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Autodesk Buys Socialcam for $60M

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Re: Autodesk Buys Socialcam for $60M

#51

Post by RealGeek »

pg wrote: post #25
cmcewen wrote: post #23

Most people seem confused by Autodesk part of this headline. Am I the only one confused by the $60M? Look at the traffic decline: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/socialcam.com My understanding is that a bunch of people clicked on Socialcam when it showed up in their news feed and didn't know they were signing up - now it seems the numbers are starting to reflect that not many people actually use it. Maybe I'm just craz…

I don't know about their traffic but I would not be surprised if it had decined. Growth comes from paying attention to growth. But getting acquired, like raising money, is an immense drain on attention. In both cases it can put a startup in a dangerous pinch.

Thanks to the attention drain, we get a few weeks of relief from their spam.

Re: Autodesk Buys Socialcam for $60M

#52

Post by il »

majani wrote: post #31

I don't want to speak for the founders, but looking at the factors surrounding this acquisition(little innovation, spam tactics, low price, unrelated acquirer), it is clear that Socialcam was a build-to-flip company. And as a build-to-flip company, it was a fantastically executed one at that. Some people (pg included[1]) build companys just so they can sell them off one day. Many around here get worked up by that rea…

You do realize that $60 million is an enormous, lifechanging amount of money, right?

It would be interesting to compare success rates between people who build companies to sell and people who build companies to change the world.

Re: Autodesk Buys Socialcam for $60M

#54

Post by mingyeow »

pg wrote: post #25
cmcewen wrote: post #23

Most people seem confused by Autodesk part of this headline. Am I the only one confused by the $60M? Look at the traffic decline: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/socialcam.com My understanding is that a bunch of people clicked on Socialcam when it showed up in their news feed and didn't know they were signing up - now it seems the numbers are starting to reflect that not many people actually use it. Maybe I'm just craz…

I don't know about their traffic but I would not be surprised if it had decined. Growth comes from paying attention to growth. But getting acquired, like raising money, is an immense drain on attention. In both cases it can put a startup in a dangerous pinch.

PG - are you serious? you seriously think that their decline in growth comes from anything other than facebook users seeing through their scam and facebook itself shutting off their spam channels?

You think that there is any chance in hell that they can maintain that kind of growth. Come on

Re: Autodesk Buys Socialcam for $60M

#55

Post by neya »

bborud wrote: post #9

I'm imagining Autodesk's M&A team are right now getting a lecture on what "CAM" stands for by the engineers and that there will be some facepalming.

Hahaha! Epic!! Its one of the shittiest apps I've ever used. Oh wait, I never used it at all - It used my account by itself! (Of course I did authorize it by mistake, ONCE!!)

Re: Autodesk Buys Socialcam for $60M

#56

Post by majani »

emmett wrote: post #49
majani wrote: post #31

I don't want to speak for the founders, but looking at the factors surrounding this acquisition(little innovation, spam tactics, low price, unrelated acquirer), it is clear that Socialcam was a build-to-flip company. And as a build-to-flip company, it was a fantastically executed one at that. Some people (pg included[1]) build companys just so they can sell them off one day. Many around here get worked up by that rea…

$60 million is a low price now? My but we live in a world of inflation.

They have 200million unique visitors to their website according to Google Adplanner, many of which were probably forced to register as users. Also Viddy are behind them, yet valued at 370m. That's how I concluded that Socialcam was sold for cheap.

Re: Autodesk Buys Socialcam for $60M

#57

Post by janj »

pg wrote: post #25
cmcewen wrote: post #23

Most people seem confused by Autodesk part of this headline. Am I the only one confused by the $60M? Look at the traffic decline: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/socialcam.com My understanding is that a bunch of people clicked on Socialcam when it showed up in their news feed and didn't know they were signing up - now it seems the numbers are starting to reflect that not many people actually use it. Maybe I'm just craz…

I don't know about their traffic but I would not be surprised if it had decined. Growth comes from paying attention to growth. But getting acquired, like raising money, is an immense drain on attention. In both cases it can put a startup in a dangerous pinch.

Would it be inappropriate for pg to give an honest assessment of Socialcam considering his involvement with the company and his history with the founders? I would love to read a sincere evaluation from pg's perspective on Socialcam's method of growth and the real value to it's acquirer.

Re: Autodesk Buys Socialcam for $60M

#58

Post by snprbob86 »

majani wrote: post #31

I don't want to speak for the founders, but looking at the factors surrounding this acquisition(little innovation, spam tactics, low price, unrelated acquirer), it is clear that Socialcam was a build-to-flip company. And as a build-to-flip company, it was a fantastically executed one at that. Some people (pg included[1]) build companys just so they can sell them off one day. Many around here get worked up by that rea…

I think that built-to-flip vs dent-the-universe is a gross oversimplification and a false dichotomy. Maybe they were aiming to change the world, but their funding round wasn't coming together. Or maybe they lost the faith and decided to return money to their investors, rather than go bust. Maybe one of their key team members had a personal or family issue and needed more financial stability in a hurry. Maybe they learned so much about startups that they were wishing for a reset button. Maybe some combination of all of these things and more?

Startups are a repeat game. A base hit might just be the right career move. You can swing for the homerun on your next at-bat.

Having just gone through a small acquisition myself, I can tell you that it's incredibly bittersweet to pad your bank account by means of killing your baby. Unless you've gone through the process, you have no idea the extent and complexity of thought processes and emotions you experience as a founder.

Re: Autodesk Buys Socialcam for $60M

#59

Post by ArbitraryLimits »

snprbob86 wrote: post #58
majani wrote: post #31

I don't want to speak for the founders, but looking at the factors surrounding this acquisition(little innovation, spam tactics, low price, unrelated acquirer), it is clear that Socialcam was a build-to-flip company. And as a build-to-flip company, it was a fantastically executed one at that. Some people (pg included[1]) build companys just so they can sell them off one day. Many around here get worked up by that rea…

I think that built-to-flip vs dent-the-universe is a gross oversimplification and a false dichotomy. Maybe they were aiming to change the world, but their funding round wasn't coming together. Or maybe they lost the faith and decided to return money to their investors, rather than go bust. Maybe one of their key team members had a personal or family issue and needed more financial stability in a hurry. Maybe they lea…

Dude. Socialcam was no one's baby.

Re: Autodesk Buys Socialcam for $60M

#60

Post by snprbob86 »

ArbitraryLimits wrote: post #59
snprbob86 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that built-to-flip vs dent-the-universe is a gross oversimplification and a false dichotomy. Maybe they were aiming to change the world, but their funding round wasn't coming together. Or maybe they lost the faith and decided to return money to their investors, rather than go bust. Maybe one of their key team members had a personal or family issue and needed more financial stability in a hurry. Maybe they lea…

Dude. Socialcam was no one's baby.

I don't know anything about socialcam. I just heard of them for the first time with this headline. My comment is with respect to the wide range of small acquisitions.
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