Shapeways 3D Printspiration

3D Printing, Shapeways, and the Future of Personal Products - Forbes

Before I break the news of our most exciting new investment: At my venture firm Lux Capital, we seek startups that seek to change the world—and stakes in them when the stakes are high. And the stakes are always highest when the forces of technological disruption, oft too weak to be detected, catalyze massive industry change and become too strong to be resisted.

Common conception holds that brilliant inventions burst straight from research labs to take over markets. But in studying and investing in change, it becomes apparent that the enabling technologies have often been in existence for some time, developing quietly in the background in ancillary markets or other incarnations. It’s only at the confluence of parallel technological developments and shifting market forces that, often unexpectedly, “Aha!” – a new application takes hold. The combinatorial chemistry of industry and invention yields an explosive reaction, and then: everything changes. Thus we’re always hunting for two things: cutting-edge technologies and rapidly changing markets.