Seattle entrepreneur: A step beyond 3D printers?

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Ashli Blow

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Ashli Blow Feb 6, 2018

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Seattle entrepreneur: A step beyond 3D printers?</h1>
                <h2><p>Seattle tech entrepreneur Dan Shapiro is back at it with a new company called Glowforge. This time — instead of teaching preschoolers to code like in his board game Robot Turtles — his mission is to “make it easier to make things.” Geekwire reported on his new venture back in November, but</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/ashli-blow/">Ashli Blow</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>Seattle tech entrepreneur Dan Shapiro is back at it with a new company called Glowforge. This time — instead of teaching preschoolers to code like <a href="http://crosscut.com/2014/04/11/technology/119334/robot-turtles-coding-board-game-accidental/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">in his board game Robot Turtles</a> — his mission is to “make it easier to make things.” <a href="http://www.geekwire.com/2014/startup-vets-dan-shapiro-tony-wright-form-glowforge-raise-cash-stealthy-hardware-project/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">Geekwire reported</a> on his new venture back in November, but today he officially announced the beginning of Glowforge. <a href="http://www.danshapiro.com/blog/2015/01/glowforge-new-company/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">He wrote on his website</a>:“ We’re making a real, tangible thing — a piece of hardware — powered by a giant stack of software…it’s not an incremental thing; it’s approaching science fiction. It’s actually a product that makes it simple for people to create real, beautiful products.”  The Seattle startup veteran has assembled quite the team: Co-founders Tony Wright (founder of RescueTime, Jobby and CubeDuel) and Mark Gosselin (founder and former CTO of Cequint); Kira Franz (who ran operations for Chef); Dean Putney (Developer of boingboing.net); and Tim Ellis who created electrical systems behind the Genie lift. Shapiro says Glowforge is a mixture between today’s slow, expensive and plasticky 3D prints and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replicator_(Star_Trek)?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">Replicators</a> from Star Trek — but not for food (Nestlé <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/27996163?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">is working</a> on that). — C.R.</p>
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Seattle tech entrepreneur Dan Shapiro is back at it with a new company called Glowforge. This time — instead of teaching preschoolers to code like in his board game Robot Turtles — his mission is to “make it easier to make things.” Geekwire reported on his new venture back in November, but today he officially announced the beginning of Glowforge. He wrote on his website:“ We’re making a real, tangible thing — a piece of hardware — powered by a giant stack of software…it’s not an incremental thing; it’s approaching science fiction. It’s actually a product that makes it simple for people to create real, beautiful products.” The Seattle startup veteran has assembled quite the team: Co-founders Tony Wright (founder of RescueTime, Jobby and CubeDuel) and Mark Gosselin (founder and former CTO of Cequint); Kira Franz (who ran operations for Chef); Dean Putney (Developer of boingboing.net); and Tim Ellis who created electrical systems behind the Genie lift. Shapiro says Glowforge is a mixture between today’s slow, expensive and plasticky 3D prints and Replicators from Star Trek — but not for food (Nestlé is working on that). — C.R.

Ashli Blow

By Ashli Blow

Ashli Blow is a Seattle-based freelance writer who talks with people — in places from urban watersheds to remote wildernesses — about the environment around them. She’s been working in journal

Ashli Blow is a Seattle-based freelance writer who talks with people — in places from urban watersheds to remote wildernesses — about the environment around them. She’s been working in journal