Had the pleasure of sitting and chatting with Niall O'Dowd, CEO and Founder of Phase3D. Niall is based in Chicago and runs Phase3D, a company that specializes in providing solutions for part monitoring and process control for additive manufacturing. Niall talks about the highs and lows of being a CEO/Founder, his years at the U.S Department of National Labs and how much it inspired him to start his own company, and most importantly, what Phase3D is all about. Check out all of our content from our discussion and check out his recommended read The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries.
Episode Summary:
0:00 - Intro 1:42 - Niall's early years5:33 - Undergrad years 7:23 - U.S. Department of Energy National Labs Overview 9:52 - First time seeing a 3D Printer 10:35 - Next steps after PhD 12:35 - Mentors in entrepreneurship 17:21 - Early days of running a Startup 22:16 - Relocating to Chicago 25:02 - Phase3D Overview 30:00 - Protocols for decision making on part monitoring34:05 - Biggest challenge in being a founder 37:05 - Recommended read 39:20 - Excitement for remainder of the year