Hacker News: willcarkner

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 04:39:32 +0000

We can do this by continuing to give them work. They are currently happy with us routing jobs through them, and I expect this to continue. It means they don't have to go searching for customers.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 04:37:15 +0000

1. Through partner fabs located mainly in the Bay Area but also across the US.

2,3,4. Some of our partner fabs can, publishing a detailed spec sheet asap

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 04:30:38 +0000

1) Well noted, we are working on fixing that 2) Agreed, fixed with 1) 3) We should be more clear about testing. We offer a range of tests (in house x-ray, functional, bring-up) that we should show more clearly. 4) This will be made more clear on the site 5) We don't aim to be a broker in the end. We aim to own the whole stack. This is how we start. 6) True, we do in-house testing and rework, which should be more clear on the site.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 23:51:48 +0000

Everything in stock on US distributors, but we will make a tool for this too.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 23:33:32 +0000

A PCB design tool that has manufacturing built in, for use by humans or agents.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 23:32:55 +0000

That's exactly what we are trying to do.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 22:42:31 +0000

True, there are a few standout cases of larger CMs. Tempo was the poster child and they did a lot of things right. MacroFab and CircuitHub will be great competitors to have, and as stated in earlier threads we believe our edge will come from owning the entire stack from design to testing.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 22:22:18 +0000

Absolutely. Let's do it for everything

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 22:19:56 +0000

I would be super interested in chatting. Sending a DM.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 21:54:40 +0000

Yes and no, I could imagine a system where they have on demand capacity with a company like us and pay for that service.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 21:48:59 +0000

#1 price is more expensive than China, parts availability is higher.

#2 it is accessible, but more expensive so if cost is your main constraint it's not the right choice.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 21:26:25 +0000

Yes we're going to build that into it. In the pipeline definitely.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:32:02 +0000

You're right. I'm updating the website with capabilities now. The NDA simplification is also a good idea, we will implement that as well. Thanks!

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:27:01 +0000

Yes, a bunch of companies offer it but we aim to make it more available for a lower cost.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:22:16 +0000

Yes that's where we're putting our energy right now. We do most of our assembly with CMs now, but looking at Juki when we open our facility.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:06:40 +0000

Ok, fair points. 2. is our focus right now and then we may add 1. over time.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 19:38:03 +0000

Youtube tutorials are pretty great to get started

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 19:28:51 +0000

Very interesting, I'm wondering if that low-utilization rate justifies the capex of building a line.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 19:19:49 +0000

In this case specifically they also have a huge amount of automation and process learnings from being around for 20+ years.

New comment by willcarkner in "Launch HN: ProvenMetal (YC S26) delivers circuit boards in days instead of weeks"

willcarkner — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 19:08:37 +0000

Yes I agree. If it turns out that there is not enough demand to service in defense, we can use the optimizations found from the defense market to take a stab at the general market. It doesn't make sense to start with that off the bat.