Pinterest Acquires Hackermeter (YC S13)(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
Pinterest Acquires Hackermeter (YC S13)
http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/11/pinterest-acquires-hackermeter-right-out-of-the-gate-will-shut-it-down/
7 comments
What a mean-spirited thing to say, and to upvote. It makes me sad to see this kind of snark as the top comment on HN threads.
Is the problem with the comment the tone or the content?
Are you trying to point out that tone doesn't matter, only content? I hope not. That would be a boring thing to have to hear again.
I'm guessing it's more the tone, but probably also the content a little. Sometimes it doesn't hurt to leave some things unsaid even if there could be some truth to them.
It hurts because it distorts people's perceptions which impairs their judgement: If you never talk about things going sideways then people underestimate how often it happens which may cause them to pursue something that they wouldn't otherwise.
Don't you know that when you ask for civility you're a tone troll and that everything you're asking for can be dismissed because the words "tone troll" are a magical incantation against which no defense can be mounted?
It could do without the snark, but it does have a ring of truth to it, doesn't it?
As went Reddit, so goes Hacker News (albeit far more slowly). With some sadness, I feel that it is just about time for the next refuge for hackers to spring up out of nowhere and captivate us. Even Hacker News, it seems, can't escape becoming too big.
cmon man... the last jibe about Techcrunch was a bit was a bit snarky, but this post speaks the truth. Product shut down, founders joining as engineers. is there anything mean spirited about stating the obvious?
Sure there is. Imagine telling a child "your drawings are very clumsy; they don't look at all like what they're drawings of," or telling a very old person "you're probably going to die soon."
Mean-spirited comments are rarely completely false. They're mostly nasty ways to use (usually partial) truths.
Mean-spirited comments are rarely completely false. They're mostly nasty ways to use (usually partial) truths.
In this case this was a full time side project that had plenty of deliverables - enough to highlight why these would be a great addition to the team.
Agreed. I wonder how the folks YC feels about this. Must be pretty embarrassing that an alum has so little confidence in their product that they'll bite at the first acquisition offer that comes around. They probably could have saved everyone the trouble by applying to Pinterest directly.
But, like you said, they probably wouldn't have gotten the signing bonus.
But, like you said, they probably wouldn't have gotten the signing bonus.
From Ycombinator's "What We Do" page:
One concrete consequence is that Y Combinator funding lets you sell early, if you want to. It can sometimes make sense to sell yourself when you're small for a few million, rather than take more funding and roll the dice again. Google likes to do early-stage acquisitions, and we expect them to become increasingly common as other companies learn what Google has.
If you take a large amount of money from an investor, you usually give up this option. But we realize (having been there) that an early offer from an acquirer can be very tempting for a group of young hackers. So if you want to sell early, that's ok. We'd make more if you went for an IPO, but we're not going to force anyone to do anything they don't want to.
One concrete consequence is that Y Combinator funding lets you sell early, if you want to. It can sometimes make sense to sell yourself when you're small for a few million, rather than take more funding and roll the dice again. Google likes to do early-stage acquisitions, and we expect them to become increasingly common as other companies learn what Google has.
If you take a large amount of money from an investor, you usually give up this option. But we realize (having been there) that an early offer from an acquirer can be very tempting for a group of young hackers. So if you want to sell early, that's ok. We'd make more if you went for an IPO, but we're not going to force anyone to do anything they don't want to.
>> It can sometimes make sense to sell yourself when you're small for a few million, rather than take more funding and roll the dice again.
If they sold hackermeter for "a few million" I'm giving up on capitalism. It was good while it lasted.
Snark aside, I assume they didn't get a few million because they didn't disclose the amount. It would have to be an amount that neither side wanted to brag about.
If they sold hackermeter for "a few million" I'm giving up on capitalism. It was good while it lasted.
Snark aside, I assume they didn't get a few million because they didn't disclose the amount. It would have to be an amount that neither side wanted to brag about.
You mean one that neither side sees any benefit to bragging about. Most mature people realize there is about zero personal benefit to letting folks know that you now have a few million in the bank. Similarly, most acquirers realize there is about zero corporate benefit to letting folks know that you just paid a few million for a 2-month old startup. So it is to both sides' advantage to keep the terms of the deal secret.
Don't assume that just because you don't know about something, it's inconsequential.
Don't assume that just because you don't know about something, it's inconsequential.
"Must be pretty embarrassing that an alum has so little confidence in their product that they'll bite at the first acquisition offer that comes around. They probably could have saved everyone the trouble by applying to Pinterest directly."
When you're funding dozens of startups a year, this kind of thing is going to happen once in a while. It's an expected outcome. I'm glad the founders had an exit that makes them happy.
When you're funding dozens of startups a year, this kind of thing is going to happen once in a while. It's an expected outcome. I'm glad the founders had an exit that makes them happy.
Let's partner up and get rich in a few hours. Got any business models you want to loosely pitch with a game plan drawn in sand? I'm down.
Only if you take the first step. YC S14 applications are still open.
It's W14 I think now, unless I suddenly missed 6 months.
Does anyone else feel that buying out Hackermeter this early on is almost somehow polite of Pinterest, relative to the behavior of other bigcorps that practice acquihiring?
Most companies will only acquihire once a startup is pretty mature, and has thousands/millions of people relying on its service--even though it would be equally easy to judge whatever attributes of the startup's product/service signals "good team, do buy out" from much earlier on in its lifecycle. I had never even heard of Hackermeter, but on reading the pitch in the article, and seeing a bit of the product, it's immediately obvious what kind of tech/UX/design/product-sense expertise would be required to produce it, and what I could do if I could put the same talent behind my own venture.
Maybe this should be the start of something. I'm picturing a PR-wire-like service for startups to post their MVPs, which bigcorps can subscribe to, and offer to buy out the talent that catches their eye before the service is even out of closed beta. (In fact, just to go a bit crazy: imagine if the use of this service became commonplace. Acquihiring a startup with traction might be considered "bad business!")
Most companies will only acquihire once a startup is pretty mature, and has thousands/millions of people relying on its service--even though it would be equally easy to judge whatever attributes of the startup's product/service signals "good team, do buy out" from much earlier on in its lifecycle. I had never even heard of Hackermeter, but on reading the pitch in the article, and seeing a bit of the product, it's immediately obvious what kind of tech/UX/design/product-sense expertise would be required to produce it, and what I could do if I could put the same talent behind my own venture.
Maybe this should be the start of something. I'm picturing a PR-wire-like service for startups to post their MVPs, which bigcorps can subscribe to, and offer to buy out the talent that catches their eye before the service is even out of closed beta. (In fact, just to go a bit crazy: imagine if the use of this service became commonplace. Acquihiring a startup with traction might be considered "bad business!")
I believe Exitround is doing something along those lines.
http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/09/exitround-first-exit/
http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/09/exitround-first-exit/
Consider the possibility that someone from Hackermeter sent their resume to Pinterest unprompted, and that's what put them on the radar.
It's called AngelList.
Entrepreneurs are the new labor http://www.forbes.com/sites/venkateshrao/2012/09/03/entrepre...
Sorry, I could not make it through all that dense verbiage. Quick summary please ?
It has been a while since I read that series of articles, but the gist of it was:
-The author predicts that the business side of entrepreneurship will become increasingly commoditized, with programs like YC supplanting business school as the expected qualification for executives. The author parallels the unique skills required by railroad and steel entrepreneurs (access to funding networks, an ability to act on incomplete and indistinct market data and so on) with those of today's tech entrepreneurs and then observes how those skills became less valuable as the railroad and steel markets matured and consolidated to the point where the risk-taking entrepreneurs were no longer necessary and were replaced by dry MBA-types.
-The author predicts that the tech side will evolve into something like the guild system used by artisans prior to the industrial revolution, since engineers are still the gatekeepers to technology.
-Finally, the author predicts that both of these groups will become increasingly beholden to finance-types, albeit with the engineers having quite a lot more leverage if they can manage to establish some kind of collective bargaining platform (i.e. a guild). By nature of being individually indistinct and for the most part interchangeable in terms of skills as tech markets become less risky, business-oriented entrepreneurs are therefore the new labor in the way that manufacturing jobs were the old labor.
By the way, I thought it was a long but pretty fantastic read and would highly recommend it if you can find a few hours of free time.
-The author predicts that the business side of entrepreneurship will become increasingly commoditized, with programs like YC supplanting business school as the expected qualification for executives. The author parallels the unique skills required by railroad and steel entrepreneurs (access to funding networks, an ability to act on incomplete and indistinct market data and so on) with those of today's tech entrepreneurs and then observes how those skills became less valuable as the railroad and steel markets matured and consolidated to the point where the risk-taking entrepreneurs were no longer necessary and were replaced by dry MBA-types.
-The author predicts that the tech side will evolve into something like the guild system used by artisans prior to the industrial revolution, since engineers are still the gatekeepers to technology.
-Finally, the author predicts that both of these groups will become increasingly beholden to finance-types, albeit with the engineers having quite a lot more leverage if they can manage to establish some kind of collective bargaining platform (i.e. a guild). By nature of being individually indistinct and for the most part interchangeable in terms of skills as tech markets become less risky, business-oriented entrepreneurs are therefore the new labor in the way that manufacturing jobs were the old labor.
By the way, I thought it was a long but pretty fantastic read and would highly recommend it if you can find a few hours of free time.
Thanks. Sounds like another long, but more accessible read (Manna): http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm
Whole swath of middle management can be replaced with a little bit of automation and ML.
Whole swath of middle management can be replaced with a little bit of automation and ML.
Congrats! Pinterest is a great place filled with great people.
Congrats guys! Pinterest is a great company you'll be happy there.
I seem to recall them raising money on Wefunder. In fact, a number of S13 companies appear to be[1]. Unfortunately, it looks like most of the companies are having trouble raising even small sums of money.
I wonder if some investors might take the $ currently raised as a proxy for interest. Investors already follow a herd mentality. I wonder if this open + crowdfunding model might actually make it even harder to raise money.
[1] https://ycombinator.wefunder.com/
I wonder if some investors might take the $ currently raised as a proxy for interest. Investors already follow a herd mentality. I wonder if this open + crowdfunding model might actually make it even harder to raise money.
[1] https://ycombinator.wefunder.com/
why is this here? a couple engineers get hired from a startup they couldn't make money.
Perhaps I should use this approach the next time I apply for a job. "You're going to have to acquire my side project in order to get me to start working here."
Maybe I could make techcrunch.