They set aside all of the money that the crowdfunders invested to return to them if needed. They are using venture capital to fund the development of the machines.
They’re okay on funding.
(And there have been several articles about it on the forum…I’m sorry, i just don’t have time to look them up for you right now.) 
Thank you @Jules for your response, and I truly do appreciate it. But as I understand your profile you are not a employee or legal enity of Glowforge. It would be better to have that statement repeated again by Dan or a legal entity of Glowforge. More so, it should be expanded to include that the latest delay will also not dip into the reserved capital.
True enough! 
To be the Devil’s advocate, but do you really have any actual proof of that beyond them saying they do? And if its it true per Dan’s comment they are burning through a million a month right now, and just delayed them yet another 6-7 months, “ok” may be relative term.
I to am rather dissapointed. Fortunately, the money I put down for my glowforge isn’t something that I need. I can afford to wait. I’m excited by the features. I really enjoyed the video I saw on tested.com yesterday and made me even more excited about getting my glowforge in december. Especially when norman did a couple star wars ornaments. Then I was super disappointed this morning. I agree with many people. I feel like I have been lied to. You said in your email you knew in early November there wasn’t anyway you were going to get these out in time. I think you waited to tell us so you could get all of the “cool” features and extras lined up and layed out, but I firmly feel that was a mistake of you not to tell us sooner. You made us all feel like we would still get our glowforge in December by repeatedly saying you would update shipping statuses by Friday. It felt like a bait and switch. 1.5 years is a very long time to go without recompense
This leads to my questions:
Will you listen to your backers?
Will you give us more concrete answers from here on out?
Will you update us on a regular (read weekly) basis? This could include a pinned area under the announcements section on the community. However, I feel monthly reports via email from here on out must happen.
Ultimately, what are your plans to improve your communication from being vague and untimely to specific and timely?
Jules was quoting Dan, with a bit of using that magnifying glass at the top of the page you can find the statement.
@dan thanks for the update. I have to say that in general Glowforge has been a model for other startups on how to handle the pre-order community and you’ve certainly made an amazing effort to compensate backers for the delays.
That being said, this feels really late to make an announcement that could delay shipment for up to 7months!
I hope that moving forward we (backers) can expect more transparency in the process, we’re going to need it to maintain confidence in the organization. Given the delay I would also like you to consider reducing the upgrade pricing back to pre-order levels for backers (at least for 1-3mo). I understand raising it, but the clock just rolled back.
Apologies for not quoting properly - but dan said this in The schedule update thread and I am having trouble ‘replying’ to that.
@dan: “It took longer for me to realize this than it should have, because I was singlemindedly focused on December for so long. That is on me, and I apologize.”
I appreciate that, and it seems one common tone here throughout the forum is that ‘everything seemed fine’ for quite some time. Then all of a sudden a 6 - 7 MONTH delay. Is there an intent on your side to b being a little more forthcoming about this sort of delay in the future?
Pro Upgrade
The Glowforge Pro model has advanced cooling, optics, upgraded laser tube, & a passthrough slot.
To do: Not released yet. If a Pro user is in line for a pre-release unit, we will offer them a Basic pre-release unit and upgrade them later.
That’s quote from the letter. It sounds as if the Pro version is not ready for testing on several fronts.
Here’s a couple questions, some of which may already have been mentioned.
I don’t disagree, but with the exception of software accounting for the passthrough, any meaningful materials delta between basic and pro should be pretty small.
So the questions would be, are the basic and pro versions on the same testing schedule, even though only the basic is out for testing, and are they expecting to ship both at the same time.
If that’s the statement you were referring to much earlier then we were just miss-communicating. The Pros and filter as of recently are/were not ready for pre-release testing or production. We’ve known that. Only thing public was that the Pro S/W wasn’t complete.
How have they been a model for startups? Aside from the delays which were (and are) made nearly last minute, they’ve not been transparent at all with their information as to why the delays are happening. I’ve observed the following pattern:
So, with all due respect, how is that a model for other startups?
I have a question/request.
Laser Shield
Can you post a video of an attempt to cut a material with you coating on it? I’m curious.
But the point is, is that until today, we were lead to believe that both versions were to ship before the end of this month. Nothing has been indicated that there were insurmountable problems to prevent that. That letter was the first indication I’d seen that the Pro version wasn’t ready. If it’s not, which seems apparent, I’d like to know more details. If it is another problem, common to both types, fair enough. But details, please.
Delays in the delivery of product or even the disappearance of well funded startups is not unusual, it happens frequently here in the valley. I do not see this as the problem at Glowforge.
Very often the founder of a company is not the person to carry the company forward into production or delivery of product. Of the founders that I have worked for many of them have stepped aside and brought in a professional management team to either deliver the product, set the company up for acquisition, or take the steps necessary for an IPO. The best of the founders stick to what they are good at and that is generally the technology and not the running of the business. A CEO needs to be just that, an executive. It is a unique set of skills that not many possess.
My personal opinion is that it is pretty clear that Dan is out of his depth here. I also believe that he could likely serve the company and the community better as CTO and leave the daily running of the company to some equipped to do so. He has venture backing and surely that person or team has the connections to make this happen.
Too often, way too often the founder rocks the baby to point where the company gets into a critical situation. Either a cash flow crunch, serious technical issues, or as here, a PR disaster that damages the integrity of the company.
I will find out who their main backer is if he is part of the general VC community. If he is an angel investor it will be more difficult. The fact that they are using only VC money is encouraging. The statement made by Dan that their VC is OK with this massive delay is worrying. No team or individual that I have worked with would be OK with such a delay whether a technical problem or a supply chain foul up. We are probably not being given the entire story here as well.
My wish is that Dan will realize that he cannot do everything in the company and will step back and allow others to come in and leave him to whatever he believes he does best. The string of events at the company clearly prove that he cannot be the executive and the technical lead at the same time. The sooner he realizes this the faster the company will come into its own and progress. Whether is be the lack of transparency in communication, the lack of ability to focus on all aspects of the company, the apparent ignorance of issues with the international users, or the reticence to hire an actual PR and marketing team. Dan has shown that he is a charismatic and visionary founder but clearly not the person to take this company into the future on his own.
Having seen this countless times my advice would be to loosen your grip on the reins and step back. Take a good look at yourself and your abilities. I believe that adding the right people will allow you to truly focus on the machine and lessen the time you have to spend apologizing to your customers and backers.
@dan. MAY HAVE MISSED SOME OF WHAT I SUGGEST SINCE MY #11 POST early this morning. Not trying to be redundant.
Simple solution for transparency. Make a list of ALL that needs to be accomplished prior to limited production and distribution to crowd funded backers (approx 10,000 of us) and then the list of what needs to be validated/accomplished before mass production. Post the list and update daily with LIMITING FACTORS explained and a date that your team will have that step completed. Again, pictures replace a thousand words (ie., production line, inventory, product enhancements, etc)
Thanks, Brian
Dan
I’m a contactor/designer/installer/programmer/customizer in the electronics industry,delays are common,and expected ,only thing that matters is the end results are high quality ,Please DO NOT TAKE A MUCH NEEDED DELAY PERSONALLY,FORGE ON YOUNGE MAN!!
That $3000 valuation will soon drop immensely when large numbers of backers cancel their orders.