[sdiy] making 2 or 3 dollars an hour on synth building?

[Paul Dickow]

I've been pondering this subject- I have a very talented friend who
just finished an MFA in some sort of arts/technology/programming
degree and he's invented a wonderful touch sensitive usb interface. He
wants to be in that in-between-boutique-and-mass produced zone- I
suppose you could say the Monome business model, although arguably
they are not making enough supply to meet demand. But in any case, the
objective would be not to make art objects but to introduce something
affordable that in this case would get computer musicians breaking out
of their mouse-and-knob-box paradigm, etc. etc. He could probably eek
a living out of it: the question is, where is the startup money?
Venture capital doesn't exactly exist for "Hi I'm starting a firm
which is almost sure to be successful but at a permanently small scale
with purposefully low/slow growth" type business models....I told him,
maybe just go down to the bank, to make a small number of these his
small-business-loan would probably be much less than the startup costs
for a typical Portland foodie restaurant.

Paul

On Tue, Dec 2, 2008 at 7:23 AM, Derek Holzer <derek at umatic.nl> wrote:
> In this era of mass produced stuff made in faraway places (and in the case
> of some companies, by children's hands), I think it's quite reasonable for
> something custom and handmade to have a price tag like that. It's impossible
> to make custom electronics on a level which can compete in price with
> factory made stuff, or even the small-run "boutique" stuff that's common in
> this scene.
>
> Yes, Dan should have charged $20K for his synth (how much do those new
> Buchlas cost?), and perhaps yes, he should then have paid some "consultation
> fees" to the folks whose designs helped him along. If people want stuff that
> available software or hardware solutions can't do, they should in fact pay
> what it's worth to develop those solutions. This way of working even thrives
> in the free + open source software scene, where the basic code is free but
> the knowledge to implement and customize it comes at a premium.
>
> Those with a sustainable business model in this field (like many others) are
> usually the ones who have a production line, even if it is very small run
> stuff (look at Tom Bugs for example, who to the best of my knowledge does
> manage to squeak out a living doing them!)
>
> best!
> d.
>
>
> Ian Fritz wrote:
>>
>>> BUT i was just HOPING there was a way to supplement my income with
>>> electronics. it is NO big deal though if not ;)
>>
>> I have a friend who makes cellos violins, etc.  She makes and sells
>> several a year.  But you can't even *look* at one for under $20k.  That
>> would be the only way you could make decent money.  Unfortunately, there
>> isn't much demand for analog synths, since people have cheap software
>> alternatives.  Simple supply/demand economics.
>
>
> --
> derek holzer ::: http://www.umatic.nl ::: http://blog.myspace.com/macumbista
> ---Oblique Strategy # 53:
> "Do something boring"
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-- 
Paul Dickow
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