SparkFun and Parallax (!)

Ken Gracey

Hey all,

Among the many activities this Spring, one of the most interesting has been our open cultural and business exchange with SparkFun. Parallax has been to SparkFun and they've been to our office. As part of our exchange we talk about all kinds of things: manufacturing, Arduinos, Propellers, education, and business operations. Both of us have taken away opportunities and ideas of value to our own companies. Would you see us mesh into a single kind of company with similar flavors and product missions? Of course not, but this kind of communication could ultimately really benefit the industry, our customers, and both of our companies. More importantly, new friendships are being developed with many mutual interests as part of the foundation.

Below you'll see a photo taken yesterday at Parallax with Lauren Davis (Marketing Manager), Trevor Zylstra (COO, SparkFun), Ken Gracey, Matt Bolton (Director Manufacturing, SparkFun) and Jessica Uelmen (Engineering Manager). And underneath is Nathan and myself at Maker Faire. It was a memorable day full of laughs and activity.

Thank you SparkFun for coming to Parallax!

Ken Gracey
Parallax Inc.

ratronic

Ken you didn't say who the person is in the bottom picture.

Ken Gracey

Hey Dave - that's Nathan Seidle (SparkFun) and myself.

Ken Gracey

Tubular

It's awesome you guys talk. Hope that continues, and I sure hope to see an Elev-8 in the Sparkfun UAV next time!

At tax time when I check Quicken I'm always surprised at how much I have spent with Parallax, Sparkfun, Adafruit etc. But its all those useful bits and pieces that jet the job done faster. And its growing year on year vs the traditional suppliers. I rate Parallax and Sparkfun as having their finger well on the pulse, thanks in part to the excellent forums, but your community involvement and generousity sure helps too.

LoopyByteloose

Shipping cost become a huge issue on international orders. Generally I have to buy about $200USD of merchandise to justify buying from the USA because of it. As it now stands, I don't buy very often from either Parallax or Sparkfun because my orders are too small. But if Parallax were to sell and ship Sparkfun items, the combined items would make for a larger order and I'd save on shipping and you would gain on sales.

I know it is difficult to figure out the logistics of doing this. But I'd be happy to wait an extra 30 days while Parallax acquires items from Sparkfun to include in their orders.

In a perfect world, Sparkfun, Pololu, and Parallax would become one-stop shopping for me.

prof_braino

This is really cool. Keep doing great things!

Pete-O

While the love is going around...

Ken was nice enough to front us an ELEV-8 some time back (I think as a sample???), and it had been sitting in somebody's office doing nothing. I told Ken at Maker Faire that I had been lusting after one of these things and he reminded me that he had already sent us one... then said that if I couldn't find it he'd send us another. Another? Dude, you rock!! But no, I found the first and I'm putting it together at night after the kids are in bed. This is a beautiful kit. Everything is so nicely packaged and organized, I'm truly impressed. The very least I can do is to build and fly it. I've got the motors here with me this morning so I can solder up some wires and connectors, hopefully I'll get a chance in a bit.

Thanks a ton, Ken. You are truly a class act. Parallax has set the bar high in this space, and we're taking notes.

Pete at SparkFun

GordonMcComb

Pete, Nice to see you hanging about. Careful with that ELEV-8 ... it's very addictive. You'll be putting spud launchers on it in no time.

Someone remind Nate that it's the Red Shirts who are first to get killed when they beam down to a new planet. (Never mind red is the corporate color. There are reasons Captain Kirk never wore red.)

Synergy is what it's all about. The two companies have a great deal to offer to the consumer, and it's always nice to see a healthy working relationship. That can only benefit the marketplace, and the end result is a win-win for all involved.

-- Gordon

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

When I was in high school, my mom owned a candle shop in the city's downtown area. Across the street was an art supply store. At some point the art supply store took to selling candles, and my mom was very upset by the competition in such close proximity. I explained to her that it was actually a good thing because, when people wanted candles, where would they go? Downtown, of course, instead of to the mall, since now they had two choices and would associate her neighborhood ever more strongly with candles. It's an idea that has a long history, where guild craftsmen -- albeit competitors -- clustered on streets that were often named for the products they sold. When someone needed candles, for example, they had to look no farther than Candle Street.

In the internet age, it's possible to create virtual neighborhoods ('have to be careful with the word "guild" nowadays, since it can mistaken for "cartel"). Parallax and Sparkfun have taken the first step in this endeavor, and I think it's great. It's a synergy that can only help both businesses, even as they compete. "Can't find it here? Go across the street: they might have it," could be implemented on their respective websites with mutual benefit, since it gives visitors to each storefront more choices.

Congrats, Parallax and Sparkfun! It's refreshing to see competitors who are not out to destroy each other!

-Phil

erco

Man, have I got the perfect product for this awesome alliance! Seriously! Ken ???

Ken Gracey

erco wrote: »

Man, have I got the perfect product for this awesome alliance! Seriously! Ken ???

Yes, erco! The old ways are gone. . .bring on the perfect product to celebrate!

Ken Gracey

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

Other channels of communication are opening between some of the other players as well...
This is AWESOME and should result in better products for the end user as well as benefits to the players involved!

Communication has started, just wait to you see what's on the horizon!

OBC