Digital era

During our 21st century, it feels like everyone is focused on digital services. We spend our days thinking about creation and usage within a virtual world. If you look at the charts, it is easy to see that traditional industrial businesses are in a steady decline.

The lonely innovators

We only see a small subset of areas where industrial startups are still striving.

The space industry is one of them, where people are still dreaming of big rockets and distant planets.

You can also find a bit of innovation in agriculture as we try to figure out how to feed the world more efficiently.

However, I do not see much innovation in the kitchen appliance or building industries.

Where are the new ideas for machinery and engines? Even the naval sector seems to be drifting along without much change. It feels like we have stopped trying to reinvent the physical things we use every day.

A high price for entry

It is a bit shameful. I would love to see more innovations or at least more innovators in these fields.

I imagine young, passionate entrepreneurs getting their hands dirty and working on these tough physical problems.

Why aren’t we more excited about building better engines or smarter appliances?

Unfortunately, this path isn’t very appealing to most people right now, and it is also very dissuasive.

The cost to entry is still quite high.

Even though we can prototype faster, better, and cheaper with artificial intelligence, building a physical product requires a lot of capital and a lot of risk.

Pausing the dream

I am putting my dream of creating such a company aside for a bit.

In the coming months, I will go onto a more financially stable path.

It is a practical choice, but it doesn't make the decision any easier to swallow.

I am both excited and sad to let this idea go for now.

I know that by stepping back, I will actually have the opportunity to refine the concept even more.

Sometimes you have to wait for the right moment to build something that lasts.

Will we eventually see a new wave of builders who care as much about steel as they do about software? I certainly hope so.