Successful Product Development: Meeting the Market without Breaking the Bank

When:
June 2, 2015 @ 7:00 pm – 9:45 pm America/New York Timezone
2015-06-02T19:00:00-04:00
2015-06-02T21:45:00-04:00
Where:
Constant Contact
1601 Trapelo Road
Waltham, MA 02451
USA

Constant Contact, Reservoir Place, Main Building, InnoLoft Great Room, 1st Floor, 1601 Trapelo Road, Waltham, MA.

PRE-MEETING DINNER at 5:15 PM (sharp) at Bertucci’s, Waltham.

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.

Panelist: 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.
Panelist: 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.

2 June - ENET Donohue

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.

2 June - ENET Wang

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.

Meeting Location: Constant Contact, Inc., Reservoir Place, Main Building InnoLoft Great Room, 1st Floor, 1601 Trapelo Rd., Waltham, MA (Exit 28B, I-95/Route 128)

Pre-meeting Dinner at 5:15 PM (sharp) at Bertucci’s, Waltham, (Exit 27B, Route 128)

Check for Updates at: Boston Entrepreneurs’ Network Website at ( http://www.boston-enet.org )

Directions: http://www.constantcontact.com/about-constant-contact/office-location-waltham.jsp

Reservations: ENET Constant Contact meetings are free to ENET members and $20 for non-members. 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.