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Reddit acquires ML startup Spell

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Re: Reddit acquires ML startup Spell

#3
This acquisition is...unusual. I strongly suspect it's not a 10x exit. (last raised $15M in 2019: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/spell )

Reddit obviously has the data for robust machine learning, but not sure how an experiments-management startup aligns with it unless it's an acquihire.

Re: Reddit acquires ML startup Spell

#5

This acquisition is...unusual. I strongly suspect it's not a 10x exit. (last raised $15M in 2019: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/spell ) Reddit obviously has the data for robust machine learning, but not sure how an experiments-management startup aligns with it unless it's an acquihire.

[deleted]

Re: Reddit acquires ML startup Spell

#6

This acquisition is...unusual. I strongly suspect it's not a 10x exit. (last raised $15M in 2019: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/spell ) Reddit obviously has the data for robust machine learning, but not sure how an experiments-management startup aligns with it unless it's an acquihire.

Acquihire.

"Our next challenge is to apply what we’ve built to improve the user experience for redditors"

"we’ll no longer be signing up new commercial customers to the Spell service"

https://spell.ml/blog/spell-joins-reddit-YqtKRhEAACMAgbU9

Re: Reddit acquires ML startup Spell

#8
post #4

I thought the whole appeal of Reddit was community moderation and escape from algorithms.

It used to be, but the push for monetization has poisoned that well. I don't know what comes after reddit but I'm keeping my eyes and ears open.

Had a reddit recruiter reach out to me recently looking for engineering leadership for their upcoming product road map. What's in: ads, influencers, crypto, NFTs. What's not in: improving the core feature set of reddit like community management, curation, search, or user interface/experience.

Hard pass, and a bad sign of what's to come.

Re: Reddit acquires ML startup Spell

#9
Reddit should prioritize their site working on the browser.

Clicking a nested thread seems to crash whatever browser I use 1/10th of the time, the videos never work, and the time it takes to open a thread is almost unbelievable in 2022.

(Never mind the times it won’t let me view content without the app.)

Re: Reddit acquires ML startup Spell

#10

This acquisition is...unusual. I strongly suspect it's not a 10x exit. (last raised $15M in 2019: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/spell ) Reddit obviously has the data for robust machine learning, but not sure how an experiments-management startup aligns with it unless it's an acquihire.

Acquihire. "Our next challenge is to apply what we’ve built to improve the user experience for redditors" "we’ll no longer be signing up new commercial customers to the Spell service" https://spell.ml/blog/spell-joins-reddit-YqtKRhEAACMAgbU9

Do the founders get any money out of it or not much.
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