Pages of the eXalt Aircraft strategic development plan written by ONMOTIO: market, distribution channels and scenarios

    [ Services · Product strategy ]

    Hardware product strategy,
    settled before you spend.

    Who it is for, what it must do, what it may cost to make: written as numbers a designer and an engineer can work to, before the money goes into design and engineering.

    Product strategy is the work that happens before the drawings. We write the brief, set the phases and the decision point at the end of each one, and prepare the material that raises the money: the plan, the renders, the numbers behind them.

    Since 2017: 150+ projects and 50+ products shipped. A 103-page strategic plan pitched to private investors, behind about US$1.2M in government funding.

    Product brief

    1. 01Who it is for“People with a lawn”A professional gardener, a family with children, a young couple
    2. 02What it must do“Last long enough”30 to 45 minutes a charge, a cut from 0.5 to 3 inches
    3. 03Who it must fit“Comfortable for anyone”A handle from 32.9 to 44.4 inches, 1st percentile woman to 99th percentile man
    4. 04What it may cost“Affordable”A retail price, then the unit cost the factory has to meet
    5. 05Where it sells“Everywhere, eventually”Named markets and their tests: FCC in the US, CE in Europe

    01 to 03: the Photonix brief, 2021. 04 and 05: what every brief we write fixes.

    A brief takes about 3 weeks and costs $250 to $1,000. Every decision after it is measured against it.The six decisions ↓

    [ The short answer ]

    What is product strategy
    for a hardware product?

    Product strategy settles the decisions every later step is measured against, before money goes into design and engineering: who the product is for, what it must do, what it may cost to make and sell for, which markets and standards apply, how the work is phased and gated, and how it will be funded.

    It starts with a written brief. A product brief is the written targets of a product: who it is for, what it must do, the price it should sell at and the standards it has to meet. A good brief turns wishes into numbers a designer and an engineer can work to: "light enough to carry up the stairs" becomes a weight, "affordable" becomes a retail price, and from it a cost per unit the factory has to meet.

    It also names the markets early, because each market has its rules. A product with a battery, a motor or a radio sold in the United States and in Europe needs FCC and CE testing, and knowing it at the brief shapes the electronics from the first sketch.

    Then the work is cut into phases, each with a deliverable you can hold, show or send, and a decision point at its end. The brief takes about 3 weeks and costs $250 to $1,000, as an order of magnitude; the phases after it get a fixed price once it is written.

    The seven steps around it, each one timed and priced, are laid out in our guide, how to develop a physical product.

    [ Six decisions ]

    Which decisions come before
    design and engineering?

    Six decisions come before design and engineering: who the product is for, what it must do, what it may cost, where it sells, how the work is gated and how it is funded. Each one is cheapest to settle on paper, and each one shows up later in the product if it is not.

    Who it is for

    The users, named and described, so every later choice has someone to answer to.

    You getUser profiles in the brief, and what each one asks of the product.

    The brief starts from the people the product is for, because each of them pulls the design a different way. A profile is not a market size: it says what this person needs from the product, and what they will not accept.

    As on PhotonixThree user profiles, a professional gardener, a family with children and a young couple, pulled the solar mower three ways: runtime and durability, safety and price, looks and ease of use. The case study →

    What it must do

    Every function written down, with a number wherever a number can be found.

    You getA functional specification and the targets in numbers.

    A specification of every function, a review of the products already on the market, and the calculation behind each target. This is where the questions that would come back at every step get their answer once.

    As on OrpheyThe preliminary study turned the client's brief into a three-page specification of every function, a review of neurotech and audio headsets, personas in four settings and seven moodboards. It set the register: consumer, not clinical. The case study →

    What it may cost

    A retail price, and from it the unit cost the factory has to meet.

    You getA target retail price and unit cost, then a first BOM with the prototype.

    Unit cost is what it costs to make one unit, the number the factory has to meet. It decides materials, the number of parts and how the product goes together, so it belongs in the brief, not in the factory quote. A bill of materials (BOM) lists every part and component of one unit. A first one comes with the prototype files and is completed for production.

    As on eXalt SOLOModules that bolt together with ordinary tools move the difficult work back to the factory, which raises unit cost, and shrink the customer's build from a multi-year commitment to a weekend. A cost decided on purpose. The case study →

    Where it sells, and its rules

    The markets named first, with the testing and the documents each one demands.

    You getTarget markets, the standards that apply, and when they enter the plan.

    FCC, CE or UL testing adds preparation, samples and lab time, and a standard can set an architecture. Naming the markets at the brief means the electronics, the materials and the documents are planned for them from the first sketch.

    As on HiRailRail safety was a documentation problem as much as a physical one. Weight and balance were validated per chassis platform, so the answer existed before each vehicle did, and compliance with the rail operator's documentation standard was achieved. The case study →

    How the work is gated

    Phases with a deliverable each, and a decision point at the end of every one.

    You getA phase plan with its deliverables, times, budgets and gates.

    A stage gate is the decision point at the end of a phase, where you review what the phase produced and choose to continue, adjust the scope, pause or stop. You commit to one phase at a time, and the budget follows the decisions instead of running ahead of them.

    SeeBrief, concept, proof of concept, development, prototypes, small batch and launch: the gate at the end of each one is drawn in the next section. Below ↓

    How it is funded

    The route to the money, and the material that route needs to see.

    You getA funding route and its material: plan, renders, brief in numbers.

    Investors, a grant or a support program, a crowdfunding campaign, often more than one. Each asks for different proof, so the route is chosen early and the brief, the renders and the plan are built to answer it.

    SeeWe wrote the 103-page strategic plan and pitched eXalt to private investors with it. The raise combined private investment and public funding, about US$1.2M of it from government. Below ↓

    [ Stage gates ]

    What is decided
    at each stage gate?

    A stage gate is the decision point at the end of a phase, where you review what the phase produced and choose to continue, adjust the scope, pause or stop.

    We put one at the end of every step of the road, seven in all, and each one has its own question. You commit to the next phase only once the last one has answered it, without penalty for the phases not yet started.

    • Continue
    • Adjust the scope
    • Pause
    • Stop
    The stage gates of the seven steps, at gate 01: Do the numbers hold together?BRIEF3 wkCONTINUE: CONCEPTADJUSTPAUSESTOP

    G01/After the brief

    The four exits of a gate, at every step. Times and budgets are the guide's orders of magnitude for a molded consumer product; the cost of a change, the guide's figure for the same change made at each step.

    1. After the briefAbout 3 weeks · $250 to $1,000

      Do the numbers hold together?

      Who it is for, what it must do, the price it should sell at and the standards it must meet are written, and none of them contradicts another.

      Every decision after this one is measured against the brief, so it is the cheapest place to change your mind and the first place to stop if the numbers do not meet.

      Photonix. Lawn sizes in the most populous and highest-income US states showed that 30 to 45 minutes of running time covers most of them. The endurance target came from that calculation, not from a guess. Case study →

      On the table
      A written brief: users, functions, price, standards.
      A change now costs
      a sentence

    2. After the conceptAbout 6 weeks · $3,200 to $10,000

      Which direction goes forward, and can it raise money?

      Two or three directions are checked against the brief, one is kept, and it comes with renders good enough to show.

      Many founders raise their first money at this gate, with the renders and the brief. The decision is double: the direction, and whether the next phases are funded now or after a raise.

      KORU. Three pre-concepts were presented on 17 August 2020: a soft cylinder on a light base, a ribbed square, a perforated metal square. The first went forward. Case study →

      On the table
      Two or three design directions, then one concept with its CMF and renders.
      A change now costs
      a new sketch

    3. When the product needs oneWhen needed · Scoped with development

      Does the risky function work?

      A proof of concept (POC) is a rough, working test of the one function a product depends on, built before the final design. The gate decides whether the product needs one at all.

      A product built on known technology in a new shape goes straight to development. One that depends on something not done in that form before tests that function on its own first, so the rest of the project is built on a fact.

      Orphey. Four electrode studies in two weeks, from 16 November to 1 December 2020, answered how a dry electrode reaches the scalp through hair. The last one set the architecture the concepts were built on. Case study →

      On the table
      A working test of the one function the product depends on.

    4. After developmentAbout 16 weeks · $5,000 to $25,000

      Is every part ready to be built?

      The 3D CAD of every part, its material and the electronics layout are released for the prototype.

      Design for manufacturing (DFM) means shaping each part for the process that will make it. It goes in at this step, where it costs less than at any later one, and the first bill of materials comes with the prototype files.

      Photonix. The product architecture study of November 2021 placed the main components before the body was drawn around them, and the first prototype bill of materials followed in December 2021. Case study →

      On the table
      CAD of every part, internal architecture, materials, electronics layout, a first release of drawings.
      A change now costs
      an edit in CAD

    5. After the prototypesAbout 16 weeks · $7,500 to $30,000

      Does it work where it will be used?

      The looks-like and works-like prototypes are tested where the product will live, and every result goes back into the CAD.

      This is also the moment to talk to factories: once the works-like prototype is settled and the DFM pass is done. Before that, every revision changes the quote.

      Photonix. In January 2023 the finished prototype went onto real grass, and the tests looked at traction, blade performance and efficiency as it cut. Case study →

      On the table
      A looks-like and a works-like prototype, the test results, the design revised until it works.
      A change now costs
      a new print

    6. Before the steel10 to 200 units · Quoted per project

      Small batch first, or straight to molds?

      The last gate where a change is still cheap. After it, the steel of the production molds is cut.

      Ten to two hundred units cast in silicone molds show what testers, the certification lab and the first backers will say before you pay for steel tooling. Production molds are paid to the factory, separately.

      KORU. The casing was developed for injection molding, with its parting lines, assembly points and fastenings defined before the tool. Case study →

      On the table
      A design adjusted for its production process, then a small batch by vacuum or gravity casting.
      A change now costs
      a new silicone mold

    7. At the launchFunding, production, or both · Quoted per project

      Which route funds it, and who makes it?

      Investors, a grant or a crowdfunding campaign, often more than one, and a first production run with a factory.

      Every route needs images that sell the product before it exists in numbers, and a technical file a factory can quote from. Once units are in customers' hands, the same change made at the brief for a sentence now costs a recall.

      KORU. KORU raised over $110,000 on Indiegogo, over 1000% of its goal, with the renders, technical visuals and explainer animations we made, then went into production and sold for four years. Case study →

      On the table
      Renders and animations for a campaign, an investor deck or a grant application; the 3D files, drawings and parts list a factory quotes from.
      A change now costs
      a steel mold change, then a recall

    [ Time and cost ]

    How long does product strategy
    take, and what does it cost?

    The brief takes about 3 weeks and costs $250 to $1,000, as an order of magnitude. Strategy then runs through every gate inside the phases it decides, and each phase gets a fixed price once the brief is written. Production molds are paid to the factory, separately.

    PhaseTimeIndicative budgetDecided at its gate
    BriefAbout 3 weeks$250 to $1,000Users, functions, price, standards
    ConceptAbout 6 weeks$3,200 to $10,000One direction, often the first raise
    DevelopmentAbout 16 weeks$5,000 to $25,000A POC first when needed, then every part released
    PrototypesAbout 16 weeks$7,500 to $30,000Tested where it will be used, factories consulted
    Small batch and launch10 to 200 unitsQuoted per projectSilicone or steel, the funding route

    About 41 weeks of work from brief to tested prototype for a molded consumer product; development and prototypes overlap. Orders of magnitude from our guide, not a quote.

    A water bottle and a jet ski are not the same project. From one product to another, the effort can range from one to fifty times, and three things move it most.

    • Number of parts

      Each part is designed, drawn, prototyped and later tooled.

    • Electronics and a battery

      A board, firmware and heat to manage add a discipline to every step.

    • Certification

      FCC, CE or UL testing adds preparation, samples and lab time.

    [ Funding ]

    What do investors, a grant
    or a campaign need to see?

    A product they can believe in before it exists: a brief in numbers, renders good enough to show, and a plan that says how the product will be made and sold. The route decides the emphasis, and one plan can serve several: on eXalt, the same plan was pitched to private investors and supported public funding.

    The plan's contents in the order the eXalt case study gives them, beside a design sized before it was drawn: one seat, 800 lb at take-off, 73 sq ft of wing. The public side came from state and local government funds. The eXalt case study →

    Three routes, three kinds of proof

    1. 01

      Investors

      A brief in numbers, renders good enough to show and a plan that answers how the product is made and sold. Many founders raise their first money after the concept, then fund development and prototypes with it.

      eXalt: we pitched the SOLO to private investors with its strategic plan and renders. Our renders are behind campaigns that raised $20M+. Rendering and animation →

    2. 02

      A grant or a support program

      A document a funding body will act on: the product, its market, its operations and how it grows, and a design that survives the scrutiny that comes with it.

      eXalt: the same 103-page plan supported state and local government funds, about US$1.2M in government funding. The eXalt case study →

    3. 03

      Crowdfunding

      Renders, technical visuals and explainer animations for the page, with prototypes and a small batch behind the campaign so the units can follow.

      KORU: over $110,000 on Indiegogo, over 1000% of its goal. The KORU case study →

    KORU ONE air purifier and planter in a living room, one of the renders its Indiegogo campaign ran on

    What stays with you: the campaign itself, ads, press and community, run by you or a specialist agency. We make the product, the plan and the images it is sold on.

    [ The calls ]

    Which trade-offs did
    our projects settle?

    Strategy is mostly choosing what a product will not be. Six calls from our case studies, each one with its price and what it bought, settled before the part was drawn that depended on it.

    Photonix solar mower render, product strategy and design by ONMOTIO

    Scope

    Photonix

    We choseSensing and fertilizer dosing in the first product

    Instead ofA simple solar mower, shipped sooner

    CostEvery sensor is another thing to seal, calibrate and support outdoors.

    BoughtThe difference between a mower with a panel and a product worth backing.

    KORU ONE air purifier and planter in five colorways

    Business model

    KORU

    We choseA washable photocatalytic filter, nothing to replace

    Instead ofDisposable cartridges on a subscription

    CostIt closed off the recurring revenue most purifiers depend on.

    BoughtA filter that never clogs, and a product that could promise no consumables.

    eXalt SOLO structure in exploded view: spaceframe, wing box and skins

    Assembly

    eXalt SOLO

    We choseModules that bolt together with ordinary tools

    Instead ofA traditional kit built from parts by the owner

    CostThe difficult work moves back to the factory, which raises unit cost.

    BoughtA build of about 40 hours instead of years, without specialized tooling.

    The Glow Saunas range: four saunas sharing one frame, door and benches

    Range

    Glow Saunas

    We choseModels sharing one set of core components

    Instead ofDesigning each model on its own terms

    CostIt constrains what any single model can be, and the first one costs more.

    BoughtEvery model after the first costs a fraction: four widths from one frame, door and bench layout.

    Orphey EEG headphones render in white

    Architecture

    Orphey

    We choseInterpretation in the cloud, over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

    Instead ofEverything on board the headphone

    CostIt makes the product useless without a connection.

    BoughtA light headband, an honest battery, and a model that improves after shipping.

    HiRail rail truck configuration in 3D

    Method

    HiRail

    We choseA configuration system covering every chassis platform

    Instead ofEngineering each conversion on its own merits

    CostA large amount of work before a single extra vehicle ships, and limits on what a salesperson can promise.

    BoughtA twentieth conversion as good as the first, run by HiRail's own team.

    All case studies

    [ The right step ]

    When is product strategy
    the right first step?

    Product strategy is the right first step when the product exists only as an idea, or when design work has started without numbers to judge it against. When the brief is written and the numbers hold, start with the service the next phase needs.

    Start with product strategy when

    • You have an idea and nothing written down yet: who it is for, what it must do, what it may cost.
    • You have sketches, a design or a prototype, but no brief to check them against.
    • You need to raise money and want a plan, a brief and renders an investor, a grant body or backers can read.
    • You are about to pay for production molds and want the gate before the steel checked first.

    Start with another service when

    [ Why ONMOTIO ]

    Why plan your product
    with ONMOTIO?

    Because the plan is written by the people who will design, engineer and build the product, and who have taken products from a brief to a funded program and to a production line.

    Our two co-founders and our head of product development lead every project, with three industrial designers and three engineering and prototyping specialists alongside them. One of the three leads stays your contact from the brief to the prototype. About us →

    The people who plan it build it

    The brief is written by the team that then designs, engineers and prototypes the product, in two workshops of our own. Nothing in the plan is handed to someone who was not there when it was decided.

    Numbers before drawings

    eXalt's SOLO was a set of equations before it was a shape. Photonix's brief came from lawn sizes and body measurements. We size first, because a number settles what an opinion reopens.

    Design and engineering at the brief

    Design and engineering are worked together from the first sketch, so the brief asks only for what can be made, at the price it has to sell for.

    A plan that has carried funding

    We pitched eXalt to private investors with the 103-page plan we wrote, and it supported a raise combining private investment and about US$1.2M in government funding. Our renders are behind campaigns that raised $20M+.

    Clement was leading our project in a very structured, transparent and professional way. Great communication and the result speaks for itself.
    Friedrich Eickhoff, founder of KORUFriedrich EickhoffCEO of Botany Labs, KORU
    The KORU case study

    [ Questions ]

    Questions founders ask
    about product strategy.

    Open a question to read its answer. Something else? Ask us on a call.

    What does a product strategy service include?

    The decisions that come before design and engineering: the users, the functions in numbers, the target retail price and unit cost, the markets and their standards, the phases with a stage gate at the end of each, and the funding route with its material. At ONMOTIO it starts with a written brief and stays with the project to the launch.

    What is a product brief?

    A product brief is the written targets of a product: who it is for, what it must do, the price it should sell at and the standards it has to meet. A good brief turns wishes into numbers: "affordable" becomes a retail price and a unit cost, "lasts long enough" becomes minutes of running time. Every decision after it is measured against it.

    How long does product strategy take, and what does it cost?

    The brief takes about 3 weeks and costs $250 to $1,000, as an order of magnitude, not a quote. Strategy then runs through the gates of the phases it plans, and each phase gets a fixed price once the brief is written. The effort can vary fifty times from one product to another.

    What is a stage gate?

    A stage gate is the decision point at the end of a phase, where you review what the phase produced and choose to continue, adjust the scope, pause or stop. You commit to one phase at a time, without penalty for the phases not yet started, so the budget follows the decisions instead of running ahead of them.

    What is a BOM, and when is it written?

    A bill of materials (BOM) lists every part and component of one unit. Unit cost is what it costs to make one unit, the number the factory has to meet. A first BOM comes with the prototype files, as on Photonix in December 2021 and KORU in December 2020, and the factory quotes production from the completed one.

    Do I need a proof of concept before the design?

    A proof of concept (POC) is a rough, working test of the one function a product depends on, built before the final design. You need one when the product depends on something not done in that form before. If it uses known technology in a new shape, you go straight to development. Find your next prototype in six questions →

    Can you help me raise money for my product?

    Yes, with the material investors and funders read: the brief in numbers, a strategic plan, renders and animations for a deck, a grant application or a campaign. We pitched eXalt to private investors with its plan, and the raise combined private investment and public funding, including about US$1.2M from government. A crowdfunding campaign itself stays with you or a specialist agency.

    When should I talk to factories?

    Once the works-like prototype is settled and the DFM pass is done. Before that, every revision changes the quote. Production molds are paid to the factory, separately, and depend on the size and number of parts; a small batch of 10 to 200 cast units can come first.

    Can I start before I have raised money?

    Yes. Many founders start with the brief and the concept, then use the renders to raise the money for development and prototypes. The gate after the concept is often where that decision is made, with a direction chosen and images good enough to show.

    How is my idea protected?

    We sign an NDA from the first exchange if you want one, and under our standard contract the intellectual property is transferred to you once all invoices are paid. If you plan a patent, speak with a patent attorney before you show the product in public, a crowdfunding page included.