Scaling Open Source Product Development
Title: Open Source Product Development Mastermind
We have talked about creating a scalable platform for open source product development since the Global Village Construction Set (GVCS) concept was formulated. We've been prototyping hundreds of GVCS machines over the last decade, but did little on productization. We watched as the project began to grow on its own (that is a line from my TED Talk, but plateaued before the final step of viral enterprise creation and replication. At the same time, we developed our Extreme Manufacturing Workshop model for crowd builds where we learned how to build machines in a day or houses in a few days. This has become our main revenue stream since our Shuttleworth Foundation funding dried up by 2014. We have never developed kits or products that we can produce on an ongoing basis - it has been more ad hoc as we kept on learning. We are continuing the Extreme Buils, such as with the CEB Microhouse Build in Belize, and are developing kits for sale - starting with the 3D Printer actively, and then moving on to the larger machines. Along the lines of smaller tools like the 3D Printer, we began to run STEAM Camps - with our first one 2 months ago.
Our next stab at a bootstrapped platform for open source product development is to grow the STEAM Camps. This is relevant directly to teaching basic open source product development methods, while developing some of the GVCS CNC tools and derivative products in the process. The revenue model here involves students who pay for the experience - which allows us to run the events - while contributing to GVCS development.
This i - where we generate a group of instructors and participants equipped with the skills to develop - and participating in active development - of open source products.
Links
- Reframe the Open Source Microfactory STEAM Camp - STEAM Camp Curriculum to OSPD Mastermind
- Important Questions