Co-Founding Brooklyn Robot Foundry
I co-founded Brooklyn Robot Foundry with my friend Jenny Young. We bootstrapped the startup and I helped propel it to the booming regional franchise it is now.
I’ve been active in the world of educational technology for about 30 years, and have encountered, hundreds of edtech initiatives. One of the most striking was an after school, elementary school robotics club that my friend Shawn ran. I wrote about it here.
Inspired by regularly visiting his classroom, I had an idea for starting a company that would harness kid’s inclination towards robotics. I ran the idea by probably a dozen people over a couple of years, and either got blank stares, or something like “cool”.
Then, I ran it by my friend and Amplify co-worker Jenny Young, who has a mechanical engineering background, and is one of the most focused, dedicated and talented people I know, and she said, “WE HAVE TO DO THAT”.
And so we did.
Jenny and I co-founded Brooklyn Robot Foundry in 2011, bootstrapping the operation, and figuring it out as we went along. We started in a great space in the Gowanus neighborhood with summer camps, after-school sessions and a robot girls’ club.
Jenny took over the company in 2013, as I realized I was spending time with all of the kids in Brooklyn, at the expense of spending time with my own. She has done an incredible job growing it into franchises across the northeast.
This interview from awhile back provides some more detail.
Brooklyn Robot is likely my proudest achievement. It served as an unparalleled place to flex parts of my design, marketing, teamwork and entrepreneurship selves.
And it has helped thousands of kids explore, build, design and tinker. Here is an early video that shows some of the great energy - that is my daughter Margo’s young hands building the robot in fast motion.
Impact
Being methodical in referring back to a team member’s performance during check-ins and actively referencing the job chart together works well. It tends to reduce the amount of surprises that occur during more formal evaluation rituals, and also helps focus on skills and responsibilities on ongoing projects in a purposeful, continuous way.