November 25, 2025 • 45 mins
Imagine turning a sketch into a sellable product without begging a factory for a slot or wiring cash for a risky MOQ. That’s the promise of CNC: computer-controlled cutting that gives you precision, repeatability, and creative freedom on your own schedule. We sit down with mechanical-engineer-turned-creator Winston Moy to unpack what CNC milling really is, how the workflow works, and why you don’t need an engineering degree to get real results.
We start with first principles: CAD for design, CAM for toolpaths, and hands-on setup for safe, accurate cuts. Winston explains what a capable $3k–$5k machine can do with wood, plastics, composites, and aluminum, and how clear product ideas shorten the learning curve and speed up ROI. We talk through the practical economics—paying off a machine in months, launching with ten units instead of a thousand, and using your shop as a prototype and pilot plant. When a product pops, you can outsource batches and keep your spindle focused on the next winner.
Support and community make the difference between tinkering and shipping. We highlight Carbide 3D’s training, cross-trained staff, and a “mistakes are on us” window that lowers fear and accelerates learning. Then we bridge art and engineering: choosing materials, toolpaths, and finishes that serve both function and feel. Winston also shares how storytelling turns process into marketing, from behind-the-scenes builds to niche product drops that customers can’t help but share.
We zoom out to the future of digital fabrication, where CNC lives alongside 3D printing and fast-turn services to erase friction between imagination and inventory. If you’re tired of long lead times, high MOQs, and guesswork, this conversation gives you a clear roadmap: pick one product, learn the minimal workflow, ship a small batch, gather feedback, iterate, and scale with confidence.
Enjoy the episode? Follow the show, share it with a maker friend, and leave a quick review—what would you build first with a CNC?
Ready to scale your Amazon business? Click here to book a strategy call. https://calendly.com/firingtheman/amazon
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
Welcome everyone to the Firing the Man Podcast, a
show for anyone who wants to betheir own boss.
If you sit in a cubicle everyday and know you are capable of
more, then join us.
This show will help you build abusiness and grow your passive
income stream in just a fewshort hours per day.
And now your hosts, serialentrepreneurs, David Shomer and
(01:29):
Ken Wilson.
SPEAKER_02 (01:33):
Welcome everyone to the Firing the Man Podcast.
On today's episode, we're goingto start out a little bit
different.
As many of you know, I started afactory four years ago and have
been adding machinery anddifferent types of tooling over
the years.
One of the tools that I addedwas a CNC machine.
(01:55):
And this was something that wasvery intimidating to me on the
front end of the process.
However, it has allowed us tosignificantly grow our business,
and it's been just overallgreat.
The machine that I got was aShapeoco 5 Pro, and I bought it
from a company called Carbide3D.
(02:16):
And today we're lucky enough tohave Winston Moy, who is a
social media influencer in theCNC space, as well as a team
member at Carbide 3D, come onthe show and talk about CNC and
what it's all about.
So let's jump into the intro.
Welcome everyone to the FiringMan Podcast, the show for
(02:38):
entrepreneurs, creators, andbusiness builders ready to step
out of the hustle and ownsomething that lasts.
I'm your host, and today's guestis a maker-turned creator who
blends engineering precision,creative freedom, and
entrepreneurial courage.
Meet Winston Moy.
He began his career as amechanical engineer and found
(02:59):
his way into digital fabricationand eventually stepped into the
world of content creation andmaker community leadership.
Winston builds things.
CNC machines, custom fabricationproducts, aerospace-inspired
designs, and he shares hislearnings on his YouTube channel
and his website,WinstonMakes.com.
(03:21):
Today we're going to get intowhat is CNC and how can it be
beneficial to entrepreneurs.
Winston, welcome to the show.
It's a pleasure to be here.
Absolutely, absolutely.
So we probably have some peoplelistening saying, what is a CNC
machine?
And can you kind of lay out somegroundwork on what that is?
SPEAKER_01 (03:44):
Okay, sure thing.
That's something I've given alot of thought about just
because I know people come fromall sorts of different
backgrounds.
Um I think we should start bydeconstructing the acronym.
CNC stands for ComputerNumerical Control.
It means there's a computercontrolling a machine by telling
it where to go with numbers.
Under the hood of CNC is just anindustrial robot playing connect
(04:06):
the dots, where the dots arejust sequences of coordinates in
3D space.
And by moving in specificpatterns, a CNC will hopefully
end up doing some useful work,like carving out pieces of a
guitar or engraving a cuttingboard or making any number of
potential product ideas.
When we say CNC machine, though,we generally are talking about a
(04:27):
CNC milling machine or a CNCrouter, which is a device
that'll create an end product byslicing and dicing its way
through material.
It's a robot with a knife, inessence.
But broadly speaking, we shouldalso touch on some other CNC
adjacent technologies.
(04:47):
A CNC could technically alsocover something like a 3D
printer or a plasma cutter or alaser cutter.
Heck, even an inkjet printer youmight have in your house is kind
of a cousin to a CNC.
It's a robot that moves a printhead.
But here for this conversation,we'll specifically talk about a
CNC milling machine or a CNCrouter.
(05:09):
A machine that'll cut throughspinning a really fast end mill,
which will look kind ofsomething like this.
It's kind of like a drill bit,but it's meant to go sideways
through material.
And the kinds of materials a CNCcan cut include almost any kind
of wood or plastic, somecomposites like carbon fiber,
and many non-ferrous metals likealuminum or brass, at least at
(05:32):
the sub-10,000 price point.
There are plenty of industrialmachines that cost hundreds of
thousands of dollars that cancut cast iron, steel, stainless
steel, titanium.
But you usually don't buy thoseon a whim without a really
strong business plan.
A CNC is good for a lot ofdifferent things, uh, one of
them being uh cutting somethingout multiple times.
(05:55):
It's a computer.
It's gonna cut out tens,hundreds, thousands of parts,
and the first one's gonna beidentical to the last.
Um but in um kind of on the flipside to scale, you could also do
prototyping with a CNC.
If you can draw out a shape on acomputer, you can cut it out.
What you see is what you get,basically.
(06:15):
So it allows you to take an ideaand get to a realized product
very quickly.
It's not necessarily atechnology that's meant to
replace a woodworker or a metalfabricator.
Um you won't master a CNCwithout having a good
understanding and respect forthe material you're working
with, but it can be a strongforce multiplier in the creation
process, and it'll open a lot ofdoors for you if you sell a
(06:37):
physical product.
So that's kind of my pitch forCNC.
SPEAKER_02 (06:41):
I love it.
I I absolutely love it, and I'mexcited to dig into it a little
bit more.
Now, one thing that I can sharea little bit more about my
story, uh, coming from anaccounting background, I was
very intimidated by CNC.
I thought, well, you need to youneed to be an engineer to
understand CAD and CAM, and Ididn't even know what those
(07:03):
acronyms stood for.
And one of the things I I did alot of research.
I sat on the sidelines forprobably a year watching YouTube
videos, watching some of yourYouTube videos on what's the
best CNC to start with.
And I chose Carbide 3D.
And the reason for that is thetraining.
(07:25):
The training is outstanding.
And it made for an accountant,it made it uh it gave me some
starter projects, and I feelvery competent with it now.
But that was something that wasreally, really important to me.
And so on to my question.
CNC uh in in in your explanationcan feel a little intimidating
(07:47):
because of the technicalconcepts of it.
Is this something that anybodycan do?
SPEAKER_01 (07:55):
Um, I think so.
And we've had a lot of customerswho don't have a technical
background have a lot of successwith it.
Um so I think we can kind ofbreak down what goes into
running a CNC and hopefullyassuage any fears or hesitations
like other people might have.
Um at its core, there are kindof three categories of skills
(08:15):
you need.
Uh, and you kind of touched onthem, uh, TAD CAM and running a
CNC.
So step one is you need to beable to take an idea in your
head and draw it out on the drawit out on the computer.
That's basically what TAD is, orcomputer-aided design.
If you've ever used a programlike Adobe Illustrator or
Inkscape or Corel draw, ifyou've made any sort of digital
(08:37):
doodle on your computer, that'sdesign.
That's CAD.
Um, so if you can do that, youcould design something for a
CNC.
Uh step two is you've got totake that digital design and
tell a CNC how to cut it out.
Uh that's uh that's CAM, that'scomputer-aided manufacturing.
You're taking the blueprint ofyour design and telling the
(08:57):
machine, oh, I want you to cutout this shape, I want you to
make a hole over here.
Um conceptually it's very easy.
It can get a little moretedious, but um it's hopefully
easy to understand.
And then step three, the lastskill you need, is knowing how
to physically set up and run amachine.
So you've got to clamp yourmaterial to the machine, you've
got to line up the machine tothe right starting point, you
(09:20):
need to load the correct tool.
Um, there's enough informationand knowledge in all three of
these steps that uh people haveliterally gone to school for
this stuff.
You can go to a communitycollege and and learn this
stuff.
Um and that might seem dauntingthat there's so much information
there, and that'sunderstandable.
Um, but yet you look at uhcarpentry or plumbing or
(09:42):
electrical work, you could alsogo to school for those too, and
that shouldn't stop you fromdoing some home improvements
around the house.
Um just because it takes yearsto master something doesn't mean
the average Joe can'tparticipate in these and and do
some of that stuff yourself.
Uh so don't let the depth ofeverything that goes into
running a CNC stop you.
Um, because quite frankly, uh Ishouldn't be saying this, but a
(10:06):
lot of people dumber than youhave succeeded in CNC.
And we live in a world where thebarriers for entry and getting
started, the the software tools,the hardware are all getting
better and learning resourcesare getting more plentiful.
Um, everything you need is thereto help you take that first
step.
Um, and conceptually, if I canlay all this out in two or three
(10:27):
minutes, um, I think anyoneshould be able to start to
digest and piece together whatthey need to do in order to use
a CNC if they put their mind toit.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (10:39):
Absolutely.
Now, you touched on something,uh, barriers to entry, and I'd
like to dive into that a littlebit more, specifically the
economics of buying a CNCmachine.
I remember the first time I wentinto a CNC shop, they had these
giant industrial, they wereabout the size of a Volkswagen,
and I the brand was Haas, H A AS.
(11:01):
And they had 10 of them linedup, and I remember uh the tour
guide said each one of these isabout a half a million bucks.
And so I've always, when I firstlearned of CNC, I always
thought, okay, these are giantexpensive specialized machines.
And and maybe that's how it usedto be.
But, you know, what is ifsomebody wants to dip their toe
(11:23):
into the water of CNC, um, whatare they looking at from like an
out-of-pocket expense?
SPEAKER_01 (11:30):
So you could get by with a low-end CNC for like
about two grand or less,depending on how how many
corners you cut.
Um, I would say for a goodexperience, uh, your ballpark
3,000, um, the machine you have,the ShapeOco 5 Pro, if you kind
of get all the major options,you're in for about five grand,
(11:53):
uh, which is not like loosechange, but it's also not
something you need to take aloan out or uh like to do
something crazy financially toafford.
And if you have um kind of abusiness plan, like, oh, I can
make uh 50 of these things aweek, here's the profit margin
on them.
Most people, if they put theirmind to it, can pay off the
(12:15):
machine in a couple months,easily within a year.
Um, so that's kind offinancially what you're looking
at and to prepare for.
And there are also people whobuy these things as a hobby with
no intention of a return oninvestment.
Um, but it shouldn't besomething that kind of scares
you away if you have a good planfor what you want to do with
(12:37):
that machine.
SPEAKER_02 (12:39):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And I would say it that the fivethe 5,000 price mark that I that
you mentioned, that's a solidmachine.
I have so I have had mine forabout a year and a half and have
made thousands of products.
I run it every single day.
And I for when our shop opens,we turn it on and we're doing
(13:02):
batch production on it, and it'sbeen a really solid machine.
And so I think sometimes whenpeople think like hobbyists,
they kind of think like, oh, thejunky version.
And that's not the case here.
Um, at least that's not been myexperience.
And so uh yeah, so I I think weI'm glad that we started here on
it, it's attainable mentally andattainable financially.
(13:25):
And and I think that for peoplethat have thought of CNC, those
may be two barriers.
And and so let's uh now that nowthat we've talked about that,
let's dig into Carbide 3D.
And I absolutely love thiscompany.
And for any of our and uhWinston did not pay me to say
(13:45):
this, uh, but one of the coolestthings is when you buy your
machine, you get, I think it'seither three or five live calls
where you jump on a FaceTime ora Zoom call, and they help you
solve your problems, whichinevitably when you're learning
something, you have problems.
You can talk to a real person,they'll stand by the machine
(14:07):
that you have, and that was hugein addition to the training in
the community.
And so tell me tell me moreabout Carbide 3D and and what
that business represents in themakers community.
SPEAKER_01 (14:22):
So you touch on a couple things that we're pretty
proud of.
One is that we've got a we'relucky to have a community that's
full of really helpful people.
And so a lot of times people arelike, hey, I'm having trouble
with this or that.
They can just jump in on ourforum and like people are happy
to chime in.
They say, Oh, send me your file,I'll fix it for you.
Um, and so for people who arejust getting into CNC, like
(14:44):
stuff like that can be a reallygreat resource in terms of
giving you the confidence to goahead with um whatever project
you're undertaking.
Um, there's a couple other kindof places where we feel like we
differentiate ourselves.
One of them is our uh 60 daysmistakes are on us policy.
So, like the big thing whenyou're running an expensive
(15:06):
machine is like, what happens ifI crash it?
What happens if I accidentallydo something wrong?
Is the machine gonna breakitself?
Generally, no.
Like if you accidentally run themachine to one end of it and it
it kind of stalls out, it's notgonna break itself.
If it does, for the first 60days, we'll fix it.
Um, if you break one of ourcutters, if you run into one of
our clamps, we'll replace that.
(15:27):
Um, and that's just becausewe've been around the industry
long enough to kind of recognizeall right, most of the time,
like people they'll break acutter.
It's like$15 or something.
We'll replace that if that isgoing to give them the peace of
mind that's needed for them tohit go for the first time.
Uh, because a lot of people,it's a big challenge just to buy
(15:47):
a machine.
The other challenge is they'lllet the machine sit there for
two, three months, like, oh, amI ready to actually run this?
And to anything we can do tokind of short circuit that and
get them to the point wherethey're confident enough to
start doing things and startbeing productive with their
machine is a huge win.
Um, and now you also touched onsupport being able to help you,
(16:09):
um, which is something we'repretty proud of because we're
one of the only uh companies onthe market that not only makes
the hardware, we also makesoftware to work with the
machine.
And so our staff iscross-trained on both.
And so they can hold your handfrom the very beginning of a
project, just even the ideationphase, how do I draw this?
(16:29):
And then also walk you throughhow you actually make it.
Um, and that's that's kind of animportant part because if you
don't control both the softwareand the hardware, you can't
really guarantee a goodexperience.
It's like if Apple made aniPhone and they didn't include
the operating system, like theycan't really guarantee a
baseline level of success withtheir product.
Um, so us being able to do thathas been a huge help in terms of
(16:52):
getting people comfortable withand like up and going with as
little hassle and extra likeupselling and add-ons as
possible.
SPEAKER_02 (17:02):
Absolutely.
And I remember that the first 60days, I did inevitably like run
over some clamps, broke a couplebits, and it did take the
anxiety out of, oh no, what if Iscrew this up?
And and I've never heard ofanother company doing that, but
it and honestly, the things thatI broke were not super
(17:22):
expensive, but I used my machinemore.
I was willing to try new things,which is how you learn because
of that guarantee.
And the and I mean, you guysmean it.
I sent in pictures, you guyssent me replacements same week,
like it was awesome.
And so um now before thisepisode, we were trading emails,
(17:45):
and you talked about enjoyingCNC on a creative level.
How do you balance the artisticside of making with the
precision and logic ofengineering?
SPEAKER_01 (17:57):
Oh, so this is fun.
Um I don't see art andengineering being at odds with
each other.
Uh when I was a grad school, Igot to walk through an art and
architecture building on campus,and I was blown away by the
industrial equipment they had attheir disposal.
They had like a four by eightlike water jet, and like they
had like CNC mills, and it likeI came from a small undergrad,
(18:22):
uh, the College of New Jersey,about 5,000 students.
I went to the University ofMichigan for grad school, 35,000
undergrad, like it's seven timesbigger.
And what the art department hadwas incredible to me.
And the more you do this, themore you realize that art and
engineering are linked.
Art is about making somethingbased on vibes, and engineering
(18:44):
is about making something tooptimize for a measurable or
quantifiable objective.
Um, they're two different sidesof the same coin.
When I'm designing something forthe house, be it furniture or
like an organizer for like myutensil drawer, um, and I want
it to do a specific thing andstill look good, I'm balancing
(19:05):
practical and cosmetic goals.
Um, and the more you dosomething, the more natural it
becomes.
So I don't think art andengineering are at odds with
each other.
The the needle might swing morein one direction than the other
for some projects, but if youwant to make a good end product,
you've got to master both and becomfortable with it.
Um so I mean, I I think you caneasily enjoy both sides of it um
(19:30):
without it kind of um againbeing at odds with each other.
So yeah, they're they're inharmony.
SPEAKER_02 (19:36):
I like how you bridge that.
And I was excited to hear youranswer because I wasn't sure it
if that was a bridgeable gap.
And in uh you're absolutelyright.
Art comes in many forms.
Um, maybe a paintbrush, um,maybe a piece of technology like
the CNC machine.
And for me, if you ask me to saydraw a picture of a dinosaur, I
(19:58):
am not good in that department.
Like I just that artistic muscleis not very strong.
Uh however, being able to designthings or take somebody's
current design and make my ownmodifications to it is really,
really cool.
And the precision that the CNCmachines have, I mean, they're
cutting, was it with one one onethousandth of an inch or
(20:19):
something like that?
I mean, it can be as good.
SPEAKER_01 (20:21):
Basically, like the the practical limit like that we
tell people is like the width ofa pencil line.
Like, that is how accurate acarpenter can be, and you'll be
at least that accurate on a CNCmachine, which is pretty dang
good.
SPEAKER_02 (20:36):
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
So there's a lot of listeners onright now that are in the
entrepreneurship lane.
Maybe that's they have their ownbrand, maybe they want to have
their own brand, but I I thinkthere are some people that are
(20:56):
scared of the manufacturing sideof things.
And then there are some peoplethat I think are really proud of
it.
I I would put myself in thatsecond camp.
I think manufacturing in the USAis outstanding and it it's
doable in 2025 and beyond.
And so, you know, with thecommunity that you're engaged
with, what would you what whatare the benefits and and hidden
(21:19):
challenges of producing your owngoods?
SPEAKER_01 (21:21):
Well, there's a lot of pros and cons here.
Um I think the best thing aboutmaking your own parts and
products is that you controleverything.
Um, you become intimatelyfamiliar with how and why things
work and why they don't work.
Um and you don't need to rely onsomeone else's quality control,
which may or may not uh meetyour standards.
(21:43):
Um and if something doesn'twork, you immediately learn the
lessons about why it doesn'twork and you can prevent it
going forward.
Umstitutional knowledge is uhone of the big benefits to
working for yourself or in anorganization that has a long
history.
Um and uh so once you have that,you become a better designer, a
(22:03):
better engineer, your productsget better.
Um so it it's good to cultivatethat knowledge uh for yourself
and and not let someone else uhjust hoard that uh that wisdom
from you.
Uh by making stuff yourself, youalso control the schedule.
Um, if you work in like a smalltown or a mid-sized town and and
(22:26):
things aren't super busy andlocal shops are hungry for work,
you can absolutely get stuffmade pretty quickly.
But if you're in a city like LosAngeles, you might one day find
yourself at the back of a lineif a big client comes in and
they monopolize the shop for aweek.
And if you're not floatinginventory as an entrepreneur,
that's a big deal.
So doing things in-house givesyou more control in terms of
(22:50):
quality and schedule.
Um on the flip side, one personcan only do so much.
And a CNC can help free up someof your time, but you still need
to load the machine, you need todo cleanup.
If you're doing wood, youprobably have to sand it.
Um, and you also have to runyour business.
And so doing everything in-housemeans you're suddenly
(23:10):
responsible for a lot morestuff.
Uh, where do you source yourmaterial from?
Do you need a metal part productuh powder coated?
Do you bring that in-house?
Do you outsource that?
Um now you have to manuallymanage miscellaneous stuff, like
making sure you have enough nutsand bolts to assemble your
products.
Uh and sure, if you're a soloentrepreneur, you could always
increase bandwidth by adding anemployee, but then you have to
(23:32):
worry about their overhead.
And if things slow down, are youemotionally prepared to lay them
off?
Um so it can be really rewardingto do everything in-house, but
it also forces you to step upyour game in many ways.
Um, so that can be scary.
If you have the right mindsetthough, I would say it would
allow you to put out the bestproduct possible.
Um, and so I'm also curious tohear your experience too,
(23:55):
because you do in-housemanufacturing, how has that
worked out for you?
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (24:00):
One of the things, yeah, I've got a couple things
here.
One is uh minimum orderquantity.
Typically, if you order fromjust say somebody on Alibaba,
they're going to say a thousandunits MOQ.
And if you want to launch thatproduct, you really have to roll
the dice on buying a thousandproducts.
(24:22):
And so when I'm launchingproducts, I would say three out
of ten do really well.
Three out of ten do okay, andthen four are a bust.
And that's I've got a prettylong track record.
I've launched about threethousand products, and so when
you order a thousand units andit's a bust, you have to walk by
(24:47):
those every day in yourwarehouse, and they're just they
haunt you.
Now, I can launch a product with10 units on with my CNC.
And, you know, that's a I can dothat launch on Amazon.
And if those sell, then I canmake 10 more.
And so I can launch a muchhigher velocity of products
using a CNC machine and andcontrolling it in-house.
(25:10):
Now, if I launch a product andit pops and I'm selling 100
units a day, I'm gonna call bigCNC shop and I'm gonna outsource
that.
And so I I use my shop as kindof the idea lab and the product
launching lab, but I know withmy four by four CNC machine, I
have limits on how much I can doin a single day.
(25:32):
And so that's I I would saythat's been one of the biggest
things.
Now you mentioned a coupledrawbacks, carrying cost of raw
materials, making sure you haveall the nuts and bolts.
Typically, when you're orderingfrom a manufacturer, you tell
them how many units you want.
And then it's it's their burdento make sure they have all
enough boxes, enough tape, andenough screws.
(25:54):
And so with all of that fallingonto the maker's lap, that does
introduce some morecomplications.
Um, however, easily over you caneasily overcome them with a
spreadsheet or just goodplanning.
And so I I would and I would Iwould say the last thing is I
(26:17):
I've na uh my CNC machine, hisname's Jimmy.
I just I named it, and Jimmyshows up on time every single
day.
He never calls in sick, henever's in a fight with his
wife.
He's just he's reliable.
Jimmy's reliable.
And when you have employees,which I have about 20, having
(26:40):
that reliability in your life,it's it just it's so helpful.
I mean, it is it's incrediblyhelpful.
Um, and so yeah, I I could go onand on about that, but I would
say it's definitely been from afinancial standpoint, it's been
a win.
It's been a positive ROIinvestment.
Um, you were talking aboutpaying the machine off in a
(27:01):
couple months.
That's consistent with my mystory.
I think probably inside of threeor four months was able to pay
it off.
And and everything on top ofthat has been prop very
profitable.
So no, but I appreciate youasking me the question.
SPEAKER_01 (27:15):
Yeah, no problem.
And I think um one thing youmentioned about the the ROI.
I think um just to speak toanyone who might be interested
in a CNC machine, it's always agood idea to have an idea of
what you want to make first, um,because that helps you laser
focus on what you need to learn.
Um because without kind offocusing what you're trying to
(27:40):
soak up uh knowledge-wise, uhit's like drinking from a fire
hose.
But if you have an idea or acouple project ideas, you can
kind of figure out, oh, how do Ido these specific things?
You you pick them up and thenyou execute on them, and now
you've got a working CNC machinethat's earning you money, and
(28:00):
now you feel less pressure toadd new skills to your toolbox,
and and everything will kind ofgo from there.
SPEAKER_02 (28:06):
Um so absolutely, and I'll tell you, uh if we take
that one step further, with AIimagery, you can prototype it,
you can get an idea of what youwant something to look like
pretty well.
You can get a postable image.
And one thing that I always liketo do, and I I I read this in a
(28:27):
book by Scott Volker.
He used to sell online courses,sold millions of online courses.
He would not build the courseuntil he had a pre-sale, until
he had interest.
He knew that he had interest.
And if he did, then he wouldbuild the course.
And I think the same is true onproducts.
You can prototype an idea,engage with AI, and get a
(28:50):
picture of what that would looklike and post it in some
Facebook groups and say, like,hey, what would you pay for
this?
Uh, is this something that youwould buy for your pet?
I have a pet supply company, andthat's something that I do quite
a bit.
I there have been several thingsthat I have thought are cool,
but the market doesn't.
And and that's a bummer.
(29:11):
And so I I also am pretty riskaverse.
And so being able to get anindication of interest on an
idea before I ever do anydesign, before I cut any
prototypes, has been reallyhelpful.
And AI image generation isreally helpful with that, and
it's just getting better andbetter.
(29:31):
So good to know.
I'll have to try that out.
A little pro tip, yeah.
So um four, let's see.
How do you see CNC shaping thefuture of manufacturing for
entrepreneurs?
SPEAKER_01 (29:55):
That that can be a very deep question.
Um I think there's a lot ofdifferent forces at play here
and a lot of different fronts onwhich digital fabrication is
kind of changing manufacturingfor individuals and small
businesses.
Um and while CNC will alwayshave a soft spot in my heart, I
think it's it's one part of thepicture, and we should look at
(30:17):
the whole uh to kind of trulyunderstand where things are
going.
Um, we've got a lot of tools andservices that are getting better
at a phenomenal rate.
Uh look at 3D printing and howbamboo labs sort of broke open
the floodgates to the point thatnow everyone and their grandma
is able to run a 3D printer intheir kitchen or something, um,
or their living room.
(30:37):
Uh, I used to have a living roommachine shop, so I kind of like
abusing uh rooms in your house.
Um we have online services likesend cut send, Oshcut Fabworks,
and more that'll ship you sheetmetal parts or custom tube cuts
um in a couple days.
And so the power you havenowadays when you want something
(30:58):
and uh to have it made isincredible.
And CNC definitely fits withinkind of this revolution, um, but
I think it's kind of a lag.
Indicator for a couple reasons.
When you look at 3D printing, asizable chunk of what people
make are things that someoneelse designed.
You download it, you clickprint, and you pop it out of
your printer in a couple hours,but there's not really a sense
(31:19):
of creativity or ownership insomething like that.
That's not to say there aren'tpeople who are very talented and
design their own projects, butit's not a prerequisite.
With a CNC, you can't really useone if you're not willing to
learn the full workflow, CADCAM,and how to run the CNC.
But with where things are going,uh with the desire to empower
(31:41):
people to make things themselvesand reshore manufacturing,
there's definitely a growingneed for people to be familiar
with digital manufacturingtechnologies like that, and that
knowledge is kind of afoundational skill or social
currency, much like computerliteracy was a decade ago.
So even if you're just ahobbyist who makes charcuterie
boards for their family onChristmas or something, you're
(32:02):
now in this cycle of gettingpeople used to the idea that
anyone has the power to producesomething of value without
involving a big factory.
That's a long-winded way ofsaying I don't really know what
the future of manufacturing willlook like 10 years from now, but
it's my hope that we'll havemany times more people
participating in manufacturingat both the big and the small
(32:24):
scale.
And I think being CNC literateis a big step to getting there.
SPEAKER_02 (32:29):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
I I think it gives power to thepeople.
What that looks like, I'm notreally sure.
But I I do I agree.
And I I hope participationcontinues to increase and and
that would be good for thecountry.
I can tell you, as anindividual, it is so nice to
look at what you did at the endof the day.
I made that.
(32:51):
It's so much better thanordering something from somebody
else, relying on somebody else.
It's showing up in a box.
You may or may not like it.
And so, yeah, I think thefuture's bright, certainly.
So for somebody listening tothis who's interested in adding
CNC capabilities, they'repeeking over the fence.
This looks good over there.
(33:12):
What should they invest infirst?
Should they, is it theequipment?
Is it the software, the skilldevelopment?
What would you recommendsomebody does?
SPEAKER_01 (33:22):
So those are all important things.
I think the most important thingto start with, as we touched on
earlier, is to have a plan,something you want to make.
Um, because without something toguide your learning, you can
very easily get lost ineverything that's out there.
Um it's easy to pick equipment.
(33:42):
You can shop with a spreadsheetif if you like.
I do that for cars and stufflike that.
Um, there's a couple differentsoftware options out there.
Um, and then developing yourskills is something that'll just
happen over time.
No one starts out an expert.
Um and after you have justenough of a foundation of
knowledge, when you have likeum, like let's say there's a
(34:03):
thing you want to make, let'ssay it's, I don't know, a
cutting board or something, youlearn some basic skills and then
you start building on them.
And I think everything will fallinto place.
Um it's just it's easier whenyou have something to grasp at.
And if you buy a machine withoutthat kind of focus, um you you
(34:25):
could end up in a lot oftrouble.
You might end up as one of thosepeople who, like, I bought a
machine, it's just been sittingin my garage for the past eight
months, and I've been tinkeringwith it and not really making
any progress.
Um, so yeah, having a point offocus um around which your
learning revolves, I think, willmake um that process a lot
(34:45):
easier.
Um but again, it it might beworth just to kind of highlight
some of those uh the skills thatthat you'd need again.
I don't know if that's outsidethe scope of the the podcast,
but we could totally dive intolike, oh, what does it actually
look like to design for CNC orthis or that?
Um maybe it's something bestleft for another time.
SPEAKER_02 (35:08):
We'll we'll yeah, we'll have to have you back on.
I could talk CNC all day long umand and cover that topic, but I
I think that's really, reallyhelpful.
Um, and I personally I've got arule.
This is a personal rule.
If I watch YouTube on how to dosomething, like what's the best
CNC machine?
(35:29):
If I invest 15 hours, I have toexecute.
Like I I I'm not gonna sit onthe sidelines for more than 15
hours and watch other people doit.
And so for me, it was education.
It was checking out yourchannels, checking out some
other channels, figuring outwhat was a good fit.
But I think waiting to purchasea CNC machine until the
(35:51):
discomfort leaves, uh, you'llnever buy one.
And and so um jumping in toanybody listening, just do it.
Just jump in.
I would I definitely encourageyou to do it.
So um all right, last questionbefore we get into the fire
round.
You've built a strong onlinebrand around education, design,
(36:11):
and craftsmanship.
What lessons about community andcontent creation would you share
with the entrepreneurs trying tobuild their own audience and
their own products?
SPEAKER_01 (36:22):
Okay, that's kind of interesting to me.
Um, because if you're in aposition to cultivate an
audience, that means you havesome kind of narrative to weave.
Um for me, because I have aunique financial freedom to put
passion and curiosity above allelse, I'm able to kind of
approach this from uh theopposite direction.
Um I started by making videosfirst, growing an audience, and
(36:46):
then leveraging that asmarketing.
Um in the beginning, when I wasjust getting started in my
garage, I'd make some things,sell them through Etsy, and
eventually I got to a pointwhere I could just sell them on
my own website and use myYouTube videos to basically
announce a product drop.
Um if you're gonna use contentas a marketing tool, though, I
think there's a coupleprerequisites.
(37:07):
First, you gotta be passionateabout it.
If you're not a fan of whatyou're making, it won't sell.
And that also probably meansyou're not going to be selling a
commodity item.
You've got to find your niche.
Mine was aerospace-inspireddrink coasters, which is quite
an odd place to be.
Um, second, is you kind of needa narrative.
Uh, like why did you make thething you made?
What drove your design choices?
(37:29):
Um, there's a company I admirecalled uh Craig Hill.
They've got almost half amillion followers on Instagram.
They do new takes on everydaythings.
They're kind of trying toreinvent the wheel, so to speak.
And you absolutely don't need tobuy anything they sell, but you
can't help but respect whatthey're doing.
Uh the videos they make almostkind of feel like Kickstarter
pitches.
And for me, it kind of works.
(37:49):
I haven't bought anything, but Ireally like their stuff.
Um, so if content's going to bea big part of your strategy,
make sure you find a niche thatyou can create a good story
within.
SPEAKER_02 (37:59):
Awesome.
I love that.
I I really, really like that.
And and for I'll post links toit in the show notes, but to
anybody interested, check outWinston's uh face, or excuse me,
uh his YouTube channel.
It's outstanding.
Uh you put out really goodcontent and and good for
beginners, intermediate, andadvanced.
So uh anything LCNC related thatwe didn't cover?
SPEAKER_01 (38:24):
You know, that's that's a big question because I
there's plenty of stuff wedidn't cover.
Um, but I think it's it's kindof a good enough sampler um for
people to kind of kind of juststart mulling over.
Um I think the the big thingreally is just if you're
thinking about it, ask yourselfwhy you haven't made the jump
(38:44):
yet.
Um, because um I can I can speakfrom my company, Carbide 3D,
that there is so muchinformation out there that A,
you could easily hit that15-hour threshold of research
and have no excuse not to jumpinto it, but there is genuinely
enough curricula out there thatno matter where you come from, a
(39:05):
technical background, uh like anart background, or even just
like barely computer literate,um, we've got uh tutorials and
videos that will literally walkyou through click by click how
to do uh a bunch of differentprojects.
Um so I think it's worth justkind of asking yourself, what is
(39:25):
that um that hump you're tryingto get over, that that
hesitation, that reluctance, um,and see if there's something out
there that addresses it, becauseI bet you there is.
SPEAKER_02 (39:35):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
I really, really like thatanswer.
It's a good way to button up theinterview.
So before we do, we havesomething called the fire
rounds, four questions we askeverybody at the end of the
episode.
You ready?
SPEAKER_01 (39:47):
Mm-hmm.
All right, what's your favoritebook?
So, right now I'm diving into umthe expanse series.
Uh, I watched the this it's asci-fi um series.
There was also a TV show aboutit, and I watched the TV show
first and I was captivated.
It's like Star Trek and StarWars, but taken to an extreme
level, slightly more quoteunquote realistic with physics
(40:10):
and space and stuff, and it itscratched the nerd, geek,
engineer niche, uh, itch in mybrain.
Um, so that's that's what I'vebeen reading.
Well, after I listen to it onaudiobooks uh when I walk my
dogs.
Very nice.
Very nice.
What are your hobbies?
So I don't really have a hobby.
I'm not really sure where my dayjob ends and a hobby begins.
(40:33):
Um, and I consider that ablessing.
I've got friends who work inmanufacturing and they'll come
home and they have no desire todesign or make anything.
Um and so far I've been able toavoid that sort of creative
burnout.
Um, so I can just lean intothat.
But I guess around the house Iuh do a little bit of gardening.
I guess it I consider it justengineering my own environment.
(40:54):
So um I'll call it a hobby.
I like it.
SPEAKER_02 (40:57):
I like it.
What is one thing you do notmiss about working for the man?
SPEAKER_01 (41:03):
That's easy.
Um, the the delayedgratification cycle.
Um so I used to work uh for theDepartment of the Navy in a
civilian capacity, and we werebasically creating tools to help
sailors uh do their jobs.
It could be to make their jobseasier, to make their jobs
safer.
And while I think that that'scritically important and
(41:24):
worthwhile, um by the time wegot between the time it took for
us to get the projectrequirements to a product in a
sailor's hand and to learningwhether or not that made a
difference, took nine months,twelve months, sixteen months.
And it that kind of just it itwasn't satisfying.
(41:44):
Um when I make a YouTube videothese days, um I'll put it out,
someone can comment, hey, thanksfor the great idea, I've got to
try this, or um like, hey, likeyou inspired me to try this
myself.
I can close that gratificationloop in a matter of minutes or
hours.
And I know that impact has along tail because people keep
finding that videos um just overtime, months, years down the
(42:07):
road.
And for me, like that is likedeeply satisfying.
Um, or like I've had people cometo me when I'm working a trade
show or something and say, like,hey, you're the reason I got
into CNC.
Or your videos helped me when Iwas in engineering school and
and helped me get through that.
Um, like that for me isultimately like the mark of
(42:31):
success.
To know that you had a positiveimpact on other people's lives
doesn't get much better thanthat.
And again, that comes from aplace where I'm fortunate enough
to have a day job that pays thebills.
Um, so I don't need to sellphysical product or project
plans or anything to make endsmeet.
Um, so I get to just focus ontrying to help people.
SPEAKER_02 (42:54):
Absolutely.
I really like that answer.
And it comes through.
And it comes through.
I am on the list of people thatyou've helped, and I really
appreciate it.
It's nice to meet you.
Well, it's gratifying to hearit.
So, final question.
What do you think sets apartsuccessful entrepreneurs from
those who give up, fail, ornever get started?
SPEAKER_01 (43:13):
There's an obvious answer, which is like grit
determination.
And for some people that thatmight be the case, but I don't
think I'm qualified to make ablanket statement like that.
I can only speak for peoplewhose brains are wired like
mine.
So kind of fueled part bycuriosity, part by creativity,
um, but also easily caught up inand bogged down by the minutiae
(43:36):
and details.
Um, there's a saying amongengineers and maybe some other
people in industry, a project isnever truly finished, only
shipped.
Um, because if you give usinfinite time to ideate and
iterate, we'll just keepengineering.
And if you don't know when toshort circuit that impulse,
you'll either end up late to themarket or never reach the
(43:57):
market.
And and there's a flip side tothat, which is you might launch
something half-baked, and thatcould be a death sentence for an
entrepreneur, but at least youcan recover from that.
And if you address thoseshortcomings in your product
effectively, like you'll be in agood spot.
Um, so if your brains are wiredlike mine, like if you've got
engineer brain, um, you'reprobably more concerned about
(44:18):
things like overcoming designspirals and scope creep.
And the ability to brainstorm acomprehensive but still
realistic plan, uh be it for aproduct or business, I think is
critical.
And knowing when you need tostop, when you need to get out
of your head and start executingto that plan, I think is what
separates a lot of successfulfrom unsuccessful people.
SPEAKER_02 (44:41):
I like it.
I like it.
Winston, thank you so much forbeing a guest on the show.
If people are interested ingetting in touch with you or
checking out your content,what's the best way?
SPEAKER_01 (44:51):
Um, I would say check out uh my YouTube channel,
uh just Winston Makes.
Um I'm on Instagram, samehandle.
Uh, and you can also followalong with the uh other project
videos I do on the Carbide 3DYouTube channel because I also
put out some stuff there.
SPEAKER_02 (45:08):
Outstanding.
Outstanding.
Winston, thank you so much foryour time and looking forward to
staying in touch.
Yeah, my pleasure.
I can't wait till uh we get thechance to do this again.
Welcome everyone to the Firing the Man Podcast, a
show for anyone who wants to betheir own boss.
If you sit in a cubicle everyday and know you are capable of
more, then join us.
This show will help you build abusiness and grow your passive
income stream in just a fewshort hours per day.
And now your hosts, serialentrepreneurs, David Shomer and
(01:29):
Ken Wilson.
SPEAKER_02 (01:33):
Welcome everyone to the Firing the Man Podcast.
On today's episode, we're goingto start out a little bit
different.
As many of you know, I started afactory four years ago and have
been adding machinery anddifferent types of tooling over
the years.
One of the tools that I addedwas a CNC machine.
(01:55):
And this was something that wasvery intimidating to me on the
front end of the process.
However, it has allowed us tosignificantly grow our business,
and it's been just overallgreat.
The machine that I got was aShapeoco 5 Pro, and I bought it
from a company called Carbide3D.
(02:16):
And today we're lucky enough tohave Winston Moy, who is a
social media influencer in theCNC space, as well as a team
member at Carbide 3D, come onthe show and talk about CNC and
what it's all about.
So let's jump into the intro.
Welcome everyone to the FiringMan Podcast, the show for
(02:38):
entrepreneurs, creators, andbusiness builders ready to step
out of the hustle and ownsomething that lasts.
I'm your host, and today's guestis a maker-turned creator who
blends engineering precision,creative freedom, and
entrepreneurial courage.
Meet Winston Moy.
He began his career as amechanical engineer and found
(02:59):
his way into digital fabricationand eventually stepped into the
world of content creation andmaker community leadership.
Winston builds things.
CNC machines, custom fabricationproducts, aerospace-inspired
designs, and he shares hislearnings on his YouTube channel
and his website,WinstonMakes.com.
(03:21):
Today we're going to get intowhat is CNC and how can it be
beneficial to entrepreneurs.
Winston, welcome to the show.
It's a pleasure to be here.
Absolutely, absolutely.
So we probably have some peoplelistening saying, what is a CNC
machine?
And can you kind of lay out somegroundwork on what that is?
SPEAKER_01 (03:44):
Okay, sure thing.
That's something I've given alot of thought about just
because I know people come fromall sorts of different
backgrounds.
Um I think we should start bydeconstructing the acronym.
CNC stands for ComputerNumerical Control.
It means there's a computercontrolling a machine by telling
it where to go with numbers.
Under the hood of CNC is just anindustrial robot playing connect
(04:06):
the dots, where the dots arejust sequences of coordinates in
3D space.
And by moving in specificpatterns, a CNC will hopefully
end up doing some useful work,like carving out pieces of a
guitar or engraving a cuttingboard or making any number of
potential product ideas.
When we say CNC machine, though,we generally are talking about a
(04:27):
CNC milling machine or a CNCrouter, which is a device
that'll create an end product byslicing and dicing its way
through material.
It's a robot with a knife, inessence.
But broadly speaking, we shouldalso touch on some other CNC
adjacent technologies.
(04:47):
A CNC could technically alsocover something like a 3D
printer or a plasma cutter or alaser cutter.
Heck, even an inkjet printer youmight have in your house is kind
of a cousin to a CNC.
It's a robot that moves a printhead.
But here for this conversation,we'll specifically talk about a
CNC milling machine or a CNCrouter.
(05:09):
A machine that'll cut throughspinning a really fast end mill,
which will look kind ofsomething like this.
It's kind of like a drill bit,but it's meant to go sideways
through material.
And the kinds of materials a CNCcan cut include almost any kind
of wood or plastic, somecomposites like carbon fiber,
and many non-ferrous metals likealuminum or brass, at least at
(05:32):
the sub-10,000 price point.
There are plenty of industrialmachines that cost hundreds of
thousands of dollars that cancut cast iron, steel, stainless
steel, titanium.
But you usually don't buy thoseon a whim without a really
strong business plan.
A CNC is good for a lot ofdifferent things, uh, one of
them being uh cutting somethingout multiple times.
(05:55):
It's a computer.
It's gonna cut out tens,hundreds, thousands of parts,
and the first one's gonna beidentical to the last.
Um but in um kind of on the flipside to scale, you could also do
prototyping with a CNC.
If you can draw out a shape on acomputer, you can cut it out.
What you see is what you get,basically.
(06:15):
So it allows you to take an ideaand get to a realized product
very quickly.
It's not necessarily atechnology that's meant to
replace a woodworker or a metalfabricator.
Um you won't master a CNCwithout having a good
understanding and respect forthe material you're working
with, but it can be a strongforce multiplier in the creation
process, and it'll open a lot ofdoors for you if you sell a
(06:37):
physical product.
So that's kind of my pitch forCNC.
SPEAKER_02 (06:41):
I love it.
I I absolutely love it, and I'mexcited to dig into it a little
bit more.
Now, one thing that I can sharea little bit more about my
story, uh, coming from anaccounting background, I was
very intimidated by CNC.
I thought, well, you need to youneed to be an engineer to
understand CAD and CAM, and Ididn't even know what those
(07:03):
acronyms stood for.
And one of the things I I did alot of research.
I sat on the sidelines forprobably a year watching YouTube
videos, watching some of yourYouTube videos on what's the
best CNC to start with.
And I chose Carbide 3D.
And the reason for that is thetraining.
(07:25):
The training is outstanding.
And it made for an accountant,it made it uh it gave me some
starter projects, and I feelvery competent with it now.
But that was something that wasreally, really important to me.
And so on to my question.
CNC uh in in in your explanationcan feel a little intimidating
(07:47):
because of the technicalconcepts of it.
Is this something that anybodycan do?
SPEAKER_01 (07:55):
Um, I think so.
And we've had a lot of customerswho don't have a technical
background have a lot of successwith it.
Um so I think we can kind ofbreak down what goes into
running a CNC and hopefullyassuage any fears or hesitations
like other people might have.
Um at its core, there are kindof three categories of skills
(08:15):
you need.
Uh, and you kind of touched onthem, uh, TAD CAM and running a
CNC.
So step one is you need to beable to take an idea in your
head and draw it out on the drawit out on the computer.
That's basically what TAD is, orcomputer-aided design.
If you've ever used a programlike Adobe Illustrator or
Inkscape or Corel draw, ifyou've made any sort of digital
(08:37):
doodle on your computer, that'sdesign.
That's CAD.
Um, so if you can do that, youcould design something for a
CNC.
Uh step two is you've got totake that digital design and
tell a CNC how to cut it out.
Uh that's uh that's CAM, that'scomputer-aided manufacturing.
You're taking the blueprint ofyour design and telling the
(08:57):
machine, oh, I want you to cutout this shape, I want you to
make a hole over here.
Um conceptually it's very easy.
It can get a little moretedious, but um it's hopefully
easy to understand.
And then step three, the lastskill you need, is knowing how
to physically set up and run amachine.
So you've got to clamp yourmaterial to the machine, you've
got to line up the machine tothe right starting point, you
(09:20):
need to load the correct tool.
Um, there's enough informationand knowledge in all three of
these steps that uh people haveliterally gone to school for
this stuff.
You can go to a communitycollege and and learn this
stuff.
Um and that might seem dauntingthat there's so much information
there, and that'sunderstandable.
Um, but yet you look at uhcarpentry or plumbing or
(09:42):
electrical work, you could alsogo to school for those too, and
that shouldn't stop you fromdoing some home improvements
around the house.
Um just because it takes yearsto master something doesn't mean
the average Joe can'tparticipate in these and and do
some of that stuff yourself.
Uh so don't let the depth ofeverything that goes into
running a CNC stop you.
Um, because quite frankly, uh Ishouldn't be saying this, but a
(10:06):
lot of people dumber than youhave succeeded in CNC.
And we live in a world where thebarriers for entry and getting
started, the the software tools,the hardware are all getting
better and learning resourcesare getting more plentiful.
Um, everything you need is thereto help you take that first
step.
Um, and conceptually, if I canlay all this out in two or three
(10:27):
minutes, um, I think anyoneshould be able to start to
digest and piece together whatthey need to do in order to use
a CNC if they put their mind toit.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (10:39):
Absolutely.
Now, you touched on something,uh, barriers to entry, and I'd
like to dive into that a littlebit more, specifically the
economics of buying a CNCmachine.
I remember the first time I wentinto a CNC shop, they had these
giant industrial, they wereabout the size of a Volkswagen,
and I the brand was Haas, H A AS.
(11:01):
And they had 10 of them linedup, and I remember uh the tour
guide said each one of these isabout a half a million bucks.
And so I've always, when I firstlearned of CNC, I always
thought, okay, these are giantexpensive specialized machines.
And and maybe that's how it usedto be.
But, you know, what is ifsomebody wants to dip their toe
(11:23):
into the water of CNC, um, whatare they looking at from like an
out-of-pocket expense?
SPEAKER_01 (11:30):
So you could get by with a low-end CNC for like
about two grand or less,depending on how how many
corners you cut.
Um, I would say for a goodexperience, uh, your ballpark
3,000, um, the machine you have,the ShapeOco 5 Pro, if you kind
of get all the major options,you're in for about five grand,
(11:53):
uh, which is not like loosechange, but it's also not
something you need to take aloan out or uh like to do
something crazy financially toafford.
And if you have um kind of abusiness plan, like, oh, I can
make uh 50 of these things aweek, here's the profit margin
on them.
Most people, if they put theirmind to it, can pay off the
(12:15):
machine in a couple months,easily within a year.
Um, so that's kind offinancially what you're looking
at and to prepare for.
And there are also people whobuy these things as a hobby with
no intention of a return oninvestment.
Um, but it shouldn't besomething that kind of scares
you away if you have a good planfor what you want to do with
(12:37):
that machine.
SPEAKER_02 (12:39):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And I would say it that the fivethe 5,000 price mark that I that
you mentioned, that's a solidmachine.
I have so I have had mine forabout a year and a half and have
made thousands of products.
I run it every single day.
And I for when our shop opens,we turn it on and we're doing
(13:02):
batch production on it, and it'sbeen a really solid machine.
And so I think sometimes whenpeople think like hobbyists,
they kind of think like, oh, thejunky version.
And that's not the case here.
Um, at least that's not been myexperience.
And so uh yeah, so I I think weI'm glad that we started here on
it, it's attainable mentally andattainable financially.
(13:25):
And and I think that for peoplethat have thought of CNC, those
may be two barriers.
And and so let's uh now that nowthat we've talked about that,
let's dig into Carbide 3D.
And I absolutely love thiscompany.
And for any of our and uhWinston did not pay me to say
(13:45):
this, uh, but one of the coolestthings is when you buy your
machine, you get, I think it'seither three or five live calls
where you jump on a FaceTime ora Zoom call, and they help you
solve your problems, whichinevitably when you're learning
something, you have problems.
You can talk to a real person,they'll stand by the machine
(14:07):
that you have, and that was hugein addition to the training in
the community.
And so tell me tell me moreabout Carbide 3D and and what
that business represents in themakers community.
SPEAKER_01 (14:22):
So you touch on a couple things that we're pretty
proud of.
One is that we've got a we'relucky to have a community that's
full of really helpful people.
And so a lot of times people arelike, hey, I'm having trouble
with this or that.
They can just jump in on ourforum and like people are happy
to chime in.
They say, Oh, send me your file,I'll fix it for you.
Um, and so for people who arejust getting into CNC, like
(14:44):
stuff like that can be a reallygreat resource in terms of
giving you the confidence to goahead with um whatever project
you're undertaking.
Um, there's a couple other kindof places where we feel like we
differentiate ourselves.
One of them is our uh 60 daysmistakes are on us policy.
So, like the big thing whenyou're running an expensive
(15:06):
machine is like, what happens ifI crash it?
What happens if I accidentallydo something wrong?
Is the machine gonna breakitself?
Generally, no.
Like if you accidentally run themachine to one end of it and it
it kind of stalls out, it's notgonna break itself.
If it does, for the first 60days, we'll fix it.
Um, if you break one of ourcutters, if you run into one of
our clamps, we'll replace that.
(15:27):
Um, and that's just becausewe've been around the industry
long enough to kind of recognizeall right, most of the time,
like people they'll break acutter.
It's like$15 or something.
We'll replace that if that isgoing to give them the peace of
mind that's needed for them tohit go for the first time.
Uh, because a lot of people,it's a big challenge just to buy
(15:47):
a machine.
The other challenge is they'lllet the machine sit there for
two, three months, like, oh, amI ready to actually run this?
And to anything we can do tokind of short circuit that and
get them to the point wherethey're confident enough to
start doing things and startbeing productive with their
machine is a huge win.
Um, and now you also touched onsupport being able to help you,
(16:09):
um, which is something we'repretty proud of because we're
one of the only uh companies onthe market that not only makes
the hardware, we also makesoftware to work with the
machine.
And so our staff iscross-trained on both.
And so they can hold your handfrom the very beginning of a
project, just even the ideationphase, how do I draw this?
(16:29):
And then also walk you throughhow you actually make it.
Um, and that's that's kind of animportant part because if you
don't control both the softwareand the hardware, you can't
really guarantee a goodexperience.
It's like if Apple made aniPhone and they didn't include
the operating system, like theycan't really guarantee a
baseline level of success withtheir product.
Um, so us being able to do thathas been a huge help in terms of
(16:52):
getting people comfortable withand like up and going with as
little hassle and extra likeupselling and add-ons as
possible.
SPEAKER_02 (17:02):
Absolutely.
And I remember that the first 60days, I did inevitably like run
over some clamps, broke a couplebits, and it did take the
anxiety out of, oh no, what if Iscrew this up?
And and I've never heard ofanother company doing that, but
it and honestly, the things thatI broke were not super
(17:22):
expensive, but I used my machinemore.
I was willing to try new things,which is how you learn because
of that guarantee.
And the and I mean, you guysmean it.
I sent in pictures, you guyssent me replacements same week,
like it was awesome.
And so um now before thisepisode, we were trading emails,
(17:45):
and you talked about enjoyingCNC on a creative level.
How do you balance the artisticside of making with the
precision and logic ofengineering?
SPEAKER_01 (17:57):
Oh, so this is fun.
Um I don't see art andengineering being at odds with
each other.
Uh when I was a grad school, Igot to walk through an art and
architecture building on campus,and I was blown away by the
industrial equipment they had attheir disposal.
They had like a four by eightlike water jet, and like they
had like CNC mills, and it likeI came from a small undergrad,
(18:22):
uh, the College of New Jersey,about 5,000 students.
I went to the University ofMichigan for grad school, 35,000
undergrad, like it's seven timesbigger.
And what the art department hadwas incredible to me.
And the more you do this, themore you realize that art and
engineering are linked.
Art is about making somethingbased on vibes, and engineering
(18:44):
is about making something tooptimize for a measurable or
quantifiable objective.
Um, they're two different sidesof the same coin.
When I'm designing something forthe house, be it furniture or
like an organizer for like myutensil drawer, um, and I want
it to do a specific thing andstill look good, I'm balancing
(19:05):
practical and cosmetic goals.
Um, and the more you dosomething, the more natural it
becomes.
So I don't think art andengineering are at odds with
each other.
The the needle might swing morein one direction than the other
for some projects, but if youwant to make a good end product,
you've got to master both and becomfortable with it.
Um so I mean, I I think you caneasily enjoy both sides of it um
(19:30):
without it kind of um againbeing at odds with each other.
So yeah, they're they're inharmony.
SPEAKER_02 (19:36):
I like how you bridge that.
And I was excited to hear youranswer because I wasn't sure it
if that was a bridgeable gap.
And in uh you're absolutelyright.
Art comes in many forms.
Um, maybe a paintbrush, um,maybe a piece of technology like
the CNC machine.
And for me, if you ask me to saydraw a picture of a dinosaur, I
(19:58):
am not good in that department.
Like I just that artistic muscleis not very strong.
Uh however, being able to designthings or take somebody's
current design and make my ownmodifications to it is really,
really cool.
And the precision that the CNCmachines have, I mean, they're
cutting, was it with one one onethousandth of an inch or
(20:19):
something like that?
I mean, it can be as good.
SPEAKER_01 (20:21):
Basically, like the the practical limit like that we
tell people is like the width ofa pencil line.
Like, that is how accurate acarpenter can be, and you'll be
at least that accurate on a CNCmachine, which is pretty dang
good.
SPEAKER_02 (20:36):
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
So there's a lot of listeners onright now that are in the
entrepreneurship lane.
Maybe that's they have their ownbrand, maybe they want to have
their own brand, but I I thinkthere are some people that are
(20:56):
scared of the manufacturing sideof things.
And then there are some peoplethat I think are really proud of
it.
I I would put myself in thatsecond camp.
I think manufacturing in the USAis outstanding and it it's
doable in 2025 and beyond.
And so, you know, with thecommunity that you're engaged
with, what would you what whatare the benefits and and hidden
(21:19):
challenges of producing your owngoods?
SPEAKER_01 (21:21):
Well, there's a lot of pros and cons here.
Um I think the best thing aboutmaking your own parts and
products is that you controleverything.
Um, you become intimatelyfamiliar with how and why things
work and why they don't work.
Um and you don't need to rely onsomeone else's quality control,
which may or may not uh meetyour standards.
(21:43):
Um and if something doesn'twork, you immediately learn the
lessons about why it doesn'twork and you can prevent it
going forward.
Umstitutional knowledge is uhone of the big benefits to
working for yourself or in anorganization that has a long
history.
Um and uh so once you have that,you become a better designer, a
(22:03):
better engineer, your productsget better.
Um so it it's good to cultivatethat knowledge uh for yourself
and and not let someone else uhjust hoard that uh that wisdom
from you.
Uh by making stuff yourself, youalso control the schedule.
Um, if you work in like a smalltown or a mid-sized town and and
(22:26):
things aren't super busy andlocal shops are hungry for work,
you can absolutely get stuffmade pretty quickly.
But if you're in a city like LosAngeles, you might one day find
yourself at the back of a lineif a big client comes in and
they monopolize the shop for aweek.
And if you're not floatinginventory as an entrepreneur,
that's a big deal.
So doing things in-house givesyou more control in terms of
(22:50):
quality and schedule.
Um on the flip side, one personcan only do so much.
And a CNC can help free up someof your time, but you still need
to load the machine, you need todo cleanup.
If you're doing wood, youprobably have to sand it.
Um, and you also have to runyour business.
And so doing everything in-housemeans you're suddenly
(23:10):
responsible for a lot morestuff.
Uh, where do you source yourmaterial from?
Do you need a metal part productuh powder coated?
Do you bring that in-house?
Do you outsource that?
Um now you have to manuallymanage miscellaneous stuff, like
making sure you have enough nutsand bolts to assemble your
products.
Uh and sure, if you're a soloentrepreneur, you could always
increase bandwidth by adding anemployee, but then you have to
(23:32):
worry about their overhead.
And if things slow down, are youemotionally prepared to lay them
off?
Um so it can be really rewardingto do everything in-house, but
it also forces you to step upyour game in many ways.
Um, so that can be scary.
If you have the right mindsetthough, I would say it would
allow you to put out the bestproduct possible.
Um, and so I'm also curious tohear your experience too,
(23:55):
because you do in-housemanufacturing, how has that
worked out for you?
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (24:00):
One of the things, yeah, I've got a couple things
here.
One is uh minimum orderquantity.
Typically, if you order fromjust say somebody on Alibaba,
they're going to say a thousandunits MOQ.
And if you want to launch thatproduct, you really have to roll
the dice on buying a thousandproducts.
(24:22):
And so when I'm launchingproducts, I would say three out
of ten do really well.
Three out of ten do okay, andthen four are a bust.
And that's I've got a prettylong track record.
I've launched about threethousand products, and so when
you order a thousand units andit's a bust, you have to walk by
(24:47):
those every day in yourwarehouse, and they're just they
haunt you.
Now, I can launch a product with10 units on with my CNC.
And, you know, that's a I can dothat launch on Amazon.
And if those sell, then I canmake 10 more.
And so I can launch a muchhigher velocity of products
using a CNC machine and andcontrolling it in-house.
(25:10):
Now, if I launch a product andit pops and I'm selling 100
units a day, I'm gonna call bigCNC shop and I'm gonna outsource
that.
And so I I use my shop as kindof the idea lab and the product
launching lab, but I know withmy four by four CNC machine, I
have limits on how much I can doin a single day.
(25:32):
And so that's I I would saythat's been one of the biggest
things.
Now you mentioned a coupledrawbacks, carrying cost of raw
materials, making sure you haveall the nuts and bolts.
Typically, when you're orderingfrom a manufacturer, you tell
them how many units you want.
And then it's it's their burdento make sure they have all
enough boxes, enough tape, andenough screws.
(25:54):
And so with all of that fallingonto the maker's lap, that does
introduce some morecomplications.
Um, however, easily over you caneasily overcome them with a
spreadsheet or just goodplanning.
And so I I would and I would Iwould say the last thing is I
(26:17):
I've na uh my CNC machine, hisname's Jimmy.
I just I named it, and Jimmyshows up on time every single
day.
He never calls in sick, henever's in a fight with his
wife.
He's just he's reliable.
Jimmy's reliable.
And when you have employees,which I have about 20, having
(26:40):
that reliability in your life,it's it just it's so helpful.
I mean, it is it's incrediblyhelpful.
Um, and so yeah, I I could go onand on about that, but I would
say it's definitely been from afinancial standpoint, it's been
a win.
It's been a positive ROIinvestment.
Um, you were talking aboutpaying the machine off in a
(27:01):
couple months.
That's consistent with my mystory.
I think probably inside of threeor four months was able to pay
it off.
And and everything on top ofthat has been prop very
profitable.
So no, but I appreciate youasking me the question.
SPEAKER_01 (27:15):
Yeah, no problem.
And I think um one thing youmentioned about the the ROI.
I think um just to speak toanyone who might be interested
in a CNC machine, it's always agood idea to have an idea of
what you want to make first, um,because that helps you laser
focus on what you need to learn.
Um because without kind offocusing what you're trying to
(27:40):
soak up uh knowledge-wise, uhit's like drinking from a fire
hose.
But if you have an idea or acouple project ideas, you can
kind of figure out, oh, how do Ido these specific things?
You you pick them up and thenyou execute on them, and now
you've got a working CNC machinethat's earning you money, and
(28:00):
now you feel less pressure toadd new skills to your toolbox,
and and everything will kind ofgo from there.
SPEAKER_02 (28:06):
Um so absolutely, and I'll tell you, uh if we take
that one step further, with AIimagery, you can prototype it,
you can get an idea of what youwant something to look like
pretty well.
You can get a postable image.
And one thing that I always liketo do, and I I I read this in a
(28:27):
book by Scott Volker.
He used to sell online courses,sold millions of online courses.
He would not build the courseuntil he had a pre-sale, until
he had interest.
He knew that he had interest.
And if he did, then he wouldbuild the course.
And I think the same is true onproducts.
You can prototype an idea,engage with AI, and get a
(28:50):
picture of what that would looklike and post it in some
Facebook groups and say, like,hey, what would you pay for
this?
Uh, is this something that youwould buy for your pet?
I have a pet supply company, andthat's something that I do quite
a bit.
I there have been several thingsthat I have thought are cool,
but the market doesn't.
And and that's a bummer.
(29:11):
And so I I also am pretty riskaverse.
And so being able to get anindication of interest on an
idea before I ever do anydesign, before I cut any
prototypes, has been reallyhelpful.
And AI image generation isreally helpful with that, and
it's just getting better andbetter.
(29:31):
So good to know.
I'll have to try that out.
A little pro tip, yeah.
So um four, let's see.
How do you see CNC shaping thefuture of manufacturing for
entrepreneurs?
SPEAKER_01 (29:55):
That that can be a very deep question.
Um I think there's a lot ofdifferent forces at play here
and a lot of different fronts onwhich digital fabrication is
kind of changing manufacturingfor individuals and small
businesses.
Um and while CNC will alwayshave a soft spot in my heart, I
think it's it's one part of thepicture, and we should look at
(30:17):
the whole uh to kind of trulyunderstand where things are
going.
Um, we've got a lot of tools andservices that are getting better
at a phenomenal rate.
Uh look at 3D printing and howbamboo labs sort of broke open
the floodgates to the point thatnow everyone and their grandma
is able to run a 3D printer intheir kitchen or something, um,
or their living room.
(30:37):
Uh, I used to have a living roommachine shop, so I kind of like
abusing uh rooms in your house.
Um we have online services likesend cut send, Oshcut Fabworks,
and more that'll ship you sheetmetal parts or custom tube cuts
um in a couple days.
And so the power you havenowadays when you want something
(30:58):
and uh to have it made isincredible.
And CNC definitely fits withinkind of this revolution, um, but
I think it's kind of a lag.
Indicator for a couple reasons.
When you look at 3D printing, asizable chunk of what people
make are things that someoneelse designed.
You download it, you clickprint, and you pop it out of
your printer in a couple hours,but there's not really a sense
(31:19):
of creativity or ownership insomething like that.
That's not to say there aren'tpeople who are very talented and
design their own projects, butit's not a prerequisite.
With a CNC, you can't really useone if you're not willing to
learn the full workflow, CADCAM,and how to run the CNC.
But with where things are going,uh with the desire to empower
(31:41):
people to make things themselvesand reshore manufacturing,
there's definitely a growingneed for people to be familiar
with digital manufacturingtechnologies like that, and that
knowledge is kind of afoundational skill or social
currency, much like computerliteracy was a decade ago.
So even if you're just ahobbyist who makes charcuterie
boards for their family onChristmas or something, you're
(32:02):
now in this cycle of gettingpeople used to the idea that
anyone has the power to producesomething of value without
involving a big factory.
That's a long-winded way ofsaying I don't really know what
the future of manufacturing willlook like 10 years from now, but
it's my hope that we'll havemany times more people
participating in manufacturingat both the big and the small
(32:24):
scale.
And I think being CNC literateis a big step to getting there.
SPEAKER_02 (32:29):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
I I think it gives power to thepeople.
What that looks like, I'm notreally sure.
But I I do I agree.
And I I hope participationcontinues to increase and and
that would be good for thecountry.
I can tell you, as anindividual, it is so nice to
look at what you did at the endof the day.
I made that.
(32:51):
It's so much better thanordering something from somebody
else, relying on somebody else.
It's showing up in a box.
You may or may not like it.
And so, yeah, I think thefuture's bright, certainly.
So for somebody listening tothis who's interested in adding
CNC capabilities, they'repeeking over the fence.
This looks good over there.
(33:12):
What should they invest infirst?
Should they, is it theequipment?
Is it the software, the skilldevelopment?
What would you recommendsomebody does?
SPEAKER_01 (33:22):
So those are all important things.
I think the most important thingto start with, as we touched on
earlier, is to have a plan,something you want to make.
Um, because without something toguide your learning, you can
very easily get lost ineverything that's out there.
Um it's easy to pick equipment.
(33:42):
You can shop with a spreadsheetif if you like.
I do that for cars and stufflike that.
Um, there's a couple differentsoftware options out there.
Um, and then developing yourskills is something that'll just
happen over time.
No one starts out an expert.
Um and after you have justenough of a foundation of
knowledge, when you have likeum, like let's say there's a
(34:03):
thing you want to make, let'ssay it's, I don't know, a
cutting board or something, youlearn some basic skills and then
you start building on them.
And I think everything will fallinto place.
Um it's just it's easier whenyou have something to grasp at.
And if you buy a machine withoutthat kind of focus, um you you
(34:25):
could end up in a lot oftrouble.
You might end up as one of thosepeople who, like, I bought a
machine, it's just been sittingin my garage for the past eight
months, and I've been tinkeringwith it and not really making
any progress.
Um, so yeah, having a point offocus um around which your
learning revolves, I think, willmake um that process a lot
(34:45):
easier.
Um but again, it it might beworth just to kind of highlight
some of those uh the skills thatthat you'd need again.
I don't know if that's outsidethe scope of the the podcast,
but we could totally dive intolike, oh, what does it actually
look like to design for CNC orthis or that?
Um maybe it's something bestleft for another time.
SPEAKER_02 (35:08):
We'll we'll yeah, we'll have to have you back on.
I could talk CNC all day long umand and cover that topic, but I
I think that's really, reallyhelpful.
Um, and I personally I've got arule.
This is a personal rule.
If I watch YouTube on how to dosomething, like what's the best
CNC machine?
(35:29):
If I invest 15 hours, I have toexecute.
Like I I I'm not gonna sit onthe sidelines for more than 15
hours and watch other people doit.
And so for me, it was education.
It was checking out yourchannels, checking out some
other channels, figuring outwhat was a good fit.
But I think waiting to purchasea CNC machine until the
(35:51):
discomfort leaves, uh, you'llnever buy one.
And and so um jumping in toanybody listening, just do it.
Just jump in.
I would I definitely encourageyou to do it.
So um all right, last questionbefore we get into the fire
round.
You've built a strong onlinebrand around education, design,
(36:11):
and craftsmanship.
What lessons about community andcontent creation would you share
with the entrepreneurs trying tobuild their own audience and
their own products?
SPEAKER_01 (36:22):
Okay, that's kind of interesting to me.
Um, because if you're in aposition to cultivate an
audience, that means you havesome kind of narrative to weave.
Um for me, because I have aunique financial freedom to put
passion and curiosity above allelse, I'm able to kind of
approach this from uh theopposite direction.
Um I started by making videosfirst, growing an audience, and
(36:46):
then leveraging that asmarketing.
Um in the beginning, when I wasjust getting started in my
garage, I'd make some things,sell them through Etsy, and
eventually I got to a pointwhere I could just sell them on
my own website and use myYouTube videos to basically
announce a product drop.
Um if you're gonna use contentas a marketing tool, though, I
think there's a coupleprerequisites.
(37:07):
First, you gotta be passionateabout it.
If you're not a fan of whatyou're making, it won't sell.
And that also probably meansyou're not going to be selling a
commodity item.
You've got to find your niche.
Mine was aerospace-inspireddrink coasters, which is quite
an odd place to be.
Um, second, is you kind of needa narrative.
Uh, like why did you make thething you made?
What drove your design choices?
(37:29):
Um, there's a company I admirecalled uh Craig Hill.
They've got almost half amillion followers on Instagram.
They do new takes on everydaythings.
They're kind of trying toreinvent the wheel, so to speak.
And you absolutely don't need tobuy anything they sell, but you
can't help but respect whatthey're doing.
Uh the videos they make almostkind of feel like Kickstarter
pitches.
And for me, it kind of works.
(37:49):
I haven't bought anything, but Ireally like their stuff.
Um, so if content's going to bea big part of your strategy,
make sure you find a niche thatyou can create a good story
within.
SPEAKER_02 (37:59):
Awesome.
I love that.
I I really, really like that.
And and for I'll post links toit in the show notes, but to
anybody interested, check outWinston's uh face, or excuse me,
uh his YouTube channel.
It's outstanding.
Uh you put out really goodcontent and and good for
beginners, intermediate, andadvanced.
So uh anything LCNC related thatwe didn't cover?
SPEAKER_01 (38:24):
You know, that's that's a big question because I
there's plenty of stuff wedidn't cover.
Um, but I think it's it's kindof a good enough sampler um for
people to kind of kind of juststart mulling over.
Um I think the the big thingreally is just if you're
thinking about it, ask yourselfwhy you haven't made the jump
(38:44):
yet.
Um, because um I can I can speakfrom my company, Carbide 3D,
that there is so muchinformation out there that A,
you could easily hit that15-hour threshold of research
and have no excuse not to jumpinto it, but there is genuinely
enough curricula out there thatno matter where you come from, a
(39:05):
technical background, uh like anart background, or even just
like barely computer literate,um, we've got uh tutorials and
videos that will literally walkyou through click by click how
to do uh a bunch of differentprojects.
Um so I think it's worth justkind of asking yourself, what is
(39:25):
that um that hump you're tryingto get over, that that
hesitation, that reluctance, um,and see if there's something out
there that addresses it, becauseI bet you there is.
SPEAKER_02 (39:35):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
I really, really like thatanswer.
It's a good way to button up theinterview.
So before we do, we havesomething called the fire
rounds, four questions we askeverybody at the end of the
episode.
You ready?
SPEAKER_01 (39:47):
Mm-hmm.
All right, what's your favoritebook?
So, right now I'm diving into umthe expanse series.
Uh, I watched the this it's asci-fi um series.
There was also a TV show aboutit, and I watched the TV show
first and I was captivated.
It's like Star Trek and StarWars, but taken to an extreme
level, slightly more quoteunquote realistic with physics
(40:10):
and space and stuff, and it itscratched the nerd, geek,
engineer niche, uh, itch in mybrain.
Um, so that's that's what I'vebeen reading.
Well, after I listen to it onaudiobooks uh when I walk my
dogs.
Very nice.
Very nice.
What are your hobbies?
So I don't really have a hobby.
I'm not really sure where my dayjob ends and a hobby begins.
(40:33):
Um, and I consider that ablessing.
I've got friends who work inmanufacturing and they'll come
home and they have no desire todesign or make anything.
Um and so far I've been able toavoid that sort of creative
burnout.
Um, so I can just lean intothat.
But I guess around the house Iuh do a little bit of gardening.
I guess it I consider it justengineering my own environment.
(40:54):
So um I'll call it a hobby.
I like it.
SPEAKER_02 (40:57):
I like it.
What is one thing you do notmiss about working for the man?
SPEAKER_01 (41:03):
That's easy.
Um, the the delayedgratification cycle.
Um so I used to work uh for theDepartment of the Navy in a
civilian capacity, and we werebasically creating tools to help
sailors uh do their jobs.
It could be to make their jobseasier, to make their jobs
safer.
And while I think that that'scritically important and
(41:24):
worthwhile, um by the time wegot between the time it took for
us to get the projectrequirements to a product in a
sailor's hand and to learningwhether or not that made a
difference, took nine months,twelve months, sixteen months.
And it that kind of just it itwasn't satisfying.
(41:44):
Um when I make a YouTube videothese days, um I'll put it out,
someone can comment, hey, thanksfor the great idea, I've got to
try this, or um like, hey, likeyou inspired me to try this
myself.
I can close that gratificationloop in a matter of minutes or
hours.
And I know that impact has along tail because people keep
finding that videos um just overtime, months, years down the
(42:07):
road.
And for me, like that is likedeeply satisfying.
Um, or like I've had people cometo me when I'm working a trade
show or something and say, like,hey, you're the reason I got
into CNC.
Or your videos helped me when Iwas in engineering school and
and helped me get through that.
Um, like that for me isultimately like the mark of
(42:31):
success.
To know that you had a positiveimpact on other people's lives
doesn't get much better thanthat.
And again, that comes from aplace where I'm fortunate enough
to have a day job that pays thebills.
Um, so I don't need to sellphysical product or project
plans or anything to make endsmeet.
Um, so I get to just focus ontrying to help people.
SPEAKER_02 (42:54):
Absolutely.
I really like that answer.
And it comes through.
And it comes through.
I am on the list of people thatyou've helped, and I really
appreciate it.
It's nice to meet you.
Well, it's gratifying to hearit.
So, final question.
What do you think sets apartsuccessful entrepreneurs from
those who give up, fail, ornever get started?
SPEAKER_01 (43:13):
There's an obvious answer, which is like grit
determination.
And for some people that thatmight be the case, but I don't
think I'm qualified to make ablanket statement like that.
I can only speak for peoplewhose brains are wired like
mine.
So kind of fueled part bycuriosity, part by creativity,
um, but also easily caught up inand bogged down by the minutiae
(43:36):
and details.
Um, there's a saying amongengineers and maybe some other
people in industry, a project isnever truly finished, only
shipped.
Um, because if you give usinfinite time to ideate and
iterate, we'll just keepengineering.
And if you don't know when toshort circuit that impulse,
you'll either end up late to themarket or never reach the
(43:57):
market.
And and there's a flip side tothat, which is you might launch
something half-baked, and thatcould be a death sentence for an
entrepreneur, but at least youcan recover from that.
And if you address thoseshortcomings in your product
effectively, like you'll be in agood spot.
Um, so if your brains are wiredlike mine, like if you've got
engineer brain, um, you'reprobably more concerned about
(44:18):
things like overcoming designspirals and scope creep.
And the ability to brainstorm acomprehensive but still
realistic plan, uh be it for aproduct or business, I think is
critical.
And knowing when you need tostop, when you need to get out
of your head and start executingto that plan, I think is what
separates a lot of successfulfrom unsuccessful people.
SPEAKER_02 (44:41):
I like it.
I like it.
Winston, thank you so much forbeing a guest on the show.
If people are interested ingetting in touch with you or
checking out your content,what's the best way?
SPEAKER_01 (44:51):
Um, I would say check out uh my YouTube channel,
uh just Winston Makes.
Um I'm on Instagram, samehandle.
Uh, and you can also followalong with the uh other project
videos I do on the Carbide 3DYouTube channel because I also
put out some stuff there.
SPEAKER_02 (45:08):
Outstanding.
Outstanding.
Winston, thank you so much foryour time and looking forward to
staying in touch.
Yeah, my pleasure.
I can't wait till uh we get thechance to do this again.
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