Matt Parlmer (General Fabrication)

Speaking with Matt is like being blasted with a firehose of information. He is entwined in the worlds of politics, database engineering, and 3D printing, and he speaks in dense, reference-laden paragraphs. This is thrilling to me, since I love information. I also feel empathy for folks who have been subject to my own tendencies to speak in dense, reference-laden paragraphs, since it's not always easy to keep up. While infrastructure isn't exactly a sexy topic, we've seen a lot of institutional failings over the last few years, so I wanted to get Matt's take on why we see so much bureaucratic rot and ineptitude — and what we can do about it. I also wanted to get his significantly more optimistic take on the future of small-scale manufacturing, since he is starting a new company with plans to democratize 3D printing. The costs and infrastructure required to make small runs of products in your own home are plummeting, and we will likely see a revolution in direct-to-consumer businesses because of it. Enjoy this conversation with the always fascinating, always reference-laden Matt Parlmer. Learn more from Matt here: Website: Substack | General Fabrication Twitter: @mattparlmer Enjoy this conversation with the always fascinating, always reference-laden Matt Parlmer. If you're enjoying the show, the best way to support it is by sharing with your friends. If you don't have any friends, why not a leave a review? It makes a difference in terms of other people finding the show. You can also subscribe to receive my e-mail newsletter at www.toddnief.com. Most of my writing never makes it to the blog, so get on that list. Show Notes: [01:45] Is it "time to build"? And, why have we seen so many institutional and infrastructural failures since the 1970s? [10:47] Matt's take on the Texas power grid failure [19:24] The engineering parable of the construction of the London sewers [27:10] Why are we better at digital infrastructure than physical infrastructure? [34:34] Lessons from the iterative development practices of technical infrastructure that can be applied to physical infrastructure [41:54] Matt's nuclear power pitch — and how the regulatory state has failed on nuclear [56:53] The coming transition from "needing a warehouse full of equipment" to "at home manufacturing" [01:06:45] What is changing that will cause massive cost reductions in small-scale manufacturing and electrochemical machining [01:16:17] General Fabrication, 3D printing farms, and the "direct from producer" business model [01:28:30] How to learn more from Matt and why you should really reach out to him about manufacturing and 3D printing Links and Resources Mentioned: 2021 Texas power crisis Nassim Taleb's Black Swan Thanksgiving Turkey Isambard Kingdom Brunel "How London got its Victorian sewers" from OpenLearn Square–cube law Howard Hughes 2020 United States federal government data breach "MySpace admits losing 12 years' worth of music uploads" from BBC News Version control Idaho National Laboratory Hydraulic empire "Loan program that funded Solyndra finds success in Tesla and many others" from The Mercury News Nuclear Regulatory Commission West Africa Squadron Mainframe computer Blackpill Electrochemical machining "How Switzerland Came to Dominate Watchmaking" from The New York Times "Neuromancer" by William Gibson Red Hat's Business Model China Using Anal Swabs for COVID Testing