I challenged myself to build a hardware startup in 30 days with $1000. Here's how it's going.
Nothing has caught fire. Yet.
133 hours and $696.42 later, I’m building Portiqo.
Portiqo lets users store and manage digital RFID access cards that work with almost every existing building. Users get a single key for everything, “tap to open”, and no more risk of a lost fob. Building owners get modern access control features without needing to make any changes to readers or wiring.
It’s been a wild ride. In just two weeks, I’ve:
Turned a vague idea into a business with a functional product and real path forward
Taught myself how to design electronic circuits, make PCBs, and work with embedded firmware
Built an iOS app which can clone and emulate (some) RFID access cards
Designed a credit card-sized emulator and had it manufactured overseas
Put the Vibe Startup philosophy to the test with incredible results
Let’s break it down!
Accomplishments
The Software
Portiqo Wallet is an Apple Wallet style app that lets you manage your RFID keycards from your phone. Right now, the app can import, store, and emulate low-frequency (125kHz) RFID tags that use the EM410x protocol (the most common LF protocol in access control systems).
To make this work, I needed to build two key components from scratch:
A Swift-native codec and API layer that translates the user’s interactions into the raw binary commands used by the Chameleon hardware
A Bluetooth communication manager that allows the app to connect to and communicate with the hardware
This was my first time writing code that talks to physical hardware. Going in, I expected Bluetooth to be one of the hardest parts of the app — if not the whole project. Surprisingly, Apple’s CoreBluetooth library did a lot of the heavy lifting and the whole thing ended up being way easier than expected.
The Hardware
Portiqo Key is a credit-card sized piece of hardware that lets digital keys open real-world doors. It emulates the signals of an actual RFID fob, allowing the credentials stored in Portiqo Wallet to work with almost any existing access control system. And it does it without requiring any changes to the readers or existing building infrastructure!
Hardware was always the riskiest part of this project. By far. I went in with limited electronics experience, no budget, and one chance to get it right. I remember cursing under my breath when I realized I had signed myself up to build a hardware product.
Still, despite these wild constraints, I got the prototype finalized. It’s currently being produced overseas! A few of the more interesting challenges I faced along the way:
Designing wireless charging and battery protection circuits so that Portiqo Key can be a sealed unit (and not break when the battery dies).
Redesigning the antennas to fit on a 4-layer PCB and use in-stock components (yes, RF still feels like black magic).
Coordinating with an overseas manufacturer to get the board produced on time and on budget.
I’m still not 100% sure the board will work - and I won’t be until I actually plug it in. But I gave myself the best odds I could. I closely followed the Chameleon Ultra and TI reference designs, checked my work carefully, and left room to rework things on the bench if needed. Fingers crossed!
What worked
I’ve been blown away by the amount of momentum I’ve been able to generate by following the Vibe Startup philosophy. I’m motivated every day to come in, work hard, and build cool things.
But the biggest surprise? I absolutely love working on a startup.
For over a decade, I avoided the tech/startup world on principle. It all seemed like smoke and mirrors. Spin a good story to raise money, sell vaporware with flashy marketing, then offload the whole thing to a bigger company who will kill it before anyone asks the hard questions. That’s not who I am, so I drew a red line through the whole scene.
The honesty inherent to a Vibe Startup gave me a way in that felt real. It
What didn’t
From Day 1, one thing has held this project back: I’ve been afraid to put myself out there. This has manifested in a few ways:
These posts have taken up way more time than they should - time I could have spent building my business
I’ve technically followed all the rules: my code is on Github and I’ve been reflecting honestly here. But I’ve made almost no effort to share the project with others, and that’s not radically public.
I’ve focused too much on building a working product at the expense of talking with users, validating demand, and putting my startup in front of real people.
The ridiculous part? I’m afraid of failing publicly and “looking stupid”, but literally no one would ding me for coming up short on a 30 day, $1,000 startup challenge.
I don’t think I’ll be able to change my psychology in the next 15 days, but I can change my behavior.
When I first started rock climbing, my mentor shared something that has stuck with me: He didn’t want to climb with anyone who wasn’t scared on lead. I thought he was just trying to make me feel better: weren’t these the fearless guys putting up wild new routes?
Over time, I understood. Everyone’s scared. The only climbers who aren’t are crazy, and those are the ones that will get your team killed. Success in climbing isn’t about eliminating fear, it’s about looking it in the face, then trusting your preparation and doing it anyway.
That’s the same approach I’m going to take with the second half of this project. I’m not going to wait until “I’m ready”, because that’s never going to happen. I’m just going to face the fear and say: “OK, but we’re doing this anyway”.
On a lighter note: building a startup from the ramp at Oshkosh? Not my best idea. I had to hijack power from an ATM with a too-short laptop cord. And I got a terrible sunburn.
You really can’t beat the views though!
Where I’m going next
First, a procedural change: I’m going to change these posts to a Tuesday/Friday schedule. This will let me write out bigger, more meaningful updates as things heat up.
Now that I’ve got a working demo, I’m shifting my main focus to fundraising and business development. I’ve got limited time and cash left, so now is the time to get out there and sell, pitch, and raise.
That means:
Talking to everyone who will listen about Portiqo, showing them my demo, and getting their feedback
Generating revenue by pre-selling Portiqo Key to hackers and tech-forward users who can serve as my test market
Hammering out Portiqo’s long-term growth path and pitching it to investors
On top of that, there’s still a bunch of product work to do once the PCBs arrive:
Assembling and testing the first batch of boards
Designing + 3d-printing a credit-card sized enclosure
Adding Mifare Classic support to Portiqo Wallet
Improving Bluetooth reliability (sleep/wake, power consumption, etc.)
I’m definitely going to be busy!
Curious about Portiqo? Want to help test, give feedback, or tell me why I’m utterly wrong? Get in touch! I’d love to hear from you!