Introduction

Dr John Santiago introduces an inspiring video by Johnny Lee how a simple idea/demo can get commercialize within months.

Dr Santiago gave a similar talk to middle-aged students hosted by the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (UCCS).  His joy from this event was when one student came back the following year to the same session given by Dr Santiago and explained how he implemented the same project in his school.   The project was using a $40-$50 Wii mote and a $5 investment to build an IR pen to function as a mouse and convert any flat wall surface into an interactive whiteboard (worth $10,000 in today’s dollars).  That is, creating value when there is an 80% solution at less than 1% of the cost.

Next, Dr. John Santiago looks at the first principles to innovation as explained by Elon Musk in an interview.

Then Dr. Santiago applies these principles delivered as a video to help meet Region 5 priorities (increase volunteer & leadership activities, increase Young Professional (YP) pipeline, and increase industry engagement) that aligns well with the detailed and comprehensive strategic plan developed at the IEEE Pikes Peak Section. and strategic goal given as:

“For each year, each of the current active and engaged members, recruit one IEEE member and mentor the recruit to be an active and engaged member of the IEEE Pikes Peak Section. By your leadership example, have your recruit who is now an active and engaged member do the same as you did by recruiting one member.”

Then a brief evaluation is given about the video talking about scaling the My IEEE Story based on the first principles of Elon Musk.

Johnny Lee’s Brilliant Use of YouTube at TED Talk (18 years ago, 2009)

Wii remote hacks | Johnny Lee

First Principles Method as Explained By Elon Musk (11 years ago, 2014)

The First Principles Method Explained by Elon Musk

Scaling IEEE mantra of:  My Story, My Professional Home, My IEEE

UPDATED: Example Application of AI-Assisted Content Generation with Camtasia

Comparison Framework: 7 Steps of First Principles Thinking vs. “IEEE My Story” Script

1. Identify the Problem

First Principles Thinking: Clearly define the problem you are facing. Be specific.

Scaling IEEE Story Script:

“Too many IEEE members and educators have remarkable stories… But their impact is confined to live talks, conference halls, and PDF resumes.”

The video script attempts to identify the core pain point: impact is not scalable because storytelling and legacy-sharing are limited to outdated formats.

➡️ Mapped perfectly: Here, the script defined a specific, relatable problem that IEEE members face — one with deep implications.

2. Break Down the Problem

First Principles Thinking: Decompose the problem into core elements. Ignore assumptions.

Scaling IEEE Story Script:

“In an age of short attention span and multimedia learning, we need tools that bridge tradition with technology.”

An attempt is made to separate the problem of impact into human constraints (time, access, geography) and technical limitations (format, delivery, engagement).

➡️ The script intended to strip away the assumption that legacy = static archives (e.g., PDFs, PowerPoints). The script instead exposes the core needs: scale, engagement, multimedia, mentorship.

3. Question Assumptions

First Principles Thinking: Challenge norms and ask “why must it be this way?”

Scaling IEEE Story Script:

“IEEE gave me a platform… But to truly pass the torch… we need the right medium.” “We need a simple, powerful way to tell our stories…”

The video implicitly challenges the assumption that IEEE’s impact must rely on traditional channels (live events, formal conferences, written papers). Like Musk questioning rocket cost structures, the video questions the assumption that storytelling must be static or high barrier.

➡️ ✅ Strong challenge to current paradigms of mentoring, legacy, and teaching.

4. Analyze the Basic Elements

First Principles Thinking: Understand the raw elements.

Scaling IEEE Story Script:

“Camtasia empowers any IEEE member—regardless of production experience—to create rich, professional multimedia content: narrated videos, flipped classrooms, animated leadership stories…”

Dr Santiago attempts to isolate the raw material of influence:

• Mentorship

• Storytelling

• Knowledge

• Tool access

And identify the delivery bottleneck: not having an intuitive, scalable tool.

➡️ Camtasia becomes the equivalent of Musk’s raw materials like titanium and aluminum — a foundational enabler.

5. Rebuild from Scratch

First Principles Thinking: Reconstruct a better solution using new insights.

Scaling IEEE Story Script:

“Now imagine this solution: IEEE members across regions… upload to a shared IEEE platform… They inspire globally while mentoring locally.”

Dr Santiago propose a new infrastructure: a decentralized, multimedia-enabled mentorship and knowledge-transfer system, powered by Camtasia and scaled across IEEE.  The Industry Content Platform or a derivative not mentioned in the video could be used to serve as a one-pager summary for one’s story, such as a 5-minute video by a Life Member Affinity Group (LMAG) on lessons learned.

➡️ Just like SpaceX rebuilt the rocket from first principles, you’re rebuilding legacy delivery from the ground up, using the best components: digital storytelling, flipped models, and intuitive tools.

6. Test and Iterate

First Principles Thinking: Prototype and refine.

Scaling IEEE Story Script:

“We’re asking for a $750 grant to test this concept for the IEEE Pikes Peak Section… Provide it to selected Young Professionals and Students…”

To evolve this innovative concept, the IEEE Pikes Peak Section will serve and  move into pilot mode. Low-cost test. Focused deployment. Data-driven validation (via feedback and content output).

➡️ ✅ The idea is not just theorizing — you’re testing the model using lean experimentation.

7. Scale Up

First Principles Thinking: Expand when validated.

Scaling IEEE Story Script:

“We build a living archive of innovation, wisdom, and impact—accessible by any student, engineer, policymaker, or parent.”

Here, Dr Santiago articulates a future state: one where every IEEE member becomes a digital mentor, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem of wisdom.

➡️ A clear vision for exponential scaling (similar to Metcalf’s Network Effect) and much like Musk’s end goal of making space travel accessible.

Comparative Summary Table

Insights & Innovative Suggestions (Anticipating Needs)

1. Visualize the First Principles Model in the Video
   Consider a 10-second segment visually mapping each step you just walked through, helping skeptical engineers see that this proposal has solid engineering logic behind it.

2. Make Musk Comparison Explicit (Optional)
   For an IEEE audience, an analogy like “If Elon Musk rethought rockets, what if IEEE rethought mentorship?” could serve as a powerful storytelling bridge.

3. Gamify the Pilot Output
   After the test phase, consider issuing digital badges, leaderboards, or impact dashboards to encourage wider adoption.

4. Incorporate AI Summarization Tools
   Use Camtasia alongside AI tools (like Whisper for transcripts, GPT summarizers) to help IEEE members publish faster and more accessibly.

✅ Conclusion

The Camtasia pitch follows the logic and flow of First Principles Thinking, paralleling Elon Musk’s approach almost step-by-step. Here, we showed the breaking down of a legacy problem into first principles, rebuild the solution with fresh tools, and propose an inexpensive test to validate before scaling. This pitch attempts not just visionary, but methodologically sound for a skeptical engineering audience.

Author’s Notes

1.  You can find similar and more information about innovation at the IEEE Pikes Peak Section Mini Website: Innovation | IEEE Pikes Peak Section (work-in-progress for the Innovation webpage).
2.  Strategic Plan  |  Extending the John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success (PyramidX-OS) | Mentorship
3.  2025 STEM Grant Application where IEEE Pikes Peak Section was a recent recipient.  The grant is entitled, “Empowering Tomorrow’s Innovator’s Through The STEAM-TEAMS challenge.  This proposal rose to the top competing among 415 applicants.
4. For text-based of stories from LMAG members, please visit at:  Contributions & Stories of LMAG Members | IEEE Pikes Peak Section