A few years ago we discovered in Berlin a very hot startup : Twinkind. They specialized in 3D printed figurines in a quality never seen before. Their process was based was unique as we explained in this interview of its founder Timo Schaedel.
Unfortunately Twinkind filled for bankruptcy in June 2016. The press realease (in German) doesn’t give much detail on the reasons of the failure but our guess is that the market was probably too small for this kind of innovation. What a Pitty.
This illustrate the what can be called the first-mover disadvantage. Twinkind (like Moimee) identified individuals as their primary targets to sell the 3D figurines. This market segment was probably too small and market research (if conducted) should have revealed it (read also this article on the benefits of conducting market research when launching a new product).
Despite the entousiasm of early adopters (who represent only a very tiny fraction of the market) who provide positive reactions, conquering the remaining 97,5% of the market is a challenge that most startups won’t achieve (remember the failure rates of startups).
In the end we think that the price tag of the Twinkind figurines was just too high and wasn’t porportionate to the value created for the user. Keep in mind that customers and prospects evaluate, be it unconcously, the expected value and compare it to the price asked. This implicit ratio works as a levier or an impediment to purchase. This situation may remind you of what’s happening on the IoT (Internet of Things) market where many innovations quickly fail because they are priced too high and add too little value.
Cet article Twinkind went bankrupt : another startup in 3D printing has died est apparu en premier sur Market research consulting.