Making Making Easier
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Prototyping is thankfully becoming more of a valuable skill in today’s economy. No company enjoys realizing that nobody wants the product they worked so hard on. Lean prototyping helps us all prevent that upset.
If I seek to become a master of one area of work, it is prototyping. This goes beyond tinkering with software and interfaces. Writing, cooking new meals, increasing my overall wellness, and developing new leadership methods are all areas deserving of rapid prototyping I pursue.
I like to consider myself a prototypoholic.
The one area of prototyping that intimidates me the most is hardware prototyping. Coming up with prototype designs is not the difficult part. Fulfilling the manufacturing of these prototypes has normally been a mountain of a task. This intimidation was lessened after an experience I had in Boston.
After I gave a presentation about decentralized supply chains, an impressive entrepreneur by the name of Jason Ray went on stage after me.
Within 3 minutes, I was fascinated by his company Paperless Parts.
In short, I would call it the Kayak.com of Discover Manufacturing™.
Whether it’s purchasing quick turn prototypes or learning about how different manufacturing methods impact the price of a part, Paperless Parts make it easy for companies to develop and source amazing products in a fraction of the time.
Their fearless leader Jason understands how to prototype too. He spends the majority of his time building relationships with American manufactures and putting their product in front of them. I mean he literally goes and meets people in person on a regular basis. He is living out the principles of one of my favorite books, Talking to Humans. This approach allows him to empathetically evolve their product around their learnings.
While serving as an officer in the US Navy, Jason led the implementation of additive manufacturing technology, prior to starting a consulting firm focused on driving efficiency in precision manufacturing operations through process improvement and automation. He is a domain expert who has rolled up his sleeves, discovered a repeated problem across his field, and is now doing something about it.
The Paperless Parts team does a lot of field visits to provide the best customer experience possible for engineers and product developers looking to purchase prototype and low volume production parts. They are making it easier for people to make prototypes.
I meet with a lot of entrepreneurs, and Jason is different than most. He is vulnerable about where the company is, what he is excited about, but also the things he is not so sure about. He doesn’t have it all figured out — none of us do. I admire anyone who proudly admits that.
The company is growing, and they are in need of more engineers joining them on their journey of making making easier. If you are a full stack developer, they are based out of Boston and are currently hiring. Email careers@paperlessparts.com to get in touch with Jason and his team.
I look most forward to watching their company grow and empower others during their hardware prototyping.
