The next stop for China's Shenzhen hardware Entrepreneurship Paradise

New Yorker Zach Smith's favorite place is Shenzhen, where he has three favorites: bars, food and manufacturing.

In the past six months, Zack was free to debug his own design CNC machining center (CNC) in the private studio of Che Kung Temple in Shenzhen. This microwave oven size of the CNC machining Center is the epitome of manufacturing in Shenzhen: buy from Huaqiang North Electronics market motor, small suburban factory laser cutting into plexiglass, taobao shop ordered circuit board. Finally Zack himself assembled all the parts and wrote the control software on the computer.

It is Zack's interest to make something of his own making, and people who have the same hobbies often call themselves Maker. This hobby has prompted Zack to resign from the Vimeo site, which offers high-definition video storage services, and has worked with two friends to create a hardware start-up Makerbot.makerbot designed to promote the "print out" of toys and cars (market area) Parts and even the popularity of 3D printers for human joints, the company has won tens of millions of dollars in investment.

Zack's work desk. His production materials (market area) from Taobao or the local electronics market in Shenzhen, the price is far cheaper than the United States

Zack and four colleagues came to Guangdong in April 2011 to prepare for the production of MakerBot 3D printers in China. Unfortunately, Zack was forced to leave the company he founded last April because of the internal conflict in the MakerBot management. However, Zach did not return to the United States, but decided to join the business incubator Haxlr8r, to stay in Shenzhen to help focus on hardware products overseas pioneering team to polish the product. He feels this is the place for engineers, creators and hardware entrepreneurs, even more than Silicon Valley and New York.

Zack is making a CNC machining center

Shenzhen is a creator and hardware business of the paradise: there is not only a sound electronic industry chain, low-cost human and equipment costs, and all resources are concentrated in a radius of dozens of kilometers of the region. Shenzhen and the whole of Guangdong has become the world's first choice of new hardware start-up companies production base, there are a variety of new products are produced here, such as: research and development stage pre-sale 80,000 pieces of smart watch Pebble, support users to "command" the use of physical action computer operation, innovative computer interactive experience Leap Motio gesture Controller , as well as Apple and Android equipment under the control of the omni-directional mobile, acceleration and deceleration of the robot (market share bar trading point) toy ball Sphero and so on.

In contrast to traditional hardware products that have been mired in endless price wars, emerging hardware that incorporates software and hardware continues to carve out new niches and make a high profit. The Sphero ball, which can interact with dozens of Android and iphone apps, is priced at $129, with higher hardware costs and more advertising-enabled Tablet PCs selling at more than 1000 yuan, and even a few bucks for electric toys produced in Guangdong.

"Shenzhen's workers are faster and quality is not inferior." You can find any component you want on the Internet, and the factory is only an hour away. "Shenzhen's efficiency is Zack's favorite place," If you go to a supplier's factory in the U.S., you may have to fly between Ohio, Maryland and San Francisco. ”

And another difference in the United States is that Zach does not make his own circuit board, each time he finished designing the Internet to order the necessary components. Some of the circuit boards that would have taken 100 of billions of dollars to complete in the United States could be bought on Taobao for a mere 50 yuan. Low labor costs have led to qualitative change: the 10 times-fold difference means that the cost of trial and error is reduced, allowing Zack to get out of the computer simulation earlier and test his design directly on the real machine, thus improving the early development of the product. Whether it is from the interests of the creators, or more profit-focused startups can benefit from it.

The information density in Shenzhen is also fascinating to Zack. Going to the factory is not just an order, but also a chance to learn. Every time the factory gives Zack an offer, he will ask why some parts are more expensive and how to improve the design and reduce the cost. The factories are also willing to help him save money and help to get the follow-up orders. "As production moves, there are few small workshops in the United States that can provide this knowledge, and many trifles have to be explored." "Living in Shenzhen is like living in a giant techshop," says Zack. Here you don't have to bother learning how to use the tools (the factory will help you), you just have to focus on the design to make it happen. ”

However, looking at the emerging hardware entrepreneurial trend, there are few local entrepreneurs in China. The vast majority of entrepreneurs start in the United States, with an open educational environment, an active community and a culture that encourages innovation to create new ideas and sharpen new ideas. Among them, the active community is a particularly deficient place in Shenzhen.

America's creative community has grown. Zack mentioned TechShop is a chain, member-made DIY studio. Last September, I went to visit its San Francisco branch. This techshop is located in the San Francisco Center, less than 200 meters north of the Intercontinental Hotel. About 1500 square meters of space placed in the laser cutting machine, waterjet cutting machine, 3D printer, CNC machining center, punching machine and other industrial production equipment. To use these devices at any time, members are required to pay a fee of 125 dollars a month.

TechShop is not as suitable for mass production as Shenzhen, but all the equipment and resources needed are concentrated in one building. Compared to the more dispersed learning opportunities in Shenzhen, it is more suitable for beginners who are just getting started.

"It's very convenient and many creators and even entrepreneurs are here to polish their designs." "Nick Ping Pinkston, founder of the 3D print platform Cloudfab, told me in TechShop. Last August, Nick spent two weeks in the TechShop, debugging the robots needed for the next start-up project.

In addition to TechShop, the United States there are hundreds of large and small space (hackerspace), they are like a small techshop, although the processing equipment is not so new and rich, but these institutions are not for the purpose of profit, so the cost of participation of the creators are much lower. These sites provide more than just tools, but also a community in which creators interact and learn.

Zack's involvement in the founding of the MakerBot was also born in such an environment. In 2007, he accidentally contacted the REPPAP Open source 3D printing project, and deeply fascinated. Soon, Zack and Boury Petis (Bre Pettis), "The New York Times" technology reporter Nick Bilton (Nick Bilton) and other nine enthusiasts to create a nycresistor space in Brooklyn, New York. It was in Nycresistor, Zack and Bree, who had accumulated the design experience of the 3D printer, and finally met the Adam Mayer (Adam Mayer), which was also interested in the RepRap 3D printer. The trio finally decided to quit their job and start MakerBot.

"I came to MakerBot in 2010, with about 30 people and only two electronic engineers," he said. Others are in the creation of space exchange, according to the needs of self-study electronics and hardware processing knowledge. MakerBot, Matt Matz, a third electronics engineer, recalls. It is hard to imagine whether the company would exist without a campaign, reprap open source projects, and the opportunities for learning and practice offered by nycresistor space.

In addition to the entire offline community, the creators can get information through make media's magazines and online blogs, go to the Reddit site, or create a party in major cities to discuss their ideas. MIT has opened a course called "How to create (almost) anything" as early as the end of the last century, teaching non-mechanical (market area) students to use industrial equipment to realize their ideas.

All this, in Shenzhen and even China has not yet or just started. The August 2011 Firewood Creation Space (www.chaihuo.org) opens in Shenzhen. For a long time, the staff was counted, and the number of people involved in each phase of the event was not 10. Firewood is China's third creation space, second only to Shanghai's new workshop. In contrast, the expensive San Francisco TechShop almost every day to see dozens of of people busy, for the smaller group of the San Francisco hardware start-up party each period also has hundred people scale.

"Just started, not enough (five people) of the situation also often occurs, the year before is completely a poor one." Pan Hao, the initiator of the firewood creation space, told me in the Mail. The idea of starting firewood stems from Pan Hao's admiration for American-born soil. Now after more than a year of insistence, combined with Chinese media coverage of the US hardware entrepreneurship craze and the rise of 3D print, firewood has been less concerned about the activity and the number of participants has been 50.

And rely on the old factory, university laboratory donations to start the Pittsburg, Detroit space, firewood has not been able to get from the local enterprises in Shenzhen What help, a year of three hundred thousand or four hundred thousand yuan expenditure is basically from seeed Studio. Pan Hao four years ago opened open source hardware sales, design company Seeed Studio (www.seeedstudio.com) for overseas markets. The company is popular in the American community and is also a major source of funding for firewood.

"Shenzhen not only has a high density of supply chain and production, the production experience is equally rich." The community of communication and practice may be the only place missing here. "This is Zack's evaluation of Shenzhen. Shenzhen's distance from the hardware entrepreneurial paradise, it is about to see when the Chinese community will be able to complement the exchange and practice of these two short plates.

(editor: Schpeppen)