A former SpaceX engineer's advice: If you want to start a hardware business, fly to Shenzhen immediately.

According to Beating's monitoring, Zac Valles, a former engineer on Tesla's self-driving car team and SpaceX's Raptor team, flew directly to Shenzhen 72 hours after his Y Combinator pitch. After spending eight weeks there and returning to San Francisco with new hardware, he strongly advised all hardware entrepreneurs, even those without funding, a team, or even an idea, to immediately go to Shenzhen if they want to make hardware. He summarized his core experience in connecting with the supply chain in Shenzhen. Regarding entry points, he suggested using large trade shows as springboards, the most effective way to get into any factory. When communicating with contract manufacturers, the initial focus should be on delivery time rather than cost. He pointed out that the speed of hardware iteration is limited by the longest-leading parts; securing these parts early is crucial for establishing an accurate timeline. On supplier selection and design, Valles reminded entrepreneurs to categorize contract manufacturers based on their execution capabilities. He specifically advised against designing overly complex parts; for example, components requiring 12 subsequent processing steps are extremely difficult to find factories willing to take on. In addition, he recommended setting aside 4 to 6 hours for on-site visits to Huaqiangbei, a "miniature city," and pointed out that respecting the local business culture (such as "full cups of wine and half-full cups of tea") is an important lubricant for promoting cooperation.