Engineering Organizations Pt 1: Service Firms - When You Are the Product

In this first part of a two-part series, Jeff and Luca explore how different types of service-oriented engineering organizations should focus their learning and improvement efforts. Drawing from their consulting experience, they examine three distinct categories: product development firms that turn client ideas into reality, engineering development firms that sell specialized technical expertise, and solo engineers who package all necessary knowledge into one person.

The core insight: what you should focus on learning depends entirely on what you're actually selling. Product development firms need to master the entire client journey and product design process, not just engineering excellence. Engineering development firms must become technical wizards in a specific domain that clients actually value. Solo engineers face the challenge of needing deep expertise while wearing every business hat. Across all three types, the common traps are the same: focusing too much on craft and too little on client experience, failing to specialize, and not investing enough in teaching as marketing.

Throughout the discussion, Jeff and Luca emphasize that for service firms, you are the product - and that changes everything about where you should direct your improvement efforts. The conversation is grounded in real experiences, including some cautionary tales about firms that tried to be everything to everyone.

Key Topics

• [00:00] Introduction: Two-part series on engineering organizations and their different focuses
• [02:30] Overview of the framework: Service firms vs. product-building companies
• [05:15] Product development firms: Why engineering excellence isn't enough
• [08:45] The critical importance of product design and client guidance over pure engineering
• [12:20] Process-level learning: Shortening cycle times and enabling rapid prototyping
• [15:40] The Irinos example: In-house board manufacturing to tighten feedback loops
• [18:30] Requirements will always change - designing for learning, not perfection
• [21:00] The danger of being a generalist: Why specialization matters for service firms
• [24:15] Engineering development firms: Selling technical expertise, not complete products
• [27:45] Technology-focused learning: Going deep on specific technical capabilities
• [30:20] The trap of becoming a commodity: Why domain expertise beats technology alone
• [33:40] The forklift invoice review example: You can't specialize too narrowly
• [35:30] Solo engineers: The complete package vs. temporary employee trap
• [39:00] Common failures across all service firms: Too much craft focus, too little client experience and marketing
• [41:30] Teaching as the best form of marketing for technical service firms

Notable Quotes

"The customers don't actually hire them for their engineering skills. They are sort of a given. But what such a product development firm should offer the client is guiding them through the development process, which they don't have enough skills for to do it on their own." — Luca

"Engineering is not the point. The unit of work is delivering a working product to the client that satisfies their business case, that has a reasonable cost to manufacture, and that you feel confident your own client has validated their market." — Jeff

"It's not that engineering is irrelevant, but rather that it's table stakes. This is just taken for granted, but what such a product development firm should offer is guiding them through the development process." — Luca

"You almost can't be narrow enough. I remember our friend Philip Morgan having this example of a company that specializes in reviewing invoices of forklift repairs. This is what they do. They review forklift repair invoices. And they're doing very well apparently." — Luca

"Teaching and giving information and solving problems publicly is the best form of marketing. It's not advertising. It's building trust with an audience." — Jeff

Resources Mentioned

• IDEO - Prototypical design firm mentioned as an example of companies specializing in product design
• IRNAS - Product development firm with in-house board manufacturing capabilities, featured in previous episodes, exemplifying tight feedback loops
• Philip Morgan - Consultant and friend mentioned for his example about specialization (forklift invoice review company)
• Jeff Gable's website - Jeff's consulting services for medical device software development and advisory
• Luca Ingianni's website - Luca's training products and resources for embedded systems, IoT, and AI

Connect With Us

• Stay tuned for Part 2, where we'll explore organizations that build products and what they should focus on when the market decides
• If you're in the medical device industry and need help with embedded software - either writing it or navigating the regulatory landscape - reach out to Jeff at jeffgable.com
• Check out Luca's training products for embedded systems, IoT, and AI at luca.engineer
• Reflect on your own organization: Are you focusing on the right things for the type of service firm you are? Are you specializing enough?

You can find Jeff at https://jeffgable.com.
You can find Luca at https://luca.engineer.

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Ryan Torvik and Luca have started the Embedded AI podcast, check it out at https://embeddedaipodcast.com/