Each product I touched is evidence of how I grew
Four hardware generations at Sidework. Each one represents a different chapter of my development, from sole designer, to team lead, to Chief Product Officer.
I taught myself to be a mechanical engineer
With zero ME experience, I designed the entire mechanical system: every fluidics path, every mechanism, every assembly. 9 months at HAX in Shenzhen learning CAD, working with factories, and prototyping until it worked. It had reliability issues, but it proved the market was real and secured our initial funding.
I learned to lead through other people
Now managing 3 engineers, I leveraged the team to simplify the Deluxe architecture by removing the ice dispenser and making dozens of reliability upgrades. I established engineering review gates and DFM processes. More importantly, I learned that the best products don't try to do everything. They do fewer things and do them well.
I built the frameworks to execute at scale
When coffee shops came calling, I led a ground-up redesign: 9 direct reports across mechanical, software, and electrical, $1.5M budget, and a far more sophisticated product. I built the process from scratch and navigated NSF certification alongside active development — meeting strict commercial food safety requirements without slowing the release timeline. 134 units deployed. 1M+ drinks dispensed. 99.9% uptime.
I distilled everything I learned into one design
Everything I learned across four generations lives in Gen 3, designed from the ground up for mass-market adoption. This time it's built with a new set of AI tools and frameworks that accelerate development at every step — and the result is the most focused product I've ever designed.
