The people who will build your device
Every project has a named project lead and named engineering leads. You get their direct contact details at kickoff, and they join every gate review.
Who owns what
Every project runs with these roles. You get each lead's name and direct contact details at kickoff.
Founder
Owns: Contracts, scoping, pricing and gate reviews. Your escalation point for anything that is late, over budget or unclear.
Talk to them about: Whether your device is a fit, what a gate costs, contract and IP questions, in-person reviews.
Head of engineering
Owns: Architecture, chip and module selection, technical risk and staffing across every project. Signs off each gate before it goes to review.
Talk to them about: Feasibility, trade-offs between SoCs or modules, certification strategy, what can go wrong.
Project lead
Owns: Your schedule, weekly status report, open-issues list, supplier follow-up and the handover checklist at each gate.
Talk to them about: Dates, blockers, shipping units to you, anything you need this week.
Electrical engineering lead
Owns: Schematics, PCB layout, power budget, RF and antenna matching, EMC pre-scans and the BOM with alternates.
Talk to them about: Battery life, radio performance, part shortages, second sources, layout files.
Firmware lead
Owns: Bring-up, drivers, OTA updates, secure provisioning, the device-side protocol and SDK, and the SBOM.
Talk to them about: Integration with your backend, audio or sensor pipelines, update strategy, repository access.
Mechanical engineering lead
Owns: Industrial design handoff, enclosure CAD, tooling with the mold shop, drop, ingress and thermal design.
Talk to them about: Size, materials, finish, wearability, tooling cost and lead time.
Who works on your project at each gate
The team grows and shrinks with the gate. You pay for the gate's fixed scope, so staffing changes do not change your price.
| Gate | Core team | Also involved |
|---|---|---|
| 0 · Feasibility | Head of engineering, EE lead, firmware lead | Founder (scoping and quote) |
| 1 · Works-like prototype | Project lead, EE, firmware | ME for a test enclosure |
| 2 · EVT | Project lead, EE, firmware, ME | Test engineer for the EVT report |
| 3 · DVT / PVT | Project lead, EE, firmware, ME, test | Partner factory NPI team, certification lab |
| 4 · Mass production | Project lead, test / quality | Partner factory, EE and firmware on call |
The Shenzhen lab covers electrical, firmware, mechanical and test.
How you work with the team
- A shared channel with the project lead and engineering leads.
- A written status report every week: progress, open issues, risks, next steps.
- Your repository from the first firmware build. Hardware files land there or in a shared drive at each gate.
- Calls in the overlap window: Pacific late afternoon is Shenzhen early morning the next day.
- Gate reviews in person in the Bay Area or by video. How reviews work.
Next step
The first call is with the founder and an engineering lead. Bring your requirements, even if they are rough. A Duobay engineer replies within 2 business days.