We were lucky to catch up with Ivan Ormuž recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ivan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

If I could go back in time, I’d probably have opened my business way sooner. This time I was almost 30. I had been living off my life savings while trying to ‘find myself’ and figure out what I wanted to do in life after quitting my 6-year corporate job. If I had opened my business sooner, I’d probably have had the enthusiasm of a young age and wouldn’t have been so burnt out by the corporate work. But I would have lacked experience and wisdom, which I don’t think would have been that much of a problem and easily rectified with time, of which I would have had more. It’s not like I didn’t fail and learn from my mistakes in the current scenario.
Either way, I’m sure that if I had opened my business sooner, I would have accomplished more by the time I would have been 36.”

Ivan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

D3Stooges3D was founded by two sets of brothers: the original three stooges who came up with the business idea, and myself, who offered to handle the administrative side of things.

The original three started 3D modeling and printing as a hobby a couple of years before we began discussing the opening of our studio. At a certain point, they saw an opportunity to monetize what they were doing but didn’t know where or how to start. That’s when one of the stooges, who is also my brother, reached out and asked if I wanted to join them on the venture as the CEO (and everything else a small startup requires), while they would handle the production. I agreed, and after some market research, we realized that the end of 2017 was the best time to open a 3D printing studio, so we went for it.

With the few machines we had at the time, we initially focused on offering 3D printing and modeling services to anyone in need. We 3D printed a wide range of items, from small figurines and models, gear wheels, nuts and bolts, and various replacement parts, to large busts, replicas, constructions, and sculptures.

Over time, we upgraded our machinery and production techniques to include cold casting using different silicones and resins. We elevated our post-processing capabilities and began offering high-quality finishing of products. We also surrounded ourselves with excellent partners and subcontractors to cover all the work we couldn’t do in-house.

At one point, we were involved in numerous areas, learning and working on many things simultaneously. Fortunately, we quickly identified our strengths and delegated our weaknesses.

As a result, we gradually transformed from a 3D printing studio into a creative studio capable of handling projects from all development phases, from concept to the final product. Over the years, we’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse range of businesses, artists, designers, cultural institutions, museums, educational institutions, marketing and PR agencies, and medical industries, among others.

What sets us apart from similar businesses and of which we are most proud is our willingness and ability to adapt quickly and find solutions to our customers’ needs. We often make a joke that could easily become our motto: “There’s nothing we can’t create, as long as the budget and deadline allow it.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I believe the best story that would illustrate our resilience would be our beginnings.

When we decided to start our business, we knew nothing about how to run one or what hurdles we’d have to overcome. And we lacked mentors to teach us everything in advance. So, basically, the first three years of our existence were spent on learning. We were slow to make money, so we eventually used up all our savings to keep the business afloat. The money we did make was spent on learning, usually from our mistakes. Mistakes that also cost us a lot of time, sweat, and tears, sometimes even blood. Luckily, they were never anything major, and the remaining scars are cool to see.

Of course, we’re still learning and making mistakes. We always will. But the difference today is that it’s expected and manageable.
We have a dream and a vision of where we’d like to end up one day. That’s what kept us resilient from the start, even in the toughest times.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

We do most of the manufacturing in-house, but considering we’re a creative studio, it’s usually for other people’s products.

The only thing we knew how to do when we started was how to create good 3D models and how to 3D print well. Even so, we had to educate ourselves on a daily basis if we wanted to grow, keep up with the market and the competition.

Over time, with each new inquiry that slightly deviated from what we could offer with our services, we had to adapt and quickly learn new things and techniques. This gradually turned us into jacks of all trades, but we soon realized we can’t do everything by ourselves if we wanted to provide good, quality services and products. So we picked up the phone and started calling everyone we knew who could have some connection to the thing we were working on at the given moment. Knowing a bit of everything helped us with profiling and finding a quality partner we’d like to work with in the long run. With that, we slowly but steadily gathered a list of vendors and subcontractors with whom we, to this day, collaborate on many projects and products.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://d3stooges3d.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d3stooges_3d
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/D3Stooges3D/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/d3stooges3d
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/D3Stooges3D
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@d3stooges_3d