Zach Kaplan founded 3D carving company Inventables in 2002 after selling his software development startup Lever Works to Leo Media in 2001.

X-Carve and Carvey, Inventables’ flagship 3D carving machines—along with Easel, their intuitive (and free!) 3D carving software—have made Inventables a key player in the maker movement.

In 2009 Zach co-founded ORD Camp, a two day, invite-only “unconference” of 250 hand picked attendees, hosted at Google’s innovation-inducing Chicago office. There are no scheduled speakers at ORD Camp. If an attendee has a talk to give, they simply sign up when they get there.

Zach shares 5 things he’s learned from ORD Camp guests:

1. Create more value than you capture. When too many industry leaders focus on capturing value, innovation stalls.

2. Be persistent. Put in the effort and your accomplishments will surprise you.

3. Be mindful of harassment. It can be happening around you and you might not notice.

4. We’re not alone. A University of Chicago astronomer presented her research predicting we’ll find life on other planets within ten years.

5. Talk less, listen more.

For more about Inventables, click here.

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FIVEinSIXTY is our web series with thought leaders whose stories provide insights and inspiration for the next generation of go getters—our own little brainchild outside the wide variety of videos we produce for our clients.