The Maker Movement is a culture that combines do-it-yourself (DIY) with “hacking” (not necessarily computer hacking). It also involves all those who love making, from tech, hand-made, digital to ideas. The Maker Movement has recently propelled the creation of many new technologies. It even put a new twist on existing technologies and products. It’s a movement that encourages creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. The Maker Movement has always existed, but there has been a large revival, especially in the area of tech and entrepreneurship. So what do startups have in common with this movement?
Quick to Act with a Bias Towards Action
Startups, like makers, are quick to act. They prefer action over endless discussion and planning. While planning is important, no amount of plans will help you if you never put the pedal to the metal and make things happen. 80% of success is showing up, right?
Many startups fail because they are too slow to adapt or spend too much time and energy trying to get everything done perfectly. The successful startups are those that have a bias towards action, just like makers. we love creating and seeing the fruits of our labour. From there, many new iterations from the initial prototype can be advanced.
Innovation
The maker movement is all about inventing new, out-of-the-box ways of doing things and seeing things from through a different lens. Similarly, successful startups bring innovation to everything from their website to their building, product, hiring process, training their employees, and how they sell.
Innovation involves time to think, experiment, a culture of openness, and learning and building new skills.
Risk-Loving
Failure is inevitable, but it’s not the end. Every mountain comes with many obstacles to climbing it, but you’ll never get to the top without a few bumps and bruises. Calculated risk is good – don’t overdo it, of course, but don’t be afraid to lose a few dollars or start more than one business if you have to in order to learn. Often, plans and theories don't act the same when in practice.
A crazy person is defined as someone who repeats the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. A successful startup, then, should try different things and see these attempts as experiments rather than do-or-die tests. For every failure, a valuable lesson is learned as long as you open your mind to take it in. Discuss what went wrong and what went right, and adjust your course as needed.
The maker movement is sweeping the world. Successful startups share a lot in common with the maker mindset.
Have an idea you want to see come to life, sign up for one of our summer or fall camps. Not only do we teach, technical skills, like coding and robotics, we impart the maker mindset and help kids embrace a whole new way of learning and approach to life.
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