We are not an outsourcing company. We complement your existing team with experts, processes and reference design. Small companies have great people, and we are not here to replace them – we are here to make them better by filling in the gaps of expertise and process on an as needed, per hour, basis.
We are a product engineering company that exclusively serves small businesses and startups. We are designed specifically to extract the true potential of these types of companies. Our expertise include engineers (electronic, software/firmware, mechanical), Market Validation, Manufacturing/Supply Chain, Sales and Marketing. By working with us, you will obtain a higher ROI on your product development investment.
Adding FinishLine Product Development Services to your team will enable you to:
Leverage world-class product development management and leadership
For many small companies, acquiring world-class product development management and leadership talent on a full-time basis is simply not feasible. FinishLinePDS is THE thought leader on developing products for startups and small companies. We’ve done more than 1,500 projects for more than 300 companies and have 20+ years of investment in research on what works and what does not work.
Reducing Product Development Cost
Big companies do not care about reducing product development cost – they have the scale to afford large budgets and they need to focus on protecting this installed capital at all cost. Startups are different – they need to get to first revenue before they run out of runway – and additional capital is expensive and may not even be available if the goal is not reached. Small companies sell into niche markets where the amortized development cost is sometimes greater than the COGS. These companies have great potential, but only if they can create products within budget.
Our research has shown that the best way these companies can reduce development cost is to:
1. Use true experts. Avoid paying people to learn on your dime.
2. Use reference designs – don’t reinvent the wheel
3. Use a proven product development process. Avoid doing the wrong thing really well.
4. Use full time employees for core activities and per hour people for non core activities
FinishLinePDS enables your team to focus on the things they are great at by providing true experts, processes and reference designs on an as-needed, per-hour basis
Increase Product Development ROI
The Return on Investment (ROI) of a product development is a function of it’s cost AND it’s value to the market – or, how well it fits the market. Lowering product development cost is fine as long as it does not also lower the value to the market. Getting the Product Market Fit correct is no small feat – it takes its own set of experts, processes and a team who understand the requirements and determines the right set of engineering compromises. Focusing only on technical success is not going to create a high ROI. The team must have the market validation experts to determine the right Product Market Fit and it must have a culture that focuses on achieving this fit at every level within the team.
At FinishLinePDS, we are obsessed with ROI. We know many people can achieve technical success, even if it is done at a higher cost. However, this is necessary, but not sufficient – we must also create Product Market Fit if we want a high ROI.
Our ability to determine Product Market Fit and communicate these requirements to our experts is second to none.