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Home > The Amp Hour Electronics Podcast > #492 – More Electronics Consultant Impedance Matching


	Podcast:		The Amp Hour Electronics Podcast
	Episode:		#492 – More Electronics Consultant Impedance Matching
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		01:26:25
	Publish Date:		2020-05-10 19:11:57
	Description:		Another episode with people talking about consulting for electronics! Welcome to our guests, listed clockwise from the top left in the episode photo. Alex Klimaj from ARK Electronics in Utah in the US. Jeremiah Gillis from Embedded Bytes, Inc in Wyoming in the US. Kieran O’Leary from Mixed Signal Systems, Ltd in Scotland in the UK. Kieran has been on the show on his own in the past. We all know each other from the Electronics Consultant Forum. If you’re interested in joining you can apply here. Notes from the show: Episode 409 was also about Electronic Consulting. That episode inspired the consultant forum as a place to discuss issues related to the field. Working with remote clients, before and during the lockdown. All have considered making hardware for sale outside of client work. Alex has made the LiPow Kieran does courses and has made some demo boards for SI issues Jeremiah will be making some mod hardware for his Mazda RX7 Chris liked the idea of building a reference design after Ryan Cousins from KRTKL was on the show talking about how the Snickerdoodle is a lead generation tool. Having a niche is also important. The Long Tail (written by past guest Chris Anderson) Past guest / co-host Greg Charvat has written niche books that lead to opportunities at startups as a CTO. Schedules at home lab are tough, but not that different than before for the attendees. Kieran is used to working in the middle of the night (it was 1 am during the call for him) Alex recorded a video of mountain biking using a Skydio drone Keeping up on the latest trends via podcasts. We didn’t mention it directly but this included the machine learning episode on embedded.fm. Classes are always a good way to learn too, but might be more limited. Looking at job postings also calls out what skills are in demand. Chris referenced the HN who’s hiring posts. Chris wishes there was an Audm for Engineers, that reads you technical articles and/or summaries. If you’re interested email chris@theamphour.com with the subject line “Audm for engineers” How are you rigorous? Standard processes in place Jeremiah is learning from the medical industry, since there are more regulations. This includes things like unit testing that links back to a requirement. Tracking time for quality, including how well they are doing for estimates. Asana with Everhour Book: How to measure anything The important thing is to check whether it’s done or not. “Are we happy? Yes or no” A great tip: Every block in the schematic gets a number for PCB reviews Using a balance sheet as a budget check. Adding custom categories to your Chart of Accounts (with your accountant’s blessing) means you can categorize with more fine control. Some of the accounting/tracking tools we use: Xero Quickbooks Zoho Spend your time billing hours War stories Once there was a layoff, one the employees was nice enough to update Kieran on the situation Jeremiah war story about client “I declare Force Majeure!” So you want to be a consultant. Also referenced in Jack Ganssle’s series on being a consultant. Things to learn in the next 5 years: Business strategy (Trillion dollar coach – Bill Campbell_ DC power storage and EVs Measuring progress (Measure What Matters – John Doerr) Consulting forum application Follow our guests online! Kieran O’Leary on Twitter, LinkedIn and his personal site Jeremiah Gillis on LinkedIn, his company site Alex Klimaj on Twitter, LinkedIn and his company site
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