It’s rare you have the potential to change the world, you need money, power, connections or just an incredible idea that catches on like wild-fire. But Brian Krzanich is one of those rare people who has gathered them all. He is the CEO of Intel, and his curriculum vitae speaks for itself. Krzanich is leading the effort to make the world a better place.
You might think a reality show on TBS is an odd vehicle to pull that off, but as I watched America’s Greatest Makers, I discovered some people that just might make such a fantasy a reality. The world is already a better place, because they are in it. They are making great things for America. And I got to meet one of them!
Intel will be giving one million dollars to a winning team that comes up with a product, using the Intel® Curie™ module. When you consider Big Hero 6 used a similar contest to scour the nation to find an incredible maker, maybe it isn’t quite as academically jejune as we typically label reality TV.
America’s Greatest Makers is a new kind of pitch show, akin to Shark Tank with a King of the Nerds feel to it, and it’s all our kind of people, geeks and techno-wizards. With guest judges ranging from Shaq to Dr. Mayim Bialik, each episode showcases the best and brightest out there in the maker community. I have a few favorites, and I was very happy to snag an interview with one of the team’s captains, Dean Dijour, from Team Collarator.
Dean is one half of the dynamic duo that is Team Collarator, his friend Gabriel approached him with an idea about helping prevent Gabriel’s chocolate lab from getting out and ultimately lost on several occasions. While there are products on the market that use pet location, they weren’t sufficient in preventing the dog from breaking loose in the first place. Thus, Collarator was born, blending both tracking and prevention, using GPS, Dean and Gabriel spearheaded their concept into a pitch on AGM.
I was humbled talking to this “kid” – not yet out of high school, as he discussed their product, the realities of being young contestants on a show with experienced makers, and films!
I have paraphrased his responses for the sake of clarity.
What were the biggest challenges you had dealing with being such young contestants on AGM?
Not so much being young, as being surrounded by experienced people, it was daunting to see people that had years of experience longer than I have even been alive. So, I wouldn’t say it was a challenge, just gave us something to think about. But, where others with experience might come at something with cynicism, we approached it with optimistic naivete. For example, we were told not to use GPS because it wasn’t that accurate, but we created an algorithm with GPS that proved it wasn’t the crutch more experienced people were telling us it would be. We made it work when others advised against it.
I understand this idea sparked from a lost pet. I’ve gone through that before, can you talk about how that event led to your idea?
Gabriel actually has a chocolate lab that would constantly get out, and the solutions on the market weren’t helping him out. He approached me about the idea.
What about cats?
We actually worked with UC Berkley and got feedback that a targeted approach would be better rather than an overall market of every pet out there. And interviews we conducted with pet owners held that theory, cats will do what they want, and when they get out will more often than not return home, while dogs can’t seem to find their ways home.
What else do you do when you aren’t making great things in America?
I am an EMT, I play varsity tennis, I am on the executive board of Marlboro High School’s model congress, where we go to debates at Rutgers lasting 12 hours a day for days on end, and in the Business Learning Center, I have coordinated a speaker series where the CEO of Bloomingdales and Jersey Mike’s spoke to us, among others.
I am the Film Grouch, so of course I have to ask you what your favorite films are and if any actually inspired you to become makers?
I love films, I make sure I have at least a couple of hours a day to watch films, my favorites are Whiplash, the Batman series, although I am not totally sold on Affleck, I prefer Christian Bale, but Affleck is growing on me. I am Team Iron Man all the way, I just really like Robert Downey Jr., but I know the filmmakers didn’t make it crystal clear if you should really stick with one side all the way. I highly recommended you check out Silicon Valley, I watch it for T.J. Miller, who was hilarious in Deadpool.
What keeps you up at night? In other words, what’s something that drives you?
Settling, when I see someone my age just settling for mediocrity. I know this is the time in my life when I could just eat fast food and not get involved, but I look at it like I have nothing to lose, I don’t want to waste that. Anything I can do now is all within my power, and in my generation, it’s “all in our power.”
You can tell from my brief conversation with Dean that he is going to be an impact on our nation, perhaps our world, and he and Gabriel should give us all hope that there are indeed some fresh minds that aren’t afraid to take risks and reach for something more than the status quo.
I didn’t do justice here for why Team Collarator is special, because I think you should watch for yourself. Maybe the idea of preventing a dog from getting out isn’t going to save the world. But, there are plenty of dog owners who will surely feel their world was saved.
Here’s a list of all the teams, you are bound to find something that will make you sit back in awe.
While only one team can claim the million dollar grand prize, merely introducing the potential of brilliance these techies possess with a state-of-the-art Intel platform is a win for us all. Some of their ideas might not change the world, yet, but I wouldn’t count anyone out as the next Einstein or Musk in the making.
Unfortunately, tonight is the final show of the first season, but I hear they are already looking for submissions for next season’s makers. If you missed the series, fret not, the tech wizards of the world have made it available via TBS On Demand. And while your favorite team might not be the one that wins, I was delighted to see that some of the “losers” were very much winners, because their product and ideas were validated in a significant way by Intel and the judges.
“If something is important enough, you try.” Elon Musk.
Don’t just try to watch this show, set your DVRs, make it a priority, because these are the minds that will be shaping our future. It doesn’t matter who you root for, and it doesn’t matter who wins, in the end, we all win because they tried to improve our world.
