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Dropbox buys HelloSign (YC W11) for $230M

techcrunch.com

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Re: Dropbox buys HelloSign (YC W11) for $230M

#61

Post by rrggrr »

jkravitz61 wrote: post #53
rrggrr wrote: post #5

This acquisition will fail if Whitney, Neal and the HelloSign team isn't given the freedom and authority to direct integration, marketing and product direction going forward. HelloSign has demonstrated competencies Dropbox has not. Great that Dropbox nailed sync, desktop integration and sharing years ago; but since then they've done little to show any vision or execution in marketing, sales or product direction. As a…

Why are you a dropbox shareholder if you think that the company faces "almost certain failure"?

I ask myself that question every-single-day. I'm hoping they wake from their slumber and start competing against Box, MSFT, Google, etc., with real innovation. This may be a start... even if they had to buy it.

Re: Dropbox buys HelloSign (YC W11) for $230M

#62

Post by jasonsync »

rmkrmk wrote: post #58
tln wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you used Paper? Also an acquired team, and a great product that has seen a bevy of improvements since being under Dropbox.

Paper is a security nightmare. Every document is automatically accessible publicly if you know the url. You need to set each document individually to private. At least for the Personal/Pro plans.

And easily accessible to Dropbox employees?

Re: Dropbox buys HelloSign (YC W11) for $230M

#63

Post by rrggrr »

faitswulff wrote: post #23
rrggrr wrote: post #5

This acquisition will fail if Whitney, Neal and the HelloSign team isn't given the freedom and authority to direct integration, marketing and product direction going forward. HelloSign has demonstrated competencies Dropbox has not. Great that Dropbox nailed sync, desktop integration and sharing years ago; but since then they've done little to show any vision or execution in marketing, sales or product direction. As a…

Would it make sense to give them decision making power over the rest of Dropbox's marketing and product direction, not just HelloSign's pending integration?

Correct. I think the HelloSign acquisition is an attempt to position for medium and enterprise sales. However, I suspect Dropbox doesn't have competencies to execute on that in marketing or sales. Again, there are 2 or 3 more acquisitions they need to make... now... to make all this tick.

Re: Dropbox buys HelloSign (YC W11) for $230M

#64

Post by rmkrmk »

jasonsync wrote: post #62
rmkrmk wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paper is a security nightmare. Every document is automatically accessible publicly if you know the url. You need to set each document individually to private. At least for the Personal/Pro plans.

And easily accessible to Dropbox employees?

Well, I guess they do have access to all of your files anyway?

Re: Dropbox buys HelloSign (YC W11) for $230M

#65

Post by WorldMaker »

gruez wrote: post #40
chrisseaton wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the ceremony of a signature has been socially recognised for thousands of years. That's what our society expects.

>Because the ceremony of a signature Come to think of it, I remember "signing" pdfs in adobe reader by clicking a form field that produced a signature similar to[1]: John Smith Digitally signed by CN=John Smith [...] This would satisfy the "ceremony" requirement. According to adobe[2] it looks like you can do this with self signed certificates, so it's completely free as well. But this option is significantly less po…

So many people still put such huge value on the "handwritten signature" part. Even though it isn't actually that strong (the digital signature from even a self-signed certificate is definitely stronger), the ceremony of having something that you need to scrawl with your fingers or a stylus/pen still matters psychologically to so many people.

(At a past job I was asked to work on a digital signature product and very much the core and just about only requirement was digital ink square that worked on an iPad. Everything else didn't matter so long as they had some bitmap of some scrawl that someone attempted with a finger or an iPad stylus.)

Re: Dropbox buys HelloSign (YC W11) for $230M

#67

Post by CPLX »

rrggrr wrote: post #5

This acquisition will fail if Whitney, Neal and the HelloSign team isn't given the freedom and authority to direct integration, marketing and product direction going forward. HelloSign has demonstrated competencies Dropbox has not. Great that Dropbox nailed sync, desktop integration and sharing years ago; but since then they've done little to show any vision or execution in marketing, sales or product direction. As a…

1 point by CPLX 0 minutes ago | edit | delete [-]

> The sync, store and search ship sailed long ago.

Perhaps. But that ship appears quite capable of generating well over a billion dollars a year in revenue, so...

Re: Dropbox buys HelloSign (YC W11) for $230M

#68

Post by taude »

gruez wrote: post #21
chrisseaton wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The law isn’t like programming. The reason you sign something is to show clear intent that you intended to agree to something. Nobody’s under the impression a paper signature cannot be forged either. It’s no different. It’s social not mathematical.

Then that leads to my second question >Why do we need them at all? Why not just email the contract, and the person replies back with "I agree to this"? Simpler and cheaper than paying $150/year.

Also, using docusign, etc. are stupid simple for people's who's signatures are needing in multiple places in a document, and initials or certain pages, etc...

Re: Dropbox buys HelloSign (YC W11) for $230M

#69

Post by bogomipz »

briandear wrote: post #56
bogomipz wrote: post #36

If anyone at Techcrunch is reading "Snare" is not an appropriate word selection for the title of an article describing a friendly acquisition. A "snare" or to "ensnare" is to trap an animal generally with a noose. The correct wording is "Dropbox Snags Hellosign." Such an incorrect word choice would have never have made it past an editor or proofreader. The level of journalism at TC is truly cringeworthy.

Sorry, but snare can be used in this context. I highly suggest consulting a dictionary if you are unsure about the definition of a word. Just because the word used is not definition 1, doesn’t mean it’s incorrect. Snare is absolutely acceptable in this context.

I am perfectly sure of the definition of that word. I worked as a copy editor in a past life.

I would suggest maybe you consult the Oxford or Merriam-Webster dictionary:

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/snare https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snare

The verb form of the word snare is neither applicable or correct to describe a non-hostile business deal, even colloquially. Hellosign wasn't "trapped" or outwitted by Dropbox in any sense.

The word snag however does have a common colloquial/slang usage in American English to mean obtain - "I snagged the last one", "snag a ticket the show", "someone must have snagged it." You will never hear an American English speaker say they "snared a ticket to the show" or "they snared the last beer" or "someone must have snared it."

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