Welcome back to the show, my fellow extraordinary Americans, for today’s guest, we have Gene Eidelman. Gene is the co-founder of Azure Printed Homes. Azure is fundamentally changing the construction industry by 3D printing homes with recycled materials, which is 70% faster and 30% less expensive than the current construction methods, as well as having a positive environmental impact. Gene emigrated to Los Angeles from Ukraine over 35 years ago. He was recognized for settling over 6,000 refugees from the former Soviet Union and even appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show. 

He also served on the boards of numerous nonprofit educational organizations in the US, India, and the UK. Gene is an example of an immigrant who came to America and fought against the odds to realize the American dream. And I’m honored to have him on the show. Gene, are you there?

Yes, I am.

It’s awesome to have you on the show, and I’m grateful that you took the time to do this interview with me So, Gene, can you tell me and my audience a little bit more about yourself, your background, and how you got started?

It’s nice to see you again. So, I came to the US as a refugee when I was 18 years old with no money and no English. I got educated here in college and then in college my brother and I started developing real estate, and I’ve been doing so ever since coming to America. I’ve been in businesses of some kind, usually the ones I start.

Wow, so that That’s amazing. I came to America with no English and no money. Not only did you have a cultural and language barrier, but you also had to start from scratch. So, can you Tell me a little bit more about how you overcame the language barrier, then how you overcame it, and then how you started? You like getting over your finances and all of that.

Sure, sure. Well, to begin with, it’s only possible in America. I believe that. I can’t think of any other country in the world where you could come… It was like you said—no English, no money. And then, two years later, being in business. That’s pretty incredible, right? 

But the first thing was learning the language, and I went to school, had my first job, and was in the liquor store at night. So, I would go to school in the morning to learn the language. Working at night. Well, the best English learning comes from having work.

And so, the first year was very tough for all of us. I have a brother and, of course, my parents. But a year later, I was able to get admitted to the University of Southern California. So, you know when I came from Ukraine, my education was very good. So, I was able to get admitted. Because I was very strong in math and science, and then my brother, my older brother was a computer programmer. He couldn’t get a job in his field, so he started selling real estate. As I was going to college, I saw him become successful very quickly. 

So, I decided to get my real estate license, and literally within two years of being in this country, I had a real estate license, but my English wasn’t good enough to sell residential properties like homes. So, we started focusing on apartments. Apartments and commercial properties, you’ve just got no need to know the numbers, so that’s how we started. We started a year of tough manual labor learning English, and then in our second year, we were able to get into college and would go to college from 8:00 to 12:00 and work from 12:00 to 9:00. 

Oh my God. So, Gene, you had to somehow learn English, but then you had to, like, go through financial issues, and somehow you got a real estate license and you got into real estate. And then you started doing business. Can you tell the audience and me a little bit more about the process of how you got into the business and how you managed to make it successful while learning English and all of that.

Yeah, well, quite honestly, I think coming to Los Angeles was a huge advantage because it’s a very diverse place. And so, some of our first clients were people from Eastern Europe who came here just a little bit before us. 

So, in terms of getting clients, you know we were just coming to a place that is diverse and where you don’t stick out. So, we were able to connect more culturally. I mean, even though we came from a system that was not very capitalistic, the concept of buying low and selling high works everywhere.

So, it’s just a lot of hard work. I mean, I found that in real estate, there isn’t anything else you need to know your territory, right? You know your market, and that comes in just a few hours, you will know that the big advantage that a lot of immigrants have is that when they have nothing, all they have is time, right?

So, when you have a lot of it, it’s about time you did the research. You know, when I would throw the property to a client, I would drive, look at comps, and go in the evening. See who the people who live there really are to try to understand the market. So, when I show the property to a potential client, I am an expert in that area. I knew the area and the comparable.

So, a lot of It is just cosmology. A lot of this common sense is just, you know, it doesn’t happen, but It’s there. So, even now, with all the information on the Internet, you can find all kinds of information, but you’ve got to figure out: is this true information, you know?

So, when somebody says they’re renting a property at an exorbitant price, you need to pretend that you’re a buyer, and you can determine whether that’s true or not. So, a lot of it is just nothing. It’s just a lot of hard work and trying to be ready. When you meet with a client or a customer, you want to be. You want them to feel that you put your time into understanding what they’re looking for and then trying to find what they need.

OK, So, you’ve got your real estate. Last time you got into real estate but how did you transition from the real estate industry into the construction industry? Because I know, like a lot of people say, that the construction industry is ruthless with a lot of people… It’s just a tough industry in general, and especially if you’re still learning English, then it’s going to be even worse. So, how was your thought process, and how did you transition from that?

Yeah, you know, so I’m not very handy. So, again, I feel that that may be an advantage because I find that when people know, they think that they know what they’re doing and don’t do as much due diligence. knowing that I’m not very handy. I couldn’t build a house myself. 

So, again, I did a lot of due diligence. In terms of my brother and me, I found a piece of property. That would be terrific to build a small condominium project, right? But then we said, well, who’s going to build? It’s for us.

So, I called every contractor who worked in the area and then not just called them but also called their clients to determine if they were dependable. Are they going to do high-quality work and get multiple bids? So, when you don’t know much about the industry, I find that you spend more time trying not to be wrong, right? And so, do more. Spend more time, you know. Talk to more people. talk to and check on their clients. Check what they’ve done, and don’t try to micromanage. You know, once you find somebody who knows what they do, what hurts a lot of people in real estate construction is, you know, they decided on the project, and then you know 6 Months later, they want to change something.

So, my idea was to spend as much time as you can plan, and once you have a plan together and the right people together, let them do their job. You know, that’s what my common thing with Contractors was. I’m going to sign a contract and no longer accept change orders. You need to check out whether everything in the plans doesn’t come to me during the project and say, you want to change something, but in return, what I’ll promise you is that I’m going to come and change anything. You get started. You tell me when it’s going to be finished. I’ll show up here on the grand opening date. You know, and that’s how it works. And so, I’ve got some. Very strong relationships by Just again, Cosmos, it’s common sense; it’s a find. The best-qualified people Make up their minds. 

And then learn to Do their job, and then When it’s finished, come back after that; you might still, you know, make some changes, but do the next project. On a project that’s in the middle of Construction, where even you know, the changes are going to cost you extra time and money.

You make it sound so simple, but here’s the thing: Like when people, a lot of people, most people say, OK, I want to be rich, I want to start a business or anything, but I don’t have any. Money to start. I don’t know where I’m going to get the resources or the financing; what if I fail? What if, like, I start this project and I fail? And then I go into debt?

You came to this country with no money, and then You went from there to building a successful business. So, how did you manage to overcome your fear of financial failure? And then go through and get the financing necessary to build a successful business. 

Good question. So, first of all, being an immigrant is an advantage because, initially, we didn’t have any credit. So, instead of just going to a traditional bank, I went to a lot of other immigrants from Eastern Europe and said, Look, guys, here’s an idea. I’ve done all the research. Would you invest in the project? So, you’ve got to take advantage of what you’ve got right now. If you’re from an immigrant community or come from a close family and I’ve gone, I mean, by this time, I’ve already had a lot, and I’ve gone to every one of my uncles and my cousins and said, look, here’s my idea, do you want to become a partner here, there, and in the immigrant community is a handshake, you know. They’re not going to be looking at it. Death. It’s like they Want to hear what your idea is. And they believe in it. And you make him a partner. So, you’re not going to make 100% of it, but make 20% or 25% of the profit and share it with others. So that was our approach. For the first one or two projects, we just went to partners and raised the money. 

You said people are afraid of failure. No, look, I’ve done it. I’ve had some successful businesses. I’ve had some businesses that have not done well. It’s really in the failures where they’re on the best lists, you know because any idea you have kind of sounds good in the beginning, right? But once you get it, that, I think, sometimes goes array.

And so, I think that the best lessons I’ve learned are when things don’t go as planned, and you kind of learn the lessons; it’s painful, you know. But then, the next time you start a new business, you’ll remember some things that are out of your control. You know when the economy goes down. When the economy goes into recession, interest rates rise. There is not much you can do, but sometimes you think there are things you can do. I can do that for you. 

I know that the biggest lesson or issue that usually comes up is who you hire. You know who your partner is and who your key employees are. And that is the most difficult part. So, you know, anytime I can think of when I’ve had some issues, it was not over the money or finance; it was the people, either the wrong partner or the wrong key employee, and unfortunately, you know, it’s very hard to get that 100%?

Every time, you just have to—I mean, you have to get to know the people, and you have to… And even after you get to know the people, some of them change. You know, they may have personal circumstances or some other issues that you just can’t control. So, that’s the biggest challenge, I think, in businesses: who’s going to be your partner, and who’s going to be your key employees? How do you know how to maintain it? So, they leave in the middle of when you need them most. And then hurt your business.

That’s interesting that you say that Gene, because a lot of times they try to start a business and then they get the wrong partner, and then the partner screws them over or wasn’t useful in the business, and then they say I can’t ever start a business because how am I going to trust people? 

So, I know that trust and discipline are two important things when it comes to business, right? So, what is your advice to people that would have trust issues when it comes to getting the right partner for their business or something strategic joint venture?

Again, that is the type that we are just discussing right now is the toughest part. 

And so, my advice is the following: First of all, get to know the person you know. Don’t take it lightly. I mean, you know, you might have the most brilliant idea, and you can have an urge to, oh, let’s get started. But do you want to get started? It’s the best, I feel, that you get to know another person for six or 12 months before you become partners, and during that time, go to eat with them, go to their house, and get to know their family. 

You know, get to know them, not just by singing to them but by seeing how they interact with their friends and family. You know, by going to eat with them, you can see whether they are heavy drinkers or not. Again, you don’t. Want to go with somebody? There’s some addictive behavior in the supporting family, be it if they’re married, their spouse, or if they’re not married, their parents. Just see what kind of relationship they have. The way people relate to their friends and family; you will get a very similar feeling. So, they get to know them, right? 

B) Don’t be ashamed of structuring a strict legal agreement. There is a saying that you know before a couple gets married that a good prenuptial agreement is the one that the couple will never look at, right? So, here’s the same thing: Sign an agreement with a partner. So, give it a lot of thought. And sign an agreement. That you hope? You will never have to look at it but have it strong enough. So, there are issues that come up. There is an easy way to end it, as you know. It just seems like it’s so easy to start a business, but when the relationship doesn’t go well, it’s always hard to break it up, and it’s usually because there is no agreement. There’s a handshake, and when things go well, everybody’s happy about, you know, everything. But when the tough things get tough, it’s going to be very tough to negotiate with someone. So, once again, my advice is to take your time and not be afraid to do so.

Structure a good legal agreement that will spell out how much time they’ll put in, how much money they’ll put in, and what happens if things don’t go well. Is there a buy-sell agreement? You know, if you just can’t work with somebody, is there a firm agreement? How can one person buy another person out? Or what if some other buyer comes and wants to buy a business and you don’t agree? Do you want to sell or not? Thanks to all, and that’s on again. 

With time, you can figure that out. So, get All those pieces in place. Then, if the relationship is good, you’ll never look. At that agreement. You know. The relationship is bad. You need to think through what’s going to happen. Worst-case scenario: By negotiating, you will understand whether your partner is somebody we call a grown-up. You know somebody who can think things through. And you know, if things go great, you can always say, look, we’ll never look at this agreement again. But if things don’t go well, let’s have something in writing that’s very specific.

So that we know exactly how it’s going to work out. So, that’s my advice. Just time and a good agreement in place. What’s going to happen when? Things don’t go well. When things do go. Well, nobody looks at the agreement. You just go and have a great time, yeah.

No, that’s interesting that you’re mentioning that because a lot of times people don’t even like to succeed because they choose the wrong partner, and then they have a falling out, and then all of a sudden you have to divide up the company, and then you lose a lot of money in the process. 

And finding the right partner is usually a pretty important thing. 

But Gene, on a different note, I wanted to ask you about the story, like how you helped more than 6,000 refugees come from the former Soviet Union, like helping them get situated in America and start their lives. Can you tell me in the audience a little bit more about that?

So, I originally came to LA with my parents and my brother, and then I moved to Atlanta, GA. And while LA was very diverse, there were immigrants from all over the world. Atlanta at that time was not that diverse. It’s changed a lot in the last 35 years. By that time, it wasn’t, and so I thought that it would make a perfect community to bring refugees in because I felt that people would be very open to this. 

And so, our idea of how we’re going to resettle refugees was to find a family that would be one-on-one with the newcomers.

Because I didn’t care for, you know, in the land when we came, there were Lots of people coming in; there were professionals and agencies that helped out. And I felt that the best way to help a family that comes is to just connect them with one other family, one human being can make a difference to another human being. 

What we did was I and several other people in the community said, look, if we just could meet the People who are coming and understand, what is their profession? What is their family size? Are they married? Are they single? If they’re married, do they have kids? If we can find people who would work with them, help them resettle with similar characteristics, either professionally or at home. In the same way, it’s like if a doctor is coming or a nurse is coming. Do you want to connect? With somebody who is in medical school. Or somebody who comes from engineering. Do you want to connect? 

They didn’t have to be a perfect match, but close enough that they had some either professional or personal interest. You know, kids of the same age so, you know, a lot of times people have difficulty. What school to send your kid to? Well, you have somebody who is assisting new residents and those in the area.

So that was the key to our success. So, basically, I went around and raised money. That is for the first 90 days, the new family didn’t have to worry about work. At that time, I owned apartments. I had a friend who was in the rental furniture business. So, we had apartments fully furnished, and we raised money so we had enough stipends for them to live. I wanted them to worry about learning English, and at that time, people were coming. They also didn’t drive cars, and you know, there was no Uber or Lyft at that time, so they needed to drive a car. And Atlanta also doesn’t have good public transportation, so they needed to. We also organized interest-free car loans.

So, we look at the last 90 days. Settle in, learn the language, put your kids to school, and get a lot of busy stuff out of your way. So, within the first 90 days, you can get a job, and that was the key. Is it because if you do, they Yeah, I just felt like giving them a little. Time to breathe. And to figure out where they are personally and professionally. 

Then we’ll also encourage them. Look, if you were a doctor in the Soviet Union, you’re not going to get a doctor’s license; you need to get your medical license. So, be prepared to work as a nurse if you were, you know, an architect be prepared to be a draftsman. If you were, I mean, whatever. It is just to get into the field and get going. Get in the field. 

So that is kind of how it started. 

So, 95% of the people who came with this one-on-one assistance from another family were able to get a job, and we celebrated when they got their first job. It doesn’t matter that it was half of the salary that they wanted and wasn’t necessarily the profession, but we also encouraged them. I spoke to them and said, do not go on any kind of public assistance. It’s terrible for your self-esteem. You’re going to depend on it. You’re going to need to have meetings. You’re going to have to fill out paperwork. Get your head straight and get a job. 

Get your situation settled, kids. To school, learn to, you know, drive the car. That and getting a job. Once you get a job, you’ll do well in this country. I mean, that’s the beauty of this country. And that’s how it works.

So, a successful resettlement process We would get 30–50 people coming every week, and it was amazing. The challenge was on the front end… Just a little bit like what we discussed about business, the same things apply to finding a family that will be a one-on-one connection, right? Even things like, you know, when people get ready to go to an interview, especially at that time, they don’t know personal hydrogen, they don’t know to use the deodorant, and an agency is not going to tell you don’t smell good, but if you have another family that’s connected indirectly can tell you, Hey.” You know, if the job is far away again, have somebody drive You there.

So, a lot of this. That’s why I believe this personal connection can help you because people can be honest with you. You know it’s not going to be like that. Is somebody shy, or I don’t want to upset you, but when? You get to know someone else you know will be honest with you and that’s what people need honest feedback in the beginning. 

So, listen, I run into people who went through the process, you know, some 30 years ago, and they’re incredible success stories. You know their businesses; they and their kids went to medical schools; they’re lawyers; and stuff like this. But I remember when they came, you know, as one of my cousins came; you know, he was a computer programmer and so on the Union, but he said look, I have a job lined up in landscaping. So he went; he worked on my landscape crew, and the Atlantic got very hot. First of all, he lost weight. He looked much better, and then he realized how difficult the manual labor was. He wanted to do some computer classes, and two months later He had a computer. Got, you know, and now he’s selling real estate and has done well, so It’s just, you know, those little tidbits to help people settle in and learn the language. Get a job, and you’re golden.

Gene, I love this right now, especially the fact that there are so many success stories over here because, you know, right now, there’s like controversy in America about immigrants that are just coming in and then they’re just being on public assistance and welfare, and they’re just taking. 

But like in your case, you’re an immigrant, and you know many other immigrants who came in and started businesses, hired people and gave back to the community and everything. Just so that we can understand what is your perspective on how immigrants help the American economy overall?

Well, look at the success stories everywhere. And creating jobs and coming up with inventions I think people who are born in this country sometimes don’t necessarily appreciate what this country has to offer. 

You know, Cosmos, you came here from another country, and I came. Yeah, I just thought that I was not looking at the negatives, you know? Look, America is not perfect, right? But I just embraced the opportunities that this country has to offer. 

And then, when you create businesses, you create jobs. You just know what kind of opportunity to create for yourself, your family, and others. You know, it’s not like some idea somewhere pie in the sky dream.

It’s really, It’s kind of closer to home. It’s like. I want to create a successful business to take care of my family. You know, I want to offer a great education for my kids so that they can take care of their families. And when you think of it that way, it’s not like you’re on a mission. You’re on a mission to help yourself and your family, and if you do a good job at it, you’ll create opportunities for others.

So, it’s not some idea, you know, just having a philanthropic idea in your mind from the beginning. It is like I want to create a better future for myself and my family. When you do that, you create opportunities for others to soak it in and take advantage of it.

So, it’s America, you know if there is one thing it has. To offer all its problems to One who has it has the opportunity. Nobody looks at you; you know, nobody ever said, oh, you can’t do it because you’re an immigrant. 

If anything, when people hear that, they think you’re an immigrant. They think that it’s a good thing you know you’re going to work harder and here I am even after so many years, people had no problem with that. We’re in a lot of others. In some countries, people look down on you if you’re an immigrant. Yeah, but here people look and say, wow, you know, you know, I want to do business with you because you’ll probably work harder. You know, the majority of immigrants don’t have personal wealth, as they say. Oh, I don’t have wealth here. I’m going to go and get my parents to help me.

It’s like that. Oh, you so, it’s kind of an odd thing in that respect. Immigrants here have almost an advantage because they know people. Are open to doing business, and people know that they Will work harder. And we want to get a good reputation, which we will not. Will not just disappear, take it easy, or take it for granted.

So, Gene-based on what you’re saying, right? So, can you tell the audience a little bit more about how other countries are when it comes to immigrants and opportunities versus how America is when it comes to opportunities and giving everybody a chance to succeed?

Well, look, America was built by immigrants. So, everybody here is an immigrant. You know, this generation or the generation before is very different from the image. Anywhere you know and your religion doesn’t put you in the class. So, either immigrant Puts you in some separate class. Their religion puts you in a separate class. It is a country. You know, it’s been lately. It’s been tougher to get in here, but still, it’ll work itself out because there’s a country building immigrants. 

So, yeah, look at my experience. I’ve been to the Middle East. I didn’t work in the UAE or Qatar. You could be if you’re from a different country… I’ve met people who say well, where are you from? I said there that I’m an Indian. I said OK. But where were you born? I was born here, as you know. And it’s like, because they were Indian, but they were born but we were born there, and they always stayed there. Right. 

In America, you know that when people ask you where you are from, as I’m an American, you say American. But the moment you got an American passport, you said you were there. And the same kind of difference exists everywhere in Europe: you can become a British or French citizen. You’ll always be where you’re from. Here you come, and you become an American. It’s true in Asia, it’s true in Africa. I mean, it’s true everywhere in the world, this is the only place you can go. Once you get your citizenship, you’re an American. And really, I call myself an American. I came here without a passport. So, as a refugee, The Soviet Union didn’t take my passports away, so I was American. From the day I came here because I was stateless. That’s not a good nationality to say you’re stateless.

No, that’s why it’s amazing. That is basically what you just talked about: I was in the Middle East for like 15 years growing up, right? And I was an Indian immigrant in the Middle East. And I always stayed as an Indian immigrant. 

But then, when I came to America, once I got my citizenship, as you say, yeah, I’m now an American. Right. And so, like, the amazing greatness of this country is that they adopt you and make you one of their own. 

And then they allow you to succeed, whereas in other countries you’re always treated like an outsider. Like what you do, they’re like identity, which is based on identity-based religion. Based on this and based on that but in America, you have that opportunity.

You know, actually. When we resettled the refugees in Atlanta. I encourage people not to live together. You know, there are many parts of the US where, like in Brooklyn, you can go to Brighton Beach, where there are restaurants or stores still, words in Russian.

And the advantage of starting this in Atlanta, where there was another big immigrant community, said, look, my advice to you is don’t bunch together. You know, get more American friends because, you know what? Well, going to a Russian or Ukrainian store is maybe a little bit easier. But going to an American deli would be better. You’re going to meet your people. You’re going. To experience the taste and culture of the country. I mean, that’s another thing about which I think the debate is over. I mean, you know, many, many communities say, well, I’d love to live in my community. And I think it’s not necessarily healthy. I encourage people who come here to just go out there, and You miss your culture that much. You can go back, you know. 

But you come here and jump in there. This is a melting pot. You know you can have your family if you want to speak your native language or your own culture. You don’t have to lose it, right? But I would encourage people to just come in, try to make American friends, you know.

That’s what I did. I would just absorb the best of what I could and become a part of it. 

Yeah, 

but it’s awesome. I think we’re in tune with this in the way that we’re thinking about becoming one with America. It’s brilliant. 

You know, Gene, I wanted to ask. So, as an entrepreneur and as an immigrant, what is your thought process when it comes to what the American dream is, and how would you advise Americans on attaining it? The best way to attain The American dream.

I think in terms of a room, I’m not thinking of an American dream… I’m thinking more about a world of opportunities. I mean, America offers you opportunities to make something of yourself. That you. Are you dreaming about So, in my mind, it’s not like there is no picture. You know when people say, What’s your dream? It’s not all perfect. It’s just opportunities to start with, opportunities to learn, and opportunities to create opportunities to make your future, you know? 

So, in my mind, this country offers tremendous opportunities to everybody who comes here. And generally, I find that if you work hard, if you’re honest, and if you have a good sense of humor, too, it never hurts; just open up and make friends. Just be happy. You know right now there are difficulties. You know that we have inflation, we have crime, and we have international instability. The war in Ukraine… on and on, COVID.

You could become If you think about all the negative things going on in the world, you could be depressed, right? But you cannot do that. You have to have a good morning routine. Get your mind straight about the kind of place you’re going to have a great day, and you’re going to have and then just go after it, you know, and stay positive and surround yourself with positive people. You know, that’s a very important point, be it in business or personal life. Surround yourself with people who will cheer for you, who will encourage you to take risks, and who will take risks with you if you fail. They’re still going to accept you.

I think it’s an opportunity to succeed. It’s an opportunity to fail. It’s an opportunity to make a life of it. And it’s never a straight line, you know. It’s a little bit of an.. I just came from a conference on the circular economy. You know, they send stuff straight, life goes in circles. And as I was looking at that, I said, That’s life goes in circles; you know it’s not a straight line. It’s a lot of sticks and sacks, right? And sometimes it goes in a circle. So, just a positive outlook and good friendships Maintain your relationship with your family because family is another strength for immigrants. Yeah, immigrants stick around their families. But the family is the one who will. Always cheer for you. always encourage you to do things, will not double down on you, and will not doubt you. You know, have positive relationships. 

So, I know the answer. The question is, I’m just not great…

This is my American dream: making a billion dollars.

If you do that, that’s great, you know, but you can be happy or not make a billion dollars, you know. You can be happy. Just to have a positive relationship. You know what you’ve got. You’ve got to be happy with what you’re doing. I mean, because we spend so much time at work, you cannot be miserable during the day. You should not be miserable in the evening, you know. So, that’s why I say family and career are two important things because then the third part of it is sleep. So, you can split the day three times and just say, I’m going to these positive people at work.

Yeah, totally.

I’m going to just have positive people in the family. And then I’ll sleep. And things will work out.

Ultimately, the essence of the American dream is to be happy. And what you’re saying is true, like you have to have positive relationships, and you’ve got to be happy in your work, you know, because if you’re unhappy in your work, then that’s like 1/3 of your life, just as you’re saying. 

So, yeah. 

So, Gene, on a different note, I wanted to ask: Could you tell the audience a little bit more about your company’s Azure printing press, like printed homes, and the premise of how it got started?

So, my partner and I started. A construction company. We wanted to find a way to build faster, less expensive, and with less environmental impact. The construction industry is second only to autos. As to the amount of damage that it does to the environment. Those two words are always followed by crisis, housing crisis, and climate crisis, right?

So, we decided that we didn’t have a certain idea of how we were going to do it. But we said we wanted to have less expensive housing. It’s faster to build, and when I stop ruining our environment, I have three kids. So, I’m thinking of the next generation, and I just think it’s unfair to leave them in a world where you know there’s a crisis going on, let’s take care of it. 

So, after we started this about 3 1/2 years ago. And So, six months later, we were in the middle of COVID In the office, letting everybody work virtually. And So, there were just two of us thinking about, Well, how are you going to accomplish this? You know, in normal conditions, we would be just too busy. We would be running around, you know, with interruptions. But here we were sitting together in the office, saying how we could accomplish what we set out to do faster and less expensively. It was built in the factory. By building in a factory, we could do it faster because, as you know, there are no rain delays. There are. No, not too hot, not too cold.

So, we thought, OK, let’s figure out how to do it. It is the factory. And then we looked at how factory-built housing is built. We realize that there are lots of issues when people build homes in factories. They rely on the supply chain during COVID the supply chain was awful. You couldn’t. Yeah, you couldn’t order anything you couldn’t expect on time. And so, that’s where 3D printing comes in. Look, if we have a 3D printer here, we could just print it ourselves. 

So, the problem was that we couldn’t find it, and we were looking for a 3D printer for the shell that we could buy. To build this. And we just couldn’t find them. So, it took us longer than we expected—almost 2 1/2 years—to develop our patented technology. And then, back to our environmental focus, we said, why don’t we use recycled plastic? You know, plastic in itself couldn’t be a good building material, but we were to mix the plastic with fiberglass and carbon fiber.

That with rigidity, and it would. Add qualities to the material that could withstand, you know, an acceptable building material. So, really, it Came out of just desire. Hey, we had to think about it and have a desire to accomplish what we set out to do. And so, about this time last year, we printed a model of a little building. I don’t know if you can see it. It’s a building that has lights on it; that’s what we built. Initially, it wasn’t perfect, but we liked it, and lots of people did.

I loved the design. Because it’s 3D printing now. We have, and we could. Have curves, as some people said… Wow, this is sexy. I didn’t know the building was sexy, but OK. 

And then six months later, we built something a little bigger model it was right next to. There was the bathroom and the kitchen, and we spent no money; our total marketing spend is $7000. But lots of media picked it up. 3D printing media, sustainability media, housing, affordable housing, on and on and on So, totally Through social media and without spending any money, we’ve got tons of customers. We have millions—tens of millions—of pre-orders.

So, we kind of accelerate. So, anyway, last month we started, we got our production going, we have 10 units now that have been installed, and you know, we have enough orders for the next year. So, our biggest challenge now is actually the time to raise more money to build more capacity. 

So, we’re doing a crowdfunding campaign. It’s in the Republic. It’s a republic.com/Azure, and anybody else can go on that republic.com site and invest as little as $250. We now have over 750 investors from 47 States and 23 countries. Some as little as $250, some as much as a Quarter of $1,000,000.

So, the size of the investment doesn’t matter, and actually, we’ve already seen somebody who invested 20/50 dollars last year. I want to write a $10,000 check, so they’re writing with us, and we’ve created a great community. So, this weekend I’m going to Washington, DC because we’ve been selected to be on the Washington Mall on the National Mall, where there is something called the Innovation Showcase. And so, all of us here are very busy.

So, who is going to help me at this innovation showcase? So, I sent emails to some investors on the East Coast. And one lady is flying in from Rhode Island or Massachusetts because she wants to help and has some free time. And her cousin and her niece live in Washington, DC, and then another investor just wrote to me this morning, says Gene. I see some social media. Can I Help? So, he’s going to come and be in their booth Friday afternoon, so we’ve created A cool community of people. 

And a lot of them go above and beyond. Some of them are very successful with brokers, so they know how to sell our product to others. Some of them are contractors who want to be able to offer it as a development project. So, we created a very powerful engine for networking. And yeah, that’s the story.

That is amazing. So, these are basically residential homes that people can get on a much cheaper level than probably buying a normal home.

Yeah, yeah, they can have a little backyard studio, a little office. They can work… You know, there are still people who work virtually full-time or part-time for as little as $20,000, or they can build a two-bedroom house for $200,000. 

So, really, when people go on our website, there is a Configurator where they can design their units, and as they add features, they see how the price changes. So, there are no surprises. That’s nothing in construction. It’s like nobody can tell you the price. You know but on our website. You can see how many things cost money that you still need to have a local contractor do the foundation, utilities, and site work, but the building itself will come finished with a permit because we, as a factory, built it. Manufacturer, we can issue a permit. Cosmos, unfortunately, I have to run.

Oh yeah, of course. The last thing was, how can our audience connect with you and get to know more about you and this work that you’re doing.

So, I’m on social media. My name is Gene Eidelman Connect with me either on LinkedIn or just for our website, Azure Printed Homes. I’ll be more than happy to answer individual questions if you write to me or call me. You know, I’d love to be able to be easily accessible.

Thank you So much, Gene and I’m grateful that you took the time for this show, and I’d be honored to have you back again.

OK.

And I want to conclude this by letting my extraordinary Americans know that, hey, look, there’s something extraordinary within every one of us, and we must awaken it and unleash it until next time. Bye for now.