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Hey jayjay71 - thanks for your comments - let me clarify some of your questions! Our core customers are actually experienced engineers, but our publicly expose

Hey jayjay71 - thanks for your comments - let me clarify some of your questions! Our core customers are actually experienced engineers, but our publicly exposed product (CAD Add-in, site, etc.) isn't the offering where we're currently making most of our revenue, but in Q1 it will be. We'll announce the specifics publicly, so stay tuned. I suspect you'll be happy with what this has. Unless you have a exotic needs, we'll be able to make it. We essentially decided that it's more important to satisfy our early enterprise customers using a lot of hand-selling until the CAD Add-in is fully there - which is the slow part because the computational geometry is quite tricky to get the experience you want for instant quotes / feedback that are meaningful. We are NOT building this to flip. There are far easier companies to start if you're looking to make a quick buck, and Founders Fund / Lux don't invest in companies with a small vision. We haven't talked a lot publicly about our long-term vision, but it's a core piece of our DNA. Happy to answer more questions.

jayjay71 10y ago
I want more materials (ie stainless steel, brass), greater capabilities (ie 5 axis mill, welding), and it would be nice to have guaranteed compliance for regulated industries (ie food, medicine). Other than that, you are more expensive than hiring a machinist the old-fashioned way for one-off parts. Apparently I just don't understand your business, because I'm clearly not your customer. Also please don't name drop your investors - nobody cares. Funding is a vanity metric. Focus on how you can be profitable when your business is no longer subsidized by external funding - that's what will make you successful. Growth is great but it doesn't help if you can't ever sell at a profit. Anyway, while I may not understand your business, I wish you luck. If you can truly revolutionize manufacturing the way you say that would be great.
- nickpinkston 10y ago
  Yea, your list of materials / complexity is actually what we offer now in private (including turning, mill-turning) - public release coming in January. Certs for aerospace, etc. are coming in 2017. From our price studies, we're on par with other fast turn shops and faster than all of them with big high mix orders. You can get cheaper parts slowly, but we focus on people with more money than time. Ha, funding isn't a vanity metric when your company needs financing. If you're doing a really big project in a high-growth competitive market, you'll very often need to go the VC route. Bootstrapping doesn't work for this. If you've ever done it, you know that raising angel/VC money is hard work. I respect people who are able to raise funding, and far more I respect when they turn that into great products that help a lot of people. Yea, I think making manufacturing better is a big deal, and there is much work to do. Thanks for all of your feedback!
  - jayjay71 10y ago
    "From our price studies, we're on par with other fast turn shops" Your studies are cherry-picked to make you look good then, as that just isn't true. "funding isn't a vanity metric when your company needs financing" Needing to raise money and bragging about it as a sign of success are very different things. Turn off the pitch, dude. I've already told you several times I'm not your customer. I'm bowing out of this conversation now.

jayjay71 10y ago

I want more materials (ie stainless steel, brass), greater capabilities (ie 5 axis mill, welding), and it would be nice to have guaranteed compliance for regulated industries (ie food, medicine). Other than that, you are more expensive than hiring a machinist the old-fashioned way for one-off parts. Apparently I just don't understand your business, because I'm clearly not your customer. Also please don't name drop your investors - nobody cares. Funding is a vanity metric. Focus on how you can be profitable when your business is no longer subsidized by external funding - that's what will make you successful. Growth is great but it doesn't help if you can't ever sell at a profit. Anyway, while I may not understand your business, I wish you luck. If you can truly revolutionize manufacturing the way you say that would be great.

nickpinkston 10y ago
Yea, your list of materials / complexity is actually what we offer now in private (including turning, mill-turning) - public release coming in January. Certs for aerospace, etc. are coming in 2017. From our price studies, we're on par with other fast turn shops and faster than all of them with big high mix orders. You can get cheaper parts slowly, but we focus on people with more money than time. Ha, funding isn't a vanity metric when your company needs financing. If you're doing a really big project in a high-growth competitive market, you'll very often need to go the VC route. Bootstrapping doesn't work for this. If you've ever done it, you know that raising angel/VC money is hard work. I respect people who are able to raise funding, and far more I respect when they turn that into great products that help a lot of people. Yea, I think making manufacturing better is a big deal, and there is much work to do. Thanks for all of your feedback!
- jayjay71 10y ago
  "From our price studies, we're on par with other fast turn shops" Your studies are cherry-picked to make you look good then, as that just isn't true. "funding isn't a vanity metric when your company needs financing" Needing to raise money and bragging about it as a sign of success are very different things. Turn off the pitch, dude. I've already told you several times I'm not your customer. I'm bowing out of this conversation now.