Sam @samschmitz Twitter profile

Pinned Tweet

Sam

@samschmitz

3 years

“Just In Time” manufacturing is ruining the world

6

3

83

Last Seen Profiles

@g9ebkx29ikdBuAX

@gclarabow

@oneonepac

@i_am_am_am_T

@cathal_dev

@bokeplokalmalam

@SSBU_HAMACHI

@BinorRaja

@african84682

@AYoungStoic

@a2642131y

@enhacake

@xg_syogok_121

@sukabh9

@elhaaam69

@Dummer290712

@Vainity_moore

@stw_pdg

@Antima_Lee

@DrBarayan

@bokeplokalmalam

@JIS4CHU

@63Hzz

@moonlightmimi05

@WholeFoodsMag

@Eshelton14

@ManOwaRFreaK

@paulwalkerxxx

@sudbrookmagnet

@LINCOLN_U434

@ULJdTs2kjxlbd5M

@LernerRose94139

@BetFlur

@hectorgutie_rez

@x4ta_coj

@vickelokorie

Sam

@samschmitz

4 months

I’ve been to the DJI factory many times (worked with same CM) and mainly, China’s industrial base is so deep that every component ends up being a fraction of the cost. Just this one factory had a 24/7 lights-out tool shop, in-house automation team, PCBA fab on-site with <24h lead

42

572

5K

Sam

@samschmitz

2 months

Can’t believe this is a “health and safety” product made from 360 brass. This metal has ~3% lead in it, which will definitely end up in your environment/body in tiny amounts with daily wear and use.

Marshall Haas 🏎

@marshal

2 months

This is the wild story of how I made $1,036,175 during the COVID lockdowns by rapidly creating a new physical product in 7 days. In April 2020, during the lockdowns I created 2 things that changed my life: 1. – I launched Shepherd (eventually renamed Somewhere[dot]com). 4

269

518

7K

49

110

4K

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

Fun fact: We had a big party after Noland’s speech and we were all so moved and motivated that a bunch of people literally just went back to work instead

Beff – e/acc

@BasedBeffJezos

7 months

Techno-optimists will listen to this speech and think: "hell yeah"

90

195

2K

31

125

2K

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

Black-hat startup idea: Drone loaded up with ASICS or GPUs that hangs on power lines and mines crypto from the electricity with a current clamp. When discovered, it just flies away.

52

75

2K

Sam

@samschmitz

3 months

I installed an e-stop button on my desk that force-quits Solidworks

22

35

671

Sam

@samschmitz

2 months

@Cpl_Dont_Know Absolute nightmare to rip on someone and have them drop proof of TWO purple hearts, this is an all timer

2

643

Sam

@samschmitz

4 months

We can and will reindustrialize though, it has to happen

39

21

600

Sam

@samschmitz

2 months

To be clear, this isn’t THAT big of a deal, no one is going to get sick. We just need to collectively work on reducing lead exposure. So, if you’re going to launch a product designed to touch everything in your house, just do one [1] google search before you ship, that’s all.

0

3

371

Sam

@samschmitz

2 years

@WillManidis Not true—this is a classic Alibaba trick. If you look closely, the listing is for a PICTURE of a BB gun. See the four holes in the corner? It’s a little placard thing. Check the description.

3

2

340

Sam

@samschmitz

9 months

Neuralink has a squat rack now and it’s packed at 730pm on a friday. very bullish

10

6

333

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

To be clear, I *personally* took some time to compose myself and then proceeded to crush like 9 beers. Sometimes you just gotta unwind.

6

4

289

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

Noland is by far one of the most inspiring and hilarious people I have ever met. I can’t wait until we share more.

Neuralink

@neuralink

7 months

4K

18K

56K

12

3

276

Sam

@samschmitz

2 months

@marshal I can promise you that no medical devices are made from 360 brass. I’m not an instrument expert but I think mouthpieces are made from 260 (yellow/cartridge brass) Water pipe fittings are lead-free brass, if you see a leaded one it’s probably meant for gas.

4

5

212

Sam

@samschmitz

9 months

Mechanical engineering in the 19th century was wild. Dudes would just come up with some new six-bar linkage, name it after themselves, and be set for life.

6

11

183

Sam

@samschmitz

3 months

A strong indicator for how well a hardware startup/product is going to do is how clean their wiring is. I think I’m yet to see a counter-example.

14

6

160

Sam

@samschmitz

2 months

@nhfoley I have plenty of thoughts on the idiocy of the prop 65 implementation, but yeah you’re right that this is a clear violation.

1

148

Sam

@samschmitz

4 months

@ZoingoB @bunniestudios has long been a hero of mine, he arguably helped start this time in my life as I applied to Formlabs partially because of his teardown posts

1

5

92

Sam

@samschmitz

2 months

@Ypsvw_ Brass is mostly copper, so you’re definitely on the right track! Pure copper is less corrosion resistant though and worst of all it’s really hard to machine. Lead-free brass would be perfect here.

1

0

90

Sam

@samschmitz

2 months

@moomilk that is simply not true. I design surgical tools for a living and I can promise you that a bunch of biocompatible metals don’t ’lock In’ the unsafe ones.

4

1

86

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

There are too many remote startups and not any nomadic startups. I’m gonna start a company where the office is just a massive caravan of RVs, roaming around the continent.

12

4

80

Sam

@samschmitz

4 months

Important note on reindustrialization: we cannot (and do not need to) beat China in the ‘plastic trash’ game. We’re never going to make as many phone chargers or smoke detectors as them, for example. The strength of the US industrial base will have to lie in being discerning

6

80

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

Land the craft in the field further into the valley to avoid hurting the people or trees

spor

@sporadicalia

7 months

wyd in this situation

174

33

493

2

0

78

Sam

@samschmitz

2 months

The US *has* the best 3D printing company: most companies (that aren’t early startups) use Formlabs. FDM is fun and cheap, but for really getting things done, SLA/SLS are the way to go.

Luke Farritor

@LukeFarritor

2 months

An American should start a 3d printer company Bambu is Mainland Chinese Creality is Mainland Chinese Prusa is Czech Ultimaker is Dutch All good companies but it is of utmost national security importance to have 3d printer capability onshore!

63

12

319

6

2

79

Sam

@samschmitz

2 months

If these guys seriously designed a piece of heavy machinery and ordered all the parts without doing a single tolerance stack, I’d pay good money for a 12-part series of them trying to put it all together

4

76

Sam

@samschmitz

5 months

Does anyone know a place in the bay to legally launch (really poorly made) model rockets? I’m trying to plan a team event but also trying not to make national news.

16

2

65

Sam

@samschmitz

4 months

More fun memories from China trips: the business culture has a big drinking component where dinner turns into some kind of machismo-adjacent unspoken drinking contest. Anyway I’m 6’1” and had just spent four years at a midwestern state school so it went exactly how you’d imagine

3

1

58

Sam

@samschmitz

4 months

the deep tech week kickoff was a great time, huge shoutout to all who planned it. too bad it was a school night though so we couldn’t stay for the rave.

4

1

53

Sam

@samschmitz

4 months

@solipsism_2 Scale isn’t everything. Most of the system is not a well-oiled machine like the one I described but a cobbled-together surplus of parts that works when you throw enough people at it. Somewhere between this and ‘Swiss watchmaking’ lies the golden ratio of quality and scale.

1

0

48

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

@BryceJohanneck Oh hell yeah I was hoping a lineman would see this! I’m actually super curious, any good resources?

1

0

42

Sam

@samschmitz

3 months

I structured my whole week around today: frontloaded all meetings to mon-wed, no interview availability, blocked off 10 hours on the calendar to JUST do engineering and then I forgot my headphones at home

3

0

40

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

If you’re a cracked 10^6 engineer you need to be reaching out to @trevormccrt1 and @BasedBeffJezos , it’s time to accelerate

Extropic

@Extropic_AI

7 months

A bit more about what we are building

85

204

1K

1

40

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

we’re proud to announce Sam, an AI mechanical engineer capable of performing work on par with the best in the industry. see Sam in action here: *cut to a 3 hr clip of the most garbage surface modeling you’ve ever seen*

1

0

38

Sam

@samschmitz

4 months

I’ve been trying out a continuous glucose monitor and it has revealed two wolves: the first wants to use the data to make more informed eating decisions, but the second sees a box of pop tarts and wants to go for the high score

4

1

36

Sam

@samschmitz

11 days

running out of watch battery in the middle of a run is so demoralizing. might as well just walk home from here ripping parliaments if none of this counts.

4

0

38

Sam

@samschmitz

4 months

We need to crowdfund someone to sleep with like 12 Oura rings and 12 Apple Watches for a month and post the data

6

1

30

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

Another fun learning from Neuralink is that designing stuff for neurosurgeons poses a *wild* set of human factors constraints. They are superhumanly dexterous and delicate, but also on a fucking mission and accustomed to every tool they touch being bulletproof.

4

0

30

Sam

@samschmitz

9 years

Give me a stupid question for the company magazine, expect nothing less for the answer. http://t.co/gtqUyICcsC

0

2

28

Sam

@samschmitz

2 months

@moomilk lead can leach into saltwater (sweat) and when you’re using this on a bunch of harder metals (like stainless door handles) it’s going to generate particulate. Not saying this is a death trap, it’s just funny that they picked the ONE thing they shouldn’t have

1

27

Sam

@samschmitz

8 years

So @google won't call me back so I'm gonna buy this custom Snapchat filter and put it all around their headquarters lol

1

0

25

Sam

@samschmitz

3 years

Your lead time isn’t long because of “supply chain issues,” it’s because having a little bit of inventory on hand makes some middle-manager’s numbers look worse for one quarter.

2

1

29

Sam

@samschmitz

9 years

0

1

23

Sam

@samschmitz

4 months

*This* is the middle-of-the-bell-curve take. Texas should absolutely have high-speed rail connecting its 10-15 largest cities.

ib

@Indian_Bronson

4 months

All the “whyyy can’t America have commuter trains like EUROPE??” takes are from 100 IQ people who should never be allowed to make any kind of public policy, possibly not even to choose those who do.

554

549

9K

4

1

25

Sam

@samschmitz

4 months

I went shot-for-sip with one of the young engineers and he had to take the next day off

2

0

25

Sam

@samschmitz

4 months

@thegarrettscott are you sure

1

0

23

Sam

@samschmitz

8 months

*Watching this video repeatedly to size up who I can beat at arm wrestling* *decides to just stay home*

Isaiah Taylor - making nuclear reactors

@isaiah_p_taylor

8 months

[ 02/15/24 17:51:20Z ] the gundo delegation is en route

22

4

157

2

0

23

Sam

@samschmitz

6 years

Exciting announcement: I paid off all my student loans! $30k in a year and a half since starting work. Just goes to show anything is possible when you believe in yourself and live in the closet of an absolute shithole to save on rent.

0

22

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

You’ve heard of the Coward’s Ratio (likes>>retweets) but I’m happy to announce I have achieved the Scholar’s Ratio (roughly 1:4 bookmarks to likes)

3

0

23

Sam

@samschmitz

8 years

Sometimes people ask me if I'm moving away to get away from my family and it's always been a no until this shit

1

0

22

Sam

@samschmitz

3 months

@atomic_semi ( @szeloof ) is a good example—one walkthrough of the fab and I already recommend them to anyone in SF looking to work in deep tech

2

0

21

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

Sometimes I love designing things for operating rooms. oh this button might be in the sterile field? guess I have to use this $100 IP69 wash down gold-plated 440C version whose click is so crisp each press is like stepping outside on the first day of spring

2

0

20

Sam

@samschmitz

6 years

Million dollar product idea: You know when you eat pizza and people put napkins on the top to soak up the grease? Well napkins don't absorb a lot, and it's pretty messy and could get napkin bits on the pizza so anyway my product is an app that calls the police on those people

0

1

18

Sam

@samschmitz

2 months

@santiagoarraga Yeah same thing. Just wash your hands and you’ll be fine, it’s really not the end of the world, just don’t let your kids gnaw on it (something much easier done with a hand plane than this toy-looking thing)

1

18

Sam

@samschmitz

5 months

Eleven years later, the humble vase remains the optimal drinking vessel: - comfortable, wide mouth - extra volume - residual plant nutrients for health

1

0

17

Sam

@samschmitz

11 years

Go look at West Central Tribune's website to see who was arrested for the murder of that lady. Right now. WHAT THE HELL.

0

12

17

Sam

@samschmitz

8 months

whoops I accidentally designed a snap fit flexure that looks like Jar Jar Binks

2

0

15

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

I actually thought about doing this seriously once as an ‘Emergency Manufacturing Troubleshooting’ service. If you had a major line-down bleeding money, we’d roll up in <24h with a mobile shop and live/work from the parking lot until we solved it.

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

There are too many remote startups and not any nomadic startups. I’m gonna start a company where the office is just a massive caravan of RVs, roaming around the continent.

12

4

80

6

0

17

Sam

@samschmitz

10 years

#JOKE TIME. Q: What did the boy taking 17 hard credits and working 20 hours per week get for Christmas? A: Jury duty.

0

1

16

Sam

@samschmitz

6 years

After years of struggling with ADHD, I finally found a medication that helps me and makes me feel and function normally, but even generic is $430 per month after insurance. @tevapharm Fuck you all, you're all going to hell. (Even you, social media person. You can quit anytime.)

0

1

15

Sam

@samschmitz

9 years

I got my laptop back and the chick who stole it was still logged in to facebook http://t.co/sANiTOOJy5

0

1

15

Sam

@samschmitz

8 months

startup idea: creamation + selective laser sintering your ashes into whatever shape you want.

4

1

16

Sam

@samschmitz

3 months

But also if you’re a cracked EE and want to come build the coolest thing you’ve ever worked on, apply to Neuralink right now:

Electrical Engineer, Robotics

Fremont, California, United States

boards.greenhouse.io

0

15

Sam

@samschmitz

9 years

Thank GOD for cargo shorts weather, I haven't been able to properly carry all my cool shit for like 8 months

0

1

14

Sam

@samschmitz

8 years

holy shit i graduated

2

0

15

Sam

@samschmitz

7 years

on one of those flights where you get on a bus and drive you on tue tarmac to your plane and as soon as the bus filled up i said "what the hell kinda airplane is this??" and no one laughed

0

14

Sam

@samschmitz

9 years

Tell me a little bit more about how you're moving to Canada where gay marriage has been legal since 2005

0

2

14

Sam

@samschmitz

11 months

i’ll stop taking long showers when they stop growing almonds in the desert

3

1

10

Sam

@samschmitz

8 months

now planning the Poseidon first flight fan tailgate. pulling up with a grill and cooler full of light beer like it’s homecoming dm if you have an 80s F150 we can sit on the tailgate of

ZEKE

@zekedup

8 months

Where should we hold our maiden flight? Must be over water. DJ and hotdogs will be provided.

22

0

55

2

0

14

Sam

@samschmitz

9 years

Some days I feel so thankful for my best friends, while other days AHMED USES MY PHONE CHARGER WHILE I'M IN CLASS WITHOUT EVEN ASKING DAMMIT

0

1

13

Sam

@samschmitz

7 years

If you're gonna charge me a $150 fee for being an 'underage driver' you'd better believe I'm going to drive this rental car like a coked up Paul Walker with his learner's permit.

1

0

13

Sam

@samschmitz

2 months

@MxVanButane It has to be a bit, right?

0

12

Sam

@samschmitz

3 months

Anyone in NYC hiring for ops/EA/office management/etc.? My sister just graduated and is looking to work at a startup/small company. You will not find someone as high-energy yet thoroughly organized as she is, trust me on this one.

1

2

11

Sam

@samschmitz

2 years

Such a fun night getting to update everyone on the work we’ve been doing! Also great to finally meet Ryan Tanaka of @NeuraPod !

1

0

11

Sam

@samschmitz

11 years

Well, after 5 years today was the day. It's actually kind of sad :( #TheNew &TheOld http://t.co/PUBxJqwCFz

0

11

Sam

@samschmitz

8 months

You know the homies are on to something when they send you the white paper and your only notes are that double spaces after periods are no longer required by any modern style guides

1

0

11

Sam

@samschmitz

11 years

Instagram day 15: Forgot about it for 13 of those days, was confused and hated the other two, followed all 33 Emma Stones just to be safe.

0

10

Sam

@samschmitz

7 years

My new favorite thing is giving a sad concerned look and saying "You're not paying for me?!" when someone puts one of those dividers on the belt at the checkout

0

10

Sam

@samschmitz

8 months

Nothing puts me on a power trip like distributing tolerances after doing a big critical stack. Attend standup on time? Here’s an extra 50 microns. Keep checking parts in without hiding sketches and planes? Good luck counting the atoms on that one.

3

0

11

Sam

@samschmitz

3 years

@engineers_feed 8mb/s in Palo Alto. I guess I could pay more for faster speeds, but haven’t yet run in to it being limiting, even on days with two people working from home. Download speed is overrated, reliability and not using garbage software are underrated!

3

0

10

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

You can go from “wow that looked too easy maybe we didn’t need these alignment features” to “holy shit how did you tear that laser weld like it was elmer’s glue”

1

0

11

Sam

@samschmitz

10 months

I would pay so much money for an app that took a panorama of my living room and told me where I need to put a lamp

7

0

11

Sam

@samschmitz

3 years

Also, nothing worse than a two week lead time for an IN STOCK product. I shouldn’t add something to my “cart” only to have to email back and forth with a rep to get one stepper motor. Ironic that at the end I was emailed a Stripe link…this is not the world @patrickc envisioned

0

13

Sam

@samschmitz

4 months

@Bannedforself @zeddcules This particular factory DID have 20,000 workers (or at least a lot) but they were focused on automation as well. They need both to do this. I think people largely need to update their mental models to reduce the ‘substitutability’ of the two.

1

0

10

Sam

@samschmitz

9 years

girl at the bus stop asks why i'm wearing a suit and i just tell her i have a phone interview tomorrow

0

10

Sam

@samschmitz

12 years

Claire and Sophie call her 'gimpy' now and it doesn't even phase her. http://t.co/eKkIPfk

1

0

9

Sam

@samschmitz

7 years

When a brand targets me with an ad I never click on it even if I want to. 'Give feedback to improve the product?' Hell no. Don't give them so much information that they control you. Don't be a data point. cashier: sir if you do not enter your pin the transaction will be declined

0

9

Sam

@samschmitz

7 years

facebook should use its fancy algorithms and facial recognotion to show me people in the world that are most like me so I can see how many there are and get hints on what I'm doing wrong and plan to avoid common mistakes they made oh and then fucken fight all of them 1v1

0

10

Sam

@samschmitz

10 years

if you didn't want a 150 second critique of Jumanji then why the hell do you have me on snapchat in the first place

0

9

Sam

@samschmitz

8 months

Tip: When you submit parts for machining, tell your machinist “this one will definitely take 3 ops” if they’re worth their salt the part will be on your desk the next day, done-in-one

0

10

Sam

@samschmitz

7 years

My other new favorite thing is referring to Lexie as my "partner" and not using pronouns as I watch people squirm to figure out whether I'm gay or straight

2

0

10

Sam

@samschmitz

9 months

the Diet Pepsi of component supply catalogs

1

10

Sam

@samschmitz

10 years

Refusing to acknowledge earth day because of that bullshit mother nature pulled last week

0

2

9

Sam

@samschmitz

10 years

"Is it okay to drink the water here? How contagious is the illiteracy?" #Iowa

0

8

Sam

@samschmitz

7 months

ah yes, just what I wanted, thank you Solidworks

1

0

9

Sam

@samschmitz

11 months

I sent a scathing quality complaint to a vendor about a year ago, and this vendor continues to ask for new business/update on their new capabilities *by replying to this email thread.*

1

0

10

Sam

@samschmitz

10 years

About to drive a thousand miles to the middle of the wilderness and we still haven't figured out where we're camping. #SPRINGBREAKNORULES

0

9

Sam

@samschmitz

7 years

I have an irritating amount of Minnesota pride every day of the week but this Sunday I'm going to be absolutely insufferable. #SKOL

0

1

9