Stratasys acquires Makerbot for $405M - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 03:10:45 am
content: CNEThttp://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57590132-76/stratasys-acquires-makerbot-in-$403-million-deal/?ttag=twicMakerbot made $11.5M in revenue last year.That's 35 times earning.Great for Makerbot, maybe not so bright for Stratasys...Bre was smart selling out at that price, but I guess he only got stock to show for it.

author: Rufus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 03:31:45 am
content: Stratasys made about 109 million last year with a 3.27 billion cap. About the same ratio.So both overvalued but Stratasys is less dependant on a consumer fad.

author: johnboxall
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 03:59:25 am
content: Kudos to Bre, he had the balls to make some money. Probably pissed off a few people on the way, but that happens.

author: justanothercanuck
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 04:15:42 am
content: Quote from: tronixstuff on June 20, 2013, 03:59:25 amI hear their business practices already did that.

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 04:21:59 am
content: Congrats to Bre.As most people know - the makerbot is a good bit of kit - but it's far from a perfect out of the box experience, that some (most?) people are expecting(no printer is in that price range is really)....but it does beg the question.....I wonder if the finance guys at Stratasys has actually used a makerbot before they put down $400 million? I bet you they didn't.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 04:40:20 am
content: Quote from: tronixstuff on June 20, 2013, 03:59:25 amYou piss off people no matter what you do. So might as well do what you want!

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 04:52:23 am
content: Quote from: tronixstuff on June 20, 2013, 03:59:25 amYes, ratting out the open source crowd pays offNo kudos to Bre.

author: fuffkin
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 07:29:50 am
content: That is an amazing deal and an amount of money and valuation in a little over 4 years.I bought one of their first Cupcake CNC machines and I did feel a bit cheated at the time. It took me ages to set-up and the extruder would always clog up and need re-building. It was nothing like the hype that Bre was putting out at the time and was pretty much not fit for purpose. I know and accept that's what you get as an early adopter, but I can's help feeling a little conned by Bre's hyperbole.Winge over, the question I really wanted to throw out there is: When Zach Hoeken got ousted from Makerbot, do you think he retained some shares and is he cracking open a bottle of bubbly right now?

author: senso
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 08:36:16 am
content: Jackpot...So much money for some open-source ideas half borrowed half copied and simple 3 axis platform with a hot-end duct tapped to it, and an arduino running the show.There is so many fools money in the USA that it hurts just to read things like this..

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 09:19:09 am
content: Quote from: fuffkin on June 20, 2013, 07:29:50 amWe had him on the Amp hour once. Can't recall what he said about the whole affair...

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 09:29:03 am
content: Quote from: senso on June 20, 2013, 08:36:16 amYou don't think they are buying the technology do you? Maybe some of it is worth something, but we'd be talking low single digit percent stuff here at best, unless Stratasys are fools.Remember, even 5% of $400M is $20M. That buys you are huge amount of R&D. And 3D printers aren't rocket science.So scratch that idea.They also are not buying the going business. Once again, it's worth something, but Makerbot are only pulling in 11.5M a year in sales, before costs. And it's likely they are not running a huge margin on these things. So it can't be that, once again, unless Stratasys are fools.Lets's say Makerbot make a massive $5M a year in profit (it's would be more like $2-3M tops), that's 80 years worth of sales. No one buys a company for that at that rate. Scratch that.So what's left to make it worth that?1) The valuable brand name and hype that surrounds it.2) Bre as the poster boy of the 3D printer world.3) The fact that they are competitors. (one of the traditional reasons for gobbling up a company)

author: senso
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 09:41:35 am
content: That's exactly why I said what I said, the Stratasys guys have way better 3D printers, and I will assume that they have way better software too...There is nothing special about the Makerbots, in fact I cant really understand all the hype around so many crappy 3D printers.Its always a bloody plywood chassis(premium home made can be aluminium angle bolted together, ultra high-end is aluminium extrusions, but that is so rare...), some chinese steppers, chinese skate bearings for make-shift linear rails and timing belts.And let it wobble like a piece of jelly.Yes, they might be buying the image of the guy has Bre the 3D printer $DEITY.None the less the Prusa inventor might be a bit upset with this sell

author: uprightsquire
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 09:48:33 am
content: Zach Hoeken's twitter:https://twitter.com/hoeken/status/347607361785065472Quote

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 10:53:46 am
content: Well, so far for the open sauce ..Wham blam , thank you ma'm. Well sell it , get rich. So long and thanks for all the fish...

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 11:12:19 am
content: IMHO its good news. I hope we can expect a decent 3D printer for a reasonable price in the near future.BTW a wooden frame doesn't have to be unstable. It depends on the quality of the wood.

author: fuffkin
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 20, 2013, 11:14:41 am
content: Yep, so by the sounds of that of it Zach retained some shares. Good for him!As to the reasons , it's got to be something to do with the fact that 3D systems have bought up virtually everything else in this space, so they thought they'd better get in on the action at the low end. Point taken about the valuation which isbarking mad.This doesn't augur well for this end of the market. Makerbot will now be fully Closed Source. Apparently there were a few patent disputes between them and Stratesys that have now gone away, but could be used to beat up anyone else that challenges in this space.

author: fuffkin
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2013, 06:59:07 am
content: Here's another question:Didn'tAdrian Bowyer- the father of reprap, which Makerbot started from - put some initial money into founding Makerbot??? If so did he also retain some shares? If he did, then that is very poetic justice. I hope so, it would be richly deserved.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 21, 2013, 07:03:06 am
content: Quote from: fuffkin on June 21, 2013, 06:59:07 amAs I recall, a lot of people invested small amounts in Makerbot, including Bre's parents and a whole host of others. So they are probably doing pretty well now, and unlike Bre wouldn't be likely tied up to cash out now before the market comes down on Stratasys's ironically stratospheric market valuation.

author: fuffkin
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2013, 07:04:13 am
content: In answer to my own question: yesQuoteFor the full article, head on to the Make article:http://makezine.com/2013/06/20/reactions-to-the-makerbot-stratasys-deal/

author: Joules
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2013, 10:25:14 am
content: I wonder if Stratasys are maybe more interested in Thingyverse than they let on.

author: envisionelec
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2013, 12:19:51 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on June 20, 2013, 09:29:03 am1 and 3 are huge reasons to buy. At that price? Not sure. They wanted to make a statement like a lot of tech companies do. It gets people talking.

author: lemmegraphdat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2013, 10:51:12 pm
content: One tech company sold to another tech company for basically nothing. These people are counting on capital gains that may not materialize.

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 22, 2013, 12:24:02 am
content: I think what Stratasys is trying to "buy" is their name in the history books. Like IBM, Apple, Dell, ect....The idea being that - the first person to become a household name, is going to have a good market share. But a lot has changed since the home computer revolution. China will just make the whole thing a race to the bottom on price is my guess.BTW - I'm not surprised at all the "haters" of makerbot. There is a definite feeling of "Oh, I could have done that!" from them. Well, but ya didn't. Did ya?!?!

author: lemmegraphdat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 22, 2013, 01:41:06 am
content: Quote from: george graves on June 22, 2013, 12:24:02 amHistory books is not what those companies were shooting for. Apparently Makerbot wasn't worth real money and or debt. I wonder if there was an agreement to not sell the ssys stock for a number of years.

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 22, 2013, 01:52:42 am
content: "History books" or "making tons of money". Same thing.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 22, 2013, 06:56:28 am
content: Quote from: lemmegraphdat on June 22, 2013, 01:41:06 amBut it wasn't free.You can't just create new stock out of thin air and not have it impact your company financially.QuoteUnless they are absolute fools, yes.Otherwise everyone with any sense at all would sell every share they get at Stratasys's current sky-high PE ratio, including Bre.It's almost all downside risk. Very little upside potential on these shares at this PE ratio.

author: Rasz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 22, 2013, 08:58:20 am
content: Quote from: george graves on June 22, 2013, 12:24:02 amumm they DID - they contributed to thingiverse, then Makerbot tried to play with EULA and somehow take possession of all the models uploaded.This takeover has nothing to do with technology, and all to do with public perception, brand name and market penetration.

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 23, 2013, 12:25:12 pm
content: Quote from: george graves on June 22, 2013, 12:24:02 amYo dude. "Them" being the haters.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 23, 2013, 12:57:12 pm
content: Mostly the hippies want everything for free and they think open source means everything should be free. In reality companies make the biggest contributors to open source projects. Not because they want to give stuff away but because it is cheaper to develop the common parts together. The GPL license levels the playing field and everyone can join in.