TL;DR
What's Actually Wrong with Yahoo's Purchase of Summly
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Re: What's Actually Wrong with Yahoo's Purchase of Summly
#12Overpaying for apps is the new overpaying for social networks for that vague master bullshit artistry of "reaching" users.
Yahoo irrationally overpays for tons of stuff, AOL irrationally overpaid for Bebo, there was that high school girl that made a social network and makes millions of dollars so she bought her mom a house, there are plenty of other data points I filed away in my head over the years.
Tons of things happen in Silicon Valley everyday that makes no sense to outsiders, or sometimes even to those stuck in the tunnel. Are you new here? Sit, enjoy a cup of tea meanwhile.
Throw on top of that the youth obsession in tech has been around since I was 17 eleven years ago and it will continue to stay. Youth is forever a distraction that you have to grow out of. If you don't then consider seeking a therapist.
Your brain hurts from trying to neatly organize this particular liquidity event as fair? Maybe you can't. Maybe it doesn't matter. Get over it, stop the hating, and get back to work.
Funny enough, mainstream media with old talking heads are spinning this narrative two ways: 1) the ever louder need to get every child to learn to code and 2) it's so fun bit of escapism to think what you would have done with big money when you're still a teenager contrasted against the $325MM Powerball win in New York.
All in all, this barely registers as a blip on the average American considering real shit that's ongoing with fairness over marriage equality in SCOTUS.
Re: What's Actually Wrong with Yahoo's Purchase of Summly
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
The article's main point is that the founders didn't do anything really noteworthy, technologically speaking, and so Yahoo overpaid for the talent in question.
>the founders didn't do anything really noteworthy 1M+ downloads for an app with licensed technology is noteworthy.
1M downloads with 1M+ dollars in investment is not noteworthy. You can basically pay for that much downloads. Not to mention its a FREE app!
Re: What's Actually Wrong with Yahoo's Purchase of Summly
#14I think the author makes this comment: "Summly's entire business model seems to revolve around catering to this demographic. Frankly, it pains me." I reads like a critique of Chubby Checker's "Twist" from a professor a Julliard. Perhaps, and I say that because I can't know what they were really thinking, but perhaps that was the point. This company had successfully "catered to this demographic" (which was defined as…
> people who could quickly assemble a MVP from existing APIs that appealed to the emerging cohort of buyers and trendsetters.
Oh man reading that I just realized that was exactly describing the type of consulting gigs I always get (and I'm young).
Are we a side effect of the pump-and-dump VC culture or is this a legitimate new way of developing software/products?
Re: What's Actually Wrong with Yahoo's Purchase of Summly
#15Yahoo didn't buy the technology, they purchased the talent. Talent that knows how to reach an audience. You can always get high quality engineers to figure out the rest...
All 2 of them.
Re: What's Actually Wrong with Yahoo's Purchase of Summly
#16This is my (pessimistic) take on this Summly thing. I think the following scenario happened:
15 year old kid does something with computers and for some reason the press is all over it. Some smart investors thinks; "hey, I can use this to make money". They invest money into this 15 year old which gives him more press coverage. Wait a few years and the investor gets his buddies at Yahoo to buy it for a substantial amount of money. Ka-ching, money in the bank.
Re: What's Actually Wrong with Yahoo's Purchase of Summly
#17> By definition, Yahoo's directors know how to spend Yahoo's cash reserves best.
This is absolutely incorrect. There are many instances in which there is a personal financial connection between a board member and an acquired company. For example, a board member is a limited in a VC fund.
Didn't bother reading after that.
Re: What's Actually Wrong with Yahoo's Purchase of Summly
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
The article's main point is that the founders didn't do anything really noteworthy, technologically speaking, and so Yahoo overpaid for the talent in question.
>the founders didn't do anything really noteworthy 1M+ downloads for an app with licensed technology is noteworthy.
They got that through marketing, not technology. Have you seen the launch video for Summly?
Re: What's Actually Wrong with Yahoo's Purchase of Summly
#19From his own quoted post: "I lived through 8 years of a non-reading president along with everyone else. I know that the brogrammers out there are constantly getting texts from their buddies to plan the weekend's broactivities..." Thanks Professor, now I don't have to continue reading your post – ie, you're kind of a jerk.
Do you know which president I had in mind? I lived through quite a few 8 year terms, and yes, that includes Reagan.
If your response is "but everyone knows which president you were referring to," then surely it's fair game to refer to whoever that is since the facts are universally accepted? :-)
Re: What's Actually Wrong with Yahoo's Purchase of Summly
#20What's actually right about Yahoo's purchase of Summly: we are still talking about it, and are still reminded that Yahoo exists. The marketing was great (the video is really well-done), and to be honest yahoo really could use some marketing boost at a time like this.