‘Collaboration is key’: Reno entrepreneurs find opportunities to team up while coworking

by Kaleb Roedel, NNBW

Marc Magarin, Steven Bowen and Van Tucker

For more than a year, serial entrepreneur Van Tucker had been trying to resolve 3D printing issues for his Reno-based startup Solati Health, which fabricates and develops prosthetic solutions for amputees. 

Specifically, Tucker was looking to speed up the process of printing molds for the company’s silicon liners, which are customized for the anatomy, needs and lifestyle of each customer. Solati, however, was printing the molds at a snail’s pace, taking roughly 12 hours per unit at the company’s facility. 

“It wasn’t a feasible business model to run because no one’s in our office for 12 hours,” Tucker said. “And you need to monitor it or you may burn your building down or something. It was a thing we were working on and struggling on for like a year and a half.” 

A chance encounter with a fellow entrepreneur changed all that.

In July, Tucker moved into the coworking space Reno Hive as partner and CTO of Lassen Ventures, a merger and acquisition advisory firm that also acts as an accelerator and incubator. 

Quickly, Tucker recognized that fellow Reno Hive member Marc Magarin, founder of research and development firm Magarin Dynamics, owned multiple 3D printing machines.

Read entire article at NNBW: https://www.nnbw.com/news/collaboration-is-key-reno-entrepreneurs-find-opportunities-to-team-up-while-coworking