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Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

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Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#231

Post by Eridrus »

gshulegaard wrote: post #36
chollida1 wrote: post #7

I wonder if the outcome would have been different if Slack was incorporated outside of the US where Microsoft could use some of its non domiciled cash on the acquisition? http://www.ibtimes.com/microsoft-admits-keeping-92-billion-o... Also interesting to think that Slack could be worth so much. Look at ICQ, Microsoft instant messenger, etc. It seems as though slack like tools get eclipsed every 5-10 years as a new ge…

> It seems as though slack like tools get eclipsed every 5-10 years as a new generation comes along with a new favorite tool. You've definitely got a point there. Although I do want to mention that part of the reason Slack eclipsed other tools was, in part, its Websocket based protocol. They have created a fairly complete unified messaging application because of it (IMO). They were the first movers in the area. I don…

I don't know why Slack is seen as a first mover; Hipchat, Flowdock, etc all existed beforehand. Slack seems to have raced ahead by ramping up marketing and not just focussing on B2B sales.

In terms of tech I actually see Slack as behind in the default product (no threaded conversations >_<), but maybe the ecosystem they're trying to foster will actually be useful or maybe the money they've spent on marketing will be irrelevant and they will collapse due to overfunding.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#232

Post by st3v3r »

trott wrote: post #219
AngrySkillzz wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it costs you more than $8bil to write a chat app then you're doing something wrong.

I'd like to know what people think developing something like Slack should cost, and why MS thought $8e9 was a potentially reasonable valuation.

Keep in mind that the acquisition value is not just the code. There's also the brand, the userbase, the engineers, and not having to actually do it themselves.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#233

Post by st3v3r »

pmlnr wrote: post #182
avtar wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mobile clients, persistent chat history when switching clients/devices, search, @mentions notify you when you're away from your desk, and easy integrations with lots of services. P.S. I mainly use IRC everyday :)

Which is IRC + ZNC + Andchat + bots...

Which takes time to set up, whereas it's already done for you in Slack.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#235

Post by st3v3r »

pcmaffey wrote: post #44

The real question is, would Stewart B. take the offer? Anyone who cares about their product knows a sale to MS is a death knell for innovation. Becoming a hit like Slack is such a rare opportunity. I mean, why are you in this business if not for a chance to build a transformative platform? Which is what Slack has right now, a chance.

I dunno, $8b can buy quite a bit of innovation for your next company.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#236

Post by Consultant32452 »

Negative1 wrote: post #138
cdnsteve wrote: post #93

We initially used Skype on our team to communicate with others. However, the software was horribly buggy on OSX. Slack has become part of our main toolchain. It works, has the basic features you need and doesn't get in our way. The integrations are great and we'll continue to use them. Unless Microsoft rebuilds Skype for the ground up, I don't see us leaving Slack for it. They had their chance, and they dropped the b…

"Unless Microsoft rebuilds Skype for the ground up" This. This exactly. Is it really unbelievable to assume Microsoft wouldn't attempt to build their own IRC+ clone and save a few billion while they are at it? I do agree with you, Slack is much better than Skype, but I would add that Lync is just as good. I went from Lync to Slack (after changing jobs) and I would say that Lync not only works just as well but has mor…

One of the things I like best about Hipchat is that a person who joins the team 5 years later can search back through the history of the chat room forever. Hipchat has acted as an accidental knowledge base for me so many times that eternally persistent chat is now a requirement for anything I recommend. It's possible Lync does this and the implementation I'm using today just isn't configured to be useful in this way. Also, the fact that you can't message Lync users who are not currently online is a big non-starter for me. I've never used Slack, so I can't compare it.

It may be relevant that I often work on remote teams. I can't just say aloud, "Hey, anybody know about foo?" In a Lync world I have to individually message one person at a time and await their response or open a chat with everyone which will go away almost immediately after the question is asked. And generally once people have said their no they close the window, the helpful response will not be viewed by most of the team.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#237

Post by Eridrus »

vonklaus wrote: post #171

slack needs to sell asap. edit: to expand. Slack has 0 technology moat. The reason Github has been so successful and has gone many years without significant competition, is that it is an open platform in the sense that I have my personal, work, and private repos there. Many open source stuff is up there, and the platform allows me to contribute to my private repos, public repos and quickly download software. To some…

I'm not really bullish on Slack as a product, but I don't think Slack as a business is so bad. I think Slack is trying to be the Yammer of IRC: you get it in through a couple of people using it, and all of a sudden you convert the entire enterprise, hence the focus on marketing.

Hipchat/Flowdock/probably others existed before Slack, and are still largely interchangeable at this point, but they're not investing so heavily in marketing.

I think a direct comparison to MySpace is inaccurate since neither they nor their competitors are directly viral (yet?), but they could certainly be replaced.

The question is: who would want to spend a pile of money trying to outmarket Slack? It's hard to tell what their sales figures are, but if they get lodged in the public's view as the company that does this, it will take concerted, capital-intensive effort to dislodge them, and why would you go to that effort for a low margin space?

Open Source is really not relevant in this space since the price is cheap and you're paying for convenience.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#238

Post by jaysoncena »

Negative1 wrote: post #138
cdnsteve wrote: post #93

We initially used Skype on our team to communicate with others. However, the software was horribly buggy on OSX. Slack has become part of our main toolchain. It works, has the basic features you need and doesn't get in our way. The integrations are great and we'll continue to use them. Unless Microsoft rebuilds Skype for the ground up, I don't see us leaving Slack for it. They had their chance, and they dropped the b…

"Unless Microsoft rebuilds Skype for the ground up" This. This exactly. Is it really unbelievable to assume Microsoft wouldn't attempt to build their own IRC+ clone and save a few billion while they are at it? I do agree with you, Slack is much better than Skype, but I would add that Lync is just as good. I went from Lync to Slack (after changing jobs) and I would say that Lync not only works just as well but has mor…

My experience with Lync is different. My current employer is a windows shop and uses Lync for communication.

What I don't like with Lync 1. Screen sharing sucks. Its slow. Is it possible for them to use a technology similar to FreeNX? 2. Does not support multiple-client notification. I use multiple desktop and when you are logged on multiple Lync clients, messages will only go to a single client! 3. OSX client always crashes

What I don't like with Slack 1. Cool UX but sometimes the UI hangs and shows only a white, blank space

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#239

Post by giancarlostoro »

Slack might of made a great addition to Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code... I really don't want to see it happen though, they need to fix up some odd security problems with Skype and the sluggishness of Skype is really bad, used to be somewhat bad, but lately it's gotten worse.

Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

#240

Post by jaysoncena »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #236
Negative1 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Unless Microsoft rebuilds Skype for the ground up" This. This exactly. Is it really unbelievable to assume Microsoft wouldn't attempt to build their own IRC+ clone and save a few billion while they are at it? I do agree with you, Slack is much better than Skype, but I would add that Lync is just as good. I went from Lync to Slack (after changing jobs) and I would say that Lync not only works just as well but has mor…

One of the things I like best about Hipchat is that a person who joins the team 5 years later can search back through the history of the chat room forever. Hipchat has acted as an accidental knowledge base for me so many times that eternally persistent chat is now a requirement for anything I recommend. It's possible Lync does this and the implementation I'm using today just isn't configured to be useful in this way.…

As much as I do hate Lync, the only thing that I remember that is good on it is the message archive that you can find under the "Conversation History" folder in Outlook.
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