The Manufacturing Phenomenon That Is SendCutSend - EP 79 Jim Belosic

If you spend any time inside a company that actually makes things in the U.S., then you’ll hear about SendCutSend.

Started in 2018, SendCutSend has become an American manufacturing phenomenon. The company makes metal parts for more than 300,000 customers, ranging from giants of aerospace and defense to hobbyists working on their cars. You ship SendCutSend a computer file of what you want built, and it often arrives at your house or factory the next day.

Jim Belosic started the company because he always had hardware side projects running in the background and wanted something like SendCutSend to exist. He spent $750,000 on his first metal cutting machine and then soon discovered that there were lots of other people like him who also wanted something like SendCutSend to exist.

The company has since evolved into one of the few homegrown options that can compete with China in terms of getting metal parts to customers quickly and at a reasonable price.

SendCutSend had been flying under the radar of the wider public for years with Belosic building the business largely with his own money and some smaller investments. Recently, though, SendCutSend raised $110 million from Sequoia, Paradigm, and Stripe founders Patrick and John Collison is now valued at $1 billion.

Our interview with Jim was conducted at SendCutSend’s headquarters in Reno and covers his history, the company’s history and the state of manufacturing in the U.S.

Full Disclosure: SendCutSend is a sponsor of the Core Memory podcast. This interview, for what it’s worth, took place before the company came on as a sponsor when my brain and soul were still objective.

Jim and I subsequently found a lot of overlap in what we care about and how we go about things. Our readers and viewers will know that we’re rather into folks who make things, and so is SendCutSend, so it’s quite the natural fit.

OUR SPONSORS

SendCutSend

Do you make stuff? Do you need metal parts fast and believe in truth and justice? Then head on over to SendCutSend where you’ll get a 15 percent discount thanks to Core Memory on whatever you’re trying to build. We believe in you.

Brex

The Core Memory podcast is also sponsored by Brex, the intelligent finance platform built to help companies spend smarter and move faster.

Did we go to Texas, find a telescope ranch and then obtain an entire nebula in Brex’s honor? Oh yes, we did.

We run on Brex and so should you. Learn more about Brex right here.

Timestamps (Links head to YouTube)

00:00 Intro

04:09 What Does SendCutSend Actually Do?

06:01 The Black Market for One-Off Parts

08:31 The $750,000 Bet That Started It All

11:22 From Facebook Software to Cutting Metal

18:02 What on Earth Is a Teslonda?

24:31 The One Thing Nobody Else Tried

30:28 300,000 Customers, From Rockets to His Mom

35:23 Is Reindustrializing America Just Theater?

42:20 Why “Software First” Is a VC Trap

50:22 Is U.S. Manufacturing Stronger Than We Think?

1:03:42 Anodizing, Nevada, and What They Can Build Now

1:13:29 The One Competitor That Scares Him

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