Techshop Closes Doors, Files Bankruptcy
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Techshop Closes Doors, Files Bankruptcy
1–10 of 23 posts
Re: Techshop Closes Doors, Files Bankruptcy
#2I was one of the small-time investors in TechShop and really believed in their mission. I still do, and I'm sad that they weren't able to get a sustainable business model. I learned a lot at their Austin location and made some pretty neat objects. They had said in their last investor meeting that they were trying to pivot to provide services for non-profit makerspaces, but it didn't happen fast enough due to their cash position.
Re: Techshop Closes Doors, Files Bankruptcy
#3Hardware is hard. I was a TechShop member back in 2013. I thought it was a great idea, but I noticed that the laser cutters/engravers seemed to be the only machines that were regularly booked up. I wonder if a model of ‘kinkos for laser cutting’ could have succeeded?
Re: Techshop Closes Doors, Files Bankruptcy
#4I was one of the small-time investors in TechShop and really believed in their mission. I still do, and I'm sad that they weren't able to get a sustainable business model. I learned a lot at their Austin location and made some pretty neat objects. They had said in their last investor meeting that they were trying to pivot to provide services for non-profit makerspaces, but it didn't happen fast enough due to their ca…
I spent a good amount of time at the Austin shop, I loved it but it was just a little too far out of the way to make it worthwhile as a hobby space.
Re: Techshop Closes Doors, Files Bankruptcy
#5It is sad to see them go so completely (chapter 7 is liquidation not reorganization) but I also think they informed a lot of questions about what it takes to run such an operation.
Re: Techshop Closes Doors, Files Bankruptcy
#6I was one of the small-time investors in TechShop and really believed in their mission. I still do, and I'm sad that they weren't able to get a sustainable business model. I learned a lot at their Austin location and made some pretty neat objects. They had said in their last investor meeting that they were trying to pivot to provide services for non-profit makerspaces, but it didn't happen fast enough due to their ca…
I spent a good amount of time at the Austin shop, I loved it but it was just a little too far out of the way to make it worthwhile as a hobby space.
I looked at joining a couple of months ago, but it seemed kind of expensive for a hobby-level interest of mine, something I might come in and use on a weekend several times a year (that's probably a difficult market to serve). Its really too bad, I liked the idea of that place a lot.
Re: Techshop Closes Doors, Files Bankruptcy
#7Site was down for a little bit but an overview presentation is back up here: http://techshop.ws/techshop.pdf
I've been a member since forever and learned so much just by working on my projects next to other people and chatting. I had tried unsuccessfully to create online meeting places (FB groups, subreddits, bulletin boards) to connect with other makers I met there but because of the hands on nature, most people were too busy to be chatting somewhere online. A lot of makers were also a bit older and weren't into social media. There were so many resources like the San Jose corkboard that had lists of local raw parts suppliers that I just could never find online and now it's all gone...
Re: Techshop Closes Doors, Files Bankruptcy
#8It is sad to see them go so completely (chapter 7 is liquidation not reorganization) but I also think they informed a lot of questions about what it takes to run such an operation.
What do you think was learned? I was a member for a few years, but don't feel like I have an understanding of the economics.
Re: Techshop Closes Doors, Files Bankruptcy
#9I worked for them as an instructor, course developer, and general staff mentor for a while at one location. My opinion is that this isn't a failure of the model as much as it is a failure of strategy, management, and opportunity exploitation.
They flat out saw the tools as their only asset which was an almost criminal mistake. They utterly undervalued the potential of their educational group and bled them dry out of a misguided attempt to focus on a core competency that was already not working. It left new people with limited ability to develop new projects and the use of new tools as they learned new competencies. They provided a service that too few people new how to make value of. They waited for the world to come to them, and it never did in sufficient numbers.
Re: Techshop Closes Doors, Files Bankruptcy
#10It is sad to see them go so completely (chapter 7 is liquidation not reorganization) but I also think they informed a lot of questions about what it takes to run such an operation.
What do you think was learned? I was a member for a few years, but don't feel like I have an understanding of the economics.
Pretty much that a conventional retail experience in makerspace form is economically impossible. Every space was staffed by two people during open hours. They had large capital costs and real estate costs. And few people were willing to pay the real cost of being a member. 150$ per person/month was pretty steep, so you would not just keep the membership going unless you were specifically doing a project.
That is why they were trying to pivot to being more a consultant and service supplier for corporate and municipal makerspaces. They just ran out of runway to make that happen.