6 ms·

TinkerCAD reopens, purchased by AutoDesk

41 points by iancarroll 13y ago

kaib 13y ago
I'm Kai, one of the founders of Tinkercad. If anyone has questions I'm happy to answer here.
- nraynaud 13y ago
  It seems like tinkercad.com is dead, I am wrong?
  - kaib 13y ago
    We did a quick deploy to fix one account class that hadn't been moved to the new free plan. The site is back up again. Edit: The site was down for 3 min and 32 s.
    - jtagen 13y ago
      Might still have problems with some accounts? I'm a former paid user, cancelled when you announced and I started teaching myself competing software. I still get a "your account is suspended" instead of access under the free plan.
      - kaib 13y ago
        Can you please mail team@tinkercad.com with your login email and we will look into it. Sounds like a bug.
- iancarroll 13y ago
  Is AutoCAD going to offer a way to print to TinkerCAD?
  - kaib 13y ago
    Are you talking about exporting model data or doing 3D printing from within AutoCAD?
    - iancarroll 13y ago
      A print to tinkercad button that would offer printing in-app.
      - kaib 13y ago
        I'm not privy to the AutoCAD roadmap but I would expect them to integrate with the consumer apps first.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- chubot 13y ago
  What's happening to Airstone? Is the team now back working on Tinkercad instead?
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
    - kaib 13y ago
      Autodesk engineering will take over all Tinkercad development. We are working on transitioning everything over, Autodesk has built a very strong and dedicated team to support Tinkercad. Airstone development will continue as before.
      - iancarroll 13y ago
        Oops, didn't see your post. Deleting mine :)
  - kaib 13y ago
    This was a pure asset deal, no personnel moved to Autodesk. The team will continue working full time on Airstone.
    - carterschonwald 13y ago
      Could you elaborate on the HPC elements of what you're doing? I'm somewhat unfamiliar with the simulation/modeling tooling ecosystem (beyond a fuzzy "mix of computational geometry, physics and numerical computing probably happens here" view point). What are some good starting points for understanding the landscape of such tools? Context: I'm a few months away from rolling out (from my company, Wellposed) some pretty interesting HPC grade numerical computing products/tools and it seems like the simulation/modelling ecosystem might be one segment that might find my Wellposed tools intriguing.
      - kaib 13y ago
        I think we might have something out of interest for Wellposed. Fire me an email at kai@airstonelabs.com and lets talk more.
- davyjones 13y ago
  I don't have any questions per se but I was genuinely sorry when I heard TinkerCAD was shutting down. Very glad to know you guys have revived the project.
  - kaib 13y ago
    Thanks! We are very happy with the outcome as well.
    - nemild 13y ago
      Congrats Kai + Team TinkerCAD
- bhouston 13y ago
  Any word on the price of the assets in terms of figures?
  - kaib 13y ago
    Deal terms were not disclosed. That said Airstone is planning to fund development using the acquired funds.
- dirtyaura 13y ago
  Congrats Kai and team. Interested to know how this happened. Did you shopped Tinkercad before closing it down and Autocad approached only after shutdown?
  - kaib 13y ago
    The short answer is no, we only started selling the assets three weeks ago, a few months after announcing the shutdown. The longer answer is that selling part of your business while continuing in a business that is in any way related is usually very challenging from a legal standpoint. The lawyers call it the "spaghetti effect", basically the IP tends to be really tangled. We had serendipitous developments a few weeks back in how Airstone is built which let us create a hermetic barrier between the Airstone and Tinkercad IP's. Before that happened we had no way of selling the IP without taking an unacceptable risk.
    - dirtyaura 13y ago
      Kai, thanks for the straight answer, this is very educational. I hadn't thought about spaghetti effect ever before.
neovive 13y ago
This is wonderful news! TinkerCAD fits perfectly as a bridge into AutoDesk's 123D family of modeling applications. I wouldn't be surprised to see TinkerCAD integrated with 123D Design in the future. It's also a great way to introduce younger audiences to the AutoDesk brand as a long-term bridge to 3D Max and Maya.
GRMA 13y ago
What an unexpected outcome! Wow!
marcamillion 13y ago
Wow....the sheer joy from the commenters is quite telling. I don't think I have ever seen that sort of reaction for an acquisition of any web property before - except maybe YouTube going to Google and not MSFT.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]

41 points by iancarroll 13y ago

kaib 13y ago

I'm Kai, one of the founders of Tinkercad. If anyone has questions I'm happy to answer here.

nraynaud 13y ago
It seems like tinkercad.com is dead, I am wrong?
- kaib 13y ago
  We did a quick deploy to fix one account class that hadn't been moved to the new free plan. The site is back up again. Edit: The site was down for 3 min and 32 s.
  - jtagen 13y ago
    Might still have problems with some accounts? I'm a former paid user, cancelled when you announced and I started teaching myself competing software. I still get a "your account is suspended" instead of access under the free plan.
    - kaib 13y ago
      Can you please mail team@tinkercad.com with your login email and we will look into it. Sounds like a bug.
iancarroll 13y ago
Is AutoCAD going to offer a way to print to TinkerCAD?
- kaib 13y ago
  Are you talking about exporting model data or doing 3D printing from within AutoCAD?
  - iancarroll 13y ago
    A print to tinkercad button that would offer printing in-app.
    - kaib 13y ago
      I'm not privy to the AutoCAD roadmap but I would expect them to integrate with the consumer apps first.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
chubot 13y ago
What's happening to Airstone? Is the team now back working on Tinkercad instead?
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
  - kaib 13y ago
    Autodesk engineering will take over all Tinkercad development. We are working on transitioning everything over, Autodesk has built a very strong and dedicated team to support Tinkercad. Airstone development will continue as before.
    - iancarroll 13y ago
      Oops, didn't see your post. Deleting mine :)
- kaib 13y ago
  This was a pure asset deal, no personnel moved to Autodesk. The team will continue working full time on Airstone.
  - carterschonwald 13y ago
    Could you elaborate on the HPC elements of what you're doing? I'm somewhat unfamiliar with the simulation/modeling tooling ecosystem (beyond a fuzzy "mix of computational geometry, physics and numerical computing probably happens here" view point). What are some good starting points for understanding the landscape of such tools? Context: I'm a few months away from rolling out (from my company, Wellposed) some pretty interesting HPC grade numerical computing products/tools and it seems like the simulation/modelling ecosystem might be one segment that might find my Wellposed tools intriguing.
    - kaib 13y ago
      I think we might have something out of interest for Wellposed. Fire me an email at kai@airstonelabs.com and lets talk more.
davyjones 13y ago
I don't have any questions per se but I was genuinely sorry when I heard TinkerCAD was shutting down. Very glad to know you guys have revived the project.
- kaib 13y ago
  Thanks! We are very happy with the outcome as well.
  - nemild 13y ago
    Congrats Kai + Team TinkerCAD
bhouston 13y ago
Any word on the price of the assets in terms of figures?
- kaib 13y ago
  Deal terms were not disclosed. That said Airstone is planning to fund development using the acquired funds.
dirtyaura 13y ago
Congrats Kai and team. Interested to know how this happened. Did you shopped Tinkercad before closing it down and Autocad approached only after shutdown?
- kaib 13y ago
  The short answer is no, we only started selling the assets three weeks ago, a few months after announcing the shutdown. The longer answer is that selling part of your business while continuing in a business that is in any way related is usually very challenging from a legal standpoint. The lawyers call it the "spaghetti effect", basically the IP tends to be really tangled. We had serendipitous developments a few weeks back in how Airstone is built which let us create a hermetic barrier between the Airstone and Tinkercad IP's. Before that happened we had no way of selling the IP without taking an unacceptable risk.
  - dirtyaura 13y ago
    Kai, thanks for the straight answer, this is very educational. I hadn't thought about spaghetti effect ever before.

neovive 13y ago

This is wonderful news! TinkerCAD fits perfectly as a bridge into AutoDesk's 123D family of modeling applications. I wouldn't be surprised to see TinkerCAD integrated with 123D Design in the future. It's also a great way to introduce younger audiences to the AutoDesk brand as a long-term bridge to 3D Max and Maya.

GRMA 13y ago

What an unexpected outcome! Wow!

marcamillion 13y ago

Wow....the sheer joy from the commenters is quite telling. I don't think I have ever seen that sort of reaction for an acquisition of any web property before - except maybe YouTube going to Google and not MSFT.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]