Coredump #017: Building and Scaling a Startup in the Ultra-Competitive Health Wearables Market

00:00 Intro & Teasers 03:43 From Software to Hardware: The Leap of Faith 07:49 The Harsh Realities of Hardware 10:40 Iterating Fast Without Breaking People 15:17 Redefining A/B Testing in Hardware 21:40 Why Ultrahuman Built Its Own Factory 26:56 Scaling Production Across Continents 29:48 Managing Complexity: 20 Hardware Revisions in a Year 35:08 Firmware Velocity & Observability with Memfault 43:42 Health Tech Meets Regulation 47:55 Shared Codebases & Fast Iteration Across Products 50:39 Building the Machines That Build the Rings 54:34 Responsible AI & The Future of Health Wearables 56:35 Closing Reflections & Key Takeaways Coredump Sessions started at Memfault, now part of Nordic Semiconductor. We're continuing the series here with the same hosts, guests, and deep dives into embedded systems. In today's Coredump Session, François Baldassari and Chris Coleman sit down with Ultrahuman co-founder Vatsal Singhal to unpack what it takes to build and scale a hardware startup in the fiercely competitive health wearable market. From transitioning from software to hardware to building responsibly with AI and machine learning, Vatsal shares what it means to blend deep engineering rigor with a mission to improve human performance. This conversation explores the challenges, surprises, and future of health-tech innovation at the edge. Key Takeaways: - How Ultrahuman transitioned from a software-first mindset to mastering complex hardware development. - Lessons learned moving from large-scale software systems to building precision-focused health wearables. - Why building hardware for health requires a fundamentally different level of accountability and rigor. - The role of machine learning at the edge and how it enables better, faster insights while managing battery and compute tradeoffs. - How responsible use of AI in health applications shapes product design and user trust. - The importance of rapid iteration cycles and adopting software methodologies in hardware innovation. - Insights into how Ultrahuman’s internal teams use AI not just in engineering, but across all business functions. - A look at what’s next for health-tech — and where innovation is heading in wearables and bio-sensing. Listen to the Podcast episode: https://memfault.com/resources/building-and-scaling-a-startup-in-the-ultra-competitive-health-wearables-market/ Join the Interrupt Slack: [https://interrupt-slack.herokuapp.com](https://interrupt-slack.herokuapp.com/) Suggest a Guest: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf76qnsUDznyIJfC2OXCC_dIwR8v9z1yvE3PPlOhfsNCR_sug/viewform?usp=header Follow Nordic Semiconductor: - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nordic-semiconductor/ - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nordicsemi - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nordicsemiconductor - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nordic_semiconductor - Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/NordicTweets Follow Memfault: - LinkedIn⁠⁠: https://www.linkedin.com/company/memfault/ - Bluesky⁠⁠:https://bsky.app/profile/memfault.com - ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠:https://twitter.com/memfault Other ways to listen: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coredump-sessions/id1804647817 iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-coredump-sessions-271043539 Amazon Music:https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a5a780d4-7f14-4ed8-bda6-dd1aa4e98479/coredump-sessions) GoodPods:https://goodpods.com/podcasts/coredump-sessions-668730) Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/Coredump-Sessions-id6534689?country=us Visit our website: https://www.nordicsemi.com/