Pay-per-prototype slots from pre-negotiated factory runs
Solo hardware founders face impossibly high MOQs from Chinese factories, making prototyping unaffordable without raising investor capital.
Book flex slots in ongoing factory runs for any hardware spec at 1-unit MOQ prices. We pre-negotiate bulk runs and sell slots to solos. Get prototypes in 2 weeks, no batching needed.
Solo bootstrapped founders manufacturing hardware products
Pre-paid factory run calendar with instant slot booking
friendly
Browse upcoming factory runs by spec/type
Reserve 1-10 units in a run instantly
Request new runs if no match
See available slots real-time
Direct ship to you with tracking
Email/Slack for matching runs
Auto-book same spec future runs
Predict pricing by volume/spec
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| text | No | |
| name | text | Yes |
| created_at | timestamp | No |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| spec_type | text | No |
| total_slots | int | No |
| available_slots | int | No |
| price_per_unit | int | No |
| start_date | timestamp | No |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| user_id | uuid | No |
| run_id | uuid | No |
| units | int | No |
| status | text | No |
Relationships:
| Column | Type | Nullable |
|---|---|---|
| id | uuid | No |
| user_id | uuid | No |
| spec_data | text | No |
| approved | bool | No |
Relationships:
/api/runsList available runs
/api/bookingsBook slots in run
/api/requestsSubmit new run request
/api/runs/:idRun details and slots
/api/bookings/meUser bookings
1-2 units only
None
None
| Month | Users | Conversion | MRR | ARR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 120 | 2% | $48 | $576 |
| Month 6 | 900 | 7% | $1,260 | $15,120 |
Pre-negotiated factory runs: pay only for your units, ship fast.
Partner with 2 factories for initial runs, offer free slots to 20 Twitter hardware founders, convert via satisfaction surveys to paid subs.
PCBs cheap
PCBs only
Any hardware types
Speed
Expensive for solos
China prices + flex slots
Exclusive factory partnerships + run data moat
Factory utilization low post-supply chain shifts, solos scaling via no-code hardware tools
Factory slot oversell
Realtime sync + buffers
Upfront factory payments
Bootstrap with 1 factory, reinvest
Low run demand
Seed runs + marketing
Success: Fills 50% via manual sales
Success: 20 bookings
Success: 50% utilization
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