Here’s this week’s Smart Tangibles digest - focused on product strategy for connected hardware, IoT, Policy, UX, and Manufacturing.

In Copenhagen? Take advantage of this opportunity to discuss product strategy, business models for smart hardware, connected devices, and...

Net Present Value (NPV) is a key tool for evaluating project profitability. NPV calculates the present value of a series of future cash flows, discounted by time and risk. If the total is positive, the project is financially viable; if negative, it’s not worth pursuing. This chapter breaks down the logic, math, and real-world implications of NPV to help product leaders make smarter capital allocation decisions.

Net Present Value (NPV) is a key tool for evaluating project profitability. NPV calculates the present value of a series of future cash flows, discounted by time and risk. If the total is positive, the project is financially viable; if negative, it’s not worth pursuing. This chapter breaks down the logic, math, and real-world implications of NPV to help product leaders make smarter capital allocation decisions.

Two critical dimensions are often overlooked in product business models: time and risk. These shape the opportunity cost of capital - the value of the best alternative forgone. We break down simple vs. compound interest, explain why investors demand a risk premium, and show how timing and uncertainty affect real-world investment choices. Up next: Net Present Value and strategic capital use.

Can your product idea become a sustainable business? This chapter introduces contribution margin and break-even analysis — two essential concepts for evaluating the viability of smart, manufactured products. Using a simplified model that assumes one-time transactions, we explore how price, cost, and sales volume interact. It’s a first step toward understanding smart product economics — before diving into recurring revenue, services, and platforms.

Sure! Here’s a 490-character excerpt you can use as a preview or meta description: ⸻ Explore the future of connected products in our new LinkedIn group: Smart Tangibles – Things That Think, Interact, and Communicate. Join a growing community discussing the challenges, insights, and real-world use cases shaping this emerging product category. The group also supports the upcoming book Smart Tangibles (2026). Share your experience, contribute case studies, and help define what

As industries embrace digital transformation, integration into collaborative data ecosystems is becoming critical. From construction to pharma and aviation, point solutions that connect via open standards and APIs scale faster, gain trust, and deliver greater value. This article explores why tools like Revizto, Hopper, and PhlexTMF succeed by aligning with data pipelines - and what vendors should consider when deciding whether to go it alone or plug in.

As the line between software and physical product continues to blur, mitigation becomes more complex as it is essential. Protecting smart tangibles demands an integrated approach - where supply chain security, firmware integrity, and cloud-based safeguards are treated as a unified surface of risk.

Extreme ideation cycle for field-data startup led to MVP delivery of mobile reporting tools, resilient offline scanning, and system integration flows. The work connected edge data capture to collaborative cloud platforms, enabling automation and insight generation across roles and regions. From field to dashboard, the result: a clear product vision rooted in real-world constraints.

Swatch has the opportunity to reframe the smartwatch as a style-driven platform rather than a utility device. By combining affordable hardware with modular design and dynamic digital personalization, it can appeal to fashion-conscious users seeking flexibility and expression. This approach aligns with Swatch’s design legacy while enabling ongoing engagement, creative experimentation, and long-term brand relevance.

New customer. New challenges.

smart tangibles benefit from enhanced utility but are susceptible to increased cyber threats. This post discusses strategies for smart product cyber resilience.

Smart Tangibles explores the critical shift taking place as connected, learning, and adaptive physical products reshape user flows, raise consumer expectations, and build competitive advantage over traditional, non-responsive alternatives.

Reviving iRobot by building a marketplace around the existing control app to increase revenue opportunities

Product Management for the Physical World tackles hardware age old design challenges and new opportunities.

The unsung hero of museum engagement - a successful lean hardware project solving for complex environment

When Features Outcompete Products: Lessons from a Failed Bicycle Safety Beacon.

A unique specialization we offer at TheRoad is hardware product management.

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