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Loopt acquired by payment card provider for $43.3m in cash

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Re: Loopt acquired by payment card provider for $43.3m in cash

#61

Post by [deleted] »

kogir wrote: post #55
OoTheNigerian wrote: post #3

I think Loopt made an error in partnering exclusively with carriers. I remember when I was in the UK and heard of loopt the first tifme. I visited the site and was told to put in a US number. It was there they lost it. I am really looking forward to what Sam has up his sleeves now that he is free.

You're essentially saying that trying to do Loopt at all was a mistake and we just should have done something else. Everyone seems to forget that before iPhone, and later Android, you had no choice but to partner with carriers - there was no other way to distribute your application. Even in Europe, where the phone ecosystem is different, access to location required carrier support, and nearly no handsets had the abil…

[deleted]

Re: Loopt acquired by payment card provider for $43.3m in cash

#62

Post by richcollins »

webwright wrote: post #52
majani wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buddy exits like this one and the Hunch exit are very demoralising. They make startups look like some sort of game. As you indicated, Loopt was clearly dying ( http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=loopt.com&cmpt=... ) and yet people still got rich off of it. Product + Hype -> Big Exit is starting to seem like a perfectly legitimate business plan nowadays.

I think calling this a "buddy exit" isn't really fair. Same with Hunch. That's like calling Next selling to Apple a "buddy exit". If Square went south, what kind of exit could they command based on Jack and his team? If Facebook was dying, what would Zuck and his team be worth? Sam and Chris are both brilliant guys and great BRANDS. Not Steve Jobs great-- but great nonetheless. Guys like this attract A-players and at…

Next was profitable. OS X and iOS are Next. Care to make a long bet on how much of Loopt tech is still around in 5 years?

Re: Loopt acquired by payment card provider for $43.3m in cash

#63

Post by dwynings »

sawyer wrote: post #59
javery wrote: post #2

I am very curious how YC makes out in a deal like this - when there is 17M of capital invested after them in A and B rounds if there was any sort of liquidity preference you can pretty much guarantee YC didn't see a dime. (especially since 9M of this was retention for employees which makes me think that the employees weren't going to make anything from their equity/shares)

I would imagine there's a lot of long term value created by folding sama and team into the YC ecosystem. I'd be willing to bet that Loopt isn't the last venture Sam's going to be involved in, and when the time comes to start something new YC will likely be part of the conversation. This is why pg talks about looking at founders before their ideas.

Or sama becomes a full-time YC partner. Either way, it's a win for YC.

Re: Loopt acquired by payment card provider for $43.3m in cash

#64

Post by underwater »

webwright wrote: post #52
majani wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buddy exits like this one and the Hunch exit are very demoralising. They make startups look like some sort of game. As you indicated, Loopt was clearly dying ( http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=loopt.com&cmpt=... ) and yet people still got rich off of it. Product + Hype -> Big Exit is starting to seem like a perfectly legitimate business plan nowadays.

I think calling this a "buddy exit" isn't really fair. Same with Hunch. That's like calling Next selling to Apple a "buddy exit". If Square went south, what kind of exit could they command based on Jack and his team? If Facebook was dying, what would Zuck and his team be worth? Sam and Chris are both brilliant guys and great BRANDS. Not Steve Jobs great-- but great nonetheless. Guys like this attract A-players and at…

> Sam and Chris are both brilliant guys and great BRANDS [...] Guys like this attract A-players and attract PR.

What about the minor things like, you know, making money? They took 17 million in funding and failed. But that's OK because they're buddies with the VC's and can try, try again.

Re: Loopt acquired by payment card provider for $43.3m in cash

#65

Post by unohoo »

sama wrote: post #39
wilschroter wrote: post #37

I get so annoyed when I see people pick apart an acquisition. I saw this same behavior for Gowalla, and then Mint before it. "They didn't make any money. They sold too early." They remind me of people that would be sitting at the finish line of a marathon telling the last people to cross "Boy, your time really sucked." If you are one of the few entrepreneurs that has come far along enough to get to a sale - for any a…

Thank you. It's a bummer to be so excited for something I've worked hard for and then read haters hating all over the internet. This brightened up my day; hope we meet in person some day so I can properly say thanks.

Let the haters hate. Just like you might have shrugged off other, bigger downs during the 7 years of running Loopt, just shrug off the haters and savor the success, no matter how small or big it is. Very few people can lay claim to running a company for 7 years and coming out successful on the other end. Congrats and good luck for whats next.

Re: Loopt acquired by payment card provider for $43.3m in cash

#66

Post by randome3889 »

alapshah wrote: post #9

In case anyone is missing what has happened here, this is why people hate on private equity/VC. As far as I can tell, Loopt wasn't doing very well. http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=loopt.com&cmpt=... They had an attempt to revive the company to compete with Groupon last year that many here thought was stupid and died an early death ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2696412 ) Michael Moritz (Sequoia partne…

You clearly don't understand VC or Private Equity very well. 15 mil is chump change for Sequoia. Sure they would rather not lose it but 43 million is not a "huge amount of cash" in the VC world. They probably just got back a 1x or 2x return and that is about it.

Re: Loopt acquired by payment card provider for $43.3m in cash

#67

Post by Alex3917 »

kogir wrote: post #55
OoTheNigerian wrote: post #3

I think Loopt made an error in partnering exclusively with carriers. I remember when I was in the UK and heard of loopt the first tifme. I visited the site and was told to put in a US number. It was there they lost it. I am really looking forward to what Sam has up his sleeves now that he is free.

You're essentially saying that trying to do Loopt at all was a mistake and we just should have done something else. Everyone seems to forget that before iPhone, and later Android, you had no choice but to partner with carriers - there was no other way to distribute your application. Even in Europe, where the phone ecosystem is different, access to location required carrier support, and nearly no handsets had the abil…

"You're essentially saying that trying to do Loopt at all was a mistake and we just should have done something else."

Which is a perfectly valid option. Just because someone has an idea a good idea doesn't mean that it will make a good business.

The cell phone software market pre-iPhone simply wasn't a good place to be starting a business, no matter what the idea.

Re: Loopt acquired by payment card provider for $43.3m in cash

#69

Post by justin »

Harj wrote: post #54

I've been incredibly impressed by Sam since he started as a part time partner at YC, as have all of the founders. Greendot are lucky to have him and his team.

Likewise. Sam is extremely effective, works super hard for YC companies, and knows something about seemingly everything. Even as a talent acquisition alone this would make sense.
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