As an intelligent hardware entrepreneur, I have been pondering a question: how the use of rapid application of advanced technology to improve business efficiency, and even the probability of success? I think, 3d printing hardware for entrepreneurship is significant.
2014 Me and a few friends together founded the "ah la bite", began to join the army of intelligent hardware venture, intelligent LED lights "with the opening of" cut field of intelligent home. Our team has two special places: the members are located in different countries, fully rely on the Internet collaboration; not lucky to get a start capital. An important issue is the need for a face so different from the traditional product development model, to achieve rapid design of low-cost, easy iteration, and also team members can not sit together to discuss the case of a good product details. Of course, this problem is not expected to start, but the difficulties encountered in the process step by step. I believe there are many such intelligent hardware entrepreneurial team, also encountered similar problems.
Coincides with an opportunity and a friend chatted about entrepreneurship, he referred to "a passenger" movement is quietly rising China. This makes me very interested, specially bought Chris? Anderson's "The Creation-off: new industrial revolution," careful study. The book describes the many benefits of the new technology and the emergence of new manufacturing model, the authors proceed to great lengths to make the 3D printing section I first learned about the technology, and start thinking about how to apply this technology to solve part of the entrepreneurial process problem. After repeatedly reading Woody? Lipson wrote "3D Printing: From Imagination to Reality", which determines the technology should be introduced into the venture.
Usually there have been entrepreneurs or experienced people in the workplace are probably aware, hardware products will experience the birth of creativity, design, development, production to market, and several other aspects. In the product design stage, each team will design repeated discussions, especially designers and structural engineers, and even R & D engineers together multiple "confrontation" to finalize the final design draft, by the foundry mold. But many others, experience has shown that this model there are two relatively big risk:
First, the high cost of mold, also on behalf of the degree of adjustment with the factory;
Second, after the mold are often not up to expectations, the need to adjust the design.
Our lights are designed with the same and have encountered more problems: first designer to come up with design drawings can not make the team everyone is well aware, in particular, is not a good structural engineer to analyze its feasibility; secondly Design Teachers alone can not figure out some of the details; there is no money to last team opened. In this case, my team and I agree, try to use 3D printing to address these three issues, but also issues three stages.
Stage design, product design made 3D models, and "print" a kind. Team everyone can see a big rough but close to the actual product, designers and design ideas in order to explain its key ideas, discuss efficiency is greatly improved.
Product validation phase, designers and structural engineers, R & D engineers need to work together to discuss and determine the appearance of the internal structure of the entire product. Use 3D printing to produce closer to the design of products, including the internal structure of the product team did confirm every detail.
Prototyping stage, using 3D printing technology in full accordance with the design and manufacture of prototypes, within the team can detail the product further optimized, Foreign can also display products, especially the support team roadshow, crowdfunding, as well as investors in-depth exchanges .
Most importantly, the use of contrast foundry mold verify the traditional way, only cost less than one-twentieth. In fact, many smart entrepreneurs in the past most of the hardware design stop, a few fancy design by investors to step forward. The 3D printing changed the situation, which means that a lot of intelligent hardware entrepreneurs have a new way, as a team with a prototype product to obtain investment, support or even direct consumers is much easier.
There is an innovative approach to entrepreneurship from the popular Silicon Valley, but also in China Pimi entrepreneurial circles, that is lean business, I understand that this is equivalent to the same popular "Internet thinking." As Eric? Royce "Lean Startup" mentioned in the book, many startups are trying to develop a good plan, reliable and in-depth strategic analysis of the market, while ignoring the importance of business uncertainty and user participation that is either slow, or the product is not accepted by the market, and ultimately defeat. The book authors proposed a "minimum viable product of" product development model, which means low-cost, fast iterative product, even allowing users to participate, if the product is found not fit too have decisively changed. Obviously, for software entrepreneurs are too practical, intelligent hardware for entrepreneurs, can not be easy, according to the traditional foundry model, which means to pay a huge cost price, just to intelligent 3D printing hardware venture who practice this innovative approach to entrepreneurship opportunities.
With the rapid iteration of MIUI millet, and deeply involved in the fever of users, creating a myth of millet phone. It can be said that with the new software in the field "Internet thinking" won the battle of the most beautiful, intelligent hardware in the field of entrepreneurship, whether by virtue of the "Internet thinking", the use of new technology to make it a myth? Recent popular Lily UAV is a typical, but not completely, and we are trying to do so. 3D printing is just the first step, because 3D printing hardware to smart entrepreneurs not only the product development process is to solve some practical problems, but more importantly is the beginning of a whole way of thinking and entrepreneurial transformation, and often this means the difference between life and death.
