Our Story

MagicSmoke started with a simple observation: building hardware is too hard for too many people. The tools are fragmented, the learning curve is steep, and the gap between having an idea and holding a working prototype is wider than it needs to be.

The two founders met when Dan was evaluating investing in a hardware company where Brandon led engineering. They quickly discovered a shared conviction that physical products should be more accessible to build. A couple of years later, in late 2025, they began prototyping different solutions to make hardware more accessible and landed on what would become MagicSmoke: a platform where you describe what you want to build in plain language and get back everything you need to actually build it.

Today, MagicSmoke helps builders, founders, and students go from “I want to build something” to “here's exactly how” in minutes. We believe the next wave of great hardware products will come from people who aren't traditional hardware engineers, and we're building the tools to make that possible.