How I almost became the CEO of Robo3D
The Atomic Layers: S8E1 (00207)
Atomic Layer of the Day:
This story actually happened. Eleven years ago.
I even wrote about it at the time on my Polish portal, Centrum Druku 3D—but without mentioning the company’s name. Back then, Robo3D was still a significant brand with a global presence. I even owned their 3D printers. At the time, I felt uncomfortable about revealing their name.
But today…? I don’t even know if the person I’m about to write about is still alive. And Robo3D itself is just a shadow of its former self.
This story is as hilarious as it is incredible, and it would be a sin to let it fade into oblivion.
I stumbled upon it completely by accident today while preparing my monthly historical notes for March. I was browsing the Centrum Druku 3D archives, and voilà! This gem of a story appeared!
So, listen up, everyone! I’m about to tell you how I almost became the CEO of Robo3D!
It was the first quarter of 2014. I had been running Centrum Druku 3D for ~16 months. I had already achieved a few successes—including my biggest scoop: the news about Zortrax selling 5,000 3D printers to DELL.
At the same time, I still didn’t take my career in 3D printing seriously. I was still working in IT, developing websites and web applications for Poland’s largest companies. Writing about 3D printers was just a side hustle—one that barely made me any money.
Then, one day, I got a call from an older gentleman (over 60 at that time) who introduced himself as an investor-shareholder in Robo3D. He was Polish, had been living in the U.S. for many, many years, and had gotten my contact info from a mutual acquaintance—someone involved in selling Robo3D printers in Poland.
I honestly don’t remember this gentleman’s name anymore. To find it I’d have to dig through gigabytes of archived emails from my old portal. But honestly, his name doesn’t matter for this story.
For the sake of this article, let’s call him ‘The Investor.’
So, The Investor called me and launched into a long, nearly two-hour conversation (I remember that part very well).
First, he spent almost 40 minutes talking about himself. He informed me that he was an extremely important figure in the tech industry, with unimaginable professional experience and a network of connections so vast it couldn’t even be measured.
He had worked for NASA.
He had worked for the U.S. military (Air Force).
He had worked in manufacturing.
Essentially, he had worked everywhere big money was involved.
He had lived abroad for years but came from Poland, a country he still felt a deep connection to.
Now, pay attention—because this is one of the key moments of this story:
He asked me: “Where do you live?”
“Łódź (Lodz),” I answered truthfully.
“Really?!” he replied, surprised. “I’m from Lodz too! What street do you live on?”
I told him, “XYZ Street, near the airport.”
“XYZ?! No way! I used to live on XYZ Street too! I know that airport!”
I’ll come back to this incredible coincidence in a moment. But for now, The Investor continued his story…
The Investor had recently become interested in 3D printing, which led him to connect with a young but highly dynamic and talented company—Robo3D—which he decided to support with his unbelievable resources and expertise.
Robo3D’s 3D printer production was based in China, which unfortunately came with logistical and quality issues. That’s why the Investor came up with the idea of moving production to his homeland. In addition to that, he planned to set up an R&D department and open a sales office responsible for selling Robo3D devices across all of Europe. And that’s exactly why he called me…
He started asking me more questions: What do I do? How long have I been involved in 3D printing? What do I want to do next in this field?
I answered briefly and vaguely, because our conversation about Lodz and living on the same street had already made me skeptical about the Investor (as I promised—I’ll come back to this soon).
Still, my dry, minimal responses must have been good enough, because to my absolute shock, I received a one-of-a-kind offer—to become the CEO of the newly created subsidiary, Robo3D Europe!
Now, some of you might be wondering: how is it possible that during a first-ever phone call with a complete stranger, the Investor was already offering him such a high-level position—one that required extensive qualifications?
Yeah, I was wondering that too. But I decided to play along.
Then the Investor asked me:
“How much would you like to earn?”
Now, pay attention! I said: “$2,500 per month.”
His response? “That’s a bit too much… It would be best if the new CEO of our production, research, and sales company lived off sales commissions.”
So after that absurd two-hour conversation, I first summarized it for my wife, and then I reached out to the person who had supposedly recommended me—a guy who was selling Robo3D printers in Poland.
That guy, Norbert (who later became a good friend), confirmed that:
Yes, this Investor is a real person.
Yes, he is actually somehow connected to Robo3D.
But also… he’s really weird—so I should take everything he says with a grain of salt.
Yes, there were some vague plans to move production to Europe, but the main goal was to establish a logistics center in Poland—which actually made sense.
And I shouldn’t worry too much about it.
But the Investor wasn’t giving up. He set up a meeting for me with Robo3D’s CEO, Braydon Moreno.
The meeting took place on Skype, but… as a text chat.
So there I was, messaging back and forth with Moreno, discussing our potential collaboration like two teenagers texting about their new crushes, exchanging visions of our shared future.
Nothing concrete was decided, except for one thing: the future CEO’s salary should be commission-based.
The third—and final—conversation was again with the Investor. Zero concrete details came out of it. But I did manage to gather a lot of insight into Robo3D’s inner workings and how its management viewed the business.
There were no more conversations after that, because some very complicated stories started coming to light—stories that, as it turned out, involved a well-known member of the Polish RepRap community. At that point, I decided that I had experienced enough and wanted no further involvement.
I politely declined and asked not to be contacted about this matter again.
So, that’s the story.
Now…
The Investor remains one of the most bizarre and grotesque figures I’ve ever encountered. I have no idea how much of what he told me was true—all I know is that very little of it could actually be verified.
Remember the red flag about my city and the street I lived on? Well, here’s the thing: My street is only 2 km long and sits on the outskirts of the city.
At the time the Investor supposedly lived in Lodz, that street didn’t even exist—it was just forest. And the airport? It was nothing more than a small amateur glider airstrip.
On top of that, his knowledge of the 3D printing market was embarrassingly poor. Everything about this was chaotic and lacked any real plan.
And then there was the financial part—I had intentionally set my salary demand ridiculously low, just to see the Investor’s reaction.
He didn’t disappoint me…
Finally, a quote from another former colleague of mine in the 3D printing industry: "the 3D printing industry is so specific that it attracts the biggest freaks and weirdos."
Atomic Layer from the Past:
03-01-2016: Materialise launched the Materialise Mimics Care Suite, the platform for 3D printing in Hospitals.
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Maybe those investing in 3D stocks are also wierdos, like me ;) Time will tell. Great story and sure your are happier than you would've been as a CEO.
Oh, that quote from your former colleague has given me pause for some self-reflection!