System76 developed a little like this…

Phase one

Drink beer and talk about open source.
Start a company making Linux computers.
Find out if anyone cares.
Lo and behold, people want Linux computers!
Struggle, struggle, struggle. Struggle, struggle.
Eight years later, persevere!

Phase two

Who are we!?
We have principles.
Does our brand portray our principles?
Not very well. Let’s fix that.
Re-brand and define ourselves clearly.
“We make powerful computers to help you do more, go further, and unleash your potential.”

Up to this point we’ve developed every capability, capital wise, that an organically grown hardware company can. We can make careful and deliberate choices about hardware and our product line. We can customize all parts of the software stack from the firmware level to the Ubuntu experience. We can deliver bleeding edge hardware and guarantee System76 computers will work with future Ubuntu releases.

Today, we can’t design and manufacture our products. We outsource this work. It’s similar to how Tesla used a Lotus chassis for their first car. (Like their Roadster, the outside of our computers might look similar to others but it’s the inside that counts.) The strategy was cash efficient and allowed us to focus on developing high value areas of the company. However, knowing what we wanted to build but without the means to do so left us constantly yearning for more.

Phase three (today)

Phase three moves product design and manufacturing in house. We’re about to build the Model S of computers. Something so brilliant and beautiful that reviewers will have to add an 11 to their scores. Being that we’re System76 and we do things the System76 way, our design principles are polar opposite of the rest of the industry.

• Represent the character of our company

Our company is open, warm, friendly, and high-quality. Our designs reflect these characteristics.

• Represent the Open Source community

Our CAD work will be Open Source and our design will pay tribute to computer science.

• Easy to work on and expand

At every step along the way we ask, “How does this decision affect serviceability”. Open it, change it, expand it. Our product will be flexible.

• Efficient to manufacture

Robots and automation! Manufacturing efficiency will keep prices competitive. And like software development, our manufacturing will continuously integrate product design improvements into production.

We’re starting with desktops. There’s a lot to learn and the form factor is easiest to work with. Both design and CAD work are well along their way. We’re prototyping with acrylic and moving to metal soon. Our first in-house designed and manufactured desktops will ship next year. Laptops are more complex and will follow much later.

It’s going to take some years, but by the end of phase three, we’ll be able to create anything. We’ll apply our unique computers for creators perspective to every aspect of our products.