Quick Summary
• After decades of tinkering with our individual technologies, billions were poured into speculative claims and optimism. Now the attention is gone, and sometimes it can seem like we’re surrounded by...
Additional Context
After decades of tinkering with our individual technologies, billions were poured into speculative claims and optimism. Now the attention is gone, and sometimes it can seem like we’re surrounded by the drafts of an empty high school gym amidst archipelagoes of confetti and withering balloons. Simultaneously, we have a billion-dollar revenue company founded in 2020, a nascent desktop 3D printing revolution, and dollops of fat profits unequally distributed, while other companies are declining. Certain applications, sectors, and companies are doing exceedingly well, while others struggle to survive. Let’s look at the major forces shaping our past to see how they are affecting our future.
The LPBF Petri Dishes Effect
At one point, we sold 100 metal LPBF systems a year. Over half of those wen