I saw this on twitter, but it wasnt posted here, so I figured I would share with you guys. Basically theyre asking for questions for Dan in their upcoming interview. This is for a dev summit at google, so try to ask questions regarding bigger picture things outside of the general glowforge details we discuss here. e.g. If you have read his book and have questions that were not answered within, this is a great place to ask those questions.
Submit away in the form below! - and if you could, paste your question(s) in a forum post too so we can know what people have already submitted as to not spam them
OK, I’m just brainstorming here, but have you considered creating a GF makers’ site, where owners can sell the actual (and unique) products that we make? I.E. in addition to selling the files that allow others to make the products?
Perhaps with a vetting process where only true owners of a GF and only the original / first maker of something gets the exclusive rights to sell those items on your site. I can see that side of things maybe getting complicated & ugly, with disputes arising as to who made it first, knock-offs from non-owners, etc etc.
Rather than makers selling on Etsy / Amazon / E-Bay, they sell on your site. Customers get security in that it is genuine and from a GF owner, and the ease of finding them all in one place.
Huge project, yes, but if it works out, then it could be a pretty big addition to your bottom line…
And hey, had this thought: Would only be fair for me to get a little cut, for coming up with the idea, right?
Edit to add: Ooohhhh, and I just thought of this, too: Maybe include a feature where people can submit requests for things they want made, and owners can bid on the projects! This could be either submitting actual complete plans, or just ideas / descriptions, and the owners then create the plan files.
Once the burn is initiated, In the event that we notice an issue with the emerging result, is there an avenue to cancel the job in progress without having to wait for an undesirable result to finish?
Hey folks. This form is for the Ubiquity Developers Summit. There is no way Dan is going to be asked questions about the operation of the machine or software. Think broader. CEO types of things, future products, where he sees the company going, etc.
I assume someone will pick questions from a long list to ask Dan when he is interviewed. I have no idea what types of questions will be asked. It might be future techie stuff but probably not Glowforge file formats and material types.
Hhhmm, not sure; as I don’t believe I’m familiar with shapeways…I’ll have to check that out! But I guess so…basically would allow us to have a place to sell our unique products that we create with the GF, with exclusive rights to sell whatever things we come up with…although I can see that maybe being a difficult position for GF to be involved in, since they could open themselves up to potential patent infringement maybe if someone claims to have designed something themselves but in reality someone else already holds a patent on it…I doubt GF would want to get involved in patent research.
But yeah, we’d get a place to advertise, and GF gets a % of our sales? As word of GF spreads, there’d be more & more traffic to the site.
Same with the bidding on making products that the public requests…GF gets a % of the sale. Plus, it could probably become THE place for anyone who wants something made with a laser cutter / printer & doesn’t own one…from one time items to small or even eventually large production runs.
And again, really just brainstorming, as it literally just came to me this morning as I was trying to think of a question for Dan. I’m sure there’d be a gazillion details to work out.
Edit: Ok, just looked at their site. Interesting! I guess very close to what I was thinking…but yeah, like you said; instead of a company that makes something that someone asks for, it would be independent GF owners making & shipping items that people ask for and / or selling our own unique items.
GF would maintain the site and get a % of sales…
“I want to know where you think America is heading in the near future on the subject of “making”, both commercially and individually. As a follow-up, what do you think that means for a start-up company in this market?”
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Would be great to hear @dan give his current thoughts on offering discounts during crowdfunding. In Hot Seat I believe he recommends against offering discounts, yet the GlowForge crowdfunding campaign heavily promoted a discounted price.
In the forums @dan has explained the “discount” is the estimated difference between the expected street price once the units are being sold via distributors to end retailers to customers.
Good find! The moderator, Julia, is a Glowforge owner (or her team is getting one for the office - I forget which?) so GF-specific questions are not off the table, since she may want to know too.
