Credit freeze incomin', fellas.
SHIELD WALL!
Oyster is shutting down
11–20 of 84 posts
Re: Oyster is shutting down
#12Re: Oyster is shutting down
#13Oyster was something that Google Play or Amazon Kindle Unlimited will almost certainly never be. The beautiful design and focus on details was just the surface. It felt like a company run by people that are passionate about reading and surfacing great books in engaging ways. There were no competing interests--it was about the books and while they weren't perfect, that passion was evident in everything they did. I, for one, will really miss them.
Re: Oyster is shutting down
#14Taken without any external context, this release is nonsensical, probably because they don't bother to say why they're shutting down or what the new opportunity is.
"Looking forward, we feel this is best seized by taking on new opportunities to fully realize our vision for ebooks." By... shutting down?
I would have appreciated a bit of plain-speaking here.
Re: Oyster is shutting down
#15A shutdown notice with a photo of the team holding an "Oyster" flag on a boat. Does anyone else find this amusing?
Re: Oyster is shutting down
#16Taken without any external context, this release is nonsensical, probably because they don't bother to say why they're shutting down or what the new opportunity is. "Looking forward, we feel this is best seized by taking on new opportunities to fully realize our vision for ebooks." By... shutting down? I would have appreciated a bit of plain-speaking here.
Google have snapped up a bunch of their staff
Re: Oyster is shutting down
#17Is it fair to Oyster's investors? According to Engadget and Recode [1], "a portion" of Oyster's staff (including its CEO and co-founders) are jumping ship for Google's Play Books division. In short, this is an indirect acquisition -- Google is snapping up the core of the company without buying all of its assets.
[1] http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/21/oyster-shutting-down/
Re: Oyster is shutting down
#18Is it fair to Oyster's investors? According to Engadget and Recode [1], "a portion" of Oyster's staff (including its CEO and co-founders) are jumping ship for Google's Play Books division. In short, this is an indirect acquisition -- Google is snapping up the core of the company without buying all of its assets. [1] http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/21/oyster-shutting-down/
>Is it fair to Oyster's investors?
The alternative is ... what?
-- Actually it looks like Google will pay back investors some or all of their investment.
Re: Oyster is shutting down
#19It's worth noting that Oyster raised a total of $17M as of last year: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/oysterbooks-com Runway has its limits.
Wow. What'd they burn it on?
Re: Oyster is shutting down
#20Is it fair to Oyster's investors? According to Engadget and Recode [1], "a portion" of Oyster's staff (including its CEO and co-founders) are jumping ship for Google's Play Books division. In short, this is an indirect acquisition -- Google is snapping up the core of the company without buying all of its assets. [1] http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/21/oyster-shutting-down/
>Is it fair to Oyster's investors? The alternative is ... what? -- Actually it looks like Google will pay back investors some or all of their investment.
And even more importantly, who cares? An acquihire is always a risk, as much as failure. Investors should (I imagine) be building that into their risk model.