“You Quoted What?!” – Josh Valman on Pricing, Growth, and Painful Lessons
“We had no clue what we were doing. We quoted a massive job… way under… and then had to figure out how to deliver it without losing our shirts.”
That’s how Josh Valman, CEO of RPDK, describes one of the earliest—and most painful—lessons from scaling his product development business. In this episode of Why Design, we dive into the unfiltered reality of building a hardware startup from scratch.
Josh’s journey is anything but conventional. By age 10, he was designing robots. By 19, he was consulting for global corporates on manufacturing and supply chains—while still in school. What followed was the growth of RPD into a 100-person team working across design, engineering, and global production before being acquired by Kinara International.
We talk about what most founders get wrong, the messy middle between prototyping and mass production, and why investors care less about your idea and more about your plan. Josh also shares what he’s up to now—backing founders through the British Design Fund and filming a new TV show to shine a light on what really happens behind factory doors.
If you're building a hardware product, thinking about scaling, or just want a brutally honest take on how products get made, this episode is a must-listen.
Key Takeaways:
🔹 Started Young – Josh was consulting before clients realised he was still a teenager.
🔹 Pricing Lessons – Why quoting too low nearly broke the business—and how they clawed it back.
🔹 Design to Scale – Why the “middle” (certification, tooling, sourcing) is where most projects fail.
🔹 Spec Work That Pays – How early projects for Bosch and Unilever helped prove RPD’s capabilities.
🔹 No Degree, No Problem – Why Josh skipped uni, and how he built a career by doing, not studying.
🔹 The Founder’s Job – It’s not the product—it’s planning, cashflow, forecasting, and doing the hard stuff.
🔹 British Design Fund – What investors actually want to see from hardware startups.
🔹 TV Project Incoming – A behind-the-scenes series exploring how everyday products get made.
Resources & Links:
🌍 Connect with Josh Valman on LinkedIn
💸 Explore the British Design Fund
📺 TV series coming soon—watch this space!
👥 Join the Why Design community! Sign up for events, online huddles, and workshops: teamkodu.com/events
🔗 Follow Chris Whyte on LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/mrchriswhyte
🎧 Listen to Why Design on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Amazon Music.
💬 PS – Make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode!
