I built a 3D printing business and ran it for 8 months | Hacker News

A 3D printing startup shared eight months of results: about $3,666 in revenue versus $3,352 in expenses.

The business handled roughly 50 orders and around 3,000 hours of print time, but pricing did not fully cover materials, machine wear, or overhead.

Hacker News commenters said the real problem was unpaid design labor, not just printing costs.

The owner agreed the biggest mistake was underestimating custom design time and said the business would have needed higher prices to keep going.