Mike Rowe’s “Somebody’s Gotta Do It” airs at 10 p.m. ET/PT Sundays on CNN.
Story highlights
TechShop members pay monthly or annual fee to use pricey equipment
Entrepreneurs can produce prototypes on their own
TechShop has been called everything from “Kinkos for geeks” to “the dream shop.”
CNN’s Mike Rowe described the membership-based, do-it-yourself workshop as the “democratization of innovation.”
It’s a bold statement that gets to the heart of TechShop’s business: to give everyday people the power to create and build their dreams.
Members pay a monthly ($125) or annual fee ($1,200) for 24/7-access to pricey equipment such as laser cutters, 3-D printers and water jet cutters. There are also day passes for $25.
That access is turning TechShop into a hub for the Maker movement – and a place where start-ups come to get started.
It’s where Square, a mobile payment company, built its first prototype. Now it’s a billion-dollar company.
With eight locations across the United States and more on the way, TechShop is helping to fuel the Maker movement.
Mike Rowe meets up with TechShop CEO Mark Hatch and founder Jim Newton in San Francisco on “Somebody’s Gotta Do It” at 10 p.m. ET/PT Sunday.