💜 Will Allred

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Co-Founder & COO

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💙💛 Will Allred

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

#AHR hasn’t officially started yet, but we’re already warming up.

Sunday padel with Philip O'Connor from Spark PD. Funny how LinkedIn connections can feel like fast friends once you meet in real life.

A great way to kick off expo week. Good conversations, good movement, good energy.

See you on the show floor!
------
Shout-out to Pedro Daniel Quiroga and Nicholas M for giving us a real run for our money.

Connor Bush 🔋🖥📟

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

My microwave broke today. While shopping for a replacement, I realized it’s a perfect metaphor for the mistake many hardware teams make when vetting manufacturing partners.

Think about it:

The Baseline: It’s a given that a microwave must heat food. If it doesn't, it’s not a microwave. Similarly, a CM must be able to build your device. If they can’t meet the technical floor, they aren't in the conversation.

The Retail Experience: I looked at Walmart, Best Buy, Lowe's, Home Depot, and Amazon. The prices are all within 10-20%. Since the product and price are similar, I’m actually choosing based on the "parking lot" experience...

Is it easy to get to? What is the return policy? Is the customer service helpful when things go wrong? What else is in the neighborhood? Do I like to shop there? What other things are on my list? Do I have a rewards account? 

Here is where most founders get it wrong.

With a microwave, you buy it, take it home, and hopefully never talk to the retailer again. It’s a transaction.

A CM relationship is a marriage.

If you are just "spray and pray" quoting based on the lowest number, you are ignoring the parts of the equation that actually determine if your program succeeds:

The "Parking Lot": How is their logistics agility? Is it a nightmare to get materials in and out?

Customer Service: When a line stops, or a component goes EOL, do they answer the phone, or are you just a ticket number?

RMA & Warranty: How do they handle it when things go wrong? Because in hardware, they will.

Cultural Alignment: Do they actually care about your product, or are you just "filling a gap" in their capacity?

If you're picking a partner solely on the "heating food" part and the sticker price, you’re missing 80% of the value.

In a transaction, the parking lot is a convenience. In a CM partnership, the "parking lot" is your lifeline.

Don't just buy a microwave. Find a partner you actually want to be in the kitchen with for the next five years.

It’s CNY. Much of the supply chain is paused.

Which makes this your quarterly reminder:

If you want to ship in 2026, you should already be in motion.

Because it’s not just quoting and tooling.

It’s:

EVT / DVT / PVT.
Certifications.
Longest lead components.
Line setup.
Test fixtures. 
Packaging. 
Shipping. 
Tariffs. 

And then the things you didn’t know you forgot.

This isn’t urgency.

It’s math.

Physics and lead times remain undefeated.

Only halfway through Day 1 at #AHR and already approaching 13,000 steps.

What’s striking is how many companies here are solving real problems with largely white-labeled or existing technologies. It reinforces something I often tell founders and innovators: if you can solve a meaningful problem with technology that already exists, that’s a great solution.

Owning novel IP matters in some cases, but it almost always takes longer and costs more upfront. Market fit and solution fit don’t require brand-new invention. Sometimes the win is using proven tech in a smarter, more focused way.

On the flip side, caught the BOLDR announcement and it’s exciting to see teams tackling a widespread problem with a truly new approach.

Side note: maybe ~2% of the AI call-outs compared to CES 😄

Stoked to see what Day 2 brings.

The internet makes relationships possible. Face time makes them real. 

Grateful for the network this platform enables. Even more grateful for the chance to sit across the table from smart, kind, and thoughtful people. 

Feels like we're entering a season where in-person connection is back to where it belongs.... As the default ❤️ 🚀 🤝 

Massive thanks to Mesh Systems Eva Jackson Dan Morrow Brad Natelborg for hosting.

Above and beyond as always.

Sales & Partnerships Leader at Mesh Systems ⚡️

AHR Expo continues to be one of the most valuable industry gatherings for Mesh Systems in the year.

This year built on the momentum from prior AHR events, allowing us to deepen relationships that started in the past and make several new connections that will serve us well into 2026 and beyond. The quality of conversations—across product, engineering, and digital leadership—was consistently high, both on the show floor and outside of it.

A few highlights from the week:
✅ Hosted a "Product Leadership Dinner" with our partner Exein at Bazaar Meat by José Andrés/, with product leaders across the industry (highlight of the week!)
✅ Events like AHR reinforce something we strongly believe: "in-person always wins", and relationships built face to face compound over time.
✅ Felt lucky to be on the road with Eva Jackson and Brad Natelborg!

Now on to the next week... TEXAS, here we come!

Industrial Design for Audio Products | Headphones • Speakers • Earbuds • Microphones | Founder at dip.studio | Helping Brands Build Better Sound Devices

A client came to us with a product built from off-the-shelf parts: ~$500 cost, sold for ~$5,000. 

Great margins… but the product felt industrial, offered limited customization, and had numerous usability issues.

With an estimated 2,000 units/year, we redesigned it for scale.

What changed:
Unit cost: $500 → $72
Tooling (design + manufacturing investment): $40,000 one-time
Savings per unit: $428

The business impact:
Annual savings: $428 × 2,000 = $856,000
Year 1 ROI: ($856,000 − $40,000) ÷ $40,000 = 2,040%
Payback period: $40,000 ÷ $856,000 ≈ 17 days

Design isn’t an expense. It’s a return generator.

taplio

The Battle

💙💛 Will Allred

Connor Bush

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taplio

The Battle

💙💛 Will Allred

Connor Bush

Followers

Posts

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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