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SurveyMonkey to buy Wufoo (YC W06) for $35m

kara.allthingsd.com

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Re: SurveyMonkey to buy Wufoo (YC W06) for $35m

#51

Post by jmathai »

webwright wrote: post #45

SO happy for these guys! Well earned outcome. The dollar-figure makes me wonder if there is a "valley multiplier" on startup valuations. These guys built a great business with epic growth outside of the valley with very little funding. Aside from their SaaS offering, they're doing $200k of commerce transactions PER DAY. If they were in the Valley and had taken a few million in funding, would the price tag be differen…

Yea, that's a great point/question. Unfortunately, one which I don't have an answer too.

Re: SurveyMonkey to buy Wufoo (YC W06) for $35m

#52

Post by webwright »

jmathai wrote: post #51
webwright wrote: post #45

SO happy for these guys! Well earned outcome. The dollar-figure makes me wonder if there is a "valley multiplier" on startup valuations. These guys built a great business with epic growth outside of the valley with very little funding. Aside from their SaaS offering, they're doing $200k of commerce transactions PER DAY. If they were in the Valley and had taken a few million in funding, would the price tag be differen…

Yea, that's a great point/question. Unfortunately, one which I don't have an answer too.

The other related question is: Is the multiplier "efficient"? In other words, if they took funding and HQ'ed in the Valley, say they would've had to dilute the founders from 33% to 23%. They'd also have a much bigger expense line around real estate and salaries. Would the Valley premium more than make up for all of that? I suspect that it would.

Re: SurveyMonkey to buy Wufoo (YC W06) for $35m

#53

Post by dpritchett »

mtogo wrote: post #26
petercooper wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Posting news on your own, professional blog is "spam" now?

If your blog post adds literally no value whatsoever and is on a blog that is almost 100% repost spam, yes.

The very fact that All Things Digital reposted this press release led to the story surfacing on the HN front page sooner than it might have otherwise.

Now, aside from the pure information brokering role, they aren't adding much in this case. The HN guidelines are right to suggest a submitter post the original source if at all possible.

Re: SurveyMonkey to buy Wufoo (YC W06) for $35m

#54

Post by tbrooks »

jasonfried wrote: post #47
tbrooks wrote: post #2

Snarky 37signals post in t-minus...

This one seems like a good fit to me. Both small companies (SM being larger, but still small, all things considered) so you don't see the massive guy swallow up the small guy. Complimentary businesses (we use both products). Great products (both are very good). Good people.

Seems to go against your past philosophy. If Wufoo is kicking ass (which they most definitely are) and their profits are healthy (how can they not be?), then why sell out?

Take money off the table? Investor pressure? With our powers combined?

Maybe I'm too critical, but it seems to contradict your past posts on acquisitions and I was really looking forward to some drama to read this afternoon. :)

Re: SurveyMonkey to buy Wufoo (YC W06) for $35m

#55

Post by unfoldedorigami »

jcampbell1 wrote: post #27
slackerIII wrote: post #23

Any idea how many employees Wufoo has? And how many are engineers/designers?

12 based on the photo on this page: http://wufoo.com/2011/04/25/wufoo-surveymonkey-acquisition/ My guess is 4-6 do customer support, and the rest do engineering / design.

10 employees. 3 full time support people, but everyone actually does support.

Re: SurveyMonkey to buy Wufoo (YC W06) for $35m

#57

Post by 6ren »

> customers frequently use Wufoo’s forms to process online transactions.

> a process that previously required hours of work by web developers can now be done by anyone with web access in a matter of minutes.

Can I ask a question of the Wufoo team? Do you attribute your success primarily to: allowing anyone to do what only web developers could do (targeting non-consumption); reducing the work from hours to times; or processing online transactions?

Re: SurveyMonkey to buy Wufoo (YC W06) for $35m

#58

Post by marcamillion »

dr_ wrote: post #37
spencerfry wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as I know, Wufoo didn't raise VC. They only raised a small angel round.

The total amount raised, according to Crunchbase, was $118,000 (18000 YC + 100000 Angel). This was in 2006, so assuming there has been no other investments made, looks like their revenues must have been pretty decent to be able to support their operations.

YC should be doubly happy. Not only does YC get a nice exit, so does two of it's partners - PG & PB (both of which were the two angels I believe).

Talk about a major win.

Re: SurveyMonkey to buy Wufoo (YC W06) for $35m

#59

Post by marcamillion »

So I am going to go out on a limb and take the Wufoo guys at their word.

I used Survey Monkey a bit on some grad projects, but wasn't too impressed by what I saw. I mean, it was ok...but wasn't Wufoo-esque.

I love Wufoo and the founders have tremendous credibility in my eyes. It is clear that they are VERY passionate and extremely intelligent. The thought and effort they put into everything they do - from Particle Tree to Treehouse to Wufoo - is awe-inspiring.

Given that they have not raised a ton of money, I can only assume that they decided to do this deal on their own initiative and not based on pressure from both PG & PB (both of their angels).

So it would seem that they know what they are doing.

I hope that this works out for the best. Although I am just a free user of their product, I have a lot of respect for the team and have learnt a lot from them.

I truly wish them all the best - even if it means they needed to sell.

Re: SurveyMonkey to buy Wufoo (YC W06) for $35m

#60

Post by veeneck »

6ren wrote: post #57

> customers frequently use Wufoo’s forms to process online transactions. > a process that previously required hours of work by web developers can now be done by anyone with web access in a matter of minutes. Can I ask a question of the Wufoo team? Do you attribute your success primarily to: allowing anyone to do what only web developers could do (targeting non-consumption); reducing the work from hours to times; or p…

If I had to pick one of those, it would be reducing work. People will pay for something that makes their job easier / efficient. Knowing what people want is hard though. I personally attribute it to day after day of paying attention to the details in support, design and all other areas of a business, which slowly builds trust and paying users.
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