For Retune Festival 2016, I gave a quick overview of IoT communities and their modes of production. Heads-up, this is quite subjective: The IoT communities featured here are the ones I personally find most interesting and/or am most fond of.
The extra short version is this: Exploring IoT in its various facets can be done in many ways, from the often un- or under-funded (art) to the often highly funded (startup) and everything in between. I argue that startups, while currently a hugely popular vehicle to explore ideas, aren’t for everyone: There are some things and contexts that I think are better explored outside a startup context, through self-funding, third party funding, or as a sustainable independent business.
Hope it’s useful for you.