Small Teams Can Do Big Things
Peyton Shelton
Marketing and Social Media Coordinator
Slice Engineering was launched in the summer of 2018 at the Midwest RepRap Festival in Goshen, Indiana. Before this monumental day, however, there were two years of hard work and development between our founders — Dan Barousse and Chris Montgomery — to get Slice off the ground.
Dan and Chris previously worked in the medical manufacturing industry and it was during that time together the idea for Slice Engineering was born. The Mosquito® Hotend was developed in a garage and this innovative hotend was the start of a small business with one mission: to push the boundaries of thermodynamics so people can print their dreams.
Since our inception, Slice Engineering has continued to grow and innovate. We now boast a small team of talented engineers, marketing and operations specialists, and customer support gurus. These individuals work hard every day to ensure that Slice Engineering achieves its mission. This year our team has added twelve new products to the Slice catalog (we also have a few more exciting releases on the way) and we were named a Finalist for the Gainesville Business Awards for the third year in a row. Last year, we won the Startup of the Year Award from the 3D Printing Industry Awards and we have been nominated again this year!
On March 25, 2022, the film Everything Everywhere All At Once was released in theaters. It quickly became a national sensation for its out-of-the-box storytelling and breathtaking visuals. Everything Everywhere is a unique film in that it boasts an unusually small visual effects team; there are only seven credited VFX artists. In a film with lots of editing and complicated VFX shots, it's impressive that such a small team could produce such an excellent final product that is currently an awards season favorite. In an industry where it is normal for thousands of VFX artists to work on a single Marvel Studios film, it’s astounding such a small team was able to accomplish so much.
Small teams can do amazing things.
Our company continues to be bootstrapped, without any external funding. We only exist because of the hard work and dedication of our employees and the support of the 3D printing community. On this Small Business Saturday, we want to thank our employees for their commitment to innovation, integrity, and excellence and the community for supporting us since 2018. Because of your belief in our team and our products, we continue to have the opportunity to innovate within the 3D printing space, allowing people to print their dreams.
It is estimated that 59.9 million Americans work at a small business. I encourage you to research small businesses in your area; your local Chamber of Commerce can be a great resource. Small businesses everywhere are capable of great things and deserve our support.
At Slice Engineering one of our core values is to produce everything as local as possible, whenever possible. This value for domestic manufacturing spreads into our support of local businesses. We work with a local accounting firm, print shop, and even print our t-shirts at a shop down the street! It’s easy to support big companies out of convenience, but it’s rewarding to support the small businesses who want to make a difference too.
