6 Months of Discovery

Wow I can't believe I am saying this, but this has been one wild journey. About 6 months ago, I ended my independent research on a contract I was working my butt off to complete on schedule. The research was done well, but the results weren't in line with our customer's need. I was done with the contract and at a point of determining what was next. That is a challenge.

The Beginning

College wasn't yesterday for me anymore. I worked at a major corporation as a program manager for a number of years. I started an independent composite research lab on an opportunity. I didn't know where it was going to go. The one thing I knew: another year working at my job was not going to teach me as much compared to taking the risk. So I did it. I quit my job and started my own LLC. I learned how to build composites end to end. I performed research for the Navy. It didn't work out. I didn't know what to do after it.

I had to look at my skills and capabilities. I had a small scale composites shop that I built. The clear direction was to stay in that field. I gained some domain expertise and can try pushing further in that domain. My first reaction, can I start producing carbon fiber parts and sell them on the consumer market. I was ideating and trying to think what could be built in that industry. My findings, consumers likely don't need aerospace grade composites and they are much more focused on aesthetic. I learned how to make composites, but I didn't learn how to make beautiful and intricate composites. i was making functional, structural pieces. Also, its an extremely saturated market.

Okay so maybe not becoming a product, but I could continue being a research lab. My issue was I didn't believe in that dream. I come from industry. I have seen the great difficulty it takes to get suppliers onto our system. The facility requirements, the cyber requirements, and much more. It would be a heavy investment. Much more that what I had put into my current lab, likely in the factor of 10x more spending. The only reason to do it would be if I had a great passion to being a research lab and conviction I'd make it successful. I didn't.

Okay, next thing. I have learned a lot about a specific subcategory of composites: vitrimers. Can I think of a different way to use it. I spent close to a month while working on other things trying this. The result of my labor. No new ideas that had fruit.

So the last 6 months of building composite was no longer a clear direction for me to go. I had to think of something else. What else could that be. I was lost.

I started thinking of all the different technologies I had touched throughout my entire career is there something else that takes me out of being the manufacturer. Can I do pultrusion or compression molded goods. Where could these materials fit in. Are there needs in outdoor furnature or fencing. I built a mini fence with some sample material I purchased. Problem with fencing wasn't the fencing material, but in the concrete that needs to get poured. Okay what technologies get used for the concrete, can we use other materials. People have tried using structural foam, but that still doesn't help the real problem. The hardest part is preparing the site, ensuring the poles go in right and are properly spaces and level. That the structural material is firmly connected to the ground around it. Okay so is there tooling for that, can I make better tooling. This is just one sub journey that I went down that ended with. I don't have a better idea than the way it is currently solved at this moment.

I thought about other skills I have I spent my career at Northrop Grumman doing additive manufacturing research and development. I was aware also of the great difficulty for these industries to get prototype tooling. Okay can these two domains be combined. I thought about injection molding. Can you use SLA printing to make highly accurate molds for prototype or small batch runs. I read all the research posted by protolabs. I started making a game plan about how this might be a potential business. I signed up for a class at University of California San Diego to learn about mold and part design. Deeply engaged in the subject. Continued doing more research. Looked at the competition. Thought about what I needed to do to get the domain expertise to do this business. I needed to work at an injection molding shop for a few years and become an expert on it. How would I feel after 6 months, after 2 years, if I realized my idea has no real merit to it. My career would be in injection molding now and I don't even want to do injection molding. I binned the idea.

Failures or Growth

I want to pause a moment. I have had a series of unsuccessful ideas at this point. The cool part is I learned so much during this time. Would I take back learning about creep versus stress relaxation. Not at all, it can be useful for a future endeavor. Every single thing I have been doing throughout this time period has been learning something new. I haven't stopped learning and frankly its my number 1 motivating factor. I love learning.

So back to my situation. I am probably 20 failed ideas at this point. I am trying to figure out what it is I would actually want to do. I go through a period of rapid self discovery. I talk to people. I learn from friends, mentors, and family. I start re-evaluating what path I want to go down. I am trying to think 20 years down the line with the next direction I go and I am choosing this moment to be a defining factor in how that looks. I reconnect with my inner curiosity. This was my inflection point.

I stopped looking at trying to find solutions and was aiming to solve problems in my life with products that I wanted to build. I built myself a proof-of-concept learning app. The debugging process was the learning experience. I built an app to better connect myself with friends because I enjoyed my conversations with them so much that I wanted it to be something that happens more regularly. I stopped thinking about what I think are cool ideas and returned to the mindset that we live in a world that works, so the only time someone will want to change is either they don't know how much better something could be, or they have a real problem in their lives. My connecting with friends app wasn't something that was addressing a known surfaced problem, but its real for everyone. We do a bad job at staying in touch and every time I have reconnected with good friends over the phone my reaction is always the same, I hope to do this again soon. I wanted to create a space that would push more phone calls to happen that would lead to more real world social interaction. Not another social app to keep users hooked on their phones.

My language learning app was made because I couldn't find anything to help me learn Egyptian Arabic adequately. I thought if I could build something that works for myself, a learner, it will probably work better for others than people building apps as a language specialist that doesn't remember what its like to learn.

I mentioned building apps, well that meant I became an AI specialist. I didn't known how to code anthing more than a data analysis script. Now, I'm playing with agentic development. Understanding different architecture approaches, APIs, communication protocols, servers, databases, and a bunch more. Another tool under my belt.

Where I am Today

I started this out saying that it was 6 months to do what I want and I executed haphazardously, but I accomplished exactly what I set out to do. I learned. I spent 6 months learning. I can't say that every single thing I learned will directly apply to my next chapter nor did I learn everything I wanted to learn, but it most certainly has led me to exactly where I am now and I'm exactly where I should be.

One of my major goals in life haven't wavered one bit since my childhood. I always wanted to build something that makes a difference. Although I don't know exactly where I will do that. My goal has changed in certain ways since I started my solopreneur journey. I realized the childhood thought of wanting to do this by myself on my exact terms isn't as important as the goal itself. From this experience I have realized that and now I'm on a path to get there. This self discovery has brought me back to my roots, and taught me the incredible value of curiosity and passion to learn. My childhood dream is finally ready to spread its wings.