档案库 · 硬件与设备 · 产品决策 · 2014–2015
Standard Cyborg 的 YC W15 赌注：800 美元的 3D 打印假腿对阵 23,000 美元的手工假腿
截肢者创始 Jeff Huber 3D 打印定制防水假腿，售价约 800 美元，而手工假肢通常要 23,000 美元，出自 YC W15。
Standard Cyborg
做的是什么生意
Standard Cyborg designs and 3D-prints custom waterproof prosthetic legs — printed plastic covered with carbon fiber and finished by hand — and sells them for roughly $800, where hand-made legs typically cost about $23,000.
起因
Jeff Huber was born with a congenital defect that left him without a fully formed fibula, and has used a prosthetic leg most of his life: as a child he got a new leg about every nine months, but as an adult insurance covered one only every three to five years, and his current leg cost $23,000. He had thought about cheaper prosthetics since his undergraduate years at North Carolina State, then dropped out to build the online education startup Knowit and later worked at MightyHive. After leaving, he returned to the idea, interviewing other amputees about what they wanted most — shower legs topped the list — and began experimenting with 3D printers and plastics in an Emeryville workspace.
经过
Huber blended printing with traditional technique: a printed plastic limb covered with carbon fiber, with a final two-hour lamination done by hand. The feature story on 2015-02-09 described a list price of $499, updated to roughly $799 including service fees, and quoted Huber calling it the first and only prosthetic leg made with a printer that is worth less than $10,000. He was still the sole founder and employee, planning to grow through direct sales and prosthetists against a market dominated by 150-year-old Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics, which holds roughly a quarter of the market. At YC W15 Demo Day on 2015-03-24 the roundup highlighted its waterproof printed legs selling for just $800, with a wider range of prosthetics next.
还没有结局，它还在跑。
背景
Jeff Huber 出生时腓骨没有完全发育，一生大部分时间都在使用假腿。童年时大约每九个月就要换新的；成年后，保险每三到五年才覆盖一次，而他当前的假腿花了他 23,000 美元。他第一次想到做更便宜的假肢是在北卡罗来纳州立大学读本科时，后来退学创办了教育创业公司 Knowit，再后来在 MightyHive 工作，然后才回到这个想法。
回到埃默里维尔的一个工作空间后，Huber 采访了其他截肢者，问他们最想要什么。淋浴腿排在最前面：超过一半的截肢者年龄超过 50 岁，在淋浴时摔倒可能危及生命。他用 3D 打印机和塑料做实验，然后把打印和传统工艺结合起来——打印的塑料假肢包上碳纤维，最后再加两小时的手工层压。2015-02-09 的 TechCrunch 特写把标价定为 499 美元，后来更新为约 799 美元，并称之为第一只用打印机做出来、价值低于 10,000 美元的假腿。
在 2015-03-24 的 YC W15 Demo Day 上，综述描述了防水的 3D 打印假腿只卖 800 美元，而创始人自己戴的手工假腿要 23,000 美元，还说接下来会有范围更广的假肢。Huber 仍然是唯一的创始人和员工，计划直接销售并通过假肢师，对抗 150 年老店 Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics，后者占约四分之一的市场，用他的话来说，这个行业玩家太少，可以想怎么定价就怎么定价。
这件事要成立，得有什么
- Huber 自己就是客户：他价值 23,000 美元的假腿不能沾水，这让价格差距和缺失的功能变得具体。
- 他先问其他截肢者最需要什么，淋浴腿——一个被现有厂商忽视的、狭窄又迫切的需求——就成了切入点。
- 便宜的打印塑料与碳纤维和手工打磨结合，让医疗产品在价格只有大约三十分之一的情况下仍然可信。
- YC 和 Demo Day 让这个只有一位创始人的硬件项目在验证制造经济性时获得了媒体曝光。
可借鉴之处
个人的价格冲击可以定义市场空白，但切入点很重要：从客户要求的具体用途开始，证明制造经济学，然后扩大产品线。
后续进展
截至 2015-03-24，Standard Cyborg 已从 YC W15 毕业并上线：Jeff Huber 仍是唯一的创始人和员工，通过直接销售和假肢师，以约 800 美元的价格出售定制防水 3D 打印假腿，并计划在最初的淋浴腿之后扩展到跑步和其他专用假肢。
资料来源
- YC Backs Standard Cyborg, A Startup Building Affordable Artificial Limbs
- 47 Startups That Launched At Y Combinator Winter 2015 Demo Day 2
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