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  • Profit 3rd: A Blueprint for Human-Centered Manufacturing. (and potential way to save the world)

    In a world shaped by profit-first thinking, it’s easy to forget that products, systems, and businesses were originally built to serve people. Somewhere along the way, the scales tipped — and profit became the primary driver of nearly every decision. But what if we flipped that model? What if profit wasn’t the point, but the byproduct of doing things well?

    That’s the heart of Profit 3rd — a design and manufacturing philosophy that puts people and planet first, and lets profit come naturally as a result of meaningful, equitable work. It’s not anti-profit. It’s profit re-prioritized. And it’s built around a set of foundational pillars that make this vision not just possible, but practical.

    The 7 Pillars of Profit 3rd

    1. Efficiency Through Limitations and Standardization
    Design around what’s possible locally. Leverage small-scale tools and standard processes to make manufacturing more accessible, repeatable, and community-driven.

    2. Product Design as Art
    Design with heart. Let creativity and curiosity drive what gets made — not just what will sell at scale. The result? More beautiful, personal, and human products.

    3. Transparency
    No black boxes. Everyone involved should understand how something is made, what it costs, and who profits. This builds trust, accountability, and participation.

    4. Win–Win–Win
    Products should benefit everyone: the user, the maker, and the planet. Design every system and decision around this triple win.

    5. Free Training for All
    The barrier to entry should be as low as possible. Free, open training empowers anyone to become a designer, builder, or collaborator.

    6. The Profit 3rd Community License
    Open, but protected. This license enables free local use and remixing, while ensuring contributors are credited and compensated when used commercially.

    7. By the People, For the People
    No big money, no gatekeepers. Profit 3rd is about keeping power and value in the hands of makers, not investors.

    Why Now?

    The tools have finally caught up with the dream. With low-cost CNC routers, 3D printers, and global design sharing, we can now build almost anything, anywhere. Communities don’t have to wait for corporations to solve their problems. They can design, make, and distribute what they need themselves.

    The systems that currently dominate production are optimized for speed and scale — but not for sustainability, fairness, or local impact. It’s time to rewrite the rulebook.

    What is Community Manufacturing?

    Community manufacturing is decentralized, small-scale, and human. It’s powered by affordable digital tools and shared knowledge. Instead of a single factory pumping out products for the world, it’s dozens, hundreds, or thousands of small workshops making what matters, where it matters.

    • Built locally
    • Shared globally
    • Adaptable by anyone

    When we make things where we live, we strengthen our communities, reduce our environmental footprint, and create good jobs in the process.

    Product Ideas That Fit the Model

    Here are just a few ideas for products that could live in the Profit 3rd ecosystem:

    How to Roll It Out

    1. Build the framework: Gather some really smart folks to work out the initial framework of the Profit 3rd license and payment distribution model. The initial design needs to be as good as possible and also need a great initial plan on how to make updates to the model/license as we learn more. The idea is it is community owned and driven.
    2. Design a few great products: Start with products that are a great fit for this model. Stuff that is drastically better for the same or less cost than things from the Profit 1st model. Once the model is up and running, more and more things will fit as technology is moving very quickly in this space.
    3. Share Everything: Publish the designs, training videos, and process docs online for free. Make it so that anyone, anywhere in the world could start manufacturing. This will give access to anyone who want to, to DIY any of these products with the help of community manufacturing hubs like CNC shops and 3D print farms. These DIY’ers will figure out what they love to do and could find that they really enjoy one or more of the manufacturing processes.
    4. Activate the “Overview Effect”: Use social media, and news organizations to get the word out. Once folks see that they can get great products that are good for all involved in a totally transparent way for roughly the same cost as they are currently paying they will want to buy everything this way.
    5. Iterate, iterate, iterate: This is a totally new way of doing business where the license is what holds it together. We aren’t gonna have it all right the first time. Following the win-win-win strategy adjust the model to make it scalable so it can grow like wildfire.
    6. Add more manufacturing processes: Keep adding to the list of community manufacturing processes. The more things we can do locally, the more things things that we use in our day to day life that can be made this way.

    Let’s Build a Better Way

    Profit 3rd is not a rejection of business or capitalism. It’s a return to something older and more honest: people making things for each other, out of curiosity, care, and creativity.

    It’s built on shared tools, shared knowledge, and shared wins. It’s about letting designers design, builders build, and teachers teach — all while keeping the values that matter most at the center.

    This is how we build a better world — one thoughtful product at a time.

    Pie in the sky!

    This model doesn’t require big investors or private equity whos focus is a hard Profit 1st. By putting more of our money into the Profit 3rd ecosystem we are putting more money in all of our pockets and less money in their pockets. It’s a sad truth that money is power even if the founding fathers did all they could to keep that from happening. By putting more money in our pockets and less in the corporations, we take back the power. One of the truely beautyful things about this model is it can be done anywhere in the world. The license and payment may require a little work per country but a great idea designed here in Grass Valley, CA could be being built in Africa tomorrow.

    Got an idea? Want to collaborate?
    [Contact us] or [Submit your product concept] to join the growing Profit 3rd community.