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“Startups, in general, are like roller coasters; adding hardware to the mix just makes them even more stomach-churning.” - Eric Migicovsky, Partner at Y Combinator, and Founder of Pebble Startups that make physical goods face a unique set of challenges. To simply spec out a product, many need expertise from formulators and materials experts that is much more scarce than digital product expertise. A step of iteration can take months and, often, coordination with multiple manufacturers. With sizable unit costs, these businesses tend to have high working capital needs which can make venture funding much harder to raise. But even with all these challenges, many startups are growing and thriving. They’re taking advantage of new tech, an evolving manufacturing space, marketing channels, and the changing habits of consumers to build new products that make our lives better. Join us on June 5th for a panel on physical product development. We’ll discuss the challenges and opportunities of physical product startups, and what it takes to succeed. We’ll discuss Developing prototypes and finding product/market fit Finding manufacturers and distributors Marketing your product Scaling production of your product Fundraising for your physical product startup About the panelists Eunice Byun is the Co-founder and CEO of Material, a new e-commerce company for home cooks featuring can’t-cook-without-them essentials that are intentionally designed, affordable and meant to last a lifetime. Prior to launching Material with her co-founder David Nguyen, Eunice was the Vice President of Global Digital at Revlon. Eunice's career started in finance at Goldman Sachs, which later led her to a position in new business development at Maidenform. Her diverse professional experience built the foundation for starting her own successful e-commerce brand in the kitchen industry, where Eunice spent much of her childhood as the daughter of a restaurant owner. Kaiwei Tang is the Co-founder and CEO of Light. His Light Phone is leading a grass-roots revolution against our over-connected digital culture. Light was born as a refreshing alternative to the tech monopolies that are fighting more and more aggressively for our time and attention. Kai’s unique background and a decade of experience in tech, design and human-centered research led him to the creation of Light and Light Phone. His designs have since won several awards from iF Design Award, Red Dot Design Award, Design NYC, etc. In 2014, Google invited him to participate in their inaugural design incubator in NYC. He is also the only designer who received full sponsorship from Google. Alexander Harik is the Founder of Brooklyn-born Zesty Z, an emerging brand with national placement that makes exciting condiments and awesome popcorn featuring Za’atar, a famous Mediterranean thyme and herb seasoning. Global flavors are trending in the food industry and Za'atar is leading the charge. Zesty Z's products are available in 600+ locations across the country, including Whole Foods Markets. Zesty Z has been featured on NPR's "How I Built This", The Boston Globe, Epicurious, Delish, and The Wall Street Journal. In 2016 Alexander left finance to launch Zesty Z with his mother Lorraine, aka "Zesty Mom". Schedule 6:30 - 6:50: Drinks & Networking 6:50 - 7:50: Panel 7:50 - 8:15: Audience Q&A 8:15 - 9:00: More Drinks & Networking