Zero to One – The Hardest Part

Zero to One is a great book by Peter Theil. It talks about new inventions, things that aren’t just iterations on something, but creating a new paradigm. It gets you thinking about what is next, what’s to come and how you are going to get there. More that your ideas should be new, innovative and push the edge, not just an iteration. 

However, iterations can make you money. Iterations and improvements in how something is done can be profitable. Yet where the real money comes is by creating new products and solutions to your customers. 

At first in business you might not have this Zero to One idea. It might be after years in an industry that you see what can be improved upon. Just like I have with Surfboard. Our way to speed up electrical design. It took years of being in the industry to see my way forward. To understand what electrical engineers, engineering and architecture firms go through to get a project out the door. Understanding that finding people to be in the industry is hard. Understanding that training cycles are long because projects are long. A problem that you face today might not appear for another 12 to 18 months. Understanding that codes change every 3 years and vary by jurisdiction. What works in one location might not in another. What works for one AHJ might not fly with another. Understanding cost differentials and how a new tool can better the industry, but not sure if that cost savings at the contractor level will get passed onto the owner so you don’t know if you should recommend it (you should). 

All of these are problems are dealt with in the industry. Not to mention the long hours to hit deadlines. The push to make things cost less yet perform the same. The pressure on the design team to make it happen, often with little additional compensation for the multiple redesigns. 

Reading this is one thing. Feeling the pain, the emotion, living those nights and weekends is another. I’ve done it, which is why I relate so much to the time and effort put into projects just to see them morph into something else. A cheaper version of what it could have been. 

In Architecture and Engineering we go from Zero to One all the time. From nothing but an idea to a 3D model, construction documents to multi-million, tens of millions, hundred million-dollar physical buildings and campuses. What we do is truly impressive and literally shapes the world that we occupy today. Our decisions, our thoughts, shape what we see. 

Yet it doesn’t have to cause stress. It doesn’t have to mean long nights and weekends to get projects done. There is a better way. I’m starting with Surfboard at Kowabunga Studios. Starting with electrical design because that is what I know best. In the future we will help more disciplines and people improve how they work. 

I started with lighting, receptacles and switches because this is 80% of what electrical engineers and designers need. The other 20% is the engineering, the thought process. We will also cover this 20% in years to come. Yet there will always be a percentage that we aren’t able to cover or see, which is why we will still need engineers to creatively solve problems. 

We at Kowabunga Studios will help you go from Zero to One. I’ll help you. 

Dillon Mitchell, PE

Founder

[email protected]