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Ziptr to Discontinue Services

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Re: Ziptr to Discontinue Services

#11

Post by leknarf »

minimaxir wrote: post #5
pdknsk wrote: post #2

HN upvoting can be a mystery sometimes. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6440367

The timing makes all the difference. Luck, too.

A while back, I wrote a little app that tracks the relative scores of new submissions and the front page, which tries to tell you when would be a good time to post: http://hnnotify.leknarf.net/

The twitter notification part broke at some point (I haven't had time to fix it), but the main chart is surprisingly accurate. It shows that it's been a good time to post for the last hour or so, so this submission was very well timed. That other submission was sent at a particularly poor time (about 2 hours ago), when few people were upvoting on the new page.

Timing really does make a big difference.

Re: Ziptr to Discontinue Services

#15

Post by trothoun »

rwbhn wrote: post #12
ars wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearly? Really? There is nothing in the slightest clear about it.

That's exactly what makes one suspicious.

It could be anything embarrassing or that would be dangerous/costly to talk about. Government interference is only one possibility. Maybe a competitor paid them to shutdown. (probably not, but it's possible)

Re: Ziptr to Discontinue Services

#16

Post by pekk »

rwbhn wrote: post #12
ars wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearly? Really? There is nothing in the slightest clear about it.

That's exactly what makes one suspicious.

When in doubt, assume it was the NSA. That's a safe assumption to make any time you have no knowledge at all.

Re: Ziptr to Discontinue Services

#17

Post by tptacek »

“It is with great regret that I am writing to inform you of the closing of Ziptr, Inc. and the discontinuation of all Ziptr products,” said Bhathena. “Your sense of innovation and willingness to believe in a solution that offered both security and ease of use was a source of energy and inspiration for our company. For that, we are immensely grateful.”

Bhathena and other Ziptr staff did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

This doesn't sound a whole lot different from any other un-graceful startup shutdowns. Did this service have a lot of users?

Also, is the characterization of Ziptr as an "encryption provider" accurate? Or were they just a secure document storage company? There are a lot of companies that do "document encryption" and "email encryption" for enterprises that are not, as HN privacy enthusiasts understand the term, really crypto products.

Re: Ziptr to Discontinue Services

#18

Post by umsm »

The only way we will solve secure email is by implementing an open-sourced solution. Period.

It appears like this may be a space where we can't make money from the core service.

Re: Ziptr to Discontinue Services

#19

Post by notwhyships »

tptacek wrote: post #17

“It is with great regret that I am writing to inform you of the closing of Ziptr, Inc. and the discontinuation of all Ziptr products,” said Bhathena. “Your sense of innovation and willingness to believe in a solution that offered both security and ease of use was a source of energy and inspiration for our company. For that, we are immensely grateful.” Bhathena and other Ziptr staff did not immediately respond to requ…

"You need to export all of your data from your Ziptr account by 12:00 noon Eastern on Friday, September 27, 2013. After this time, we cannot guarantee access to your data." http://www.ziptr.com/ziptr-closing-92713

That though from Ziptr's 9/24 blog post is unusual: both the ridiculously short time period of 3 days, and the phrase "cannot guarantee."

Also, I find it hard to believe that such a serious serial entrepreneur with such significant backing (approx. $7M) would close up shop so suddenly and unprofessionally. Why burn bridges like this?

Re: Ziptr to Discontinue Services

#20

Post by krapp »

pekk wrote: post #16
rwbhn wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly what makes one suspicious.

When in doubt, assume it was the NSA. That's a safe assumption to make any time you have no knowledge at all.

I'm going to start blaming them for the weather.

I've got no evidence that they're controlling the weather, but it seems like something they would do if they could.

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