Woot To Be Acquired By Amazon(woot.com)
woot.com
Woot To Be Acquired By Amazon
http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=13389
17 comments
The CEO's statement:
http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=13390
That's such a cool statement. If I can't be a CEO like that, I hope I have one like that as my boss some day.
Its funny and entertaining, but I still feel more confused than informed.
keep in mind, being cool doesn't always make you a good leader, but being a good leader is always cool.
being a good leader is always coolThe two should go together, IMHO. I would much rather be fired by the cool boss that I could relate to and shoot the shit with than a cold, by the book boss. The problem with that is a lot of bosses find it hard to fire their "friends" and maintain their appeal.
My last boss was like that, which is why he delegated the hiring and firing to a "hired gun". He was a good guy for the most part, but that was the most difficult thing to watch as I got up into management and saw what was going on. He would make the calls to have someone canned, delegate down to the "gun" and then put on a face of disbelief and contempt in front of everyone as though it wasn't his choice to fire the person.
You may question, as did I, how people could buy this circus act, but it worked quite well. When anyway would question the CEO as to why he doesn't fire the "gun" if he doesn't agree with what he's doing, he would always comment that when you put someone in a position like that you can't undermine what they do. For better or for worse, you have to back them and their decisions. Which is true, but was also just a smoke screen for what was really going on to those none the wiser.
My last boss was like that, which is why he delegated the hiring and firing to a "hired gun". He was a good guy for the most part, but that was the most difficult thing to watch as I got up into management and saw what was going on. He would make the calls to have someone canned, delegate down to the "gun" and then put on a face of disbelief and contempt in front of everyone as though it wasn't his choice to fire the person.
You may question, as did I, how people could buy this circus act, but it worked quite well. When anyway would question the CEO as to why he doesn't fire the "gun" if he doesn't agree with what he's doing, he would always comment that when you put someone in a position like that you can't undermine what they do. For better or for worse, you have to back them and their decisions. Which is true, but was also just a smoke screen for what was really going on to those none the wiser.
I'm sure the remaining employees appreciate your keeping the company afloat.
i may have taken the original comment out of context. i've seen a couple CEOs being cool (hip, funny, etc.) when they needed a leader. i think that's dangerous, and that's the point i meant to make.
specifically to yours, no, its not cool to fire people, but i would rather hear well rationalized case for deciding to let me go (assuming it wasn't performance related) instead of a cleverly written kthxbai. still, that even that wouldn't be cool.
specifically to yours, no, its not cool to fire people, but i would rather hear well rationalized case for deciding to let me go (assuming it wasn't performance related) instead of a cleverly written kthxbai. still, that even that wouldn't be cool.
Exactly that. Anyone can keep cool and be the fun boss when everything's aces, but the real test of a leader is how adversity is handled.
I agree that the ideal leader is cool all the time, but not every human being worthy of a leader can manage to stay everyone's favorite dude while terminating careers out of necessity. In those cases, I'd rather the leader be a hard-ass than have him be Michael Scott.
[deleted]
epic acquisition email. The density of so many cultural references and sarcastic reflections made by the leader of an organization sent me into a fan-boyish world wind.
I could only reply, "where do I sign up?"
I could only reply, "where do I sign up?"
largely modeled on Tony Hsieh's.
Just think of the new Bag of Crap possibilities. I'm sure Amazon warehouses are full of stuff they need to dispose of.
I wonder if it will be even harder to get a Bandolier of Carrots now.
Hopefully, Woot will leverage Amazon's cloud infrastructure to avoid the dreaded "server unavailable" messages.
Hopefully, Woot will leverage Amazon's cloud infrastructure to avoid the dreaded "server unavailable" messages.
From the CEO's email:
...we’re geeked about the opportunities to tap into that knowledge and those resources, especially on the technology side.
...we’re geeked about the opportunities to tap into that knowledge and those resources, especially on the technology side.
Maybe Amazon has 5,000 laptop bags with no straps.
It was a great price, but only available for one day.
Price paid was $110 Million all cash - http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/30/woot-amazon/
"After spending a lot of time falling asleep at the library while facing the philosophy books, I determined that the concept of destiny is a construct that allows man a gentle release from facing the terror of his existence, and that a Hyundai full of twenties would pretty much offer the same benefits. And so, I ultimately said YES!"
According to http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_volume_is_1_million_dolla..., 110 million in twenties is about 220 cubic feet.
According to http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/reviews/healey/2010-03-1..., a 2011 Hyundai Sonata has about 120 cubic feet of passenger and cargo space.
So, assuming TechCrunch is right, the Woot CEO is wrong. It's actually close to TWO Hyundais (Hyundai?) full of twenties.
(OK, maybe one after-tax Hyundai)
According to http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_volume_is_1_million_dolla..., 110 million in twenties is about 220 cubic feet.
According to http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/reviews/healey/2010-03-1..., a 2011 Hyundai Sonata has about 120 cubic feet of passenger and cargo space.
So, assuming TechCrunch is right, the Woot CEO is wrong. It's actually close to TWO Hyundais (Hyundai?) full of twenties.
(OK, maybe one after-tax Hyundai)
All cash is great, but man the MAA market must still be soft if a company like WOOT (which at least seems to have a ton of mindshare) would only fetch $110M. Makes you long for the days when a Photobucket or a Bebo would go for 3-8x that.
And $5 for shipping? Or can you send a company through Snail^WSmartPost?
Unintentionally funny line in TC article: "having deals on things as diverse as handguns". Can one thing be diverse ?
"Several months ago, when we were all sitting on Jeff Bezos’s bumper drinking orange Mad Dog and trying not to be noticed, we heard a voice in the distance yelling "You kids better not scratch my Mercedes or I’m calling the cops!"
We ran. It was later that night when Amazon came by the house and said they liked our style and also wanted to get that money we owed them for messing up the chrome. We like to think that our relationship with Amazon will continue at this level for many, many, many years to come."
I just thought this deserved a special space on the HN thread.
We ran. It was later that night when Amazon came by the house and said they liked our style and also wanted to get that money we owed them for messing up the chrome. We like to think that our relationship with Amazon will continue at this level for many, many, many years to come."
I just thought this deserved a special space on the HN thread.
The 'official' youtube video announcing this is great as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnCHCcveteA
One of the best corporate statements I've ever seen :)
Its been interesting watching Amazon's acquisition strategy.
The deal-sealer for me was the video of the monkey rapping about it: http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=13391
The deal-sealer for me was the video of the monkey rapping about it: http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=13391
Yeah, I can't really think of many other companies that acquire smaller companies, and then let them operate with their money as autonomous entities. (No sarcasm.)
Apple and Microsoft surely don't, at least.
Apple and Microsoft surely don't, at least.
Amazon is even creating separately branded subsidiaries from scratch, like Endless.com.
[deleted]
Is "Woot Prime" shipping possible now instead of $5 shipping on $10 items?
Fingers crossed that this means one day I will be able to buy things on woot and have them shipped with Prime.
Man I love how this guy wrote this letter. Tongue in cheek works perfectly for Woot, and I hope Amazon knows better to keep in the background and let Woot do what Woot does best.
I can't even decide which paragraph I love best.
(edited in an attempt to copy/paste a quote.)
I can't even decide which paragraph I love best.
(edited in an attempt to copy/paste a quote.)
This one made me laugh out loud:
Other than that, we plan to continue to run Woot the way we have always run Woot, with a wall of ideas and a dartboard. From a practical point of view, it will be as if we are simply adding one person to the organizational hierarchy, except that one person will just happen to be a billion-dollar company that could buy and sell each and every one of you like you were office furniture.
Other than that, we plan to continue to run Woot the way we have always run Woot, with a wall of ideas and a dartboard. From a practical point of view, it will be as if we are simply adding one person to the organizational hierarchy, except that one person will just happen to be a billion-dollar company that could buy and sell each and every one of you like you were office furniture.
Great purchase on the part of Amazon. Woot! has been an amazing pioneer in impulse purchasing on the web and was the first of many companies that got me excited about starting my own.
Congrats guys!
Congrats guys!
The funny thing for me about Woot's status as an impulse-purchase store is that my impulse control has always been just strong enough to allow the simple step of creating an account to stop me from ever committing to a purchase.
As completely ridiculous as it may sound, being able to log in with my Amazon account and one-click™ that amazingly cheap recertified Roomba is probably going to work on me.
As completely ridiculous as it may sound, being able to log in with my Amazon account and one-click™ that amazingly cheap recertified Roomba is probably going to work on me.
I have a Woot account but they take forever to ship (I think I waited 3 weeks for three sets of earbuds), so that itself sometimes deters me from buying. Combine the awesome deal on a Roomba with free 2 day shipping and I'm screwed :-)
Bah! Not only is slow shipping disturbingly cheap, but it's like Christmas when it finally shows up because you completely forgot that you'd bought anything!
To me, part of the appeal of Woot! is its nonchalance and small, independent aesthetic. I hope it doesn't lose this in the process of becoming an Amazon company.
Woot's deal today (first after the announcement) is a Kindle for $149.99. That's a nice way to celebrate the deal.
Amazon has been making some interesting moves lately; attempting to change their internal culture through acquisition, perhaps? (See Zappos.)
My hunch is they can feel or see stagnation on the horizon, and are trying to mix things up a bit. Sort of the same as drinking the blood of young virgins (hot new startups) so that the old witch (Amazon) can reclaim some of her youth. I think the chances of success are a bit better than the blood route though!
[deleted]
I thought woot was purchased by Yahoo not too long ago?
Apparently it was just some sort of partnership deal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woot
woot!