Idea or early concept
Clarify the user, value, product architecture, interaction, and strongest direction before the team commits to expensive detail.
For hardware startups
Product development that meets the startup where it is.
How Offset helps hardware startups clarify the product, strengthen prototypes, prepare for manufacturing, and add senior product leadership when the team needs it.
01DIRECTION02BUILD03SCALE
Where to begin
The right engagement depends on the next decision—not the company’s age.
A startup may need to turn a rough idea into a product direction, recover a prototype that has lost coherence, prepare a design for engineering and suppliers, or give an existing team one accountable product lead. Offset starts with that immediate need and expands only when the work requires it.
Prototype under development
Connect industrial design, package, controls, ergonomics, and technical constraints into a prototype that answers the right questions.
Approaching tooling or suppliers
Resolve product intent, risk, CMF, assembly, and handoff decisions before a factory becomes the default product designer.
Team needs senior direction
Install Kendall as a fractional product lead, then add experienced CAD, prototype, electronics, sourcing, or manufacturing support as needed.
Know what each step proves
These deliverables are not interchangeable.
Product direction
The coherent answer the team is building: user, experience, architecture, form, interaction, priorities, and tradeoffs.
Prototype evidence
The physical or digital proof needed to reduce a particular risk before the next commitment.
Manufacturer handoff
The resolved design intent and technical coordination needed for suppliers to develop the product without quietly redefining it.
What to send
A useful first note can stay simple.
You can leave out anything confidential. These basics are enough to understand the starting point.
- 01The product and person it is intended for
- 02The current prototype, CAD, requirements, or research
- 03What the team believes is still unresolved
- 04The next funding, demo, testing, supplier, or manufacturing milestone
- 05Who is already contributing and where leadership is missing
- 06Known commercial, technical, regulatory, schedule, or cost constraints
Relevant work
See how different product questions become tangible.
Principal experience · Meta / Oculus
Meta Quest 2 + Quest Pro
Kendall contributed to controller ergonomics, charging, form development, and new-technology integration as part of the Meta / Oculus team.
View projectIndependent design concept
Xenon
An award-winning ultra-portable drone concept that organizes its airframe, propulsion, camera, electronics, and controls into one compact product architecture.
View project
Client project
Cryptogrow
A connected growing system that makes airflow, light, watering, enclosure, and access legible as one integrated object.
View projectStarting scope
Begin with the smallest useful decision.
Direction Sprints start at $3k, Rescue Sprints at $5k, Development Programs at $7k, and Fractional Product Leadership at $4k per month. The useful scope depends on the product’s current evidence and next milestone.
Common questions
Plain answers before you reach out.
Does Offset replace our engineers?
No. Offset leads product direction and industrial design, coordinates closely with engineering, and can add specialist support. Product-specific engineering, testing, certification, and manufacturing responsibilities are defined for each engagement.
Can you work with our existing contractor or factory?
Yes. Offset can lead or support an existing team while protecting one coherent product direction through reviews, prototypes, supplier decisions, and handoff.
Should we contact Offset before or after fundraising?
Either can work. The practical question is what evidence the company needs next and whether there is a realistic budget for that step. Funding status alone does not determine project fit.
Can you fix a prototype another team started?
Yes. A Rescue Sprint is designed to diagnose what is holding an existing product back and determine the strongest route forward before tooling or launch.
Start a project
Give the team one product direction it can build around.
Send the current stage, the next milestone, and what feels unresolved. Kendall will reply directly by email.