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Thank HN: My bootstrapped startup got acquired today

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Thank HN: My bootstrapped startup got acquired today

#371

Post by sillysaurusx »

paraschopra wrote: post #346
rexreed wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to learn about PMF and which posts from HN were most helpful. Even a few pointers in the thread here would be awesome.

I've written a lot of my lessons here: https://invertedpassion.com/free-book-mental-models-for-star...

Your post https://invertedpassion.com/your-30-second-pitch-shouldnt-be... applies not just to business but to life in general. Talking about someone else and focusing on what they want is how to make friends (and other benefits).

I really like your site. It’s kind of the inverse of pg: not really essays, but still focused and numerous, even if short. It manages to be general without being shallow: there are so many interesting topics that it’s hard not to get pulled in, which for me was reminiscent of stumbling on pg’s essays in 2007.

Thanks!

Re: Thank HN: My bootstrapped startup got acquired today

#373

Post by sbene970 »

saagarjha wrote: post #295
dang wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's that earlier thread - thanks for pointing it out! Thank HN: My startup was born here and is now 10 years old - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23466470 - June 2020 (128 comments)

It's quite amusing that the same person is the top comment in both threads

Almost! It's 'firefoxd' vs 'foxfired', lol

Edit: Ah no, you're right, seems he made a second account.

Re: Thank HN: My bootstrapped startup got acquired today

#374

Post by sillysaurusx »

swozey wrote: post #150
bigiain wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just as a counter point, private equity seems to have helped WPEngine become so successful that Mullenweg has totally lost his mind over it.

And WordPress can thank CPanel and the tens of thousands of customer support and sysadmins that supported millions of WordPress users at $9/mo for a decade and have never once interacted or known who Mullenweg is. And they can thank mysql.. and apache.. and php.. Take your money and be happy. I met some of the worst people (CEOs) working in webhosting. Some truly awful people became very rich. edit; I thought this wa…

Could anyone summarize the drama? I’ve been poking around the subreddit, and it’s clear something is going on (https://www.reddit.com/r/WPDrama/s/7931urG9ho) but it’s not clear what he actually did.

https://www.reddit.com/r/WPDrama/s/7eoTXQnwhh is as close to an explanation as I’ve found, but it seems tangential to whatever kickstarted the drama in the first place.

Re: Thank HN: My bootstrapped startup got acquired today

#379

Post by speakfreely »

phtrivier wrote: post #23

Good for you ! Are you completely exiting the company, or will you still run the product, if only in part ? Are you leaving a team behind ? I'm very curious about how to approach such a moment. There are so many horror stories where an acquisition ends up being "bad news" for teams and users alike - I hope this won't be the case here !

It's very common in transactions of this size that the seller "rolls" some equity, I.e. retains some ownership moving forward. The buyer likes this because it theoretically keeps them invested in the future of the company and the seller potentially gets a second bite when the PE firm flips the business.

Re: Thank HN: My bootstrapped startup got acquired today

#380

Post by zafka »

paraschopra wrote: post #208
duxup wrote: post #7

Congratulations. I'm curious... what do people do after something like this? Vacation?

Well, I posted a thank you note on HN and went to sleep! I was financially independent even before this sale (benefit of running a bootstrapped company is that it _has_ to be profitable). Moreover, I had been gradually reducing my operational involvement in the company for years by grooming the team. So, day to day, not much changes. But I do have a nice chunk to do crazy-ass experiments in future, which I fully inte…

Congratulations Paras!! When I first started this post I was going to comment: Congratulations on your overnight success!! but held off :) Anyhow, I love that your plan is to do crazy ass experiments. I hope to read about them in the near future. I plan to do similar things, albeit with a slightly smaller budget-but sometime constraints can make you more creative. All the best!!!
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