Dangerous Prototypes FAQWhat we do

How we startedWhy open source?

Why open development?Why free PCBs?Why fulfillment?Lessons learned

What we do Design electronic tools and toys

Copies available from Seeed Studio Batches of 100-500

Education: tutorials and how-tos Electronics and business how-tos

Why open source?

All project files are free to download and use

Education and innovation

Community contributes features and fixes

How we started How-tos at

Instructables Writer at DIY Life

and Hack a Day blogs

Bus Pirate sale with Seeed Studio

Started Dangerous Prototypes

Our setup Blog -

announcements, news (WordPress)

Forum - user help, development (phpBB3)

Wiki - documentation (MediaWiki)

SVN - source code

Where are we now? 100 projects

designed 30 projects in

production Distributors world

wide 3 full time, 2 part

time team members 2 paid contributors

Why open development?

Design and develop projects publiclyLike open source software

Early user feedback Outside evaluation

Free expertiseDocument development

Small revisions, you have to design and support it

Why free PCBs?

We get 10 PCBs, give away 5 free

Fun! Crowd source

testing and verification

Publicity

Why fulfillment?

We're good at hardware design and support

Seeed Studio is good at hardware manufacturing and shipping

We focus on our best quality

Lessons learned

Lessons from our experience and our friends in the open hardware business

Allow commercial use Open source

means any use Allow others to

profit from your project

Cloning is uncommon, discouraged

Free publicity and exposure

Don't buy a pick and place!

It's a cool machine! You don't need it! A second business 6 months learning Many small and

medium hardware designers regret it

Image: Adafruit Industries

Be visible How-tos and

contests for publicity

Go to Maker Faires and Hacker Spaces

Video is the online Maker Faire

Show what you already do!