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it means to be human. this is celebrating creativity. this is who we are as americans. >> anyway, that was me and mark three years ago. and i told him, if i ever got another show on the air, i'd check back on the progress of this fundamentally human and truly american mission. first step, naturally, hitting a bar and having a sit-down with mark and techshop founder, jim. you described yourself, you said i'm somewhat of a geek but i'm very passionate about what i do. why do you -- why do you give a crap about all of this? >> i've always loved to make things. getting to know the materials and tools and lose myself. >> was there no place like this in your world? >> i couldn't find any place like this at all. you know, the things i want to do are, like, robots or weird inventions, things like that. who wouldn't like to make their living from their hobby, goofing around making something? >> how does he find you? >> so we ran into one another at a software party here in the silicon valley as one does. so i overhear this guy, he said it's kind of like kinko's for
horrified by the infant mortally rate in third-world countries brought about by the fact most premature babies die because they can't get to an incubator fast enough. so you decide to develop a portable incubator that doesn't need electricity. where are you doing to do that? techshop. >> there's a polymer pouch, you boil it, stick it in here and it keeps the baby warm for a number of hours. this thing is on track to save 100,000 babies. >> but techshop is not all about nobel-prize-winning ideas or billion dollar businesses. sometimes it's just about taking an older product and dragging it into the 21st century. >> we call it a last mile vehicle because it's perfect for when you're on the bus or train and getting to your final destination, and a lot of people have been using it, like, in place of their car really. like, they -- it's a lot easier to get around the city. you don't have to worry about parking. >> all you have to do is be able to stand on it and not fall down. >> yeah. yeah. there is a little bit of a learning curve.
using recycled bike inner tube, recycled seat belts. >> awesome. once upon a time it was a chalkboard, now it's a t-rex? >> it's godzilla. >> it's godzilla. >> jet packs have actually been around for 50 years. this is what i'm using techshop for. >> the other thing they had in common was that game-changing bismarck hatch was telling me about. you raised $80,000 in 15 days. >> right. >> based on the prototype that you made at techshop. >> exactly. >> if it weren't for techshop and you had to invest in whatever the tools are that you use to do all this, would you have been able to do it? >> no. not even close. >> we love the techshop. >> the only person who loves techshop more than these people is the guy i want you to meet, mark hatch. >> this is fundamental to what
>> why are you reading magazine articles about origami? >> maybe you want to do underwater exploring. >> this robot sees under water and sends video back up this tether. you can drive it from your laptop and see what it is seeing. >> the whole place is designed to help you make your vision a reality. >> often somebody will ask me, what's the most successful story that's come out of techshop? we tell them, this little guy. so this is square. a little peer-to-peer transaction processing play. most folks have probably seen it now. it goes in the end of your phone. do credit cards and anybody now with a checking account has access to the merchant banking industry which turns out to be a really big deal. >> right. >> so this turned into a $5 billion company. they have 1,000 employees. they're located around the corner. >> $5 billion. >> yeah, baby. that's america. >> not bad.
didn't. >> good. couple years ago in san franciscos, i met a guy named mark hatch. mark told me he was going to change the world. we were in a bar at the time so i took his claim with a grain of salt. turns out, though, mark is the ceo of something called techshop. when i asked him what it was, he suggested i visit a maker fair to get a sense of who his customers actually were. so i did. brought a camera with me as well just in case something interesting happened. glad i did. the maker fair draws artists, craftspeople, tech geeks, and, well, people who just like to make stuff. like a fully function iing funcr that jet pack we've all been promised or whatever the heck this is.
geeks. as it happened, i ran the computer services section at kinko's across the united states. >> what did you do before that? >> i was a green beret before that. >> i got a geek on my right and a green beret on my left. >> i hear it's kinko's for geeks. it's like i got to find out who this guy is. i cornered him. he described what he was doing. i was like, i was incredulous, like, really? open access to power tools. serious power tools. and i went and saw the place and the thing that hooked me was these were real projects produced by real people that had significant economic impact. >> forgetting about the business for a second, why do you -- why do you care? >> i don't know, i just want to change the world. >> if i had a nickel for every time somebody told me they were going to change the world, i'd have a roll of quarters. but mark hatch, he just might pull it off because fundamentally, techshop is like the garage thomas edison would have if he were still around
>> techshop is also perfect for bloody do-gooders. let's say, for instance, you're horrified by the infant mortally rate in third-world countries brought about by the fact most premature babies die because they can't get to an incubator fast enough. you decide to build a portable incubator that doesn't need electricity. where are you doing to do that? techshop. >> there's a polymer pouch, you boil it, stick it in here and it keeps the baby warm for a number of hours. this is on track to save 100,000 babies. >> but techshop is not all about nobel-prize-winning ideas or billion-dollar businesses. sometimes it's just about taking an older product and dragging it into the 21st century. >> we call it a last mode vehicle because it's perfect for when you're on the bus or train and getting to your final destination, and a lot of people have been using it, like, in place of their car really. like, they -- it's a lot easier to get around the city. you don't have to worry about parking. >> all you have to do is be able
>> the only person who loves techshop more than these people is the guy i want you to meet. mark hatch. >> this is fundamental to what it means to be human. this is celebrating creativity. this is who we are as americans. >> anyway, that was me and mark three years ago. and i told him, if i ever got another show on the air, i'd check back on the progress of this fundamentally human and truly american mission. first step, naturally, hitting a bar and having a sit-down with mark and techshop founder, jim. you described yourself, you said i'm somewhat of a geek but i'm very passionate about what i do. why do you -- why do you give a crap about all of this? >> i've always loved to make things. getting to know the materials and tools and lose myself. >> was there no place like this in wrr world? >> i couldn't find any place like this at all. you know, the things i want to do are, like, robots or weird inventions, things like that. who wouldn't like to make their rif living from their hobby,
>> this is called a colossus, it's a huge spinning thing. i don't know what it does. >> what they all had in common was they were all looking for a way to manufacture and market their brilliant ideas right here in america. >> you make bags? >> yeah, they're ipad bags. using recycled bike intertube, recycled seat belts. >> awesome. once upon a time it was a chalkboard, now it's a t-rex? >> it's godzilla. >> it's godzilla. >> jet packs have actually been around for 50 years. this is what i'm using techshop for. >> the other thing they had in common was that game-changing bismarck hatch was telling me about. you raised $80,000 in 15 days. >> right. >> based on the prototype that you made at techshop. >> exactly. >> if it weren't for techshop and you had to invest in whatever the tools are that you use to do all this, would you have been able to do it? >> no. not even close. >> we love the techshop.
>> this robot sees under water and sends video back up this tether. you can drive it from your laptop and see what the robot is seeing. >> the whole place is designed to help you make your vision a reality. >> often somebody will ask me, what's the most successful story that's come out of techshop? we tell them, this little guy. so this is square. a little peer-to-peer transaction processing play. most folks have probably seen it now. it goes in the end of your phone. do credit cards, and anybody now with a checking account has access to the merchant banking industry which turns out to be a really big deal. >> right. >> so this turned into a $5 billion company. they have 1,000 employees. they're located around the corner. >> $5 billion. >> yeah, baby. that's america. >> not bad. >> techshop is also perfect for bloody do-gooders. let's say, for instance, you're