On today's episode, I sit down with Joe Hollier, co-founder of Light, the company behind the Light Phone — a minimalist mobile device designed to be used as little as possible.
We talk about how the company emerged from an experimental Google design program, why Joe and his co-founder chose to build hardware in a software-dominated world, and what it actually takes to bring a new phone to market without relying on the traditional venture-backed smartphone playbook. We get into crowdfunding as early validation, how they managed to develop a relationship with Foxconn — one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electronics — and what that partnership required at their scale.
We also break down the unit economics: non-recurring engineering costs, bill of materials, software licensing fees for tools like directions, inventory financing, and how tariffs and component shortages have affected margins. We discuss the tradeoffs behind feature decisions — why the phone includes essentials like calling, texting, directions, and now a camera, but will never include features like social media access, email, or an internet browser — and how those boundaries shape both the product and the business model.
This was a thoughtful, detailed look at what it takes to build a hardware company with a fundamentally different incentive structure. I learned so much from Joe, and I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.
