Hacker Dojo

Have you noticed the Hacker Dojo on South Whisman Road? I stopped by today and looked around. I must admit that I was intrigued by the name of the place. What? Is it a place full of criminals attempting to hack into computers and networks? No. I asked. Founder Brian Klug explained to me that the word “hacker” simply refers to someone who is curious and skilled at what they do. He said that a hacker is “willing to open their computer with the goal of learning more about what’s going on inside and they don’t care that they are voiding the warranty.” A hacker is creative and never wants to stop learning. A hacker wants to know more about everything and is willing to take risks. Being a hacker in Mountain View is cool.

The Hacker Dojo is a membership based organization. The members are engineers, scientists, activists, founders of start-ups, and entrepreneurs. They all get a key to the front door and are able to come and go whenever they want. Some people are working on their own projects and are just at the Hacker Dojo to have a comfortable place to work from. Others are there to meet with their co-workers. Some are self-employed and others prefer working from the Dojo instead of their usual employer’s office. Several small start-ups are working out of the Hacker Dojo and everyone meets there to work on their projects. A few of the people that I spoke with told me about the exciting projects that they’re creating. One of them is greatly needed and will help everyone who has ever used Craigslist, but I don’t want to spill-the-beans so I’m not going to say anything else about it…  

Some of the different activities that are listed on their website are: coding, classes, meet-ups, electronics fabrication, quilting, juggling, bread baking, parties, job fairs, and robotics demonstrations.  The events are very popular at the Hacker Dojo. Some of the events that have been held there are “Random Hacks of Kindness,” a job fair, TechTalks, iPhone Study Groups, juggling classes. The list of future events is quite extensive and impressive. Membership allows you admission to all of the events.

The building is a combination of several large warehouse spaces (which are perfect for big events) and a closed down stained glass window and door store. Needless to say that the inside is very interesting. There are alcoves and side rooms everywhere you look and some fine examples of stained glass windows and doors leftover from the previous tenants. There are over-stuffed couches and beanbag chairs everywhere. It looks like a wonderful place to work from and I just might take them up on their offer to stop by with my laptop and spend a few hours hacking away on something. Well, I might just be on Facebook, but I’ll pretend like I’m doing something important.

 I love that this creative group of people made Mountain View their home and that they have such an entrepreneurial spirit.