I’m a Detroit native that’s been living in New York for several years. My grandfather inspired my interest in small shop manufacturing as he was a watchmaker by trade. He built a miniature workshop desk so my brothers and I can play with craft tools beside him. Later, I received a BFA in industrial design from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. ... See MoreI began my professional career designing watches for Marc Jacobs, DKNY and Diesel, later becoming senior watch designer for Izod. After working in the watch industry for some time, I decided to start my own line, Steel Cake, having watches made overseas. Manufacturing as a small independent company overseas eventually became so frustrating and expensive that I decided to start manufacturing goods in the United States and founded The Brooklyn Bakery. Tanya and I met during this period and unified our complimentary skill sets to tackle the fashion industry. While sourcing here in the United States we encountered many obstacles in finding the right manufacturer. From there, the idea of making domestic sourcing more accessible was created.

I’m from California and a sociologist by training. I’m most interested in the intersection of technology and society, and early in my career I focused on researching technology in rural areas with Tricia Wang. Prior to Maker’s Row, I worked at Goldman Sachs on automation projects, but I was also working weekends and late nights on The Brooklyn Bakery with Matthew and really enjoyed the work. ... See MoreI loved how The Brooklyn Bakery was supporting a network of local factories and other small businesses. He asked me to come on full-time as a co-owner, so I quit Goldman. As we were trying to expand the business, we realized that there was a huge lack of transparency and community within the industry. It would take us months to find the right factory, so we decided to create Maker’s Row to solve this problem. We applied to the Brooklyn Beta Summer Camp to help accelerate the process of creating a tech company, and that is where we found Scott via CollabFinder.com

I’ve been making websites since I was 13. After getting a BFA in Communications Design at Syracuse University, I worked at design firms and ad agencies in the tri-state area. I noticed a demand for hybrid designer/developers, so I started Brandwagon in 2009 — a digital design shop that catered to clients, including: Comedy Central, Sesame Street, Blip, DailyWorth and several ad agencies. ... See MoreBranding, websites, promotions and online ads were my niche. I also developed iPhone apps as a hobby and enjoyed having control of a product from concept to execution. That led me to venture out into the tech startup scene — going to meetups and applying to the Brooklyn Beta Summer Camp, where I ultimately met Tanya and Matthew.