Scroll till the end for the update.

This morning, the Pinshape team got the notice that the investor we were hinging on fell through, which meant we wouldn’t have the funds needed to continue operations.

This is very sad for all of us in the team, and you could physically feel the silence where everyone was taking in the news during the morning meeting and letting it sink in that we were no longer going to be working together. But I suppose we all knew the risks of working in a startup. And I regret not one bit of it.

About 2 hours later, we broke the news to the public.

Pinshape was a 3D printing community marketplace— and while we were called a marketplace, a large majority of our designs were free for download. I had the pleasure of being Pinshape’s community manager, helping to take care of the members on the platform and helping them reach their full potential on our site, and in the 3D printing world. It was a fun job, and I loved the community. There were days when I’d wake up on a Monday to a load of support tickets, which weren’t always pleasant, but it was wonderful seeing people’s complaints and suggestions put into action on the site. And of course, happy community members really made my day and put a smile on my face. A rewarding job to be sure.

The 3D printing industry is rapidly growing, though as Lucas our CEO mentions in our Goodbye blog post, we’ve seen former consumer 3D printing leaders experience significant financial pressure, and pivot away from the space. Unfortunately, that meant that we weren’t in a very good place as a consumer 3D printing marketplace to find investments. As a 3D printing platform, we had user growth numbers, and it was evident that design counts were growing significantly day by day. The community was booming, and I loved seeing the interactions within it become more helpful and valuable. But as a free platform, we can only run so long without additional investments from investors.

We were not the perfect platform, but we were trying our best to provide a great alternative to the 3D repositories out there, and constantly pivoting to test out what would satisfy makers and 3D designers best. I think my biggest regret after all this is that the project will be gone, and we all put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into Pinshape. It was so much fun working with everyone— it was the best job I’ve ever had, given the amazing people I worked with, and the wonderful community I got to work with.

Thank you my teammates at Pinshape, as well as everyone I got a chance to work with on the platform. I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavours!

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As this blog is where I document bits of my life, I’m scrapbooking some bits of today that touched me as we prepare to close.

via 3Dprintingindustry.com

And some comments I woke up to the next day on the forums :’)

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UPDATE

In a turn of events, on the night we were supposed to close down (March 31st), our CEO messaged all of us privately, asking us to call him back. Or probably just me, because my phone is always on silent.

Someone reached out to us and offered to acquire us. Good thing we got the call on March 31st, or else I would’ve most likely written it off as an April Fool’s joke.

The team was revitalize, and in our Slack channel, there was nothing but cheers. The three days prior to closing, spirits were low, but it was wonderful to sweep that under the rug and start a new chapter. Everyone’s support during those few days were amazing. I cannot be happier and excited for what is to come.