Jeffrey McGrew, our principal and co-founder, gave a keynote speech at Autodesk University this year! The whole keynote is embedded above, and Jeffrey's on around 24 minutes in.

Core 77 also transcribed his speech, and posted it on there blog, with a nice little forward.

We're very proud to announce that our own Jeffrey McGrew will be giving one of the keynote presentations at this year's Autodesk University.

With over 9,000 people attending, this is very exciting news indeed! We'll be briefly sharing the story of Because We Can and some of the work we've done. Buy a robot and change the world!

We're also giving a more formal hour long presentation on 'The Five Myths of Digital Fabrication'. We'll cover the five most common mistakes (and how to avoid them) that we see people make when they first get into making things via Digital Fabrication.

We'll also be doing a bonus talk, more informal, in The Lounge about how we made the tails for the Serpent Twins (that we made a recent Instrucable for).

We hope to see you in Vegas!

It's April, and with things finally warming up, let's get together for food and to talk shop!

Thankful that the rain has let up, the sun is out, and it is warm in Oakland! We're finishing up a fantastic resin-inlayed desk inspired by turn-of-the-century safe locks and a whole mess of fun trade booth elements for Clif Bar's kids line. We also have a handful of office interiors gearing up that look like they're gonna be a lot of fun. And our Maker Faire talk on the secrets of secret doors was accepted! So now we need to hear all your secret door stories and/or dreams.

What are you working on? We'd like to see and hear about it!

So please drop on by, we'd love to see you. Sadly, Jeffrey has been too busy to make beer, so while we'll have some it would be awesome if you could bring some too. We'll hang out. Eat some tasty snacks, and talk about the finer points of what we're all working on. Come join our community of designers, artists, big thinkers, and fabricators!

Kids welcome, but it is a shop and a party. Lots of sharp corners. And they might learn some interesting new words. You have been warned!

Thursday, April 14th 2011

6:30PM - 9:30PMish

2500 Kirkham St

Oakland, CA 94607

(510) 922-8846

Click here for the Google Map.

Hope to see you here!

Lost? Lonely? Want to debate the finer points of 19th century safe design? BWC help line: 510-922-8846

So with our recent press, a common comment came up that goes something like this:

"Business shouldn't waste money on their offices".

To which we couldn't agree more. Businesses need spaces that work. More than that, they also need spaces that support their vision and agenda.

But at the same time, businesses need to keep things reasonable, and not spend money they don't really need to.

Now, you may think that some of our more creative offices we've done for companies are more folly than functional. However, let's take a closer look at one of our past projects: the offices of Three Rings.

Three Rings is a small creative game design studio. They live (and die) off of how good their people are. Unlike a big game company like EA, with armies of people, Three Rings is tiny, tight, and very talented. So one of the primary concerns with their office was to make it a place where their talent would love to work, and to make it a place other talented people would love to work at. This not only draws in talented people, but it makes them perform at their best.

Three Rings also really wanted to create a real place. Instead of an office people dreaded to be at, they wanted a place where everyone was happy to be. Since the new office was completed, it's not uncommon for everyone to spend a lot more time at the office, even if it's just playing games into the evening. Better teams, better relationships, and better communicate all come from happier people spending time together.

Another big concern was expression of vision. Instead of looking like every other game company with their seas of Ikea desks and dismal offices, Three Rings wanted to wear their hearts on their sleeves; to say loudly that they are a creative company like no other. Many talk about being innovative, yet few really follow through with that. Clearly communicating that is a key part of their marketing.

Finally, Three Rings wanted a clear way to express their vision of being a small yet terribly creative company to other companies and investors. They knew that any potential employee or VC that walked in the door and was scared off at how over-the-top the office is would very likely be someone that they wouldn't want to work with. By clearly showing their vision it's much easier for them to find other people who may share that vision and want to help make it bigger and better.

Study after study shows that a better office makes for more productive and happier people. And having an office that matches your company's vision is a vital part of marketing and communicating what your company is all about.

More productive people + happy workers + clear communication + vision = more money being made.

Or, you could look at it this way too:

Inefficient people + unhappy people + muddled marketing + no vision = bad business.

When you add into the fact that due to our special process and talented people here at Because We Can the cost of the Three Rings office was totally reasonable.

We were able to design and build the whole Three Rings office for less than it would have cost of nice-but-depressing office cubes.

Sure, it costs more than just parking everyone at an Ikea desk, but just think: that boring-but-normal office that's not much more than cubes, a break room, and maybe a ping-pong table could instead be a vibrant expression of your company's core. While also making everyone there more productive and happier. And making everyone more money!

So we agree: businesses shouldn't waste their money. Which is something a boring, poorly designed office actually does.

Last week while in NYC we dropped in on Adafruit Industries. Run by the brilliant Limor and Phillip, they design and make and sell kits and parts for all your electronic project needs. We're big fans! We're excited they had us sit for a short interview for their great "Ask An Engineer" weekly internet show:

Ask an Engineer 3/19/2011 from adafruit industries on Vimeo.

Thanks Adafruit Industries! Totally inspiring to see you guys. They were nice enough to also give us a copy of the latest Wired that Limor is on the cover of (go Limor!) and a Ardino starter kit that we can't wait to begin playing with.

If you want to jump ahead and just watch the interview with us (and not the whole show above) then watch the video below instead. But the whole show is way better, we're so totally buying some of those new color-changing flexible LED strips for our private office library project...

because we can from adafruit industries on Vimeo.

Thanks again you two!

Wait, it's March already? Indeed, so let's get together for food and talking shop!

You'd think that the fact that we're now officially a Corporation we'd be a little more formal about our events. But then what sort of corporation does what we do? Come see our latest projects, everything from a geek's dream of a TARDIS to a whole subdivision of houses in San Diego. Or just come to hang out with other designers, artists, big thinkers, and fabricators.

To our local friends, we'd love to see you, and to our NYC friends, we'll see you soon!

Catch up with us now, for next week we'll be in NYC bopping about. We'll have food and drink and lots to talk about, so please come by!

Kids welcome, but it is a shop and a party. Lots of sharp corners. And they might learn some interesting new words. You have been warned!

Thursday, March 10th 2011

6:30PM - 9:30PMish

2500 Kirkham St

Oakland, CA 94607

(510) 922-8846

Click here for the Google Map.

Hope to see you here!

Lost? Lonely? Want to hear more than you'll ever want to know about the TARDIS? BWC help line: 510-922-8846

Happy new year everyone! I'd like to take a moment to let you know about two big changes.

First, a new website (theme) for the new year. Great to finally launch this, we've certainly been working on it long enough. Take a poke around and let us know what you think!

Secondly, a new (to us) company. Because We Can, LLC is no more, now it's just Because We Can. We've incorporated! This is so that we can expand our services into the bold world of Architecture and better take care of our client's needs.

Very excited for 2011, and looking forward to working together to make it the best year yet!

It's always a good time for a fun internship!

Because We Can has two internship positions open.
Both are paid internships for 4 month periods. The time frame is negotiable.

Internship 1:
For Architectural students who are currently working with Revit, have an interest in Interior design, Green Building design, and CNC fabrication. Must have Revit experience and be willing to occasionally work in a wood-shop setting. Attention to detail and a design sense is mandatory.

Internship 2:
This position is for someone interested in CNC fabrication and working in a wood-shop with automated tools. This is an industrial setting where you will learn how to use all the tools in the shop, both automated and hand tools. Must have previous fabrication experience, either in school or professionally. Attention to detail and a design sense is mandatory.

Interested??

Email us!

A couple weeks ago we gave a talk at World Maker Faire in New York called "Makers going Pro". It was a short talk about a few things we have learned about starting a business.

We get asked for advice on how to start a business fairly often.
Sometimes it is from people who are just feeling out the waters, and sometimes it is from people who are full on running the show.

The first piece of advice we have learned is that you can never get too much advice. That doesn't mean you have to take all of it. But you should listen to any and all advice you can get. Because when you really need it, good advice is expensive and difficult to find.

We are not business experts, we just happen to run one. We started out knowing nothing, and we are no where near knowing everything. Over the years we have read tons of business books that have helped us out. We shared the ever growing list of books the end of our Maker Faire talk, and we said we would post it here too.... so here it is:

First off, get thee to Nolo

Nolo is a publisher that specializes in all things legal. Starting a business means filing legal documents with the local and national government. These guys are great for helping you decide what kind of business you'll want to start and why. They have all the answers to how to hire your first employee, how to change your business name, and anything else you may want to do that the government needs to know about.

But honestly, whatever it is you're doing Nolo has a book for it. Working for yourself? Book. Buying a house? Book. Writing a Will? Book. It's totally awesome. And, if you go to the main store in Berkeley everything's 30% off or more, and they also have lots of other non-Nolo business books there.

Secondly, here are some great specific business books that have helped us out:

How Firms Succeed: A Field Guide to Design Management is specifically for a creative service based business. It talks about everything from marketing to billing to customer relations. It is very nuts and bolts, and very helpful if you are in the middle of running your own firm, or just working at one.

Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers This book is great if you are trying to figure out the ebb and flow of how your business runs (or can run). It has very easy to use diagrams that explain what business models are, and how to apply them to what you are doing.

The Four Steps to the Epiphany - From the stanford MBA program, this book focuses on lean startups and product design. This is a dense read and not for the meek, but filled with great information.

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement A good book for businesses producing goods of any kind. This one focuses on process and how to define and get rid of bottlenecks. And it is a pretty easy read with it's fictional story underlining the thought process.

Last, here are some inspirational books that we've found helpful. These are great fast reads that will keep your spirits up, and offer up short priceless tidbits of advice:

It's Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want to Be: The World's Best Selling Book This book and Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite are great inspirational handbooks to pick up when you need a thought change. Each page is filled with large text of one thought provoking idea that you'll be thinking about for days.

Rework is written by the guys who made Basecamp, and is also large text filled with one idea for ever few pages. This one is very specifically about running a business, and has a wonderful, inspirational outlook.

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us is about social networking, marketing, and so much more. And it is written by Seth Godin, which is always a good read.

That's all for now.
Good Luck out there!

Please join us for a happy evening birthday celebration: Frank, our trusty CNC machine, is turning five!

It's time for our regular 2nd-Thursday-of-the-month open house / project salon / OMGBBQWTF called EatFoodTalkShop! We're celebrating the fifth birthday of the beloved robot that changed our lives, launched our business, and has made many wonderful things for us all. I don't know what five is in robot years, but he's well deserving of praise for reaching an important milestone. So we're getting him a cake, and letting him blow out the candles (but NOT cut it).

Please come! When was the last time you went to a birthday party for a robot?

Please drop by and help us eat food, drink libations, and share project stories. We'll be showing off some big new exciting projects we're up to. Frank will strut his stuff as well with a few demos.

Kids welcome, but it is a shop and a party. Lots of sharp corners. And they might learn some interesting new words.

Thursday, October 14th 2010

6:30PM - 9:30PM

Please note that we've moved!

2500 Kirkham St

Oakland, CA 94607

(510) 922-8846

Click here for the Google Map.

Hope to see you there!

Lost? Lonely? BWC help line: 510-922-8846

So my Dad's an engineer, an extractive metallurgist. He's a huge influence on me and my more technical, geeky nature. When I recently got my Architect's licence he sent me this wonderful note on the palindromic nature of my licence number. I loved it, and wanted to share it with everyone. Enjoy!

23632

There is a lot more to this number than just a palindrome. There are three prime factors 2 – or 2 taken 4 times, 7 (cooler yet) and 211 (amazingly cool). As you know, primes follow Benford’s Law. Briefly, Benford’s Law states that the first digit in many series of numbers reflecting natural phenomena decrease in frequency logarithmically as the first digit increases. Large prime numbers occurring as prime factors in large numbers have intrigued thinkers for years. If you take all the factors of 23632 you will find that there are 17, also a prime number with a cool 7 in it (this is only true if you join the mathematical argument that 1 is prime, I am in that school because 1 meets the simplified definition of being divisible by only 1 and itself).

Now if you take the prime factors – 2, 7, and 211, you will see that they can also be arranged into palindromes 21712 or 12721. Is that yet even cooler yet? It is so statistically improbable that I suggest that you immediately change all passwords on your accounts, IT stuff and also some of your lifetime objectives to one of the two numbers. I prefer 12721 because HOLY CRAP!!!! IT IS ALSO PRIME.

Maybe I just discovered McGrew’s law!

Now here is some fatherly wisdom – set some lifetime objectives with this number in mind. Earn 12,721,000 dollars in your life’s work. Touch 12,721,000 people’s lives – you are already on a good pathway to do that. Shed 12,721,000 worries in your lifetime that really don’t deserve your attention. Experience 12,721,000 joys and don’t be ashamed of the 12,721,000 tears that go along with the sad things that accompany them. Make objectives for yourself that are challenging but reasonable. Perhaps you would keep this frivolous Suggestion # 23632 to heart, write down those objectives and then take them out and read them after you retire!

We're in New York this week, getting ready for World Maker Faire on Saturday and Sunday in Queens. Which is going to be awesome!

And while we are here we're going to have a meet up in Manhattan this Thursday, 09.23.10, from 7pm 'till 9pm (or later!), at Burp Castle, in the East Village.

Come talk about business stuff, making stuff, architecture stuff, or just come have a beer with us, and our cute wooden robot!

No EatFoodTalkShop this month, instead let's meet in New York!

We're going to Maker Faire NYC later this month. So we're going to have the first-ever BWC NYC Meet-up while we're out there. We're very excited about it! If you're in the area, we'd love to see / meet you.

So no September EatFoodTalkShop, instead it's a NYC Meet-up. EatFoodTalkShop returns next month!

We'll have details posted to our blog and twitter feed later this month on the NYC Meet-up. We'll see you in New York! Thanks everyone!

We proud (and totally jazzed) to be participating in this year's Maker Faire NYC!

We love NYC. And we love Maker Faire. And we really love giant stainless steel globes from the future-past.

How could this not be awesome? Maker Faire NYC is being held in Flushing Meadows, which is where the big world's faire in the 60's was held. There are still some relics left behind, all amazing in their own way.

We'll be giving a talk on going pro as a Maker. It's a revamped, hot-rodded, redone version of the talk we gave at Maker Faire in San Mateo. See you NYC!

The wonderful Mastering Autodesk Revit Architecture series is one of the standard books on Revit. Highly recommended. Put together by this crew of knowledgeable folks, it's currently available from amazon and soon as a downloadable version.

In additional to all the BIM basics, there are extra chapters on all sorts of great work being done via Revit. The one on Revit in the movie industry for set design is stunning! We got to help out on this one too, in that we wrote the extra chapter on BIM-to-CNC fabrication.

So go and grab your copy today!

We're proud to announce that Jeffrey (finally) got his paper from the state. While I passed my final Oral Exams a while ago, the paperwork took a bit (as always).

So say hello to Architect Number 32623 (a palindrome! Awesome!).

We're giving a repeat of our Maker Faire small business talk "Turning Pro: Becoming a Professional Maker" at The Remake Lounge tonight as part of the monthly SF:Make meetup.

The talk was a hit at Maker Faire, for it's all about basic business lessons we've learned from the perspective of a professional Maker.

Come check it out, and hope to see you tonight!

Please join us for a night of project sharing, summertime story swapping, and some CNC demonstrations!

It's time for our regular 2nd-Thursday-of-the-month open house / project salon / OMGBBQWTF called EatFoodTalkShop! We're going to get these going again from their brief hiatus due to moving. So count on a monthly show-and-tell for Makers! Bring a project, or a story, or just curiosity and questions.

Please drop by and help us eat food, drink libations, and share project stories. We'll be showing off our recently finished projects for Wikipedia and Bookrenter. Frank will strut his stuff as well with a few demos.

We'll have some food and drink, you bring some more and your friends! Kids welcome, but it is a shop and a party. Lots of sharp corners. And they might learn some interesting new words.

Thursday, July 8th 2010

6:30PM - 9:30PM

Please note that we've moved!

2500 Kirkham St

Oakland, CA 94607

(510) 922-8846

Click here for the Google Map.

Hope to see you there!

Lost? Lonely? BWC help line: 510-922-8846

We're giving a repeat of our Maker Faire small business talk "Turning Pro: Becoming a Professional Maker" at Tech Liminal (an Oakland technology salon) tonight as part of the SF:Make meetup.

The talk was a hit at Maker Faire, for it's all about basic business lessons we've learned from the perspective of a professional Maker.

We'll be giving it again later this month in San Francisco as well.

Come check it out, and hope to see you tonight!

Hey everyone! Thanx a ton for the great Open House. Lots of people came to see our new studio and Franks new set up! It gave us the inspiration to get the studio all pretty-ed up. And it was great to see you all milling about, enjoying our new space as much as we do. This is by far my favorite photo from the night: Thanx again everyone! We'll be starting up our Eat Food Talk Shop events again. So we'll see you all again real soon! Sign up to the EatFoodTalkShop events newsletter on the right hand bar of our BLOG!

Eat Food Talk Shop June 18th, 6:30PM-9:30PM. Our first big open house at our new location! Lots to celebrate...

Please join us for our first open house at our new location. We've got lots to celebrate!

From finally finishing up our big move, to our great new fabrication studio & offices, to Jeffrey's passing his orals for his Architect license, to this fine hot summer that seems to finally have arrived... Boy we have so much to celebrate we're bursting at the seams!

So please drop by and help us eat food, drink libations, and share project stories. We'll be showing off our recently finished project: our new digs! Frank's got upgrades, our new office rocks, and the fabrication studio is all setup for fast production.

We'll have food and drink, you bring the friends! Kids welcome, but it is a shop and a party. Lots of sharp corners. And they might learn some interesting new words.

You can find us at our new digs:

Because We Can
2500 Kirkham St
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 922-8846

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As part of the news on the wonderful Maker Faire that happened this weekend, several of the core Make: people were invited onto KQED's Forum. It was a great interview, talking about Make: Magazine, the Maker Faire, the lack of hands-on learning within (and outside of) schools, and a lot more. It's a great listen, and you should check it out here.

However the conversation turned towards products and business that have spun out of the Maker movement, and we got a shout-out! Very exciting to get on a radio program we listen to all the time!

Catch us on the Innovation Stage at noon on Saturday, May 22nd. We're giving a talk on 'Turning Pro: Becoming a Professional Maker' and we're super excited to be there!

We'll also be spending our first Maker Faire actually hanging out, visiting with people, and generally walking around instead of running artgolf or a booth or a CNC machine or other craziness like all the years past...

Hope to see you there!

Come see us at Maker Faire 2010!

We're happy to annouce that we'll be giving a talk at this year's Maker Faire!

It's going to be on going Pro as a Maker, somewhat along the lines of our recent Make: Blog post.

We're very excited and looking forward to a great Faire!

We've Moved!

Movin' on up! Better location and better setup to better serve you with great design and products. As soon as the dust settles and the last box is emptied we'll have a huge rocking open house. But feel free to drop by anytime prior to say hi, see the new digs, and help us celebrate our big move.

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