Learning is an Infinite Game

Since my first days of high school, I loved writing code and building software, studying mechanical engineering was more of a misguided whimsy. My dad had a long career as a mechanical engineer. And thanks to him. I developed a love for classic American cars. I studied mechanical engineering thinking. I might want to get a job in the automotive industry. Fast-forward 14 years, my God. And I've never worked a day as a mechanical engineer until last week.

At craft work, we recently signed on to do a project that has us painting the same type of door. Many, many times the doors are made of metal and we'll be painting them with a spray gun. However, we can't get paint on the latch mechanism, so we need to mask it off. We could do this by hand, but it would take a very long time. We have hundreds of these doors to paint, maybe thousands each with the same latch mechanism that needs to be masked off. And then unmasked after painting.

Enter 3d printing. It's the perfect tool for this job. We can design a simple mask in CAD and then print it out. We can print as many as we need and adjust the design is needed. The only problem it's been 14 years since I've done any 3d modeling and I've never done any 3d printing. So in the span of about 10 days, I went from knowing nothing about 3d printing to having a working prototype of a mask that we can use to paint these doors.

I I quickly researched a number of critical topics, including which 3d printer to buy the latest in 3d modeling software, how to design for 3d printing and the difference between various 3d printing materials all while working on a number of other projects. And in addition to the complexity of the actual problem, we're trying to solve. Painting these doors. That's not to say that I'm a particularly gifted engineer or a brilliant 3d print test.

Instead I think the important nugget here is something that I've learned over the years. Learning is a skill. And as a founder, you need to be good at it. Here's some tips that I've picked up over the years that have helped me learn new skills quickly and efficiently. Number one, learn from the best resources you have access to. You don't need to reinvent the wheel. There are people out there who have already done what you're trying to do, and they've probably written about it.

When I was learning about 3d printing, I found a number of great resources that helped me get up to speed quickly. From previous passing interest in 3d printing, I knew of a few YouTube channels that ended up being super helpful. Thanks to my schooling. I also have a cadre of actual mechanical engineers who I can rely on for advice. Shout out to Sean, James, Andy and Mike y'all are the true Mbps here. I also consulted my dad who spent 40 plus years doing CAD and mechanical engineering.

I read tech reviews and I read the documentation for the 3d printer. I ended up buying. My point is this. You don't need to go it alone. Find the best resources you have access to and learn from them. Number two learn by doing and act quickly. I'm a big believer in learning by doing. I found that I learned best when I'm working on a project that I care about and I'm learning skills that I need to complete that project.

While researching for my project, there were many opportunities along the way to take what I was learning and use it to make progress on my project. I could have spent more time researching, but time spent researching is time spent not building. Number three, learn from your mistakes. You're going to make a lot of mistakes. And everyone you learned from makes your understanding of the world around you that much more accurate.

I iterated on the design for our painting mask five times before I got it right in 3d printing, that means I'd spend some time modeling the mask, then wait a few hours for it to print out. I then test it and see what worked and what didn't. Then I'd go back to the drawing board and make changes to the design. And repeat the whole process from the beginning. One thing that stuck out to me during this process is how similar modeling and printing are to debugging software.

The main difference is that debugging software is virtually instant gratification. You can make a change and see the results pretty much immediately. With 3d printing, I'd have to wait literally hours to see the results of my changes. It requires more patience and a deliberate approach to getting things right. In the end, it's looking like this project is going to be a success.

These 3d printed masks will do the trick for this project and the skills and techniques I've learned will be useful for future projects, whether directly or indirectly. Perhaps most importantly, this was another mega deep dive into something new and I'm better for it. I'm also deeply grateful to my wife who saw me disappearing in my office for hours at a time and put up with me, staring into the middle distance, as I thought through the next steps in the process. She's a Saint.

So TLDR learning is a skill. And as a founder, you need to be good at it. Part of building something new is taking decisive action quickly and learning quickly from experts in the field. Take what you learn. Turn it into applied science and iterate quickly. You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish.