Two years ago, Emile Petrone posted a humble question to reddit.com/r/arduino: "Would you support an Arduino marketplace or am I totally off base?" After observing the market for a while, he saw the need for a central destination where people could buy handmade tech. Many others agreed, and Petrone started to build. Five months later, he quit his job and raised $500,000 in funding to turn Tindie.com into the eCommerce platform for these types of products. Today, the site draws customers from all over the world, including companies like SpaceX, Google and Intel that can't find what they're looking for anywhere else.
Image: Free Digital Photos
