Successful Product Development: Meeting the Market without Breaking the Bank

Tuesday, June 2, 2015 in Waltham at 6:30 PM
Whether you want to sell a new kind of vehicle or a new app, you’ve got to develop your idea into a real product that customers are willing to pay for. Do you try to develop the product in house or do you outsource the development? How do you fund your product development? How do you make sure you’re developing the right product for your market?
The panelists have broad and deep experience in developing many different types of products and will offer guidance in matching your product to your market, practical suggestions for making the most of your development budget, and effective advice for avoiding product development pitfalls. And share a few stories from their own product development adventures.
Panel:
Elaine Chen, founder and CEO of ConceptSpring Engineering and Product Development Consulting Services (www.conceptspring.com). An MIT-trained mechanical engineer, she has served as a product management and product development executive for several startups at the VP level, including SensAble Technologies (now part of the Geomagic division of 3D Systems), Zeemote, Zeo, and most recently Rethink Robotics, the company that brought the revolutionary Baxter collaborative robot to market. She now helps CEOs and leaders of product teams develop product strategy, define the right product, structure the right program plan and build a great team to bring their vision to market. Elaine shares her insights and experience in her recently published book, Bringing a Hardware Product to Market: Navigating the Wild Ride from Concept to Mass Production.
Steve Owens, founder of Finish Line PDS (www.finishlinepds.com) has over 30 years of successful product development experience in many different industries and is a sought-after adviser and speaker on the subject. Steve has founded four successful start-ups and holds more than twenty-five patents. Steve has worked for companies such as Halliburton and Baker Hughes. He has experience in the Internet of Things, M2M, oil and gas, and industrial controls. Steve's insight into the product development process has generated millions of dollars in revenue for start-ups and small businesses. Finish Line PDS provides product and technology development management, mechanical design, and development of electronics, firmware and sensors, as well as design verification testing and other services. Finish Line PDS is a proud sponsor of the Boston ENET.
Chuck Goldman, Chief Strategy Officer, Hoyos Labs,http://www.hoyoslabs.com/. Chuck is an experienced executive with 20+ years of experience in executive leadership, enterprise application development, mobility and biometrics platforms. He has led enterprise mobile strategy for many F100 companies in the areas of B2C, B2E, B2B and M2M. Chuck is currently Chief Strategy Officer for Hoyos Labs, guiding the company’s work with strategic partners, investors, and customers. Prior to Hoyos Labs, Chuck was an Executive in Residence at Great Hill Partners, working on acquiring and rolling up several leading companies in the enterprise mobility industry. Prior to Great Hill Partners, Chuck founded Apperian in 2009, and has spent the past five years working with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Bessemer Venture Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, and Intel Capital to build Apperian into a market leader in Mobile Application Management (MAM) product space. As Apperian's founder and CEO, Chuck raised $32 million in venture capital, led the strategy and development of Apperian's award winning platform, and built a close-knit mobile ecosystem of developers, brands, retailers, enterprises and integrators. Prior to Apperian, Chuck was a Director at Apple, managing both enterprise and education professional services and system engineering. There, he led the launch of the iPhone in 2007 into the enterprise and managed Apple's iPhone Enterprise Beta Program working closely with Fortune 500 CIOs to think beyond the Blackberry and into the App world. Chuck also served as Apple's executive lead, working directly for Steve Jobs, to bring his vision of 1:1 (one laptop per child) computing in education to life by deploying the State of Maine's 1:1 Laptop Program. Prior to Apple, Chuck founded and sold two technology companies.
Moderator:
Barbara Donohue, Principal, Turning Technology into English, http://www.the-engineer-who-writes.com. Barbara is an engineer who operates at a technically oriented communications consultancy. Her work includes writing, reporting, editing, tech writing, ghostwriting and explaining products that include mechanical technologies, manufacturing, electronics packaging, in heavy industry, process industries, and instrumentation. She turns technology into English for companies, publications, and educational institutions. Barbara has a BSME in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.
Co-Organizer:
John Wang, Founder and General Manager of UCB Support, www.ucbsupport.com. John is an automotive design expert and entrepreneur with 18 years of product development experience at companies including General Motors and Johnson Controls. His designs and patents have been widely applied to GM, Ford and Chrysler automobiles.
Since 2008, John has started a several companies. He is the Founder and General Manager of UCB Support, a consulting company that provides service to small/medium-sized product companies. In 2009, he co-founded and served as CTO of Wiselink Technology, where he built the engineering division and developed leading connected-car platform products from concept to production for customers included VW’s China JV and China Mobile. In 2012, John founded Dreamech, a start-up company providing technology service to connect car owners and their cars via Internet to auto service experts. John also volunteers as Vice President of NECINA. His education includes MBA (Michigan), MSME and BSME.
Price: 
Our regular, first-Tuesday-of-the-month events are free to members. $20. for non-ENET members.
Time and Location(s): 

Pre-meeting Self-pay Dinner:

5:15 PM
Bertucci's Restaurant
475 Winter St., Waltham, MA (exit 27B off Route 128)

This is a "pay-as-you-go" dinner

Meeting & Presentation

6:30 - 9:45 PM




MEETING LOCATION

Constant Contact

1st Floor Great Room

1601 Trapelo Rd., Waltham, MA

(From the north: Exit 28 off Route 128 / I95 onto Trapelo Rd. Take first right into driveway)

(From the south: Exit 28B off Route 128/I95 onto Trapelo Rd. Cross over highway, take first right after interchange)

Once in the complex, head back toward the highway, turn left, and park in front of the building. Entrance is below the large clock that faces the highway.

Detailed directions

Public Transportation Option

For those who wish to attend the ENET Waltham meeting via public transportation, there is an option available to arrive at the meeting.

There is a shuttle bus service by the private 128 Business Council from Alewife subway station on the MBTA Red Line to 1601 Trapelo Road, Waltham. You would need to arrive at the bus stop at 525pm. You want bus #142 for the Alewife (AWF) – Route A. This bus leave Alewife at 530pm and reaches 1601 Trapelo Road at 623pm. The one-way fare is $5.00 for this private shuttle ride.

The last shuttle from 1601 Trapelo Road back to Alewife leaves at 725pm. So assuming you stay for the full ENET meeting which typically ends 930pm you will have to find a ride back or call a taxi to take you back to Alewife station.

For more information on the shuttle service, go to http://128bc.org/shuttle-schedules

Reservations: 
No reservations are needed for the dinner. To expedite sign-in for the meeting, we ask that everyone -- members as well as non-members -- pre-register for the meeting online. Pre-registration is available until midnight the day before the meeting. If you cannot pre-register, you are welcome to register at the door.