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Tinkering Entrepreneurs
Posted on March 9th, 2010 24 comments
Americans in particular like to tinker, although tinkering is not limited to our cultural background. Tinkering is hands-on; you get dirty fingernails, smashed knuckles, and a more intimate knowledge of how things work – or don’t. Across the nation, engineering schools are reporting that more and more students are opting for hands-on work in conjunction with theories and ungrounded assertions in their classrooms, so much so, that workshops for students and others to share tools and ideas, “hackerspaces” are proliferating.In this blog we previously discussed a young MIT grad in NYC who started a new business to provide electronic parts and kits to an eager market.
Sparkfun is another such company. Their About page states:“SparkFun was founded in 2003 by Nathan Seidle, then a University of Colorado – Boulder engineering student. From meager beginnings (Nathan’s college apartment), the company now employs over 60 people in an office in the outskirts of Boulder, Colorado. The SparkFun crew works in various departments such as engineering, marketing, production, shipping, and keg replenishment, all united in one common goal – Sharing Ingenuity.
What does “Sharing Ingenuity” mean? SparkFun believes everyone should have the tools, hardware, and resources to play with cool electronic gadgetry. SparkFun’s goal is to get our hands on current technology and information and pass it on to you – we want to share the love! We set out to make finding the parts and information you need easier, more intuitive, and affordable so you can create your awesome projects. By getting technology in your hands, we think everyone is better off!”
NYC Resistor is another such hackerspace[<-YouTube link]. Their web site states “NYC Resistor is a hacker collective with a shared space located in downtown Brooklyn. We meet regularly to share knowledge, hack on projects together, and build community.” Another one, more mechanical related, is the A2 Mech Shop in Ann Arbor, MI. The Hobby Shop at MIT provides like facilities for their students, as does Carnegie Mellon and Stanford University’s Product Realization Laboratory where students can get their hands dirty. 
TechShop in Menlo Park CA is a for-profit hackerspace that operates along the lines of a gym. Their web site states “is a 15,000 square-foot membership-based workshop that provides members with access to tools and equipment, instruction, and a creative and supportive community of like-minded people so you can build the things you have always wanted to make. You can think of TechShop as a health club but with tools and equipment instead of exercise equipment. It is sort of like a Kinko’s for makers, or a Xerox PARC for the rest of us. TechShop is designed for everyone, regardless of their skill level. TechShop is perfect for inventors, “makers”, hackers, tinkerers, artists, roboteers, families, entrepreneurs, youth groups, FIRST robotic teams, arts and crafts enthusiasts, and anyone else who wants to be able to make things that they dream up but don’t have the tools, space or skills. TechShop provides you with access to a wide variety of machinery and tools, including milling machines and lathes, welding stations and a CNC plasma cutter, sheet metal working equipment, drill presses and band saws, industrial sewing machines, hand tools, plastic and wood working equipment including a 4′ x 8′ ShopBot CNC router, electronics design and fabrication facilities, Epilog laser cutters, tubing and metal bending machines, a Dimension SST 3-D printer, electrical supplies and tools, and pretty much everything you’d ever need to make just about anything. TechShop is for EVERYONE! If you already know how to use all the stuff at TechShop, that’s great. But most people only know how to use a few of the tools, machines and equipment at TechShop. If you want to learn about the equipment and tools you have never used before, you can take an “SBU” (Safety and Basic Usage) class and get up to speed on that tool or machine in about an hour. You can also explore with more in-depth class on any subject to learn about it more fully. Don’t be afraid to try new things, no matter if it is welding, using a milling machine, working with fabrics and leather or plastics, or cutting keyways in a gear. The whole point of TechShop is to enable you with a wide variety of new capabilities so you can start to see the pathway that lets you make new and exciting things.”Although Porsche’s ad copy positions their cars thus: “every Porsche ever built is a race car,” it is the racers, the tinkerers if you will, just like the juice behind the VW at top, that brings innovation to the table and pushes technology to new levels and unveils “unintended consequences.” And even among tinkerers, there’s more than enough room for entrepreneurial startups as evidenced above. And yes, I am a tinkerer at heart, and very proud of it. Hank
24 responses to “Tinkering Entrepreneurs”
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Matt Kompara March 9th, 2010 at 09:51
I’m surprised there’s such a market for a product like this to employ 60 full time employees. The only other person I new who built electronic cars just did it out of his back yard in Santa Monica… no where near this scale.
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Michael Tym March 9th, 2010 at 10:01
I was surprised as well, This stuff looks really cool though and id love to see it in person…that car in the picture is very unique.
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Anthony Sikorski March 9th, 2010 at 10:10
I did not realize there are such places for tinkerers to do their tinkering. Just thinking of a place like that would be the start of creating your own company. Obviously their is a lot of people who like to get hands on and tinker with things and these places allow them to do this. It is a great idea and I would not be suprised if we begin to see more places like this.
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Jaideep Singh March 9th, 2010 at 10:40
Does purdue have something like this? I guess there are couple of “workshops” in the ECE and ME buildings, but don’t know if they are accessible to all. Anyway it is cool to know that there are stuff like this in the nation.
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Craig Hasbargen March 9th, 2010 at 10:51
It is cool to know that more and more of the engineering universities are going to more hands on in addition to theories in the classroom.
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Shawn Gearhart March 9th, 2010 at 10:58
TechShop looks like a nice asset for tinkerers and hands on people. I just wonder how convenient it is for those who want to use the tools available.
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Kelly Plantz March 9th, 2010 at 11:11
I think this is awesome! I would love to actually see some of the things people have created. I didn’t know that there was even a market for this. I am surprised that this more popular in engineering schools and isn’t more popular in auto mechanic schools.
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The car in that picture is crazy! It would be insane it had to go over speed bumps. This company is another good example of how to be a good entrepreneur, you need to do what you are interested because, guaranteed there will be other people interested as well.
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Amanda Edmondson March 9th, 2010 at 11:25
I am surprised that so many people are into the “do it yourself” kind of thing. I am not a very patient person in terms of putting things together, which is probably why this market is so new to me. The idea makes sense though and I think it will continue to expand in the future.
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Dan Wyss March 9th, 2010 at 11:26
I was really surprised that there was a market for this as well. That car is really cool and its cool to know that there are things out there like this stuff.
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Alexandra Graves March 9th, 2010 at 13:41
The car is really cool and I like that American’s are considered people who can “do-it-themselves” kind of people. It’s fun learning hands on and I hope this starts a trend in school everywhere for different majors.
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Zachary Mirsberger March 9th, 2010 at 15:31
Techshop sounds like a great idea. Just providing the means for people to make their ideas tangible sounds like it could fit a niche for upcoming entrepreneurs.
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Keegan Klauke March 9th, 2010 at 17:50
dude I would be on this like white on rice. dang thats a sweet idea. I wish i could have had that in highschool, then i might have known what engineers actually did before I became one.
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Jacob Higbee March 9th, 2010 at 18:30
All while growing up i have been a “tinkerer”. I never though of the aspect of generating it into a business idea. Just goes to show some of the everyday things we take for granted can be made into profitable businesses.
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Ravi Mody March 9th, 2010 at 21:29
Just like everyone else I’m surprised there is a market like this let alone that it is productive/successful. It’s a cool idea and I guess these days everything new has to be environmental friendly.
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Harsh Sanghvi March 9th, 2010 at 22:04
That car looks cool!! and the idea is really impressive. It is very similar to the Purdue EPICS program which gives you hands on experience.
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Taylor Gelsosomo March 9th, 2010 at 23:35
I think hands on activities can actually be more beneficial than just studying something. You can take as many classes as possible, but it still isn’t’ the same as having the actual experience.
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Casey Piquette March 10th, 2010 at 00:36
I think this looks like a really great idea! I know what originally got me into engineering was playing with Mr. Circuit kits in highschool classes. I think learning by doing is the best way. I feel I have learned more from hands on activities than just reading. This company has a great mission.
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David Hyman March 10th, 2010 at 01:50
I am not much of a car person, but the car in the picture looks pretty unique, this is such a great idea!
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Kyle Egbert March 10th, 2010 at 09:02
One day when I have money, I plan on doing things like this. All I hope is that the conventional engine is still around and legal, don’t think I’d tinker with electric cars and get the same fun out of it.
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Thomas Gick March 10th, 2010 at 13:52
Very surprising story to say the least. A great show of ingenuity
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Aditya Chaudhari March 11th, 2010 at 13:07
The car looks really innovated and believe that most people would find it the same way. Great job on the process.
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Arpit Bawa March 11th, 2010 at 18:04
Very interesting business, it is definitely innovative. I never suspected that you could make a business of up to 60 employees just based on tinkering.
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Soroosh Karamyar March 21st, 2010 at 18:07
I 100% agree that it is the tinkerers that advance technology. My house mate is an EE major and loves to tinker with anything. He has made some interesting contraptions.
The more tinkering the better;)
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