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Weave.in shutting down

weave.in

31–40 of 45 posts

Re: Weave.in shutting down

#31
I used Weave a few times when it was still "Tinder for Networking" and it was pretty clear it'd always be a niche product without a clear monetization strategy.

These are the kinds of startups that make me think twice about becoming a founder myself i.e. raising VC money and hiring a bunch of people only to become trapped into working on an idea for 3-4+ years that you know is not working after year 1-2 because you still have money to burn.

Re: Weave.in shutting down

#32
post #8
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you be willing to invest time/money into a platform you knew would likely shut down in a month or so? I like the idea of a "last chance", but I definitely would be much less likely to use a platform on its last breath. The functionality would have to be really compelling.

I'll be honest I didn't think that one through. I guess I just figured they wouldn't mention "this is a last ditch effort before we close down" without thinking of how dishonest it'd be to do so.

If it is dishonest to scramble for customers when you're worried about whether you'll make it, I suspect there are about 3 "honest" businesses in existence. :)

Re: Weave.in shutting down

#33
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you be willing to invest time/money into a platform you knew would likely shut down in a month or so? I like the idea of a "last chance", but I definitely would be much less likely to use a platform on its last breath. The functionality would have to be really compelling.

I think corobo was saying that if they posted a Show HN (without mentioning shutting down), maybe they wouldn't need to shut down.

I'll give the company the benefit of the doubt and assume that they've done the market research and didn't think posting a Show HN would have made a huge difference.

Re: Weave.in shutting down

#35
post #4

I really wish these projects would post a Show HN or something a month or so before announcing their shutdown. So many times I hear of something new and interesting I'd like to give a go through a shutdown message on HN.

They didn't seem to have a monetisation strategy, so would more interest help? From their FAQ: > How much does Weave cost? > The service is absolutely free. We're venture-funded and will monetize in the future via premium (even better!) services for our members.

They had two monetization strategies. I was a premium user - paying for features like being able to pick who I met with and setting a meeting point.

They also explored enterprise - helping companies create new connections throughout the organization.

I got a ton of value out of it. Never used the premium features but met a ton of great people that was worth the price of admission.

Re: Weave.in shutting down

#37
post #13

> Weave had previously raised $2 million in funding from Y Combinator, Index Ventures, Vulcan Capital, Eastlink Ventures, and others. Does anyone know if they had a solid business model when they raised? Or was it valued on mostly hype?

$2mm isn't actually a huge amount to test out a potentially valuable idea without having more than a vague business model -- if successful, this would be directly hard cash valuable to a lot of people, so it's not unreasonable to hand-wave "find a way to charge people later". I've heard of plenty of projects (inside larger companies) that probably cost more than that and were unceremoniously shut down when they didn't work out.

1: at $100k, it's 20 engineers for a year, and that's without office space, desks, computers or servers

Re: Weave.in shutting down

#38
After having read the whole FAQ, I still don't know what the product is. Where are these "meetings" held? Who attends the meetings? Why should I care? Why do I have to "apply"? How do they plan to make money?
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