I absolutely love 3D printing and became obsessed with it in 2013 after reading “Fabricated” by Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman. The concept of additive manufacturing vs. standard subtractive techniques blew my mind.

I knew I wanted to work in the 3D printing space and was fortunate to be part of the founding team at 3DPrinterOS, a VC-backed startup where we created the first cloud-based 3D printing operating system and various 3D printing management solutions.

I wore multiple hats to help take our vision of a unified cloud-based 3D printer operating system from 0-1.

Problem

In 2014, 3D printing was one of the hottest markets for venture capital dollars and media coverage. I joined the brilliant team at Secured3D to initially build encryption for the secure cloud transfer of 3D printing files (known as “gcodes”) from computers to machines.

We realized pretty quickly that while the encryption problem was real, the much bigger opportunity to solve it was to lower the barriers of entry into 3D printing so new users could embrace this disruptive technology. From this finding, 3DPrinterOS was born.

We hypothesized that we could increase machine adoption and utilization by building a cloud-powered operating system that works across multiple types of 3D printers, analogous to how Microsoft Windows works across PCs from Lenovo, HP, and Dell. Thus, an end user would only have to learn a single workflow to prepare files and print objects across multiple brands of 3D printers.

Approach:

I set out to understand the current state of 3D printing by researching the market and testing out software from 20+ printer manufacturers. We filmed unboxing videos for many of the printer tests, to establish ourselves as thought leaders in the space and as inbound SEO for users searching for how to use specific machines.

I also conducted on-site user interviews with Fortune 500 companies, such as Ford, John Deere, and Lockheed Martin, to understand how they used 3D printing and what pain points existed within their current workflow.

This work validated our hypothesis and built relationships that led to our first customers. The research gained shaped the MVP requirements, feature backlog, and user stories. With the MVP scoped out, I spent two months in Estonia with the team, driving towards a beta release.

During this process, I built wireframes (example below) and prototypes to test the onboarding process with prospective users and used the knowledge gained to create in-app messaging, tutorials, and walkthroughs to improve the onboarding process.

We launched a free beta version of the product in March 2015, and all focus shifted to feedback gathering, evangelizing the platform, and improving the feature set. I served as the primary tester of the platform with our beta users and established a robust forum for sharing walkthroughs and soliciting community bug reporting.

I created feedback surveys and incentives (free t-shirts, early access to future new features, 3D printer filament giveaways) for users to test the beta release. I went on-site to multiple companies and educational institutions to give hands-on support and observe how they used the platform. I also used Intercom to communicate in-app with users and deliver A/B tests of email sequences and walkthroughs to improve user engagement and identify leads for potential monetization.

Outcome:

Launching a new product is just part of the challenge. What you do once it’s out in the wild determines its survival.

Analyzing our metrics post-launch, I identified and guided the team to build low development, high-yield monetization levers that led to the first $500,000 in ARR.

Since its launch in 2014, 3DPrinterOS has produced 4+ million physical parts in 100+ countries. Customers include Bosch, Google, NASA, Microsoft, Yale, Duke, Harvard, and MIT.