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The best answer so far is at quora: http://www.quora.com/How-is-Color-doing-since-launch
[0] I couldn't look up 'color problems' for obvious reasons.
The best answer so far is at quora: http://www.quora.com/How-is-Color-doing-since-launch
What is the negative main stream press saying about Color [0]? The post gives an impression that Color faced an AirBnB situation? [0] I couldn't look up 'color problems' for obvious reasons.
1. They raised exorbitant amount of money which set quite high expectations from them.
2. The app didn't take off as expected (at least the vocal early adopters hate it).
3. Peter Pham (the designer co-founder) and chief scientist, DJ Patil quit or got fired, which raised eyebrows.
Mr. Nguyen [CEO of Color] outlined an ambitious plan to compete with Apple, Google and Facebook by tying together group messaging, recommendations and local search, all while making money through advertising.
You would think that a startup with as much funding as Color would hire talent that would realize the ridiculousness of the statement above. I understand that as the CEO of a startup with $42 million he has to sound like he knows what he's doing, but surely anyone reading that statement would have serious reservations about either using the product or investing in the company.
Or perhaps he's an MBA-type who thinks that deep pockets have to mean competing in every single "hot" tech space, instead of excelling at one thing first. Even the giant companies he cites didn't stick their fingers in so many cookie jars: Apple had the iPod, Google had search, and Facebook had interactive college directory. That they are competing now is only possible because of their earlier mastery of a narrow area. And yet, perhaps because of their lofty ambitions, Color is a data mining company without data, and a photo-sharing company without anyone sharing photos on it.
Please don't ascribe this to any bubble. Sometimes, the best intentions of a group of talented charmers can fall by the wayside for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they got carried away by dreaming about what they would do with Facebook's data, or Google's algorithmic prowess, or Apple's UX process. Perhaps they just couldn't connect. Perhaps they got overruled by VCs. We might never know, and it's all part of the natural flow of smart, creative people meeting Wall Street-esque amounts of money.
Data Scientist In Residence = $42 million
Apparently spent on a seriously cool-looking office in Palo Alto across from the Creamery. I walked by the other day; they hadn't moved in yet but there was a "we're hiring" sign posted on the door.
The market was too... saturated