11/17/2017

TechShop Closure: Membership Lessons From a Shutdown

People value in organizations what they can’t do for themselves

In many ways, the maker-oriented firm TechShop represented a particular ideal: A for-profit business organized around the perks of traditional membership. Rather than aiming broad like most retail outlets, it targeted a narrow group of people with common interests who found its idea valuable.

But that wasn’t enough to sustain the company (nor was interest from big names like Barack Obama, who as president visited a Pittsburgh TechShop location in 2014).  This week, the company was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation, forgoing Chapter 11 reorganization.

“In spite of many months of effort to restructure the company’s debt and raise new capital to fund our recently announced strategic pivot, we have depleted our funds,"  said company CEO Dan Woods in a letter on the company’s website. "We are left with no other options.”

Please click here to read the complete article from Associations Now.