In the business of branding a new 3D printing business and its leading-edge products, one should carefully calibrate the risk inherent in metaphorical names. AND, possible unintended consequences from imagery turned on itself — like a double-edged cutlass…
The short and controversial history of Pirate3D with its “Buccaneer” 3D printer product line at its “Treasure Island” web portal, would suggest that the mnemonic or showcase value of a “piratical brand” is questionable.
(Were the eye-patched folks at Pirate3D thinking that the marketplace would see them as colorful and fun-loving “Pirates of the Caribbean” — sharing the gold of 3DP-value captured from the desktop printing establishment? “Establishment??” The most ancient of the desktop “Haves” is barely four-years-old: MakerBot really can’t be accused of being long in the gold tooth…)
Pirate3D’s branding cannot outweigh the ironic implications of customers also remembering — too well — the startup’s mistakes in plundering customer goodwill. Especially if, like Pirate3D, you can be legitimately accused of walking early and enthusiastic Kickstarter supporters off a commercial and moral plank…by failing to deliver on promises.
A little history: back in November of 2013, Pirate3D’s Buccaneer was one of the first of the ultra-inexpensive 3D desktop printers to start setting Kickstarter records. The company pegged its Kickstarter sights high (at $100K) and then quickly multiplied that by more than 10! Ending its campaign at over $1 million. Yowza!
Then, a number of projected features and functions — that helped make the printer such a compelling deal — were stripped away from the first Buccaneers. Next, the negative campaign comments on the Pirate3D Kickstarter project blew-up — inversely proportional to the Buccaneer features deleted and delivery times extended!
Mirable dictu: the company actually shipped its first printers at the end of March this year. Now, Pirate3D has decided to trade-in its canvas-and-carronade “Black Pearl” for a mass-production scale-up to the equivalent of an aircraft carrier. In April, it hoped to have its production lines turning out “thousands of Buccaneers per month.” Pirate3D thinks this go-for-broke manufacturing expansion would enable the company to use multiple-country distribution channels — including department and electronics stores.
At the end of June, 2014, Pirate3D continues to morph like Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. At “CE Week” — the Consumer Electronics tech showcase and trade conference in New York City, from 23 to 27 June — the Buccaneer 3D Printer was named 2014 “Best in Show” in its category. This echoes the kind of public accolades the Buccaneer printer garnered as an early Kickstarter darling in 2013. The features, functions and positioning are not the same as that kickstarted product of last year. The price is now $1,299 instead of the Kickstarter early-supporter price of $299! And, THIS Buccaneer is now scheduled for delivery September 2014.
How does Pirate3D manage to keep all these crosswinds filling its sales (wait: sails!) in the high and forbidding seas of the desktope 3D printer marketplace? Well, I think one must give major credit to co-founder and Chief Executive, Pirate Roger Chang, the company’s indomitable public face, for keeping his entrepreneurial ship afloat. Stormed at with shot and shell of often-adverse public opinion, Pirate3D has continued making headway. (One could also say “headway” is a relative term when this startup’s course has already been re-plotted on several occasions, BUT that is what the best, and most successful, young companies do to win out.)
Now, it also didn’t hurt Pirate3D when Red Dot Ventures — a Government of Singapore official Technology Incubator — and Singapore’s National Research Foundation invested the equivalent of a half a million US dollars in Pirate3D to launch the startup in February 2013.
Chang & Co. has also managed to keep its primary chart nailed to the mast. Their stated commercial voyage is about “developing the most affordable and user-friendly 3D printer for the mass-consumer market.”
Pirate3D has made a lot of waves in its 18 months of existence — enough to almost swamp its own boat. But, you have to fire salutes and dip your colors for a company with this kind of chutzpa (or the equivalent in Singaporean slang). Pirate3D continues to sail ahead with new and exciting 3DP products — and a lot of promotional swashbuckling. Still, I wish them a safe landing on the other shore of entrepreneurship. These kinds of “pirates” are good for our 3DP industry…
