starting a 3d company

[day15]

is anyone looking to start a 3d printing company? It would be a creation of our own printer to sell to the average consumers .I have alot of ideas i would like to share. I would love another opinion on my insights. I can email, face time just get in contact with me. Cheers to changing the world! email is yeboah13@gmail.com

[ralphzoontjens]

I'm interested - I dropped you an email

[Trakyan]

I'm also interesting and looking to do this sometime early(?) next year. I'd love to collaborate and hear ideas, I can offer technical skills like CAD/design/problem solving. Need to get to work now but might get in touch later (things are hectic for me right now).

[agmtech]

is anyone looking to start a 3d printing company? It would be a creation of our own printer to sell to the average consumers .I have alot of ideas i would like to share. I would love another opinion on my insights. I can email, face time just get in contact with me. Cheers to changing the world! email is yeboah13@gmail.com

Hi day15,

It's interesting idea, but are you talking about starting a company that sells the 3d printers or the creation of 3d printer?

[xenwarps]

I guy I knew from uni designed his own (some discussion over patents as well) and is looking to launch a kickstarter. It's a lot more than just having a printer - it's a business.

[Davo]

You need someone who doesn't care about printing, but wants to run a business. This way, you can concentrate on improving the printing. Managing a business takes a LOT of time.

[ir_fuel]

You need someone who doesn't care about printing, but wants to run a business. This way, you can concentrate on improving the printing. Managing a business takes a LOT of time.

Having worked for several startups I can't agree more. You can't develop your product and your business at the same time. Everyone I've seen it try fails.

[curious aardvark]

yep it's the main reason so many kickstarter companies fail. They're all engineers and no business men.

[Trakyan]

I think you can develop a product and run a business at the same time. E3D, Prusa etc. did it before they grew a bit bigger (both still relatively small companies). Where a lot of kickstarters go wrong is they are stupidly optimistic, assuming nothing will go wrong and no hidden costs will pop up. Naturally, they run out of money.

Another common trap is trying to offer the kickstarter backers a discounted price for what will be the first production run, which is usually the most expensive per unit(due to set up costs, R&D, tooling). Charging less money for what will cost you more to make doesn't make sense.

A lot of kickstarter engineers look like they're fresh out of their degree, and have precisely jack all experience with actual products and their development. That or they aim too high for a startup. Go for a working product, add bells and whistles later (for a consumer targeted printer, this kind of ongoing support and upgrades is a big plus and attention grabber), you're not a big company with resources out the wazoo.