If step 1 is identifying a customer problem. (I still have to cook myself eggs every morning.)

Step 2 is identifying a solution. I know - what if a robot can cook breakfast.

Step 3 is proof of physical concepts - is it possible for a roomful of expensive equipment to cook eggs? How do you even cook eggs - I've never really thought about it... I just kind of do it.

step 4 is prototyping - how could we get this down to something integrated that still works

step 5 is even more prototyping - can we make this any simpler?

step 6 is simplifying - how could we make this EVEN simpler and more foolproof. We need a breakthrough.

step 7 is wowww is that ever elegant.

steps 8-10 are simplifying even more and getting down to the smallest thing that could possibly work.

step 11 is sourcing market-available chips and components

steps 12-15 are programming them.

Then you announce step 15. It's just a magic fucking box that cooks you breakfast in the morning.

Then the tech reaction will be - "This is just a hot plate in a minifridge - the electronics are just a temperature sensor, and power relay, driven by a $0.50 8-bit chip. It's probably less than 200 lines of code. Cute, but worth maybe $1.5 over the cost of a hot plate and a minifridge, if we're generous. This thing maybe takes an hour to make†. Now what was done by Doc Brown in the intro to Back to the Future - 29 years ago; THAT is cool. That actually had motors."

† copy

Solution? Stop at step 3, back when it was a complicated solution with stepper motors and pumps. Or if step 3 wasn't complicated enough, abandon project - as it's obviously trivial.

On the other hand, if it involves a novel application of a completely impractical physical phenomenon - maybe directed 2.4 Ghz radiation while backscatter levels are monitored.

Well that, you can announce.