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Thanks everyone for tuning in to another episode of Global From Asia – it is May here in the South of China, and normally it is piping hot – but we have a bit of a cold and rainy streak – as I record this I’m in a sweatshirt and pants – not my normal t-shirt, shorts and flip flops attire I’m used to in the normally warm climate.So for today’s episode, we have a pretty special guest and friend of mine Zach Hoeken – an extremely amazing and overly modest maker, hacker, entrepreneur who has been a pioneer in the 3D printer space as a co-founder of Makerbot. These days he’s hanging out and doing what he loves most – hacking and building – so let’s listen up to this exciting interview about hardware and merging of Asia and Western business practices in it!
Topics Covered in this Episode
- Introduce Zach Hoeken
- How did you get started with Makerbot Industries? In 2008 / 2009
- Heard in generator conference no one in the founding team had hardware experience when you started, can you share with us on that
- Also remember you said you bootstrapped by selling smaller parts to keep going, can you share with listeners
- How did you initially get to China?
- How do you see the hardware market in 10 or 20 years?
- Coolest thing you have seen 3D printed?
- Advice for a fresh entrepreneur coming to China
- Contacting and reaching out to Zach
People / Companies / Resources Mentioned in this Episode
- Makerbot 3D Printers
- Reprap 3D printing
- Generator Conference 1.2
- Shenzhen Maker Faire
- Cashflow and Income streams – critical to early stage company
- Components – Sometimes selling smaller pieces relevant to your business can keep you afloat in cashflow tight periods.
- Looking glass product
- Haxlr8r
- Hua Qiang Bei (HQB) – Massive electronics market in Shenzhen, China
- Taobao Chinese online C2C (consumer to consumer) marketplace
- Kickstarter
- Lazer Centering Machine
- Injection Molding Machine
- Self Driving Cars
- Drones
- Robot Arms
- 3D Printed Teeth
- Contacting Zach – Twitter – @hoeken
Episode Length: 25:45
Thanks for that Zach – I always love how you stress that founders need to stay focused on cash-flow and building a business rather than hunting for investment. I’m sure others got a good perspective from that.
Zach also has been closely involved with the Haxlr8r hardware accelerator in Shenzhen and those interested in that program should also reach out to him to get more info!
No iTunes ratings this week, but I know you guys are loving the show based on the emails and social media messages – I know its difficult to leave iTunes feedback but I’m told it helps promote the show – I’m gonna work on a contest giveaway for those who leave it – stay tuned for upcoming episodes – and early birds will have special incentives!
til next week!
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