• Blog
  • Archives
  • Bio
  • Awards
  • Speaking
  • Book
  • Contact

The stars won't align

Published: Thursday, 28 March 2013

I was thinking and plotting and planning my startup.

When to begin.  Was it too early?  Was the market ready?  Would I waste my time?  Would I waste my money?  I thought about MakerBot.  It all seemed to work out so perfectly for them.  They primed it so perfectly it seemed.  Even Chris Anderson from Wired Magazine was getting on the 3D printing revolution bandwagon.  Not to mention Barack Obama.  Why was it so easy for them?

But then I realised that it probably wasn't that easy for them.  That they probably had to put in lots of work and energy such that MakerBot was the market leader in consumer 3D printing.  They had to set up relationships, establish communities and create their own opportunities.

When I realised that, I realised that the time for me to launch is now.

The stars aren't aligned and they never will be.  But if I launch my company now and build up my vision, even if it's not a success now, this year, or next year, if I just build it up slowly, bit by bit, I will get there.

Bill Gates had to spend three years in a house in Albuquerque before he hit the big time.

I don't need to be successful now, but I will get there.

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • Aipoly launches!

    We launched Aipoly two days before CES 2016, where we were given a booth for free, as one of five winners of the first CEA Foundation "Technology...

  • Highlight reel and backstage

    When I became the Young Australian of the Year, I was so excited.  I had a glamorous ideal that my life would change completely!  It changed a lot – I...

  • My lockdown life

    Lockdown is certainly a change of pace for me. I used to fly around the world twice a month! Now I’m stuck inside my 768 sq ft apartment for months...

  • What's in a name?

    From August 2009 to August 2011, I was the "Founder and Director of Robogals Global".  Before that, my title was "Founder", and we hadn't created...

  • Brain-controlled Teleport

    I was invited to demonstrate my robots on a QANTAS flight from Sydney to San Francisco, while we flew over the Pacific Ocean.  I said yes!  My fellow...

  • YouthActionNet Global Fellowship Day 1: What makes a great leader

    The first day of the "YouthActionNet Fellowship" program began with a welcome email read out, written by Bill Clinton!  How exciting!  I've always had...

  • City of Darwin Robotics Workshop

    I was invited to Darwin for National Science Week on 19 August where I ran a robotics workshop for the kids.  The next day, I gave a speech to 400...

  • Fetch Robotics

    I visited Fetch Robotics as part of a field trip for a Stanford course I took. Fetch Robotics sold to Zebra Technologies for $290 million in 2021....

  • Teleport In Action Video

    After months of careful, hard work by the team, we have launched a new Aubot website!  Have a look at our new website here! In addition to that -...

  • Nail painting robot

    A robot friend suggested we go and get our nails painted by a robot!  So we went and did that!  The first time I saw a nail painting robot was at CES...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top