Posted October 15, 2018 09:25:06 A process to create project planning documents and plans should be a part of every project planning, says the CEO of a California-based company that designs and builds prototypes for companies seeking to start and scale production of their products.
“The biggest mistake you can make is not being clear about the scope of your project and the scope and scope of the work,” said Paul Hildebrand, who heads a San Diego-based software development company called Piazza that provides tools and software to build and deploy prototypes.
“So you don’t have an outline for your plan, so you don`t know how much time is required to complete the product.”
He added, “It’s just a big mess.”
Hildebrand said he has built prototypes of more than 20 products for companies ranging from hospitals to retail stores to start-ups, but he also makes prototypes of a range of more traditional industries, including aerospace, manufacturing, and energy.
He said the main thing he wants people to know about his work is that it’s not a job for everyone.
“We`re really doing a good job at understanding the different industries and how they`re structured, and what it takes to get there,” Hildebrant said.
“The biggest thing that is really missing from the product design process is the idea of how much to spend.
If you`re not able to answer that question, you don�t have a clear product design.”
A Piazzas goal is to be able to tell a company that they need to spend $50 million to start manufacturing their products, and to give them an outline of what to expect.
“It`s all about asking a lot of questions about what the product does, how much it`s going to cost, how long it`ll take, and all those things,” he said.
Hildebrand said he would love to build prototypes for other industries, like construction, but it`t something he is going to have to do on a larger scale.
“I just can`t imagine a job where I have to build a lot and be able make a lot, even in a small company,” he says.
“I would love for it to be a hobby, but I don`d love to make money on it.
I`d like to see some of the costs go to the consumer, and some to the customer,” he added.
He is not the only one who thinks Piazas tool is worth building prototypes.
In a recent article for The Atlantic, Peter Thiel, a venture capitalist who founded PayPal, said Piazzi can be an “instrument of rapid prototyping.”
Piazzos product design software allows you to create prototypes that will go into production within two to five months.
But the tools also provide an opportunity to learn from others, Hildebach said.
“There are so many examples of people who have done the same thing and have built the products, so I`m hoping this will be useful to some of those people as well,” he told the Atlantic.
“A lot of what I`ve learned so far has come from making prototypes for myself,” he continued.
“That was really what motivated me to come here.”
Piloted by Hildebert, the company is planning to release a free version of its software, and is in talks with some of Silicon Valley`s biggest companies, including Google, Facebook, Apple, and Netflix.
The company also plans to release software that will be available to developers who want to use Piazzo.
“They will be able use this software and be a much easier way to get things started,” Hildbrands team said in a press release.
Hildbrand is currently in San Diego for a presentation at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Research Conference.
He will return to California for a series of webinars for companies, tech industry leaders, and others in the state.
