This is a companion to my earlier article, “A Consumer Technology Opportunity.”

How a Founder Can Use an Engineering Consultancy to Build Value, Stage by Stage

Suppose you have an idea for a new smart-home electronic product, but you are not an electrical engineer, firmware developer, industrial designer or software engineer.

Instead of first building an engineering team, a founder can hire a product-development consultancy to develop the idea stage by stage.

At any stage, the venture may continue development, raise capital, license the technology or be sold.

If it later moves toward production, an in-house engineering team can be built, potentially with compensation including salary and equity.

Development Stages

A smart-home electronic product typically progresses through:

Idea → product definition → feasibility → proof of concept → prototype → validation → MVP + pilot → production-ready product

Each stage can create more certainty and make the opportunity more attractive to investors, strategic partners and buyers.

From Early Definition to Commercial Readiness

The chart below shows Toronto consultancy costs, potential capital raises after each stage, and potential sale values for Affan’s specific smart-home electronic product.

How the Development Stages Work

The chart provides the big picture.

What follows briefly explains what happens at each stage, what the consultancy delivers, and the cost, capital-raising potential and sale value.

Each stage can be commissioned separately. After completing it, the founder can continue developing, raise capital, partner, license or sell.

1. Product Definition

The consultancy turns the founder’s idea into an engineering plan:

• what the product should do

• how it might work

• what must be developed

Typical deliverables include a

• Product Requirements Document

• preliminary architecture and development roadmap

Consultancy cost: about $10,000
Potential capital raise: about $50,000
Potential sale value: about $25,000

At this point, an idea has become a defined product opportunity.

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2. Feasibility Study

Engineers investigate the technologies that could make the product work and test the most promising approaches.

The founder receives

• technical findings

• recommended architecture

• preliminary components

• a path toward a proof of concept

Consultancy cost: about $20,000
Potential capital raise: about $200,000
Potential sale value: about $100,000

The opportunity now has professional engineering evidence behind it.

3. Proof of Concept

The consultancy builds a simple experimental system demonstrating the product’s central capability.

A proof of concept may be crude. What matters is that the technology works.

Consultancy cost: about $35,000
Potential capital raise: about $500,000
Potential sale value: about $250,000

At this point, the conversation changes from “Here is the idea” to “Here it is working.”

4. Alpha Prototype

The technology begins becoming a recognizable product.

• Custom electronics

• firmware

• connectivity

• an enclosure and basic software can be integrated into one working system

Consultancy cost: about $80,000
Potential capital raise: about $1 million
Potential sale value: about $600,000

Investors and potential buyers can now see, hold and evaluate the emerging product.

5. Engineering Validation

Multiple units are built and tested to demonstrate consistent performance.

The founder begins accumulating

• reliability data

• refined designs

• stronger technical documentation

Consultancy cost: about $150,000
Potential capital raise: about $1.8 million
Potential sale value: about $1.25 million

The technology is becoming a more substantial business asset.

6. Design Validation

The product is refined toward

• commercial manufacture

• certification and

• repeatable production

Consultancy cost: about $60,000
Potential capital raise: about $2.5 million
Potential sale value: about $2.5 million

The project increasingly resembles a commercially transferable product platform.

7. MVP and Household Pilot

Working devices are placed in real homes.

Now the founder can demonstrate that

• the technology works

• people can use it

• people may want it

Consultancy cost: about $150,000
Potential capital raise: about $3.5 million
Potential sale value: about $6 million

Technical evidence is now joined by early market evidence.

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8. Production-Ready Product

The consultancy prepares the product for

• manufacturing

• production engineering

• testing

• certification

• manufacturing transfer

Consultancy cost: about $250,000
Potential capital raise: about $5 million
Potential sale value: about $9 million

The founder may now possess a technology and product package that an established company could manufacture and commercialize.

Capital Raise and Sale Value Are Different

A capital raise brings investment into the company in exchange for ownership.

A sale transfers the company, technology or intellectual property to a buyer.

The figures above are illustrative possibilities, not professional valuations or fundraising forecasts.

What Kinds of Smart-Home Products?

The same development path could apply to:

• intelligent household sensors

• safety and security devices

• energy-management products

• environmental monitors

• aging-at-home technologies

• smart appliances and accessories

• home-wellness products

• privacy-conscious automation

The underlying technologies might include radar, infrared, thermal sensing, ultrasound, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ultra-wideband, Matter, Thread or artificial intelligence.

The founder does not need to know the final technical solution at the beginning. Finding it can be part of the consultancy’s job.

Who Might Invest?

Early stages may attract

• founders

• friends and family

• angel investors

• accelerators

• government innovation programs

As the technology matures, possibilities expand to

• seed funds

• hardware investors

• deep-tech investors

• corporate venture groups

• strategic industry investors

Each successful stage gives investors more to evaluate.

Who Might Buy the Smart-Home Technology?

Potential buyers include:

• smart-home companies

• consumer-electronics manufacturers

• appliance manufacturers

• sensor and semiconductor companies

• home-security businesses

• telecommunications providers

• building-automation companies

• energy companies

• original equipment manufacturers

These companies may already have manufacturing, distribution, software, marketing and customers.

The founder may bring them something they do not yet have: a developed technology and a new product opportunity.

Sell, License, Partner or Keep Building

The founder does not have to follow one predetermined path.

At any stage, the choices could include:

• Sell

• License

• Raise capital

• Find a strategic partner

• Keep building

A licensing deal could potentially combine an upfront payment with royalties.

Each development stage creates another decision point.

Protect What Is Being Built

The consultancy agreement should clearly establish ownership of the resulting:

• hardware designs

• firmware

• software

• algorithms

• prototypes

• test data

• documentation

• patentable inventions

If the technology may eventually be financed, licensed or sold, clear ownership matters.

Three Toronto Consultancies to Explore

The following three Toronto-area firms were identified by a paid-plan frontier AI model as potentially suitable for Affan’s smart-home product.

The selection is based on their published capabilities and the project’s current needs.

They are examples for further investigation, not endorsements based on direct experience.

NeuronicWorks

Toronto-based product-development and manufacturing company covering electronics, firmware, software, mechanical design, prototyping, certification and manufacturing.

Radiocord Technologies

Toronto engineering firm offering feasibility studies, proofs of concept, hardware, firmware, IoT development, validation, pilots and manufacturing support.

Inertia Product Development

Toronto product-development company covering strategy, industrial design, electronics, embedded software, prototyping, validation and manufacturing readiness.

These are examples to investigate, not endorsements.

The Larger Opportunity

The progression is straightforward:

Idea → definition → feasibility → proof → prototype → validation → pilot → production

At every successful stage, more certainty is created.

And with greater certainty can come more credibility, more financing possibilities, more strategic options and potentially more value.

A founder does not necessarily have to build the entire consumer-electronics company.

Sometimes the opportunity is to build the technology far enough that someone else wants to finance it, license it, partner on it, or buy it.

AI disclosure:

The ideas, framing and arguments are my own.

I use a paid, advanced frontier AI model to help develop, check and polish my work through multiple iterations.

I review, edit and approve the final article.

The accompanying images were developed similarly.

Read follow-up article here: “From Smart-Home Idea to Sellable Technology.”

A New Electronic Product Opportunity

A new product concept combining an electronic device, software and an app is being developed with the help of frontier AI.

The technical path clearly appears possible. The market case appears encouraging enough to test.

The next step is a full feasibility study.

The Opportunity

The device is designed to make sense of an important aspect of everyday behaviour.

It would work seamlessly in the background and produce useful reports through the app.

The aim is simple: useful awareness with almost no effort and strong privacy.

Further details about the specific product will be shared later.

The Market

The initial markets under consideration have a combined population of approximately 1.17 billion people:

North America: United States and Canada

Europe: European Union and United Kingdom

GCC: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman

Developed Asia: Japan, South Korea and Singapore

Oceania: Australia and New Zealand

At 0.25% penetration, this represents approximately 2.9 million devices.

At 1% penetration, approximately 11.7 million devices.

These are not sales forecasts. They simply illustrate the potential scale if the product proves useful and commercially viable.

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Product Economics

Three preliminary scenarios help frame the economic opportunity.

For illustration, company valuation is estimated at approximately 10 times annual net profit. Actual valuations could be materially higher or lower.

At 0.25% Market Penetration

Approximately 2.9 million devices.

Conservative:

Gross revenue: approximately C$436 million

Gross profit: approximately C$202 million

Illustrative net profit: approximately C$44 million

Illustrative company valuation: approximately C$440 million

Mid-range:

Gross revenue: approximately C$582 million

Gross profit: approximately C$407 million

Illustrative net profit: approximately C$87 million

Illustrative company valuation: approximately C$870 million

Strong:

Gross revenue: approximately C$728 million

Gross profit: approximately C$611 million

Illustrative net profit: approximately C$146 million

Illustrative company valuation: approximately C$1.46 billion

At 1% Market Penetration

Approximately 11.7 million devices.

Conservative:

Gross revenue: approximately C$1.74 billion

Gross profit: approximately C$807 million

Illustrative net profit: approximately C$174 million

Illustrative company valuation: approximately C$1.74 billion

Mid-range:

Gross revenue: approximately C$2.33 billion

Gross profit: approximately C$1.63 billion

Illustrative net profit: approximately C$349 million

Illustrative company valuation: approximately C$3.49 billion

Strong:

Gross revenue: approximately C$2.91 billion

Gross profit: approximately C$2.45 billion

Illustrative net profit: approximately C$583 million

Illustrative company valuation: approximately C$5.83 billion

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Just the Canadian Market Potential

Because Canada would likely be the first commercial market if the product reaches that stage, it provides a useful illustration of what even modest market penetration could mean.

Canada has a population of approximately 41.4 million. The following scenarios explore potential sales, profitability and company value at two levels of market penetration.

At 0.25% Market Penetration

Approximately 104,000 devices

Conservative scenario:

Gross revenue: approximately C$15.4 million
Gross profit: approximately C$7.1 million
Illustrative net profit: approximately C$1.5 million
Illustrative company valuation: approximately C$15 million

Mid-range scenario:

Gross revenue: approximately C$20.6 million
Gross profit: approximately C$14.4 million
Illustrative net profit: approximately C$3.1 million
Illustrative company valuation: approximately C$31 million

Strong scenario:

Gross revenue: approximately C$25.8 million
Gross profit: approximately C$21.6 million
Illustrative net profit: approximately C$5.2 million
Illustrative company valuation: approximately C$52 million

At 1% Market Penetration

Approximately 414,000 devices

Conservative scenario:

Gross revenue: approximately C$61.7 million
Gross profit: approximately C$28.6 million
Illustrative net profit: approximately C$6.2 million
Illustrative company valuation: approximately C$62 million

Mid-range scenario:

Gross revenue: approximately C$82.4 million
Gross profit: approximately C$57.5 million
Illustrative net profit: approximately C$12.4 million
Illustrative company valuation: approximately C$124 million

Strong scenario:

Gross revenue: approximately C$103.1 million
Gross profit: approximately C$86.5 million
Illustrative net profit: approximately C$20.6 million
Illustrative company valuation: approximately C$206 million

On these preliminary assumptions, the Canadian market alone appears large enough to justify a full feasibility study.

About These Numbers

These exploratory figures were generated with the assistance of a frontier AI model.

They have not been independently validated and are not forecasts.

Actual costs, prices, margins and achievable market penetration would have to be established through engineering, supplier research and market testing.

The Founding Team

The concept originated with Affan in Toronto.

The next requirement is a strong technical founder, or two, capable of evaluating the concept and, if warranted, taking it forward.

Useful backgrounds could include:

• electrical or computer engineering

• software engineering

• embedded systems or IoT

• sensing or related hardware

• AI-assisted product development

A Toronto or Ontario based individual is preferred, although someone elsewhere who can travel to Toronto easily and frequently could also work.

The strongest candidate would combine technical judgment, initiative, entrepreneurial ambition and the ability to use frontier AI intelligently.

Affan’s role would focus on product vision, strategy, major product decisions, relationships and governance rather than day-to-day technical execution.

Potential technical founders could be sought primarily through universities and engineering schools in Toronto and elsewhere in Ontario, while remaining open to strong candidates from other locations.

Founder-matching programs and startup networks, including Y Combinator’s co-founder matching platform, could provide another route to meeting suitable technical founders.

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The Feasibility Study

Before committing substantial capital to product development, the concept should undergo a full feasibility study.

The study would examine:

• technical architecture and component choices

• hardware, software and app feasibility

• bench testing of the core technical assumptions

• expected manufacturing and development costs

• suppliers and production options

• preliminary intellectual-property risks

• customer and market assumptions

A senior electrical or computer engineer with relevant product-development experience could lead the work, bringing in specialist expertise where required.

A generous initial budget would be approximately C$50,000.

The objective is not to prove that the idea will succeed.

The study should answer one central question: whether the technical and commercial case is strong enough to justify building an MVP.

Some Numbers Along the Pathway to Commercial Launch

The following is an illustrative pathway, developed with the assistance of a frontier AI model, showing how the project could progress from feasibility study to MVP and, if warranted, to an initial commercial launch in Canada.

Each stage would depend on the success of the one before it, and the funding amounts, valuations and ownership percentages shown are preliminary assumptions rather than fixed terms.

All of these stages assume the initial commercial launch is Canada only.

The investment values shown are illustrative paper values based on the assumed valuations, not realized returns.

Feasibility Stage

Feasibility funding: approximately C$50,000
Implied post-money valuation: approximately C$500,000

Feasibility stage investor: 10%
Founding CTO: 30%
Affan: 60%

If the Feasibility Study Supports an MVP

MVP stage funding: approximately C$100,000
Implied post-money valuation: approximately C$1 million

MVP stage investor: 10% — approximately C$100,000
Feasibility stage investor: 9% — approximately C$90,000, nearly 2× the original investment

Founding CTO: 27%
Affan: 54%

If the MVP Supports a Product Launch

Product launch funding: approximately C$750,000
Implied post-money valuation: approximately C$7.5 million

Product launch investor: 10% — approximately C$750,000
MVP stage investor: 9% — approximately C$675,000, about 7× the original investment
Feasibility stage investor: 8.1% — approximately C$607,500, about 12× the original investment

Founding CTO: 24.3%
Affan: 48.6%

AI disclosure:

The ideas, framing and arguments are my own.

I use a paid, advanced frontier AI model to help develop, check and polish my work through multiple iterations.

I review, edit and approve the final article.

The accompanying image was developed similarly.

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The Part Trump Leaves Out

Donald Trump often says the United States subsidizes the world. He says America protects others, pays more, and carries everyone else.

What he leaves out is just as important.

For nearly 70 years, the world has subsidized the United States by using the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency.

That fact comes first. Everything else follows.

How the Dollar Became Global Money

After World War II, the U.S. was the strongest economy left standing. Europe and Asia were damaged. The U.S. had factories, gold, and stability.

The dollar was chosen as the world’s main currency.

That meant global trade, oil, debt, and central bank savings all ran on dollars. Countries needed dollars to survive in the global system.

This gave the U.S. a unique advantage.

The Purchasing Power Advantage

Because the world needed dollars, the U.S. could print its own money and spend it globally. Other countries had to earn or borrow dollars. America did not.

Economists estimate this raised U.S. real purchasing power by roughly 20 to 30 percent. In simple terms, America could buy about one quarter more than it otherwise could with the same economy.

No other country had this power.

From Money to Science to Military

Over decades, this allowed the U.S. to borrow cheaply, run trade deficits without collapse, and import real goods in exchange for its own currency.

That extra money funded universities, science, technology, and eventually the world’s strongest military.

Financial power came first.

Scientific power followed.

Military dominance came last.

Only after all this did the U.S. take on the role of global protector.

Why Trump’s Framing Is Incomplete

So when Trump says America pays more or protects others, he is talking about the final stage, not the starting point.

The reserve currency came first.

The advantage came second.

Global power came third.

The Missing Context

Leaving this out turns a shared system into a one-sided story.

This is not about blaming or praising the U.S.A.

It is about understanding how its power was built.

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