UltiMaker has a new CEO today.
The company announced theyāve appointed Michiel Alting von Geusau as their chief executive officer, replacing the departing Nadav Goshen.
Goshen is apparently āleaving to pursue a new endeavorā, was the first CEO of the combined Ultimaker – MakerBot operation, having been the CEO of MakerBot prior to the merger.
Chair of UltiMakerās Supervisory Board, Bart Markus, explained:
“Nadav was integral in building the foundation of UltiMaker post-merger, and we are excited to now have Michiel as our leader in this next phase of the company. Michiel is a seasoned and results-oriented leader with extensive experience in driving growth within technology companies.ā
Thatās likely true. Von Geusauās LinkedIn reports heās been at a number of companies in executive positions, including several years at Ingram Micro and CEO/CFO of DOCDATA. He seems to have extraordinary experience in the logistics area, as many of his earlier roles focus on that practice. He is also a former Marine.
This is quite interesting because CEOs are selected by boards to execute the intended company strategy. For example, if a company needs new products, perhaps a technically-experienced CEO is selected, whereas if the company is to do an IPO, then an experienced IPO leader would likely be selected.
Here we have someone with incredible experience in logistics.
What could that mean for UltiMaker?
It seems to me that their board has an interest in improving the logistics of UltiMaker, suggesting that they could seek ways to better their manufacturing process, expand their sales into more regions, make existing sales more effective or similar strategies.
All of that sounds like a company expecting to grow significantly. Why hire someone with logistics experience if you didnāt need more logistics?
As for Goshen, I met him several times and had good conversations. I suspect that he was in place to handle the transition from two companies to one company. Now that itās complete, it was perhaps time to get another CEO that can take on the companyās next challenge.
Thereās also the possibility that Goshen simply wanted to work with a smaller organization at the different stage than where UltiMaker is heading, or he encountered an offer he couldnāt refuse from an interesting startup.
Either way, things are going to be somewhat different at UltiMaker going forward.
Via UltiMaker
Personally, I think that UltiMaker should be working on some new and faster 3d printers, as they are being slowly left behind with their expensive products, that others will be able to make for less money, that will be just as reliable, and faster. I like our S5, but my next intended 3D printer will not be an Ultimaker, unless something drastically better shows up, at a reasonable price.