The Next Generation Bends Over
37signals.com
The Next Generation Bends Over
1–10 of 216 posts
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#2Here's what this makes me think about: if Mint had an independent future, then there are employees at Mint for whom this acquisition was not the best move. That's true at $170MM and it's true at $50MM and it's true at $5MM. Founders can get rich on deals that make line employees nothing.
And there's nothing wrong with that --- I mean, I have kids to put through college, and my first loyalty is to them, etc --- but employees should know what they're getting in to.
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#3A bit harsh, for something so speculative.
It's a rare founder who has no offer he'd take. In fact, if you have shareholders or employees with options, and someone makes you an offer that's significantly above the expected value of your company, fiduciary responsibility requires you to take it.
You can bend this requirement to some extent by overestimating your expected value, but there is always some number you'd have to take.
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#4I can't speak for Mint, but not everyone is interested in creating a revolution.
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#5Having gone through a few startups myself, and currently being at the tail end of one looking for an exit, I know at some point the desire for growth can be trumped by the desire to generate a return on your investment and move on. For us on the line who have only put sweat equity in, we're much more likely to hold on for more growth (and a bigger pay day) while those who have put millions of their own dollars on the line are looking to trade in their senior/junior debt and move onto the next investment.
Even for a company like Mint (of which I am a long time user), at some point their business model has a maximum angle of growth, and unless they went to a freemium-based model to generate recurring revenue, the short of it is they're running out of room to make money on their userbase.
That being said, as a user I'm very distrusting of Intuit taking Mint and running with it in any direction but into the ground.
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#6Please.
$170 million is "fuck you" money. Aaron and I'm guessing many of the top founders/executives made enough money to never ever have to work again. Fake revolutions are cute and all, but think of how awesome it would be to never ever have to work for the man again. They can do anything they want...for profit, not for profit, TBD (Y Combinator). This wasn't some BS talent acquisition; this was an absolute shitload of money to make in a very short period of time (3 years!).
Techcrunch and many others constantly harp on how people should be working on stuff that can help save the world. But the reality is, most of us have bills to pay and a table to put food on. With FU money you can do whatever you please without worrying about your family.
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#7Is it me, or is 37 signals being disingenuous.
They rail against people who take VC money. At the same time they take money from an investment firm. They they say that their taking money was okay because they wanted the advice of the investor: http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/bezos_expeditions_invests... Other people taking money to get access to investor advice is bad and a disease.
They rant against startups that pursue the eyeballs business. But then they publish blogs that are frequently contentious and create drama in the startup community. Really, RoR aside, if DHH didn't swear at conferences, or if 37 Sigs didn't throw rocks at other people's business models, would have heard abou them as a company? They like being the "bad boys" of the startup world. Bad boys get eyeballs and 37 Signals upsells those eyeballs.
The only problem that I have with 37 Signals is that they constantly say that they aren't doing the things that they are actually doing.
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#8Please. $170 million is "fuck you" money. Aaron and I'm guessing many of the top founders/executives made enough money to never ever have to work again. Fake revolutions are cute and all, but think of how awesome it would be to never ever have to work for the man again. They can do anything they want...for profit, not for profit, TBD (Y Combinator). This wasn't some BS talent acquisition; this was an absolute shitloa…
Mint could have IPO'd, is the subtext here.
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#9Please. $170 million is "fuck you" money. Aaron and I'm guessing many of the top founders/executives made enough money to never ever have to work again. Fake revolutions are cute and all, but think of how awesome it would be to never ever have to work for the man again. They can do anything they want...for profit, not for profit, TBD (Y Combinator). This wasn't some BS talent acquisition; this was an absolute shitloa…
Mint could have IPO'd, is the subtext here.
I don't know...being a public company kinda sucks.
Unless you're into substantial overhead costs ($10 MM per year), red tape, excessive meetings and chief diversity officers.
I'm not sure if an IPO is the subtext; I couldn't imagine 37signals ever going public. Then again, at one point in time I could never imagine them taking venture funding. [1]
[1] http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/bezos_expeditions_invests...
Re: The Next Generation Bends Over
#10From the point of view of mint.com employees and even moreso the investors in mint.com, this may be a wonderful deal.
But from the point of view of a consumer of financial software, this is terrible. Intuit's products have been terrible and getting worse. I do better with a spreadsheet than their money management software, and it isn't even money management software any more, it's just an advertising platform that also keeps track of your money. The only good thing I can say about them is that their chief competitor (Microsoft Money) is as bad or worse.
Mint.com was different. It was great. Maybe it will continue to be different and great. Maybe not. But if I were to guess, I would guess that it will change for the worse.
My only REAL hope now is that someone else decides to come along and build something great. And then maybe THEY will sell it for another $170 million. Intuit, Microsoft, the phone company oligopoly: they all seem to be a new form of monopoly where competitors cannot break in to the market because the incumbent is too rich.