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TinyCircuits gets a boost from eBay pilot program

Akron-based TinyCircuits, which makes tiny open source electronics, is among those companies participating in the eBay Retail Revival pilot program. Recently eBay held an event in New York City at New Stand in Brookfield Place in downtown Manhattan to showcase a number of the products being produced by the businesses in the pilot program. The "eBay x New Stand Launch," provided a chance for the media to meet some of the entrepreneurs who were present. TinyCircuits President Ken Burns attended the event and is pictured here holding a Tiny Arcade.  (Photo by Sherry Karabin).

SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter

Published: September 20, 2018

The company is called TinyCircuits and while its products might look like toys, these miniature electronic pieces are now being used to create everything from small projects to professional circuit boards.

Located in downtown Akron at Canal Place, the company, which makes tiny open source electronics, was started by northeast Ohio native and electrical engineer Ken Burns in 2011 as a side business.

Today Burns employs about 10 people, who manufacture a variety of products that are distributed across the globe to companies, universities and individuals.

“I’ve been formulating ideas for businesses from a young age, but this is the first business that I have opened,” said Burns, president of TinyCircuits. “I have spent most of my life working as an engineer or project manager for electronics companies.”

Born in Cleveland and raised in Stow, Burns graduated from The University of Akron with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1998, going on to earn his master’s degree in electrical engineering at the school two years later.

It was during his time as a senior project manager at AVID Technologies in Twinsburg that he came up with the idea for TinyCircuits.

“A lot of the work I did at AVID involved helping companies develop electronic products, including a number of wireless sensors for industrial applications,” said Burns. “Most of these sensors were large and quite expensive.

“My idea was to develop a small sensor platform,” he said. “About the same time I began thinking about my idea, the maker market came into being so I decided to standardize my sensors on the Arduino platform so they would be more accessible to students, artists and companies.

“I began with a miniature system of small electronic modules that could plug together like electronic LEGOS, to make it extremely easy to prototype a project.”

Burns started the business while he was working for AVID Technologies. He decided to strike out on his own after a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2012 raised $110,000.

“My goal was $10,000 so I was very pleased,” said Burns. “The money got me to stop working out of my home and convinced me that the idea was valid. I left AVID in 2013 and began investing all my time and money into developing the company.”

Burns said the business is now profitable and its revenue continues to increase each year.

His space at Canal Place spans 7,000 square feet and contains an office area and a Surface Mount electronics production line, with automated assembly equipment that churns out numerous electronic products.

Dave Kearns, manufacturing supervisor at TinyCircuits, said what makes the company unique is that they cater to makers, hobbyists and tinkerers.

“We are a maker’s maker because we create circuit boards for makers and crafty people,” said Kearns.

Companies and universities around the world use the electronic circuits to create prototypes and test new concepts.

Burns said the most popular offering is its TinyDuino product, an Arduino compatible platform about the size of a quarter.

“The platform is completely modular and works like tiny electronic LEGOs, allowing the maker to easily add complex functions like GPS, Wi-Fi, motor control or graphic displays to projects by plugging together the expandable modules called TinyShields,” said Burns.

“Right now about 50 percent of our sales are direct to the consumer and involve the purchase of our small electronic modules. We are beginning to get some of our products into science and specialty toy stores.”

The company recently caught the attention of those at eBay and is now among the many small businesses in Akron participating in eBay’s Retail Revival program.

Unveiled in January, the 12-month pilot seeks to teach traditional “Main Street” business owners in Akron how to use the eBay platform to develop a global following.

“I love the fact that Ken Burns has found this amazing niche of making these small games and other electronics that are not only really unique and capture people’s imagination but are being made in Akron,” said Chris Librie, senior director of global impact and giving at eBay.

“I’ve had the chance to go to Ken’s facility in the old BFGoodrich factory and it’s amazing,” said Librie. “He can make large runs of electronics there as cheaply or even more cheaply than they can in China,” said Librie. “It makes you realize that there’s a really great opportunity for electronics manufacturing in this country if you have a unique product like he does.”

While eBay has conducted similar initiatives in cities in Germany and Italy, the Akron program, which also includes some Warren businesses, is the first of its kind in the United States.

On Aug. 14, eBay held an event in New York City at New Stand in Brookfield Place in downtown Manhattan, showcasing products from more than a dozen of the Akron entrepreneurs in the pilot program.

The “eBay x New Stand Launch” also provided the chance for members of the press to meet some of the entrepreneurs, including Burns who set up a few of his tiny wonders, including a mini piano and TV.

Librie said the event was designed to fulfill a number of goals, including generating publicity and awareness about its first pilot program undertaken in the U.S. in partnership with the city of Akron.

“We want to bridge the gap between e-commerce and real commerce or conventional commerce,” said Librie. “We started with a group of businesses that were bricks and mortar, we got them online and now we’re promoting many of them here in a very different kind of bricks-and-mortar environment, which is more of a pop-up store environment, that might engage the younger consumer.”

“The pilot has been very helpful,” said Burns. “Of the 10 people who work here, about five are full time and we are all engineers so our strong suit is not marketing.

“The eBay pilot is helping us to better understand the marketing component.

“Our sales have increased as a result of our eBay store,” he said. “The most important thing that we’ve learned, however, is that in order for us to expand our market we need to import and sell more generic products.

“Our core products are targeted to engineers and the average person will not go on eBay and search for what we offer so we need to expand those offerings.”

As Burns works with eBay to grow his business further, he said he is committed to staying in Akron.

“My wife and I live in Akron and I really like the area,” said Burns. “My goal is to increase the number of high-knowledge and manufacturing jobs while continuing to offer cool and interesting products,” Burns said. 


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