Meet Michael Corr | CEO & Co-Founder of Duro

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael Corr and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, what is the most important factor behind your success?
A company can only be successful if it solves real-world problems. At Duro, we have been successful because we are significantly impacting the hardware community. We are helping engineers solve their problems and making their lives easier. Our Product Lifecycle Management Platform enables them to lower overhead costs and reduce the chances of manufacturer mistakes.

Timing has been a huge factor, too. The hardware industry was overlooked for a long time, but in 2018, people were starting to recognize how prevalent hardware was in their own lives, things like drones, robotics or energy management tools. This created more focus on seeing the industry modernize. Covid also helped expose the supply chain problems that the industry was already aware of, forcing it into the public limelight.

Of course, several other factors are involved in ensuring our business remains successful, from hiring motivated people to persistence in building a good product and listening to the market’s needs. We still have a long way to go to impact the market on a bigger scale.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I spent 20 years designing and manufacturing various hardware products and was frustrated with the industry’s inefficiencies. Even though I was using the best software available, it was outdated. I was wasting time managing data; any errors in the data meant an increased risk of failures in manufacturing products.

Initially, I started working on Duro for my own benefit but soon realized that other hardware engineers were also looking for better, more efficient ways to do their work. I recognized this was a widespread problem and decided to find a solution. I saw the opportunity to build software that could help the entire hardware community manage their product data.

My goal was to prevent the common mistakes that hardware companies were making due to poor software and process workflows. I wanted to impact the industry and see it improve.

Of course, there’s always significant risks to starting your own business. When I decided to found Duro, I knew the well-publicized stat that only 10% of startups succeed. But I felt passionate that this was something that needed to be seen through. I got tired of witnessing a lot of excellent hardware products fail because of unnecessary overhead efficiencies. My Co-Founder, Kellan O’Connor, and I wanted to raise the tide of the hardware community.

We’re really proud of what we’ve achieved. Today we’re helping leading companies from across the space tech, robotics and autonomous vehicle industries to develop products faster and save supply chain costs. We do this by embracing agile workflows, automation and plug and play capabilities. Additionally, our platform eliminates the complications of conventional systems and removes dependencies on expensive consulting engagements.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without my Co-Founder Kellan O’Connor. His expertise and support have played a significant role in the growth of our organization.

Plus, of course I have to give credit to our customers and the investors who trust us to deliver on our promise of making hardware engineering more efficient.

Website: https://www.durolabs.co

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/duroplm