How 3D Printing is Creating Indie Entrepreneurs

5 small business success stories made possible by 3D printing.
And five answers to the question "How can designers make money with 3D printing?"

Presentation for Inside 3D Printing 2013 in San Jose, CA
conference + expo for business applications of 3D printing

Transcript

1. How 3D Printing is Creating Indie Entrepreneurs
2. 5 small business success stories made possible by 3D printing
4. Marketplaces for 3D Printable Design Files Ponoko November 2010 Grain3D January 2013 3DBurrito March 2013 3DLT April 2013 Azavy April 2013 Cuboyo May 2013 LayerByLayer June 2013
5. 30 Day Experiment Complete. Find out how much money I made! • 3durrito.com – 0 sales • 3dlt.com – 0 sales • layerbylayer.com – 0 sales • 3dprintingmodel.com – 0 sales • ponoko.com – 6 sales at $2.99 • TOTAL = $17.94 “Posting random items on a bunch of marketplace sites is not going to lead to sales. You need really good unique models and then you have to market them yourself.” - JD
7. “Digital fabrication has helped us a great deal in iterating our designs based on user feedback.” – Benjamin Black, Hex team
8. 3D Printing Kickstarter Projects hardware, prototypes + products • 83 projects • 37 successful • 38 unsuccessful • 8 to be decided • $7million+ raised sculpture action figures accessories hardware
10. “This technology allows us to create items on demand in more complex forms than older manufacturing techniques.” - Colleen Jordan
11. 3D Printing Services
13. rocket espresso cup • created July 2012 • licensed April 2013 • retailing July 2013 designed by Craig Kaplan “I can’t manufacture a viral success — I can only be swept up into it. I designed something that I would like, and was surprised and overjoyed to find that others liked it too.” - Craig Kaplan
16. 3D Printing Apps 123D Autodesk Sculpteo Society for Printable Geography Mwoo.me Adele R. Designs Cubify Draw 3D Systems Let’s Create Pottery Infinite Dreams Leopoly Leonar3Do
17. Challenges + Opportunities • Most people can’t design for 3D printing. • Designers are increasingly concerned about copyright violations. • Marketplaces are not curated. • Products aren’t tested against consumer product safety regulations. • Designers are responsible for business success.
18. “Aside from signing the contract and sending over a prototype cup, I wasn’t involved in the rest of the magic — Fred handled product development and packaging design, and now marketing, distribution, and all the other details of the retail world.” - Craig Kaplan How can companies help designers have successful small businesses? Let designers design. And someone else do: order management production + Q.A. assembly + finishing packaging + fulfillment shipping + distribution wholesale + retail marketing + advertising customer support legal councel
19. Resources: 3D Printing Services • Cubify Cloud Print • i.materialise • Kraftwurx • Ponoko • RedEye • Sculpteo • Shapeways • Azavy • 3Dburrito • 3DLT • Cuboyo • Grain3D • Ponoko • LayerByLayer 3D File Marketplaces
20. Crowd Funding Platforms Sourcing + Fulfillment • Crowdfunder • Dragon Innovation • GoFundMe • IndieGoGo • Kickstarter • SmallKnot • Dragon Innovation • Fulfillrite • MakeMyThing • Shipwire Resources:
21. How 3D Printing is Creating Indie Entrepreneurs Kristen Turner presentation prepared for Inside 3D Printing San Jose 2013 CMO Ponoko