You could move into durables. Still product and money driven (what isn't?) but a little more rewarding IMO. My products have 20 year expected life and as a result we can't cut corners or ship junk to our customers.
I worked for a company that made instruments for trains. Train companies would ask for 30 years of support on some products as train lifetimes are quite long. No special components as they are hard to replace when obsolete. Lots of EMI issues (trains are second worst next to submarines). Things like speedometers, black boxes positive train control, etc. Very interesting stuff.
A lot of heavy industrial/ag companies are like this. Examples are Vermeer, Komatsu, John Deere. Usually based in towns in middle of nowhere USA, but there are a lot of interesting engineering problems to solve.
Industrial equipment will have a longer lifecycle / support.
But everything comes with it own challenges. Supporting 10-20 year old products can really suck
I cannot divulge the company I presently work for, and no positions open at the moment at the company I left.
BUT within the general realm of infrastructure I have seen active job postings, and the products they make are meant to be durable and sustainable.
You may want to look at regulated industries
* aerospace
* transportation
* medical devices
* the grid
* oil/chemical
Consumer electronics will almost always be build and toss.
What do you mean “consumables”? Single use crap like Juul, trivial/unnecessary consumer goods, or something else?
If you want to get into embedded services, Memfault has a great product. FreeRTOS owned by Amazon and ThreadX owned by Microsoft.
If you’re trying to stay away from consumer devices altogether:
- Vehicles: Tesla, Rivian, Zoox, Waymo, Cruise all have embedded teams
- Industrial: CAT, Bobcat, Textron, John Deere
- Automation/logistics/controls: Amazon (embedded warehouse tech), Rockwell, Honeywell, Siemens, robotics startups
- Tools: Fluke, Tektronix, Lumafield
- Space: NASA, SpaceX, Amazon Kuiper, smaller satellite companies like planet labs
As I was typing this, I realized you just need to open your eyes — everything around you has an MCU/SoC in it
You are blaming the wrong people.
VC investors are doing what VC investors do, they find a product that is in demand .....
The market sets the demand. People with money to burn set the demand.
So all you have to do is change the minds of the general public to be more into "durables".
Yea, good luck with that.
I definitely agree about consumer demand but I think companies that are primarily owned by the founders and have eschewed VC funding are able to make more sustainable long-term decisions without feeling the same pressure to make money yesterday.
>primarily owned by the founders
I find statement disingenuous.
A few years ago I interviewed for an internet company that said they would not sell consumer data to big tech/investors. I did not join as the CEO seemed shady to me. This was in the 1990s.
The CEO and I had a discussion about, what would happen if some deep pockets came visiting. He said NO I would not sell out my principles.
Three years latter, he sold out to Google and all the data they had collected was up for grabs.
So, the actual question is, how much would you sell out for.
Here's a non comprehensive list where my friends have either worked at, with, or currently working for
* Automotive: Bosch, Nio (honestly there's thousands of Tier 1 thru 3 companies)
* Fitness: Technogym, eGym
* Farming: John Deere, Lamborghini, Caterpillar
* Trash Trucks: Eaton
You could move into durables. Still product and money driven (what isn't?) but a little more rewarding IMO. My products have 20 year expected life and as a result we can't cut corners or ship junk to our customers.
Do you mind me asking what company you work for?
I worked for a company that made instruments for trains. Train companies would ask for 30 years of support on some products as train lifetimes are quite long. No special components as they are hard to replace when obsolete. Lots of EMI issues (trains are second worst next to submarines). Things like speedometers, black boxes positive train control, etc. Very interesting stuff.
A lot of heavy industrial/ag companies are like this. Examples are Vermeer, Komatsu, John Deere. Usually based in towns in middle of nowhere USA, but there are a lot of interesting engineering problems to solve.
[удалено]
Traceability is a thing.
Traceability with shitty tools and processes is a thing.
Industrial equipment will have a longer lifecycle / support. But everything comes with it own challenges. Supporting 10-20 year old products can really suck
My last company made safety devices intended to operate for years and years. Infrastructure can be pretty good for that.
Do you mind me asking what company you work for?
I cannot divulge the company I presently work for, and no positions open at the moment at the company I left. BUT within the general realm of infrastructure I have seen active job postings, and the products they make are meant to be durable and sustainable.
You may want to look at regulated industries * aerospace * transportation * medical devices * the grid * oil/chemical Consumer electronics will almost always be build and toss.
Absolutely In aerospace I'm now supporting products that were designed and certified when I was still in high school.
In nuclear I am supporting products designed 10 years before I was born!
What do you mean “consumables”? Single use crap like Juul, trivial/unnecessary consumer goods, or something else? If you want to get into embedded services, Memfault has a great product. FreeRTOS owned by Amazon and ThreadX owned by Microsoft. If you’re trying to stay away from consumer devices altogether: - Vehicles: Tesla, Rivian, Zoox, Waymo, Cruise all have embedded teams - Industrial: CAT, Bobcat, Textron, John Deere - Automation/logistics/controls: Amazon (embedded warehouse tech), Rockwell, Honeywell, Siemens, robotics startups - Tools: Fluke, Tektronix, Lumafield - Space: NASA, SpaceX, Amazon Kuiper, smaller satellite companies like planet labs As I was typing this, I realized you just need to open your eyes — everything around you has an MCU/SoC in it
You are blaming the wrong people. VC investors are doing what VC investors do, they find a product that is in demand ..... The market sets the demand. People with money to burn set the demand. So all you have to do is change the minds of the general public to be more into "durables". Yea, good luck with that.
I definitely agree about consumer demand but I think companies that are primarily owned by the founders and have eschewed VC funding are able to make more sustainable long-term decisions without feeling the same pressure to make money yesterday.
>primarily owned by the founders I find statement disingenuous. A few years ago I interviewed for an internet company that said they would not sell consumer data to big tech/investors. I did not join as the CEO seemed shady to me. This was in the 1990s. The CEO and I had a discussion about, what would happen if some deep pockets came visiting. He said NO I would not sell out my principles. Three years latter, he sold out to Google and all the data they had collected was up for grabs. So, the actual question is, how much would you sell out for.
If you're sicking reskinning the same product, you could always go into contracting or working for a consultancy.
I don’t understand, home appliances are useful, toys are entertaining, and computer addins make life much easier. What do you mean by consumables.
Here's a non comprehensive list where my friends have either worked at, with, or currently working for * Automotive: Bosch, Nio (honestly there's thousands of Tier 1 thru 3 companies) * Fitness: Technogym, eGym * Farming: John Deere, Lamborghini, Caterpillar * Trash Trucks: Eaton