Category Archives: Business

Investing in 3D Printing

“Have you seen the price jumps of the 3D printing stocks? What are you long? You must have invested in some, right? Is 3D Systems the one to go with?”

3d printing wolf of wall street

Having some background in both 3D printing and finance, I hear these questions quite often. Well, at least I used to hear them. 3D printing stocks were the ‘pretty girl in class’ for the past year or so, until the 3D Systems (DDD) recently announced it’s preliminary results for the year 2013[1], which made the stock price plummet and set the market haywire.

Was it really a surprise?

The news, I mean. If you had studied 3D Systems more closely you would have noticed many things that normally would raise alarms in any investor’s mind. Without going into too much details[2] their growth strategy has been based on acquisitions, without actually selling too many of their own 3D printers. Their consumer focused 3D printer does not get much appraisal from the maker community.

3d-systems cube

So what has made theirs and other 3D printing stocks skyrocket? Is just a charismatic CEO (he really is) and effective marketing (it really is) enough? Could be, but it could also be that people are lazy to do their homework and just invest when it seems like the right time?

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Helping others – the secret behind many success stories

helping-hand

The power of helping others is incredible. If you have ever received a favor, which I’m sure most of us have, even a small one, you know what I’m talking about. Even a simple little favor gives an immediate positive impression of the favor doer, which can last forever in the mind of the receiver. So, how does helping others link to business success?

If you have studied material from the likes of Napoleon Hill, Bob Proctor, Rhonda Byrne, or others in that field, this concept should be obvious to you. If you haven’t, this might change your life for good. Actually, as a concept it is not new. Most religions or old wisdoms have taught similar concepts throughout the history: do good to others and others will do good to you. Sounds familiar?

How does doing favors help us to become successful in business?

Business is all about relationships. We all want to work with people we like. Of course there is the money making aspect as well, but if you can choose from two people to work with, one of crucial factors is whether you like the person or not. Many businessman, especially in Asia, would choose the relationship over money.

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6th EBAC Meeting and 10th annual APBF 2013 in Bangkok

UNESCAP EBAC APBF

The 6th and my first EBAC meeting took place on Monday followed by the one and half day 10th annual Asia Pacific Business Forum. The great event got kickstarted on Sunday at the British Club in Bangkok, where we gathered together with the Connectivity Task Force lead by Barbara Meynert. It was also the first time for the whole team to meet together in person. We had had fractal meetings with parts of the team in Bangkok and Hong Kong, but this was the first time the full team was present. It’s just amazing how important meeting in person is, and how much more effective it is compared to exchanging emails and speaking over phone/Skype. The working team consists of 10 people with all very unique skills, and is set to deliver an online SME platform to connect and support the SMEs in the Asian region.

First of all, it’s a fun project to work with, but it is also a very important for the regions growth, which has been now stressed in many occasions. Over the EBAC welcome dinner, hosted generously by Barbara, the UN ESCAP Executive Secretary Ms. Noeleen Heyzer accented the importance of SMEs and the sustainable connectivity between them.

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3D Printing Industry partners up with Mediabistro to produce Inside 3D Printing trade shows

3D Printing Industry - Inside 3D Printing - Mediabistro copy

It’s official. After months of waiting and waiting the day is finally here. Mediabistro just announced their investment in 3D Printing Industry and that going further the two companies will be producing Inside 3D Printing worldwide trade show series together.

At 3D Printing Industry we obviously were waiting this quite anxiously and unfortunately it took longer than anticipated to get everything in order. Things in Asia can sometimes take time, but there’s no point going into details here. The developments are great and will strengthen our leading online media position in the 3D printing realm. The partnership makes perfect sense for both companies and the same model has worked wonders in the past for many.

In fact, it’s a bit of a funny story. When we first met Alan in April in New York he was explaining how he usually operates the trade shows and media partnerships. I mentioned to him that it sounded very much like the model used by Search Engine Land with SMX shows. Maybe I should have done my research better, as it was Alan’s original model that he had created for Search Engine Watch when it was still owned by Jupitermedia. Live and learn.

The times ahead are very exciting for us.

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Hong Kong Trip

I just returned from Hong Kong today. It was a great trip and very positive in many ways. Maybe I should go there more often… There were two main reasons for the trip this time: to finalize the incorporation for a new start up company, and to speak at the Hong Kong University MBA Business Lab program. On top of that I managed to squeeze in some business meetings as well, just to make sure that there would not be any laziness involved. After all it’s Hong Kong – one of Asia’s most hectic business centres!

Hong_Kong_Skyline

Yesterday morning two of my business associates and I met with our trusted accounting partner, who handles Hong Kong company incorporations. I have to confess that I was expecting quite a signature marathon and was prepared defend my existence at the bank ‘interrogation’, same as last time. To my major surprise things just went incredibly smoothly. After less than 10 signatures, we were done with the accountant, and headed to HSBC’s business banking center. The previous time we had to go to a personal banking branch’s sleazy business service section, where a guy who looked like a high school sophomore, was asking questions like “what happens to your job in the company, when you find someone who knows your job better?”

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