What Don't We Get?

I’ve worked in a wide range of jobs, in a bunch of different areas with different skill requirements, over the course of my career. I’ve had positions focused on hardware and software, and herded cats as a project lead over teams doing both. I’ve been an individual contributor, a manager, a leader, and a independent contractor. I’ve worked for others and I’ve run my own company. My finances have been equally diverse - ranging from comfortable, to flush, to mildly desperate…

All these different jobs and circumstances have given me a unique view on my work and the world. The thing I’ve noticed across every project, job, and savings account balance is what really drives me: creativity, interest, excitement, discovery.

The beach house I used to dream about owning…

The thrill of creation, experimentation, and invention has always excited me more than the paycheck associated with the job. I’m most engaged when I’m treading unexplored ground and making something new.

Yes, there were times I chose discovery and engagement over money, and times I was forced to dial it back a bit and take the predictable path to get whole. There were times I dreamed of making the next big thing, rocking the world, and buying one of the beach houses I admired on my morning walks... At one point I did make enough money to buy my dream car - and then leveraged its demise into funding my next invention.

Because through all these ups and downs, these changes in fortune and circumstance, one other thing has been a constant - money makes the world go round and no matter how much I wanted to pursue the next exciting thing, I couldn’t ignore the need to make money.

The need for money can be a stifling burden on the ability to create.

The Urgency of Money

I visited the Maker Faire in San Mateo back in May and was largely underwhelmed by what I saw. Many of the inventions seemed to be variations of existing things. Out of seven halls and countless booths, I didn’t find much I found exciting. Other people may have, but I wasn’t enthralled with anything that seemed like a real leap of creativity.

Of the things that sparked my interest, one is a throwback technology that would be so fun to get my hands on, but not really a step forward and the other is a program to teach technical skills to the next generation of creators.

I love the Maker Faire, I love the people at the Maker Faire (except for that one time a few years ago), I love talking to other inventors and creators, and I love engaging with and supporting other makers with technical problem solving and funding - now that my circumstances allow. My passion for invention, creators, and the Maker Faire are why I felt so disappointed about seeing so much not-new stuff.

I just kept thinking, “Where’s the rest? This could be so much more - these brilliant people could make this so much more if they had the resources.”

I was even more surprised that, for the most part, there was no way - either personal or financial - to get involved or support the creation of the tech I did find interesting. It was frustrating.

But something occurred to me - inventors can be kind of terrible with money. Some are dreaming of that big pay out, that multi-million dollar prize to the maker of the next big thing. We like to think we have more of a chance to reach that future with our invention than we would have playing the lottery. As I’ve gotten older I’m not so sure that’s true. I’ve seen too many great inventions get buried without ever seeing the light of day or earning a dime for their creator.

The inventors’ big dreams are leveraged on their hard work, their scraping enough cash and credit together to fund more parts and more time to tinker, but they don’t really have a solid plan for how to get the payout, get their time and investment returned, and win the prize.

And yeah, that’s been me too when I was younger. Frantically working on tech I loved, something new that got me excited and engaged, in every spare moment I wasn’t at my day job.

My friend/partner and I were sure it would be big, revolutionary even, and bring a great reward for all the time and personal capital we’d poured into the idea.

In the end, we mostly made a set of awesome single-board computers before Arduino or Raspberry pi were even a thing. And then, nothing. No amazing release, no fantastic acquisition, no big pay-day, and certainly no beach house.I went and got another day job and worked hard to fill the gaps back in and maybe fund the next great idea, and make the next project something great.

What We Make

On a side note, this cycle of idea boom and bust (or work myself into the ground and slow trickle) did lead me to develop a priority matrix to attempt to quantify my ideas with data to help identify which projects to pursue and where to effectively put my extra time and money.

I’m using an updated version right now to weigh out the relative value and probability for success for my current ideas and active projects. I’m not sure its entirely accurate, and I’m still tinkering with the category weighting, but it helps me focus in on what’s most important to me.

And as I was creating this most recent version of my prioritization matrix it occurred to me that my focus and attitude toward money had shifted considerably over the years.

Where once I dreamed of the big pay day, and worked with a wild-eyed desperation to quickly complete projects before my funds ran out, I now prioritize interest and engagement over potential pay-off. The pace of home-based projects has throttled back as well. No, not because I’m getting older, you cheeky sod, because I’m focused on different things. I want to complete these projects to see if I can do it - if I can pull it off and make it work - and so I can use whatever it is I’m making. I’m creating it because I want it to exist - not so I can sell it to someone else...that would be gravy.

I’ve got an engaging, exciting job and decent financial security, so the frantic rush to complete home projects is much reduced. I can afford to take my time with personal projects, work in fits and starts, let it ride for a bit because the urgency of money is managed. I can focus on projects that may not be financially viable in the short or long term. I can get really creative and make things just for the sake of discovery and experimentation.

Clearly that’s not what many of the people at Maker Faire were focused on this year.

Haven’t we Seen this Before?

The urgency of money is killing innovation. The pursuit of money is stifling creativity and the sweaty, wild-eyed inventors are entirely focused on the big payout without a solid plan for how to get there. They’re focused on making the next sure thing and they’re looking for a high probability of success by basing it on things we’ve already got.

The iPhone was 11 years ago and we’ve only seen variations on the theme since. Companies are cutting their R&D budgets right and left, and individual inventors either lack the capital or practical know how to make their revolutionary ideas a reality. We’ve heard the horror stories of behemoth companies buying ideas so they can bury them and eliminate the threat to their products, but we never even get to see all the great, workable ideas that never make it past the garage because the urgency of money got in the way.

Yes, there’s Kickstarter and Indiegogo, and other crowdfunding sites - but a lot of great ideas die there too due to lack of notice, missing their funding goals, or their inventors drastically underestimated the volume of cash needed to make their invention a reality.

Standing in the Maker Faire this year I felt sad about our missed opportunities - when everyone’s chasing what we already have, when they’re chasing the money, we don’t get to see the wildly creative, unbounded invention that reaches for something totally new, revolutionary, exciting, and unique. I finished going through all the halls searching for that next, revolutionary thing, and I left disappointed this year. I know it’s somewhere out there and no one may ever see it at all.

Maybe what I’m looking for is on Patreon?

I think Patreon is pretty awesome, and I love supporting projects and creators this way. There’s less emphasis on getting a single lump sum of money (like Kickstarter, for example) to complete a specific project. Instead, you are funding people - their work, time, and creativity. You’re enabling them to follow their passion and taking a bit of pressure out of the urgency of money, and not only for the short term.

Collectively, we can help people to work on their passion projects, and help keep the wolves from their door so they have time to create. We can help fund the wild and impractical, the ambitious and unheard of, the fantastic and life changing work that maybe can’t get a grant or a corporate sponsor. Then, we can enjoy, or benefit from, whatever creations they are able to design, build, or discover over time. We can help make that next, great thing a reality - and maybe even make the world a bit of a better place too.

Some people I support through Patreon:

The Thought EmporiumGina Häußge who is creating OctoPrintThomas Sanladerer is creating 3D Printing VideosApplied Science is creating Awesome science and tech videos