If you were studying computers when the economy went south, what would you do? If you're Bill Owen, the founder of Minneapolis-based mnpctech.com, the answer is simple: you start your own company. Owen chats about tweaks, overclocking, and sweet, sweet mods.
How did you become interested in this field?
I was never interested in hardware until a friend who built his own PCs came over to revamp my 75Mhz Dell. I studied the entire transformation, and saw a parallel between what he was doing and my own custom cars. Build a better beast!
At the time, I was contemplating going back to school to find a new career. He suggested to me that I look at a career as a repair technician in the IT field, so I attended a six-month course to receive the A+ certification.
I was very excited about a career change, but had no idea the IT field was scaling back. My employer who had reimbursed my schooling laid off most its help desk staff while I was in school.
When did the company get started?
Frustrated with the job market, I started Minnesota PC Technician, also known as mnpctech.com, in 2001. I cultivated my knowledge of troubleshooting and sourcing the best price on components. Most importantly, I followed the latest hardware developments and performance tweaks.
How did you get people interested in your services?
I marketed myself as "the guy who builds fast computers." This title immediately attracted the emerging interest in PC gaming systems.
Since I was working out of my home, I could easily undercut the big company prices with the same components. I was now building gaming systems out of server towers so I could utilize the additional factory cooling fans for overclocking.
When did you start building mods?
When I was building gaming systems, I started hearing about LAN gaming parties. A friend mentioned he had seen a computer with a window and neon light. I thought it was a really unique idea, so it prompted me to search for people doing this to their cases. I found an Australian LAN club with a photo gallery of "modded cases" and was instantly hooked on the originality.
What did your first modded case look like?
Since my longtime hobby has been building custom cars, a car theme would be the inspiration of my first modded PC. The Dell Eater GT consisted of car parts--door handle, headlight switch, volt gauge--taken from an Audi Quattro Coupe and VW GTI.
After one month into the project, I showed a friend my progression and he insisted I sell him the case once finished. He gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. I e-mailed progress photos to gauge response from other PC builders. Everyone responded with amazement. I submitted photos to galleries and my inbox was flooded over the following week with inquiries.
How has that reaction affected your business?
I eat, drink, and sleep computer cases. My work is constantly evolving. I look at my creations as sculptures with function. I also sell a growing selection of unique mod supplies that have been utilized in my creations.
I'm working with a CNC machinist to offer the first ever machined aluminum case mod accessories in 2003 for some popular cases. I'm also planning to offer a line of "signature series" cases that will offer optimal fan cooling without the noise.
This will be the first time a case will be marketed that's optimized by a professional case modder. I'm very excited about what the future will have in store for mnpctech.com.
do you know a Twin Cities company we should cover? Let us know about it. Send your local profile candidates to emillard@computeruser.com.
