Paul Sieradzki
Paul Sieradzki, Co-Founder & CEO of R3 Printing.
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Paul Sieradzki: The Resources Available in California Are Phenomenal

Paul Sieradzki of R3 Printing.

Tell us about yourself?

I’m Paul Sieradzki, co-founder and CEO at R3 Printing. I’m the younger child of two Polish immigrants who made their way to America, escaping communist Poland.

Their grit and work ethic definitely influenced me, and I attribute a lot of my own drive to them.

All my life, my dream was to be an inventor: my idol growing up was Thomas Edison and I remember reading just about every book and biography about him – teachers definitely didn’t get much variety from my book reports.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but this passion for pursuing innovation and invention is what would lead me to entrepreneurship.

What do you think is the single biggest misconception people have when it comes to startups?

That founders can single-handedly run everything without burning out. I learned the hard way to delegate and how indispensable having a co-founder and a team is.

What lessons has being an entrepreneur taught you?

I could write an entire book about what I’ve learned so far, and I guess that’s why many successful entrepreneurs do! The single biggest lesson or piece of advice is to trust your instincts.

If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

It’s going to be a long road, and you’re going to have to do more than any one person could ever do by themselves, so start looking for people to join you on your journey and help you carry the weight.

There’s this saying we love at R3: “If you want to go fast, go alone.

If you want to go far, go together”. That really couldn’t be more true.

A lot of entrepreneurs find it difficult to balance their work and personal lives. How have you found that?

I’ve definitely found that it takes some time to learn how to balance work and personal life. Because you don’t clock in and clock out, there’s a pull to work around the clock.

But in the long run, there needs to be a balance, and you learn that when you don’t prioritize your personal life, your work also suffers.

What do you think is your magic sauce? What sets you apart from the competitors?

No scalable, automated ecosystem of factory-grade 3D printing products exists yet on the market.

Players in our industry are stuck in the past, failing to adapt as 3D printing evolves from a small-scale prototyping tool into the backbone of modern-day manufacturing, building standalone products that each work well individually but aren’t designed to mesh together to form a cohesive platform on which businesses can efficiently run, scale, and grow.

Demand for manufacturing using 3D printing is growing each year, and this massive gap in the market keeps getting wider and wider – opening the door for R3 Printing to build and become the platform that the world’s on-demand manufacturing infrastructure runs on.

What do you consider are the main strengths of operating your business in California over other states in the US?

The resources available in California are phenomenal. There’s a lot of engineering talent here and startup-oriented companies that make for great partnerships.

What (if any) are the weaknesses of operating your business within California?

California has a bit more operational overhead than some other states, but the benefits far outweigh the weaknesses.

It is no secret that California is the birthplace of innovation. But that also makes it incredibly competitive. How have you found the competitive environment of California?

Although there’s a lot of competition, there are also many opportunities – for example, young and experienced engineers and other talent come to California in search of interesting opportunities.

And so we choose to focus on the doors that working out of California opens, rather than the competition.

Have you considered moving your company to another state? If so, which state and why?

R3 Printing was actually founded in New York, and we moved to California in order to grow the company and have more ready access to top hardware engineering talent and resources that weren’t readily accessible in Manhattan.

We have no plans at this time to move our operations from California – the state has been really great for R3.

Where do you see your business in the next 5 years?

Culturally, we’re democratizing access to customized goods, once reserved only for the wealthy.

We didn’t just design a better 3D printer, we developed a future-focused manufacturing platform that’ll have the same profound impact on our physical world (the things we wear, use, and interact with everyday) as cloud computing had on our digital world.

In 5 years, we hope to see this come to fruition.

And finally, if people want to get involved and learn more about your business, how should they do that?

We’re currently fundraising on StartEngine, which is a great way to give people the opportunity to join us on our journey and grow our community.

To find out more, check out: https://www.startengine.com/r3printinginc

Normally, tech startups like R3 are funded by venture capital firms, so everyday people didn’t get to take part in an early-stage startup’s growth until now. We’d love to see you on board!

Follow R3 Printing on Twitter or Linkedin.

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