

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Having a Cars and Capital event tomorrow in Southern California with Oren Klaff. If you want to join message me. https://lnkd.in/gDQ4D39u Oren Klaff Bridger Pennington #InvestorEvent #FamilyOffice #InvestmentOpportunity #CarlsbadEvent #PrivateEquity #WealthManagement #InvestmentConference #CapitalRaising #NetworkingEvent #IndustryLeaders #FinancialGrowth #InvestorsMeetup #WealthBuilding #BusinessGrowth #InvestmentForum

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Congrats team Lodestar Space to closing this £2.5M pre seed round! Off to the (new space) races. At Inflection.xyz we are committed to pioneer sovereign computation as the biggest leverage for human progress. The space economy will help us provide valuable services from imagery and connectivity on earth all the way to in space semiconductor production, energy harnessing, regulating the earths climate and becoming an interplanetary species in the long run. Object manipulation is a very present bottleneck for repair, refuelling and other services. As opposed to tele operated robots that come with high latency, connectivity issues, human failure and high costs Lodestar Space is taking a different approach. By leveraging new materials, additive manufacturing and advancements in AI and in-space „edge“ compute capabilities (see our portfolio Cryptosat) they enable autonomous robotics operating in real time and far beyond human precision. Based on their space specific data set - robots and objects behave very differently at 0 gravity, extreme light conditions and temperatures - new applications and interfaces become possible. Data network effects are expected to accelerate development across verticals. Read more about the company’s value propositions, team and vision on https://www.lodestar.space Reach out if you see room for collaboration!

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Unique role in a unique company! *Board Chair position* for one of the leading teams in generative machine learning committed to designing proteins - https://www.dreamfold.ai/ If that's you or someone you know - please reach out! About the Company: * DreamFold’s mission is to find treatments for severe, life-threatening diseases.  * DreamFold originated from the labs of renowned AI experts Yoshua Bengio (Turing Award winner) and Michael Bronstein (co-founder & DeepMind professor at Oxford).  * DreamFold has established a strong publication record: FoldFlow and  FoldFlow-2 are state-of-the-art models for protein structure design.  * With initial funding from top-tier deep tech investors, DreamFold is now preparing for a funding round it aims to close in Q3 2025. Objective: Work closely with the founding team and investors to help position DreamFold as a leading company in generative protein design. Bring expertise, insight, and capabilities to build a biotech company with an innovative modality and platform. Year 1: Prepare DreamFold for fundraising by supporting the CEO and team in fine-tuning the value proposition.  Year 2: Complete the Series A funding round to help scale DreamFold and establish two or more significant partnerships. In addition to the usual responsibilities of a Chair of the Board, the candidate will:  * Work with the founding team and investors to establish and articulate a clear, investable vision, strategic roadmap, and plan for sustainable growth.  * Take a leading role in promoting DreamFold’s assets, people, and technologies to the stakeholder community (e.g., biopharma, investors).  * Help develop the skills and competency base by mentoring and recruiting the initial advisory board. Attributes: The founding DreamFold team and investors are ambitious and strongly believe they can contribute to developing new treatments. Chair candidates should possess the following attributes:  * Ideally, the candidate has been a founder of a biotech company that scaled through multiple rounds of funding and deployed innovative technologies in biologics or novel advanced modalities to the clinic.  * Has personally led a company through value-enhancing milestones and returned value to shareholders through a meaningful liquidity event.  * Enthusiastic about the potential of generative algorithms in protein/drug design and willing to collaborate closely with the technical team.  * Able to commit to one day a week initially. #ai #genai #board #recruiting #biotech #pharma

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If you missed key insights from Matt McIlwain(Madrona) at Seattle Venture Day I took some time to summarize a few of the key points! How should small startups or emerging companies think about partnering with enterprises? Enterprises are very motivated to have better solutions, Early stage startups have to think differently and think outside the existing structure silos that the current SaaS applications represent, think outside the generally structured data that lives in databases. Think more about data lakes and unstructured data and crossflows, flows that live across current Saas and structure application. Matt thinks its in the crossflows with the differently structured data that’s where some of the big breakthroughs are going to come with breaking into working with big enterprises at the agentic layer. Overlaps between the current AI boom and the .com boom in Seattle? Less GTM talent than Engineering talent here in Seattle. A lot of corporate capital here, Microsoft and Amazon market cap is over 5T today so a lot of the experts that helped build these companies and worked on cloud technologies, applied AI, Robotics, etc.. have helped grow the startup ecosystem here in Seattle. What is Matts framework for selection companies that are investable in this AI boom? The chip layer is saturated with capital from big cloud and harder to return capital. Matt thinks the agentic and enabling layer there will be a lot more winners. Functional and domain specific solutions are great – Gradial is an example on the marketing side. Madrona wants to see founders who infatuated with the problem they see and are better suited to solve that problem than anyone else. Matts thoughts on the M&A and IPO markets? IPO markets have pretty much stayed soft this year, but M&A is going to pick up a good bit.  There is pressure on the Mag 7 and larger companies from the FTC but a lot more happening in the middle market like Atlassian and Docusign, etcc. Companies that are between 20b and 100b in market cap have to figure out how to increase their market position/AI talent through acquisitions. PE is also hungry to put their capital to work and very aggressive at putting their capital to work. Matt believes he will see VC groups getting bought up by PE groups in different forms. They may allow VCs and founders to keep some of their capital and to re-up in some of those deals. What should founders look for from investors? Matt believes having a consortium of investors is largely a good thing and having great early investors are important in helping you grow. It’s also valuable to have someone who is your lead champion and will roll up their sleeves with you every week. Madrona loves founders who are coachable but not too coachable – If the investor has all the best ideas something is not right. The founder should be leading the way! Pablo Casilimas Justis Mendez OneSixOne Ventures

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Big news, Friends! 🎉🎉 I’m thrilled to announce the launch of Chapter Two Consulting, along with my longtime friends and partners Ray Zambroski, Phillip Grove, and Don Fleming.  These guys are Seattle tech veterans, with long track records of helping numerous Seattle startups and fast scalers build business-critical software and great engineering teams. Chapter Two Consulting is a culmination of decades of building trusted relationships, hard-won experience (and a few hard lessons), and great admiration for those who get up every morning and enter the arena. I’ve worked with some of you for many, many years.  Some measured in decades!  It’s been my absolute pleasure and honor; I look forward to many more. Ready to write the next chapter in your story?  Don’t go it alone; we’re here to help! Dan Sr. Partner and Co-founder, Chapter Two Consulting https://chapter2team.com ------------------- Announcing the Launch of Chapter Two Consulting: Your Engineering Powerhouse. At Chapter Two, we believe engineers are the architects of innovation—building the products, technologies, and infrastructures that shape our future. With roots in the Pacific Northwest’s hub of creativity, and deep technical prowess, we’re here to connect bold thinkers with the resources, talent, and strategy they need to make a lasting impact. Seattle’s engineering community is our home. From early-stage startups to scaling enterprises, we recognize the challenges engineering leaders face when assembling teams, launching breakthrough technologies, and scaling with purpose. We’ve built Chapter Two to empower innovators with a tailored recruitment and consulting service designed specifically to address these kinds of problems. Our team brings deep expertise across technical disciplines and industries, enabling us to align your organization’s vision with the right talent and strategies. Whether you’re solving critical technical challenges, refining your product roadmap or scaling an R&D team, we’re your partner every step of the way. We work flexibly and collaboratively to support your growth, offering: - Consulting engagements that tackle immediate challenges while building frameworks for long-term success. - - Engineering recruitment to match you with exceptional talent across software, hardware, and interdisciplinary domains - - Long term partnership for emerging technical leaders navigating complex and changing team growth requirements. At Chapter Two, we’re not just recruiters or consultants—we’re a part of your team. We’re inspired by the builders and innovators who call Seattle home, and we’re dedicated to helping you engineer your vision into reality. Let’s connect and explore how we can drive your success together.

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