Custom Laser Cut Speakers
For our introductory entrepreneurship class, my team and I decided to build laser cut wood speakers, custom made to order. Our goal was to do highly technical, hands on work and bring a product to market before the semester ended. We only produced one finished set of speakers, but we learned a lot, and went through many iterations.
I was in charge of the electrical design and manufacture of the audio amplifier. Through this experience I learned how to use Eagle, how to route a PCB, and how frustrating surface mount soldering can be. Throughout the semester I learned first hand the difficulties of scaling up a design from one prototype unit, then to ten units, and how to plan for hundreds. While I did develop several hard skills, some of the most overlooked lessons I gained from the course were ones in management. In addition the course got me thinking through the process of studying my target demographic, what their price points for various features were, and really drilling down to discover what users desired.
