“[My dad’s] clients are mostly electronics companies that sell long-term consumer products,” says Mr. Lin. “I am mostly working with makers.”

The 28-year old is the COO of Vast Elecsource, a manufacturing company that caters to hardware startups and hobbyists, a demographic commonly referred to as ‘makers’. It’s separate from his father’s business but leverages the same factory, which can produce small batches of products ranging from hundreds of units to thousands. Compare that with manufacturing giants like Foxconn and Flextronics, whose facilities are designed to output hundreds of thousands of units per day.

“You have to understand that big factories are highly efficient,” says Mr. Lin. “Their machines are automatic. At every step, you have to adjust the settings.”

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