🚀 Lesson Plan: Engineering Feasibility & Scaling for First-Time Founders

Module 6: Validating Prototypes & Scaling Innovation

Tagline: Designing for Scalability—Balancing Innovation, Cost, and Market Readiness

🚀 Module Overview

This module explores how early-stage founders can assess the feasibility of their prototypes, optimize cost structures, and ensure their designs are scalable. The discussion covers key considerations such as engineering feasibility, cost of goods (COGS), bill of materials (BOM), scalability constraints, and user adoption challenges. By the end, founders will have a clear framework for making technical decisions that align with business realities and market expectations.

💡 Key Learning Outcomes

✅ Understand the distinction between functionality and usability testing.
✅ Learn to integrate customer feedback into iterative product refinement.
✅ Recognize the importance of recalibrating assumptions during validation.
✅ Gain strategies to measure success and identify when to pivot or scale.

🎙 Special Guests

👤 Jason Fox – COO at Inquis Medical, 24 years of experience in medical device engineering & commercialization.
👤 Paul Nauleau – Senior R&D Engineer at Inquis Medical, Adjunct Lecturer at Santa Clara University.

📌 Key Discussion Topics

“We're designing something so new, so innovative that we are anticipating where the industry will be 5, 10, 15 years down the road.”

1️⃣ Assessing Scalability & Feasibility

• How to determine if a prototype is scalable for mass production.

• The three key factors: labor, materials, and capital investment.

• How founders can estimate product price points early on.

2️⃣ Cost of Goods (COGS) & Bill of Materials (BOM)

• Why a BOM should be built from the earliest prototype phase.

• Difference between COGS vs. BOM and how they impact pricing.

• The role of design for manufacturing (DFM) in cost reduction.

3️⃣ Validating Product-Market Fit & User Constraints

• The dangers of "designing in a box" without user feedback.

• Why iterative prototyping with customer input prevents costly mistakes.

• Balancing technical innovation with user adoption challenges.

4️⃣ Investor Pitch & Prototyping for Fundraising

• How investors assess scalability and market opportunity.

• The importance of polished prototypes when raising funds.

• Why traction and user validation matter more than raw technology.

🏆 Lesson 1: Early-Stage Scalability & Engineering Feasibility

🔍 Key Takeaways:
✅ Define scalability by assessing labor skill level, material costs, and capital investment.
✅ Identify the real constraints of your product—materials, labor, regulations.
✅ Understand that profit margins and pricing strategy affect design decisions.

📌 Action Step: Outline the three biggest scalability challenges for your startup’s prototype.

“To the effect of designing something that people want, and then making sure that we're building what we've designed.”

🏆 Lesson 2: BOM, COGS, & Cost Planning

🔍 Key Takeaways:
✅ Build a bill of materials (BOM) early, even for prototypes.
✅ Understand the difference between COGS and BOM, and track costs accordingly.
✅ Implement design-for-manufacturing (DFM) strategies early to control production costs.

📌 Action Step: Research and list three cost-saving strategies you can apply to your prototype.

🏆 Lesson 3: Iterating on User Feedback & Avoiding Over-Engineering

🔍 Key Takeaways:
✅ Don't design in isolation—continuous user feedback prevents costly mistakes.
✅ Avoid over-engineering—not every feature needs to be cutting-edge.
✅ Plan for real-world user adoption—simple, intuitive design wins.

📌 Action Step: Interview five potential users or customers and document their feedback.

🛠 Actionable Takeaways & Frameworks

✅ Scalability Readiness Checklist
📌 Have you assessed labor, materials, and capital needs for mass production?
📌 Have you mapped out a BOM with estimated costs for every component?
📌 Have you tested your product with real users to refine usability and adoption?
📌 Have you identified cost-saving alternatives for expensive components?

✅ Investor & Fundraising Considerations
📌 Does your prototype clearly demonstrate the core value proposition?
📌 Have you conducted customer interviews or market research to validate demand?
📌 Have you structured your pitch deck to highlight scalability?

✅ Product Optimization Frameworks
📌 Have you documented all iterations of your prototype with changes?
📌 Have you mapped out design-for-manufacturing (DFM) strategies?
📌 Have you consulted industry experts or suppliers for cost-efficient solutions?

“Simple documentation and BOMs for every prototype you make is really important because in essence, even though we think we're going to remember you're going to forget what worked and what didn't.”

🎯 Founder Challenges: Apply What You’ve Learned!

📌 1. Create a BOM & Cost Estimate: Build a rough bill of materials and estimate initial costs.
📌 2. Get Customer Feedback: Conduct 5+ user interviews and document pain points.
📌 3. Identify Cost-Saving Strategies: Research alternatives for expensive materials.
📌 4. Validate Your Prototype’s Scalability: Assess whether it can be mass-produced cost-effectively.

🚀 Next Steps & Resource Map

🔹 Follow & Connect with Our Guests:
👉Jason Fox
👉 Paul Nauleau

RESOURCE MAP