# Proto-Town ## Definition Lockhart hardware-founder campus combines workshops, testing, manufacturing, offices, and housing. The article identifies its founders, investors, companies, and development agreement as a physical acceleration environment. ## Regional role Physical hardware iteration needs tools, land, testing, manufacturing, and suitable site arrangements. Proto-Town concentrates those resources with offices and housing. The article identifies specific firms and projects at the campus; a shared property supplies development infrastructure while each company retains its own product, technical readiness, and professional obligations. ## Relationships - **founder:** [[wiki/Merle Nye|Merle Nye]]. - **founder:** [[wiki/Joshua Farahzad|Joshua Farahzad]]. - **development model:** [[wiki/Hardware Founder Campus|Hardware Founder Campus]]. - **regional master router:** [[wiki/Austin Defense Technology|Austin Defense Technology]]. - **source article:** [[articles/How Austin Became a Different Kind of Defense Tech Epicenter|How Austin Became a Different Kind of Defense Tech Epicenter]]. - **civilian supplier and participation economy:** [[collections/The Civilian Intelligence Marketplace|The Civilian Intelligence Marketplace]]. - **intelligence architecture:** [[collections/Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment|Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment]]. ## Sources / Provenance - [[articles/How Austin Became a Different Kind of Defense Tech Epicenter#Cognition: Machines That Move and Interfaces That Read|Austin defense-tech article — Cognition: Machines That Move and Interfaces That Read]] — October 2026 revision; source for this entry’s regional role. - [Bloomberg, Proto-Town, Texas](https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2026-proto-town-texas/) ## Connected Austin capabilities [[wiki/Hardware Development Ranch|Hardware Development Ranch]], [[wiki/Merle Nye|Merle Nye]], [[wiki/Joshua Farahzad|Joshua Farahzad]], [[wiki/John Cyrier|John Cyrier]], [[wiki/Lockhart|Lockhart]], [[wiki/Hardware Incubator|Hardware Incubator]], [[wiki/Physical-World Y Combinator|Physical-World Y Combinator]], [[wiki/Machine Shop|Machine Shop]], [[wiki/Hardware Test Ground|Hardware Test Ground]], [[wiki/Shared Manufacturing Space|Shared Manufacturing Space]], [[wiki/Founder Housing|Founder Housing]], [[wiki/Inflatable Industrial Building|Inflatable Industrial Building]], [[wiki/Bill Ackman|Bill Ackman]], [[wiki/Josh Kushner|Josh Kushner]], [[wiki/Fred Ehrsam|Fred Ehrsam]], [[wiki/Oklo|Oklo]], [[wiki/Oklo Test Reactor|Oklo Test Reactor]], [[wiki/Bedrock Robotics|Bedrock Robotics]], [[wiki/Dynamo Cargo Drones|Dynamo Cargo Drones]], [[wiki/Base Power|Base Power]], [[wiki/Development-Rule Exemption|Development-Rule Exemption]], [[wiki/Hardware Founder Campus|Hardware Founder Campus]]. These entries identify associated implementations, people, methods, and institutional contexts in [[articles/How Austin Became a Different Kind of Defense Tech Epicenter|How Austin Became a Different Kind of Defense Tech Epicenter]]. [[wiki/Austin Defense Technology|Austin Defense Technology]] supplies their regional arrangement; [[collections/The Civilian Intelligence Marketplace|The Civilian Intelligence Marketplace]] supplies the wider supplier and participation economy.