For years, 3D printing was supposed to revolutionize manufacturing, but the reality lagged far behind the hype. While it was great for prototypes, early printed parts were often too weak and inconsistent for real industrial use. 

Then came Markforged. By inventing new 3D printers that embed continuous carbon fiber and even print metal, this Boston-area startup enabled companies to produce strong, end-use components on demand, finally pushing additive manufacturing into mainstream production.

strength-to-weight ratio than 6061 aluminum. This means manufacturers could replace machined metal components with lighter printed composites without sacrificing strength, a breakthrough that made 3D printing viable for functional, load-bearing parts.

Here’s what you’ll learn: 

3D printing promised a manufacturing revolution. In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama proclaimed the technology "has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything." Investors poured capital into the space. New printer companies launched monthly.

But the reality lagged years behind the hype.

Companies discovered 3D printed parts couldn't handle real industrial stress. Plastic printers, the dominant technology, produced parts that warped, cracked under load, and degraded over time. An ABS plastic bracket might work fine sitting on a desk, but put it in an engine bay or under mechanical stress and it failed fast. The parts simply couldn't match the strength of machined metal or injection-molded plastic. Layer adhesion remained inconsistent, creating weak points. Print quality varied from batch to batch.

The economics didn't work either. Printing remained too slow and costly for anything beyond one-off prototypes. A single complex part could take 24 hours to print, far too long when manufacturers needed hundreds or thousands of units. Failed prints meant wasted time and material with no easy way to predict which builds would succeed.

Engineers needed parts that could replace metal components in jigs, fixtures, and production equipment. What they got were fragile prototypes suitable only for form and fit checks. Boeing might use a 3D printed model to visualize a new engine bracket, but the actual bracket still required traditional machining from aluminum stock, adding weeks to the production cycle and thousands in tooling costs.

By 2015, the market had sorted itself. 3D printing carved out a comfortable niche in product development departments and design studios. Traditional manufacturers kept their CNC machines, injection molds, and supply chains humming along. The technology that was supposed to transform factory floors remained confined to prototyping labs.

Most businesses waste 60% of their acquisition budgets on channels that don’t convert because there’s no systematic approach to moving prospects through their acquisition journey. The difference between winning deals and losing them comes with knowing exactly what to do at every stage.

The From Prospect to Profit Playbook gives you actionable frameworks for mastering customer acquisition from end to end that you can deploy immediately. You'll learn how to move prospects through each stage efficiently, handle objections strategically, and convert at every touchpoint.

All while building repeatable systems that scale without adding headcount. No theory, just frameworks that close deals.

Markforged rejected incremental fixes. Founded in 2013 by MIT aerospace engineer Greg Mark, the company believed production-grade 3D printing required entirely new materials and methods.

Their breakthrough was continuous fiber reinforcement. In January 2014, Markforged debuted the Mark One, the first 3D printer capable of laying continuous strands of carbon fiber, fiberglass, or Kevlar into a nylon base. These fiber-reinforced parts achieved a tensile strength of 700 MPa, more than double aluminum's ultimate tensile strength. Engineers could finally print lightweight brackets and tooling fixtures that performed like machined metal.

A manufacturer needing a custom jig could design it in CAD, print it overnight with carbon fiber reinforcement, and install it on the production line the next morning. No machining, no minimum order quantities, no six-week lead time.

Markforged then tackled metal. Traditional laser-based metal printers cost $500,000 to over $1 million and required dedicated facilities. In January 2017, the company launched the Metal X at $99,500. The system used Atomic Diffusion Additive Manufacturing, printing metal powder bound in plastic, then sintering it in a furnace to produce fully dense metal parts. Small manufacturers could suddenly produce stainless steel and tool steel components in-house with properties comparable to cast metal.

The hardware integrated into a cloud-connected platform. Software like Digital Forge managed print queues, optimized fiber placement, and used data from thousands of prints to improve quality. Engineers without additive expertise could design a part and send it to print, the software handled fiber routing and support structures.

By targeting industrial customers with production problems rather than hobbyists prototyping trinkets, Markforged positioned itself as a manufacturing tool for companies needing strong parts fast.

The technology delivered. Vestas, the wind turbine manufacturer, slashed costs by 88.65 percent on custom molds while cutting lead times from 7,900 days to 101 days. Dana Incorporated reduced fixture costs by 70 percent and lead times by 90 percent.

By 2020, Markforged's printers operated in over 10,000 facilities worldwide, producing more than 10 million parts. The company maintained gross margins between 48 and 52 percent. In July 2021, Markforged went public through a SPAC merger, reaching a market capitalization of $2.1 billion.

The broader market shifted too. By 2023, 21 percent of companies reported using 3D printing for end-use production parts, not just prototypes. GE Aviation had produced over 180,000 fuel nozzles using additive manufacturing, consolidating 20 parts into one while achieving 25 percent weight reduction. The production applications Markforged pioneered were becoming standard. They had proved the market, but then they lost it.

Technical success doesn’t guarantee business dominance. In April 2025, Nano Dimension acquired Markforged for $116 million, a fraction of its public market peak. The company had proven that industrial 3D printing could work at scale, with real customers achieving real cost savings. Yet it faced the familiar startup challenge: being first to prove a market doesn't mean capturing that market long-term.

Markforged solved a genuine technical problem and found paying customers. It demonstrated that 3D printing could escape the prototype shop and handle production work. The transformation it predicted came to pass. Translating that validation into sustained market leadership proved harder than making parts stronger than aluminum.

Key takeaways to consider…

Ready to transform artificial intelligence from a buzzword into your personal revenue generator? Our groundbreaking guide "200+ AI-Powered Income Ideas" is your gateway to financial innovation in the digital age.

Inside you'll discover:

Access your guide now and join thousands of forward-thinkers already capitalizing on AI's potential.

48% - Profit margin for FY 2024

15,000+ - Number of Markforged 3D printers installed worldwide

88.65% - The cost reduction for mold manufacturing

170+ - Markforged’s IP moat with 170+ issued and pending patents 

$116M- How much Nano Dimension paid to acquire Markforged

As AI agents become a shared superintelligence available to every company, the real moat shifts from having better models to having better context. Aaron Levie argues that the teams who win won’t just “use AI” but will rigorously capture their customer history, tribal knowledge, and decision trails so agents can act like truly expert insiders instead of generic consultants.

Against a backdrop of synthetic content, manufactured engagement, and factory‑farmed “storytelling,” this piece argues that the true narrative edge in 2026 comes from radical realness: investing in craftsmanship over virality, proof over puffery, live experiences over empty clicks, and long‑term, human relationships that take months or years to build—and, once real, can’t be made unreal again.

Which classmate would you buy 10% of for life? Warren Buffett's 2001 Terry College masterclass opens with a radical thought experiment. The answer isn't about grades or pedigree, it's about integrity, generosity, and work ethic. The kicker? These winning traits are completely self-selected. Buffett's message: the habits you form now become "too light to be felt until they're too heavy to be broken." Invest in your character early, because it compounds like nothing else.

As a leader, you know the stakes. Making just one or two wrong hires could mean killing months of progress. RevOps Pipeline can help you with those key hires that are crucial for long-term success. Great companies aren’t built by chance. Here’s how you can scale with confidence.