SEACOMP (Displaytech, HDP Power, MH MFG)

Help Innovators Deliver Awesome.

We design, engineer, and manufacture consumer, medical, and industrial electronic devices.

HQ in San Diego, CA. Manufacturing at our wholly-owned factories in Tijuana, Mexico and Dongguan, China.

Strategic Partnerships

Conduit Venture Labs

Conduit is a venture studio focused on enabling founders, inventors, and strategic innovators to focus on solving the problems that face our planet and its inhabitants working at the intersection of the physical and digital.

Fellow

The New Way Inc.

Helping families, that are experiencing homelessness, to find help, homes, & hope.

Executive Director

GTM United

Ambassador of a private community of go-to-market professionals united by a mission to put their development first. Giving feedback, asking questions, practicing self-care, and making real connections.

Content Advisor

Instawork

Our vision at Instawork is to create economic opportunity for local businesses and professionals, globally.

Instawork is the on-demand staffing app for hospitality & light industrial shifts. We quickly and reliably match businesses with nearby qualified workers. We’re excited to enable our Professionals, a new generation of the emerging, diverse workforce, to be a part of the growing gig economy.

Senior Account Executive

Gemini Legal

Gemini is a legal copy service that compels and obtains document evidence for California attorneys representing injured workers.

The will and hope of Gemini is to embrace and meet our clients’ true needs by providing a safe, stable and competitive work environment where employees, clients and vendors enrich their community and themselves personally and professionally. We meet our challenge through principled, personal leadership.

Business Development Manager

Quartzy, Inc

Laid off due to COVID-19
-------------------------
Quartzy is a free web-based platform for managing research labs. It is used worldwide by 360,000 scientists in the academic, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical labs. 

Quartzy saves labs time and money!

As a Business Development Associate at Quartzy, I am responsible for building the supplier relationships and product portfolio that enable Quartzy to be the only free online laboratory management platform offering an extensive lab supply ordering system. 
See our rapidly growing list of supplier partners HERE:
https://www.quartzy.com/suppliers

Business Development Associate

BlueGrace Logistics

Business Development Executive

Sales Director

Senior Sales Executive

Sales Executive

Account Manager

Wolf Creek Brewery

Develop and maintain strategic partnerships with key retailers and restaurants. Assume leadership role in implementing key brewery initiatives with distributors, retailers, and restaurants. Work closely with distributor on new product releases, seasonal releases and pre-orders for brewery. Drive and grow sales. Act as the face of Wolf Creek Brewery within a given territory.

Territory Manager

Wesco Aircraft

Provide pricing analysis for management. Perform margin and pricing analysis in order to support business initiatives. Validate sales quotations for accuracy and profitability; exercise and manipulate data via analysis techniques. Develop a system of communication, documentation and review of internal and external comparative pricing data. Identify opportunities to optimize sales and profitability through pricing strategies. Confer with sales and marketing teams to develop proposals. Prepare multi-year cost and pricing models. Engage suppliers and branches.

Corporate Sales Analyst

We Design & Build Your Hardware

We design & manufacture
Industrial, medical, & consumer electronics
Small enough to fit in an oven

HQ in San Diego, CA. Manufacturing at our wholly-owned factories in Tijuana, Mexico and Dongguan, China.

Connor Bush

Shoutout to industrial designers.
Y’all do cool stuff.

Industrial designers:
Making “why didn’t anyone think of this sooner?” moments happen every day.

Connor Bush 🔋🖥📟

We Manufacture Your Hardware at Scale (USA, Mexico, & China) | Ecosystem, Pipeline & Partner Strategy

Founders always ask for the same thing:
“Do you know a partner who can do everything: Engineering, prototyping, low-volume builds, and mass production?”

I get why.
On paper, it sounds perfect:

🔹 One team that knows the product from Day 0
🔹 Smooth handoff into EVT/DVT/PVT
🔹 Manufacturing input baked into early design
🔹 Less friction, fewer vendors, more trust

Totally intuitive.

But here’s the reality almost nobody says out loud:
Those are four completely different skill sets, with different cultures, tempos, tools, and incentives.

And the partner who is world-class at mass production is ALMOST never world-class at rapid iteration.
Because the traits that make you strong at one phase often make you weak at the other.

Mass production excellence =
🔸 Rigid systems
🔸 Heavy validation
🔸 Process obsessed
🔸 Optimized for scale, yield, and stability

Early-stage excellence =
🔸 Fast
🔸 Messy
🔸 Creative
🔸 Comfortable with ambiguity and change

Trying to get one team to do both is like expecting awesome sushi at the italian restaurant. 
(They might try… but should they? 🤢)

Can it work?
Yes, but only under very specific conditions:

✔️ Clear, locked industrial design
✔️ Serious funding
✔️ No long pauses or fundraising gaps
✔️ A straight path from prototype to EVT → DVT → PVT
✔️ A product destined for mass production from Day 1

SEACOMP has done it.
But it takes alignment, timing, and a founder who understands what they are signing up for.

For most teams, the healthier model is a relay:
Expert design ➡️  expert prototyping ➡️  expert CM for scale.

Different people, same mission.

Not shaming anyone. The instinct makes total sense.
The physics of hardware are just harder than the theory.

------
Want to chat on this some more? Come hang with us at #CES.

Link in the comments.

Collecting quotes for ID, ME, EE, FW, or product development is a wild ride.

$40k from overseas.
$200k from the Midwest.
$700k+ from Boston or San Francisco.
Sometimes even a $300k and a $900k quote from the same city for the same scope.

At a certain point… the limit does not exist.

But here’s what most founders miss: you’re not just paying for hours or skill.
Hardware development is art, judgment, taste, and manufacturing philosophy baked into one.

So the real question isn’t:
“Why is one quote 10× another?”

The real question is:
What are you actually buying?

• Alignment with the partner who will build or design your product
• DFM baked in from Day 1 (not after three redesign loops)
• Whether incentives are to finish or to bill more hours
• Experience in your specific product category
• How many mistakes you will not have to pay for later

Quotes can go to infinity.
(Or sometimes to $0, which is equally dangerous lol.)

The cost of choosing the wrong partner is very real.

** For the practitioners who live this every day: what’s the widest spread you’ve seen, and what do you think actually drives those gaps?

Building 1 of something is hard.
Building 1,000,000 of that same thing is just as hard, but in a completely different way.

One requires creativity.
The other requires discipline, systems, and control.

This is where a lot of innovators get surprised.
They lock the design and think the hard part is over.

But in hardware, the real climb begins when you go from “this works once” to “this works every time.”

A lead came in today.
Source: “LinkedIn, Connor Bush.” (blush / hair flip)

But here’s the part I keep thinking about…

This wasn’t an overnight win.
And honestly, the “LinkedIn, Connor Bush” part was probably the least influential piece of the whole chain.

This one lead took YEARS to show up.

It took:
⭐ A teammate building trust with a customer years ago
⭐ Our engineers and ops absolutely crushing that program
⭐ A happy customer willing to do a case study
⭐ Our marketing manager turning that story into something real
⭐ Me spending four years building a network and posting consistently
⭐ Someone in my network engaging with a post this week
⭐ LinkedIn surfacing it to a stranger who needed what we do
⭐ And that stranger clicking through, reading the case study, and reaching out

It only looks like “a lead from LinkedIn.”
In reality, it was a long chain of small things done well by a lot of people.

There’s that old line: “It takes 20 years to become an overnight success.”
In hardware and sales, sometimes it just takes 20 steps.

Everything you do matters.
And eventually… it all stacks and hits at once.
--------
Anyways 🤷‍♂️ , come hang with us at #CES (link in comments)

Cancelled my mini camping vacation scheduled for next week.

Not because of grind culture.
Because hardware has real deadlines.

Balance is not always a 50/50 split.

Push now.
Camping in January.
Still balanced.

Goals met <3.

If you want to ship hardware by Black Friday 2026…

Start yesterday.

Love,
Connor

Join us! 

One of many #CES events we are hosting / co hosting. 

Space is limited across the various events. We will do our very best to accommodate all of our friends! 

Check out the link in the comments for the different SEACOMP Las Vegas happenings.

Join us for an exclusive gathering for leaders shaping the future of connected hardware at CES 2026!

We’re bringing together executives, founders, and directors for an elevated networking experience at The Venetian Resort.

This is your opportunity to step out of the show-floor noise and into conversations that will move your business forward - exchange insights on scaling strategies, building resilient supply chains, and what's next in the world of connected hardware.

Connected Devices + Conversations: A Networking Happy Hour
Tuesday, January 6, 2026 | The Venetian Resort | CES 2026
Register here: https://lnkd.in/gEEu2a8q

A special thank you to our sponsors Acorn Product Development, Mesh Systems, and intent for supporting this executive gathering!

Space is limited and attendance is by approval - register to get on the list today!

Hardware development is a lot like oil drilling: most people quit long before they hit the reservoir.

In oil exploration, you can pick the right field, be standing in exactly the right coordinates, and still walk away empty-handed.

Not because there’s no oil.

But because you didn’t go deep enough.

Hardware works the same way.

You can be:

solving the right problem

for the right user

with the right technology

in the right market

…and still miss simply because you only drilled one or two “holes." *

One prototype, one layout, one round of testing ... and then assumed there was nothing there. 🤷‍♂️ 

But the truth?

Most successful products weren’t overnight “discoveries.”
They were the 10th iteration, the 27th tweak, the 42nd failure, the moment the team finally broke through the rock and hit something real.

People think hardware dies from “wrong ideas.”

It usually dies from not drilling deep enough into the right idea.

In both oil and hardware:

The resource is there.

The payoff is real.

But only the patient operators get to see it.

If you’ve picked the right field…
Keep drilling.

Your reservoir is further down than you think.

Our team is heading to CES in January and we want to meet with you!

Let's meet in Las Vegas to chat about your product and how we can help support your goals. We'd love to connect on:

- scaling your production in 2026
- leveraging our Mexico facility for duty-free imports into the US
- improving your speed to market with accelerated NPI

Let SEACOMP be your manufacturing partner in 2026. See all the ways we can connect at CES and request a meeting here: https://lnkd.in/gH5E-bPD

Trying to enjoy the holidays
while also
trying to ship everything before the holidays
while also
trying to prep for CES
while also
trying to plan around CNY
while also
trying to be a human with a family.

It’s a vibe.

If you’re feeling the “festive chaos” today, I see you.
Happy Friday. 🤝

Thanksgiving (yeah, I know I’m late lol) and mass production have something in common:

99% isn’t good enough.

You can have:
- Every side dish perfect
- Table set
- Guests arriving
- Desserts ready to go

But if the turkey is two hours late?
Dinner is two hours late.

Hardware works the same way.

NPI is a chain of perfectly timed steps:
tooling ➡️ components ➡️ tests ➡️ assembly ➡️ packout

You can nail almost everything...
…but if one critical item slips, the entire schedule bends around it.

Great manufacturing isn’t about heroics.
It’s about orchestration.
Dependencies.
Timing.
Flow.

Thanksgiving looks effortless when everything hits the table at once (and when someone else is doing all of the prep lol).
So does mass production.

Neither is an accident.

Happy holidays! And if you're pushing a product toward 2026, now’s the time to start timing your “turkey.” 🦃⚙️

Lost my fantasy football matchup this week by 0.84 points.

And honestly… losing by less than 1 point feels worse than getting blown out by 40.

A blowout is clean. Clear. Obvious.
You shrug, you move on, you fix your roster.

But a tiny margin loss?
That sticks with you.
You replay every lineup choice.
“Should’ve swapped that flex…”
“Why didn’t I check injuries…”
It lingers because it was just close enough.

Hardware is the same.

A catastrophic failure forces you to stop.
Rebuild.
Fix the root cause.
Come back stronger.

But a small, non-catastrophic failure in the field?
A 1% return rate.
A flaky latch.
A charging bug that “only happens sometimes.”

That is the dangerous one.

Because it’s just tolerable enough to live with.
Just cheap enough to avoid solving.
Just annoying enough to hurt reputation and growth
but not painful enough to trigger full correction.

Small problems linger.
And lingering problems compound.

In fantasy football, it costs you a matchup.
In hardware, it can quietly cost you the whole season.

CES is around the corner, which means every hardware team on the planet is about to be in the same place for a week.

If you know a founder, engineer, or product leader who is working through any of this right now:

 ☑️ nearshoring / tariffs
 ☑️ scaling electronics manufacturing
 ☑️ choosing China vs Mexico for EMS/ CM
 ☑️ launching hardware in 2026

I’ll be in Vegas all week with our engineering and executive team.

If someone in your network would benefit from a short manufacturing conversation, I’m happy to make time. No pitch. Just clarity and guidance on what actually works heading into 2026.

If anyone comes to mind, feel free to tag or DM me.
And if you’re at CES, would love to say hi.

Connor 'Hardware Ecosystem All Around Awesome Guy' Bush 🫡 🖖 

* link in comments to sign up for cool events and such

If you're leading teams building connected devices, this is the room you’ll want to be in at CES! 

Meet other CEOs, founders, VPs, and product executives for a thoughtful break from the show. This networking event is designed for high-level discussion, insight sharing, and strategic relationship building. 

Connected Devices + Conversations: A Networking Happy Hour
Tuesday, January 6 @ The Venetian Resort during CES 2026
Please Register Here: https://lnkd.in/g2tjuMsd

Expect meaningful conversations on achieving operational excellence, accelerating speed-to-market, and the evolving landscape of connected devices. Space is limited and attendance is by approval - register now!

Thank you to Mesh Systems, intent, and Acorn Product Development for helping champion this executive community gathering during CES!

KD Product Development

Primarily focused on business development and ensuring that brands are successful navigating the complex world of global hardware contract manufacturing.

President- KD America

SEACOMP

Chief Commercial Officer

Vice President- Sales & Marketing

Manage the sales channel for Displaytech Americas. Responsible for business development for standard and custom monochrome LCDs, color TFTs, embedded product design consultation, contract negotiation, supply chain management, and contract manufacturing.  Responsible for global marketing strategy.

Vice President- Sales, Displaytech

Displaytech - Americas

Managed six rep firms covering 24 states in the Midwest and along the Eastern seaboard of the US.  Responsibilities included sales and engineering support for both standard and custom monochrome LCDs and color TFTs, design consultation, contract negotiation, supply chain management, contract manufacturing, presentations, sales training.

Interfaced with Hong Kong daily and traveled frequently to domestic and international locations to support our customers and sales team.

Area Sales Manager

Bridgestone Golf

Managed golf equipment sales for San Diego and Riverside counties at on course golf shop and off course retail accounts.  Responsibilities included achieving sales goals across multiple product categories, conducting product seminars, merchandising products and promotional materials to maximize brand visibility and in-store sales.

Territory Sales Manager- Southern California

Opened the West Coast Office for Bridgestone Golf USA in Irvine, CA.  Worked closely with the VP of R&D/ Manufacturing and R&D staff from Japan to establish the national club and ball fitting program for Bridgestone Golf.  As the only native English speaker in the office, I had many responsibilities including company wide presentations and communications.  Trained national sales force in club fitting techniques, club and shaft technology, worked with PGA Tour players to evaluate prototype products, provided marketing and performance feedback for product planning, managed daily operations of Golfers Dock Club Fitting Program.

Program Manager- West Coast Office

When you don't know what you don't know about product development, global contract manufacturing, supply chain, etc...

Call me.

I consult on all things hardware.

If I can help you, I'll work to win your business.

If I can't help you, I'll connect you to someone who can.

Specialties: Contract Manufacturing, Product Development, New Product Introduction, Project Management, Supply Chain, and more.

Terry Arbaugh

Consumer brands are already deep in preparations for Black Friday 2026 hardware product launches. 🎄🚀

Yes, it takes a year. 🗓️

And that’s after having #industrialdesign and a solid product requirements document (#prd). 

Quick breakdown of general timeline below. TONS of variables will impact this schedule so don’t come after me. 🙏🏽

Product Development Phase (5-6 months total):
architecture development (3-4 weeks), sourcing (3-4 weeks), cost estimation (based on previous steps), electrical and mechanical engineering (4-12 weeks), prototyping and design iteration (4-6 weeks), firmware engineering (4-12 weeks), finalize design package for RFQ process (1-2 weeks)

New Product Introduction (NPI) Phase (5-6 months total):
supplier selection (2-4 weeks if you already have a supplier network), DFM (2-4 weeks), tooling (8-10 weeks), certifications (4+ weeks for UL, CE, FCC, UN38.3, etc), packaging design and sourcing (3-4 weeks), material procurement strategy (based on lead time and cash flow analysis), production ramp up (4-8 weeks), mass production (ongoing based on demand and capacity), logistics (2-6 weeks based on air vs ocean), etc. 

#blackfriday2026 is here. 

Need help?

Reach out. 

Soon. ⏰

Global Product Development & Manufacturing

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The Battle

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Terry Arbaugh

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taplio

The Battle

Connor Bush

Terry Arbaugh

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Connor Bush's LinkedIn Performance

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