TEC Alumni Series: The Zach Kaplan Special

By: Lyndsey Taylor

Engineers looking for a central place for prototype materials may have a new muse.

Inventables, the “innovators hardware store,” has been University of Illinois alumnus Zach Kaplan’s business venture since 2002, and is meant to make the experience of prototype-material shopping much simpler. The site carries specific sizes of materials that innovators may need in small quantities.

“We believe it's really hard to find in-source materials when doing product development,” Kaplan said. “We're trying to provide all the materials they [innovators] need to get started.”

Kaplan said many of the materials Inventables carries are for Fab Labs - fabrication laboratories, or small-scale workshops with controlled tools that cover several different length scales and various materials with the aim to make “almost anything."

Many of the labs require specific sizes of materials, a process that can be confusing and a hassle to figure out. “We're trying to simplify it for them,” Kaplan said.

“We hope to be the best place for people building new products on the web,” he said. “Empowering that whole generation to have access to materials that otherwise would be really difficult,” he said.

According to Kaplan, two users of Inventables recently created a joystick for the iPad. The two men got their materials, created a prototype and pitched their idea in six months, and are using Inventables to create the final product.

“There are a lot of pent-up innovations that get squashed out with big companies,” he said. “So I hope to empower folks to go build their dreams. We're building all types of free tools to help them do that.”

In addition to Inventables, Kaplan is involved in ORD Camp and Fast Forward. According to the website, ORD Camp is for “people doing interesting work in a wide range of technology-related disciplines plus a handful of influential people in related areas.” Approximately 200 participants are hand-picked to partake.

Fast Forward is an exhibit on technology at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. “I think what they are doing is awesome,” Kaplan said. “I was inspired by what they were doing as a kid and I wanted to be part of that. I'm really impressed with them; they work really hard.”

Kaplan has definitely been putting his experiences from the University to good use. While at Illinois, Kaplan participated in the V. Dale Cozad New Venture Competition and said he attended “every guest speaker lecture” the Technology Entrepreneur Center had to offer, even if they had the same speaker come twice.

Kaplan said many of the lecturers were inspiring and influential because they gave “real-world experience” and told students things that would have “been hard to learn in class.”

Kaplan recommended “The Four Steps to the Epiphany” by Steven Blank for students to read.

“Get going early. Start now. Either build something or sell something, because the experience you get from doing that is so different than typing up your business plan in the computer lab.”

“Look at what customers want instead of focusing so much on the product,” he said.

Kaplan currently lives in Chicago with his new wife Allison.