Ryan McDonough
Founder, Sometime Artist
CFO and co-founder @Accompany, acquired by @Cisco. Turnaround CFO @Ning, sold to Glam Media. Former seed VC. McKinsey trained. @Wharton School and @Haas School of Business.
TINKERING
I’m a tinkerer at heart. Here are a few of my recent projects, from RetroPie gaming to workspace design.
I love building projects that combine nostalgia with modern tech, turning iconic designs from the past into functional, reimagined pieces. Whether it’s a working LEGO Mini Macintosh or a custom-built Fender ‘Streamocaster,’ each project blends retro charm with today’s technology. It’s all about making the old feel new again—adding a playful, hands-on twist to familiar objects. My work brings a smile not just because it’s functional, but because it’s a celebration of the creativity and innovation across eras.
| Project Name | Year | Description | Tech Stack / Hardware | URL Slug | Tags / Keywords | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEGO Retro Radio & Custom Walkman | 2024 | A 1970s‑style transistor radio built from LEGO, with Internet radio streaming and dual 3 W speakers. Includes a matching LEGO Walkman with MP3 player. | Raspberry Pi Zero W, Adafruit I2S amp, custom speaker | lego-retro-radio | LEGO electronics, Internet radio, Raspberry Pi audio | ||
| LEGO Mini Macintosh Replica | 2024 | 44 % scale working Macintosh with touchscreen and System 7 emulator, powered by a Raspberry Pi and Mini vMac. | Raspberry Pi 4B, 4″ square touchscreen, Mini vMac | lego-mini-mac | miniature Mac, Raspberry Pi emulation, LEGO nostalgia | ||
| Streamocaster Internet Radio | 2024 | Fender‑inspired “Streamocaster” guitar with amp housing an Internet radio, speakers, power. | Dismantled internet radio | fender-streamocaster | retro guitar radio, DIY audio, Internet streaming | ||
| Nostalgia Box XL Retro Gaming | 2024 | All‑in‑one retro‑gaming console in a Marie Kondo box: MAME, NES, SNES emulation plus Chromecast streaming. | Raspberry Pi 4B, 18.5″ display, 8BitDo controllers, 8BitDo NES keyboard | nostalgia-box-xl | retro gaming, MAME, Raspberry Pi arcade | ||
| R2‑D2 Hologram Display | 2024 | LEGO R2‑D2 build with embedded Pico projector showing Princess Leia’s hologram scene any surface. | LEGO 75379 kit, WiMiUS Q2 Pico projector | r2-d2 | Star Wars LEGO, hologram, Raspberry Pi projector | ||
| Pocket‑Sized 2600 | 2025 | Slimmed‑down MyArcade boards repackaged inside an 18‑stud‑wide LEGO Atari 2600 with faux‑wood façade. | MyArcade PCB from an Atari Gamestation Pro, custom LEGO housing | pocket-sized-2600 | LEGO Atari, pocket gaming, MyArcade | ||
| Elektronika 409A Portable TV Mod | 2025 | Soviet‑era Elektronika 409A portable TV retrofitted with Raspberry Pi touchscreen, battery, HDMI, USB, encoders. | Raspberry Pi 4B, touchscreen, rotary encoders | elektronika | vintage TV mod, Raspberry Pi touchscreen, DIY electronics | ||
| Brick Spin Record Player | 2025 | 5″ circular touchscreen running Python‑based record‑player emulator with Spotify and local file support, complete with bluetooth speakers. | Raspberry Pi 4B, Python, virtual environment, .env | brick-spin-record-player | record player emulator, Spotify API, Python project | ||
| LEGOcade Pro | 2025 | Custom tabletop arcade built from a knockoff LEGO cabinet kit, housing a 12.9″ iPad Pro running MAME4iOS, Mini vMac, NES and Atari emulators—with a Bluetooth arcade joystick. | 12.9″ iPad Pro, knockoff LEGO Pac‑Man kit, arVin joystick, MAME4iOS, Mini vMac, Delta Emulator, 8BitDo controllers | legocade-pro | LEGO arcade, iPad gaming, retro emulation | ||
| WinBerry 95 | 2024 | 8″ Pimoroni display with TwisterOS‑themed Windows 95 on Raspberry Pi 4B, preloaded with RetroPie and Mini vMac for classic PC and Mac nostalgia. | 8″ Pimoroni screen, Raspberry Pi 4B (8 GB), TwisterOS, RetroPie, Mini vMac | winberry-95 | Windows 95 Pi, RetroPie, Mini vMac | ||
| LEGO Mac Classic Edition | 2024 | Full‑scale LEGO recreation of the original 128K Macintosh, complete with working Raspberry Pi–powered emulation of System 7.5. | Raspberry Pi 4B, 4″ touchscreen, custom LEGO bricks | lego-mac | LEGO Mac, vintage computing, Raspberry Pi emulation | ||
| LEGO Polaroid Hi‑Print Printer | 2024 | Modified LEGO Polaroid kit to house a Polaroid Hi‑Print portable printer, enabling instant photo prints from your phone. | Polaroid Hi‑Print printer, LEGO kit | polaroid | instant photography, LEGO camera, Polaroid mod | ||
| RetroTV Console | 2024 | Vintage TV shell retrofitted with a Raspberry Pi touchscreen running video streaming and retro‑gaming emulation in a 4:3 frame. | Raspberry Pi 4B, 7″ HDMI touchscreen, custom enclosure | retrotv | retro TV, streaming Pi, vintage display | ||
| Nostalgia Box (Original) | 2024 | Compact retro‑gaming box in a Container Store “Nostalgia Box”: MAME, NES and SNES emulation plus Chromecast streaming. | Raspberry Pi 4B, 10″ screen, RetroPie, Chromecast | nostalgia-box | retro gaming, nostalgia box, Container Store | ||
| Raspberry Wine | 2025 | This wine box is chock full of everything for my Raspberry Pi tinkering needs, with a perfect fit for a Raspberry Pi 400 on top, 8Bitdo N30 Pro 2 NES-style | Raspberry Pi 4B | raspberry-wine | Raspberry Pi | ||
| LEGO Slug Pro | 2025 | Discover LEGO‑Slug Pro—our custom Pantasy Metal Slug Neo·Geo arcade built around a 9.7″ iPad Pro, MAME‑powered, with hidden LEGO‑mounted controls and pixel‑art Easter eggs. | 9.7″ iPad Pro, Pantasy Neo*Geo kit, arVin joystick, MAME4iOS, Mini vMac, Delta Emulator, 8BitDo controllers | legoslug-pro | LEGO arcade, iPad gaming, retro emulation | ||
| LEGOCade Mini | 2025 | Some builds start as nostalgia projects, others as hacks. This one is both. I took LEGO’s Arcade Machine (40805) set, combined it with an old iPhone 5 running iOS 10, and ended up with a working mini-arcade that plays 1980s classics. The only non-standard LEGO element? A black 16×8 plate to anchor the phone and a handful of 1×2 bricks to make the fit snug. | Dusty old iPhone 5, cable from a drawer, LEGO’s Arcade Machine (40805) | legocade-mini | LEGO arcade, iPhone gaming, retro emulation | ||
| Android Gaming | 2025 | After countless hours setting up my Retroid Pocket 5, I cloned it to a 15.6” Meswao tablet to create a drop-and-play nostalgia box. Powered by EmulationStation-DE, custom Mario-themed UI, and a mix of Atari VCS + 8BitDo controllers, it’s the perfect social retro machine. | 15.6″ Meswao Tablet | android |
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