On Overnight Successes and Self Made Entrepreneurs
By: George Dy
Tags: Construction, Manufacturing, Housing, Success, Entrepreneurship

I’ ve always liked the iceberg analogy.

Simply stated, an iceberg is more than what you see above the water’s surface. In fact, the majority of an iceberg’s mass is underwater and the rest is left to the imagination.

Over the last few months, I’ve been taking interviews and talking to close friends about where I’ve been spending my time and where I’d like to spend more of my time. During the Covid-19 lockdown (which honestly has not ceased in our household), I’ve put a concerted effort into self-education and introspection. I’ve read more books in the last year than I have in the previous 5 years. I’ve done more personal research on new topics (including ones I don’t agree with) and organized my thoughts and research into a knowledge base that I add to every day (thank you Notion!). That said, regardless of what topics and areas I end up digging into, I have a focal point for my search. Right now, it’s urban upgrade — the intersection between our cities, climate change, and technology.

I believe it’s important to have a focal point because it helps answer easy questions, eliminates self-doubt, and guides us to the right answer or affirmation when we hit roadblocks. This is not a mission statement or a vision statement, think of it as a seed or a node that you can build on to eventually create a mission statement.

Solo ADU Series by Bay Modular

When I started Bay Modular in 2018, I wanted to help fix the homelessness issue that was running rampant (and still is) in Oakland. It seemed like every week, a new camp of tents was sprouting up under overpasses or behind Home Depot and other big-box department stores. The juxtaposition between proliferating homelessness and cutting-edge skyscrapers was an image of my city that I cringed watching.

Although Bay Modular today is a prefab ADU company that builds affordable backyard homes, it didn’t start that way. I started the business as a project to create affordable, hospitable, and humane individual housing accommodations for the unhoused. The goal was to replace the TuffShed phase of homeless housing that was growing in Oakland, which has left many actual residents wanting, even as policymakers cheer.

My focal point: Homelessness, affordability, and transitional spaces

The hypothesis: Can we manufacture small footprint, individual accommodations for a homeless population that any homeowner would be proud to put on their property?

Over time, as it became clear Oakland was doubling down on their TuffShed initiative, I abandoned the local and state funding approach and narrowed it further.

Focal point refined: New homelessness, preventing the transition into homelessness for low-income households and low earners

The new hypothesis: Can we boost housing stock by modifying prefabricated structures to jumpstart the manufacturing process?

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In 2018, I took that focal point and started researching prefabricated structures. Tapping into my construction background and learning from my family’s network of general construction, I learned about SIPs panels, prefab building kits (the likes of Sears, now Amazon), CLT panels, and eventually modular (specifically volumetric modular, not kit-of-parts).

My search landed on ISO shipping containers — a controversial topic that is both beloved and hated by industry experts, architecture students, and homeowners. Although much has been written, designed, and even deployed in the container home world, I sought to use the containers as a building material rather than a self-contained structure.

My first iteration stripped down the container to its bare assets and followed a similar path to those you might find on Pinterest.