Back in the Saddle
Great to see drive and determination, in all areas of life! [Passions, October] That's what an entrepreneur is all about, right? Thanks for the motivation. Here's to your comeback, Grace Ueng!
-- Leo, submitted via Inc.com
Will It Work?
Ponoko is interesting, but I don't think the business model is sustainable in the long term ["Let's Get Started," October].
There are two types of people who use the service -- designers and your everyday have-a-go techie. The everyday techie gets a kick out of making a few bits of acrylic to mount his robot parts on, but ultimately is not going to set the business alight. The designers love the cheap prototyping service, and it solves the problem of how to get started, but once you have a design you are happy with and a material spec (thanks to Ponoko's hard work), then a quick look under "Laser Cutting Services" in the yellow pages cuts your costs in half, and there is no shipping. There is already a "distributed manufacturing network" right in your city.