I'm Artem. I assembled Softpad with six Kailh Choc Brown keys, a shared 1.3-inch OLED and a printed PETG case and stand. I sell it assembled under Nuvko.

The labels sit above the keys rather than on them. They're names set by the user in a browser configurator, not commands discovered from applications. For a six-key layout, what would you want to see in the photo to judge whether each label clearly matches its key?

Saved shortcuts work without the companion running; automatic app-profile switching needs the Mac or Windows companion. I used AI help with the code, and this post is AI-assisted too.

Setup and test notes (https://nuvko.works/#setup): configuration uses desktop Chrome or Edge with the companion paused or closed. The Windows companion is unsigned; the Mac companion is ad-hoc signed and not notarized. Fresh-computer installation checks remain unfinished. The page gives OS requirements and version-specific test limits.

Curious how you do this, because it's quite of a painful experience for me especially because we're a startup and moving ultra fast.

So the design side is done. Schematic, layout and firmware are ready faster or slower depending on complexity, but AI helps quite a bit. Then comes ordering the components which is painful by itself (at least for my wallet 😄). Digikey for the MCU and passives, LCSC because some of it is half the price, JLC for the boards, Amazon for whatever I need fast. Either way there is a lot of searching, clicking and a 100 tabs open. Especially when ordering custom mechanical components, there is sending RFQs, waiting for quotes, ...

What does your actual flow look like? Do you stick to one distributor and accept the price, or handle it somehow differently?

P.S. I know bigger teams have purchasing departments, I have to handle it all myself - early stage startup 😅

Hi everyone! Thanks to the mods for approving this post.

A friend of mine is launching Aximelo, a custom CNC manufacturing service for hardware startups and engineers who need prototypes or small-batch production (1–50 parts).

They're looking for early customers ahead of their November launch.

Early Customer Offer:

Join a 20-minute research call (no sales pitch, no recording) and choose one of two rewards:

• 3 free CNC-machined parts — up to $500 per part, all costs included. Subject to machining capabilities; valid for 6 months.
• Free lifetime VIP membership — 10% off every order.

Interested? Email [contact@aximelo.com](mailto:contact@aximelo.com) or visit https://www.aximelo.com.

What's your biggest frustration with CNC prototyping — pricing, lead times, or quality?

I’m hearing about real companies running fully agentic AI software factories and I want to know what the current state of the art AI business architecture is for hardware engineering.

I’m the CTO and cofounder of an AgTech company in the UK. We’ve taken 4 products to market across the globe, raised a good chunk of VC and are seeing good revenue growth. Not profitable yet, but we are on our way.

But we started the business in 2015, way before AI, and I’ve been so busy building the whole company ‘the old way’ (Real FEA, CAD, Electronics prototyping and design) I fear I’m behind the curve and stuck in my ways. I want to explore how people are doing it now.

In particular I’ve got some friends working in software startups with a fully agentic infrastructure. From app features, to marketing. I thought I would ask you likeminded people, what’s the best equivalent you have seen in hardware engineering and physical product development?

Thanks in advance