Three years ago, I dreamed of creating the Apple of 3D printing, putting this marvelous technology into a well-designed, reliable home appliance for the masses.
I went to RAPID + TCT, the world's biggest 3D printing conference, and told everyone about my idea. A few were supportive of me as a newcomer to the space, but no one liked my idea. I was ridiculed and some folks were even aggressive. They told me that 3D printing had just gotten out of B2C and was finally making 🤑🤑🤑 in B2B and enterprise—why would I want to drag the industry back?
Well, because I believe in giving power to the people. That's my dream. But I let myself be discouraged.
I packed up my prototype and my workshop into some dusty boxes and I gave up.
While I was asleep, a new startup called Bambu Lab came in and made exactly what I was working toward. Their sub-$1500 printers beat the crap out of much more expensive machines. They're fast, beautifully designed, and they "just work."

So many of the things Bambu has incorporated were exactly what I was working on: CoreXY geometry. AI detection of bad prints. A heated enclosure with built-in air filtration and filament drying. A slick integration between their software and hardware. I had the core intuition three years ago that all the tech we need to make a 3D printing home appliance was ready, we just lacked integration. Apparently, so did Bambu.
Instead of having created the Apple of 3D printers, I'm about to order one. How very bittersweet. Kudos to the Bambu team. Creating this machine was one of the great dreams of my life.
Paul Graham was right: don’t give up.
I will not repeat this mistake.