3 Recipes for 3D Printing Start Up Failures

1. Being product focused when you need to be market focused.
Every start up I look at talks about the great differentiators and how they are 5% better than the competitor. Just because you can out invent Hewlett-Packard doesn’t mean you can out sell them. Does the customer really care? If, for example, a 3D printer prints in turquoise, does that satisfy a customer need? What will customers pay for that?

2. Under funded.
Whenever people come to me with a business that needs $50,000, $100,000 or even $200,000 I don’t have to even read the plan. Unless they’re opening a candy store they are going to need more money for almost anything. Can using a business incubator help with needing less funding?

3. Bad team.
When all the spreadsheets are configured and the power points are finalized, business is still about people. Having good people aboard is the difference between success and failure. Founders need to surround themselves with others who bring additional skill sets to the team.