Rob McNealy interviews Nathan Seidle of SparkFun Electronics, a company he started while working on his electrical engineering degree at the University of Colorado.

Nathan Seidle,A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Nathan Seidle came to CU-Boulder as an electrical engineering student in 2000. During his junior year, Nathan was designing one of his first micro controller projects when his programmer sparked and burned out. While looking for an affordable replacement, he noticed a lack of resources and online stores catering to developers and prototypers.

During winter break from school, Nathan maxed out his credit cards with inventory and pizza and went to work building an easy to use website. SparkFun launched shortly after that, in January of 2003.

Nathan maintained SparkFun Electronics part-time during his junior and senior years, and grew it as much as he could while keeping up with schoolwork. By the time he completed his degree in 2004, the company had grown enough to support his full-time efforts—and his first employee’s as well. Now in its fifth year, the company employs over three-dozen people and maintains a growing office on the outskirts of Boulder.