Hardware Podcasts

083: Benefits of Additive Manufacturing for New Inventions

Product Startup · 7 Jul 2021 · 30m

What this episode covers

Steve Grundahl, founder of Midwest Prototyping, explains how additive manufacturing enables 'pop-up manufacturing' for startups, allowing them to produce small batches without the high capital risk of injection molding tooling. He argues that early production runs should be viewed as a feedback mechanism rather than a profit center, using real user data to validate demand before committing to expensive tooling. Grundahl highlights that additive manufacturing allows for complex geometries and rapid design iteration, making it ideal for products with short life cycles or frequent updates, such as GoPro accessories.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Midwest Prototyping, 3D Systems, Mako Design + Invent
Products
GoPro
Also
Shopify, Kickstarter, Indiegogo

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