Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
At the time of this writing, MakerBot was wrapping up a period of intensive,
frenzied growth. It was moving its headquarters out of the grungy streets of
Brooklyn's industrial area into downtown Manhattan. It's easy to mistake
MakerBot for an overnight success thanks to their sudden media attention.
Yet its founders, Adam Mayer, Zach Smith, and Bre Pettis toiled unheralded
for a few years, supported by money from family and friends.
When I visited MakerBot's headquarters, the scene was one of high energy
chaos and runaway growth. MakerBot's founders have done a masterful job of
transitioning the company from a three-person startup with deep DIY roots,
to today's media-savvy and well-funded company. Thanks to MakerBot's play-
fully appealing public company persona and a game-changing appearance on
the Stephen Colbert show (where Adam, Bre, and Zach made history by 3D
printing a plastic replica of host Stephen Colbert's head), MakerBot is enjoying
ever-increasing sales revenue.
MakerBot's genius lies not in its technology. To keep prices in a consumer-
friendly range, its Cupcake and Replicator 3D printers employ technically primi-
tive printing mechanisms and print in plastic. MakerBot's genius lies in its
spirit of playfulness, the company's ability to make design and manufacturing
a unifying, fun, and transformative experience, for its customers.
Shapeways
As powerful tools of design and production become available to everyone,
the lines between professional and amateur, buyer and seller, designer and
consumer begin to blur. If MakerBot is the purveyor of 3D printers and online
communities that embody free-spirited creativity, Shapeways represents an
innovative design marketplace. Shapeways is a web-based community/market-
place that hosts storefronts for designers and 3D prints things for customers
who send in a design ile.
Shapeways was based in the Netherlands, but in 2011 moved its headquar-
ters to New York City. Like MakerBot, Shapeways is growing rapidly. At the
end of 2012, to the delight of local politicians who cut the ceremonial ribbon
with a 3D printed pair of scissors, Shapeways opened a factory of ifty 3D
printers in Long Island City.
