It’s been a while since we posted pictures of the inside of the space, and a lot has changed.

We reorganized the shop area, fixed the light, brought in some of the salvaged wood, and added a plastic ceiling to keep dust out of other areas.

 

We set up the wood stove for heat, and insulated most of the windows in the main space. That little lounge is nice and toasty.

 

Here’s the larger lounge area for meetings and sharing videos on the big screen.

 

Public computer area with Mac and Linux machines. There’s the workbench we built with salvaged wood. There are a bunch of tools for working on bikes here as well.

 

You’ve got to have the right tools for the job. We have pretty much everything you need for getting into something broken and fixing it.

 

 

Exploring boundaries is something we love to do. Pick up a microscope and take a closer look at the things around you.

 

And when you need to get things going, try a microcontroller or two or 5.

 

I hope you have enjoyed this look inside ProVolt! Come down and see us. There’s almost always something happening every Saturday.

 

We are going to be getting a 3d printer very soon!

We will be getting a ZeniKinetic Origin in the next 2 weeks.

We will also be getting access to cut sheets of metal on this awesome water jet cutter!

And Finally, my son did his first electronics project today at ProVolt! He held the soldering iron, and solder himself to put all the parts together!

As part of FoundrySLC I’ve been making weekly progress reports on a business I’m starting called Crossies. It’s been so helpful to Crossies, that I’ve decided to use the same methods for ProVolt.

The first part of the Foundry system is the creation of a MOKR (Mission, Objectives, Key Results). Google ventures has a good video about how they use OKRs to keep track of what’s going on in different departments, and to help communicate their goals and focus.

Here is ProVolt’s MOKR (It’s a work in progress)

The second part is the creation of weekly Management Reports that detail what has been done, and what the plans going into the next week are. We share these with the group Friday evenings so that everyone can get up to speed, comment, and give advice on Saturday and Sunday.

Here is ProVolt’s Management Report for this week.

The third part is a Monday Morning Meeting meeting with the other companies to help each other brainstorm their progress, and overcome obstacles that couldn’t be resolved online. I’d like to see our member meetings be helpful like this.

The fourth part is a monthly Project Review for each business to really bring collective knowledge to bear on the business and give good insights into things that may have been overlooked, or need more work. The idea is to rip the business apart, and find it’s weaknesses so these issues can be addressed to make the business stronger.

The Foundry also has a weekly get together with a special speaker or just to socialize and keep in touch once a week.

I hope these documents are interesting, and help you to understand what is going on here at ProVolt!