The Real Reason Why U.S. Startups Produce in China (Hint: It's Not the Cost) | Hacker News Reader

The Real Reason Why U.S. Startups Produce in China (Hint: It's Not the Cost)

honeybuns.co

15 pointsaerosmile9 comments

As someone who has experienced a similar process through a relative of mine, is really interesting to hear a detailed story that not only talks about the process but also about the feeling of manufacturing outside of your home country. Finding the company that fit your product and your quality standards is extremely time consuming but once that serendipity happens you start feeling the snowball effect of the next items in the list. It really is all about finding the right match for your product.

I wonder if the Kaizen philosophy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen) applies for Chinese people as well. Can someone comment on this?

Yes - it does feel like there is some serendipity involved. I think my likelihood of getting lucky increased when I let go of the geographic limitations. Curious about Kaizen philosophy in China as well...

What a great read! As a consumer,this is making me reconsider the stigma attached with China-manufactured products and that I should just write-off certain products that are China-made when shopping.

I felt the same way before actually going there, meeting the workers and factory owners and seeing the work that they do. In my personal experience their drive and perfectionism is unmatched. Thanks for your comment!

Really surprising to hear that luxury brands are already using China for manufacturing - I was definitely under the assumption that luxury fashion was primarily manufactured in Europe and the US...

It's a fairly well kept secret. Chinese manufacturing isn't suffering too much, but it's unfair to deny them credit for the great work that they are doing because Italian brands don't want to admit that their products weren't 100% made in Italy.

Hello Everyone, I'm the author of this piece and would be happy to answer any questions other founders might have about factory sourcing.

Great article! Do you think that China is the only country or are there other countries that dominate manufacturing in the apparel space?

That's a great question - I've talked to a bunch of other physical product startups in both apparel and hardware. China is not the only good option - Sri Lanka, for example, is great for lingerie. I've also heard good things about central and South American countries for knitwear. China seems to dominate in hardware, but I'm sure there are other places doing good work in that area.

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