4 ms·

Taken without any external context, this release is nonsensical, probably because they don't bother to say why they're shutting down or what the new opportunity

by ipsin 11y ago

Taken without any external context, this release is nonsensical, probably because they don't bother to say why they're shutting down or what the new opportunity is. "Looking forward, we feel this is best seized by taking on new opportunities to fully realize our vision for ebooks." By... shutting down? I would have appreciated a bit of plain-speaking here.

welly 11y ago
Google have snapped up a bunch of their staff http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/21/oyster-shutting-down/ http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/21/oyster-shutting-down/
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
georgemcbay 11y ago
Totally speculating here but I'd assume the company was basically out of runway and couldn't find a reasonable out so negotiated the team to google to work on something else. Option A: company/product dies, team is scattered. Option B: company/product dies, team remains together. Investors fucked either way but with B at least team that works well together gets to continue to do so. In a nutshell that's what happened when I was at chumby. Sadly the company we shifted to was terrible so there was a mass exodus anyway over the following year.
- misiti3780 11y ago
  it seems like a lot of money to burn through though - right?
  - georgemcbay 11y ago
    Yes, it seems like a lot of money to burn through, but as someone who only casually watches the overall startup market I've sort of lost the ability to be surprised when a startup burns through a ridiculous amount of money in a very short time, so it still seems like a plausible thing to me, though I'll reiterate I have no actual knowledge of what happened in this case.
benwilber0 11y ago
they ran out of money and Google hired-away a bunch of their staff. simple as that. happens.
- cwyers 11y ago
  That's the context that the post doesn't mention. (They don't say anything about Google at all, even.)
Cieplak 11y ago
It is possible for a company or its assets to be acquired without public acknowledgement of the deal. I'm not suggesting that this was the case, just a possibility. I understand that Apple generally doesn't announce its acquisitions: http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/05/21/tight-lipped-apple-could-keep-quiet-on-beats-deal-thanks-to-sec-rules http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/05/21/tight-lipped-apple...

by ipsin 11y ago

welly 11y ago

Google have snapped up a bunch of their staff http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/21/oyster-shutting-down/ http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/21/oyster-shutting-down/

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

georgemcbay 11y ago

Totally speculating here but I'd assume the company was basically out of runway and couldn't find a reasonable out so negotiated the team to google to work on something else. Option A: company/product dies, team is scattered. Option B: company/product dies, team remains together. Investors fucked either way but with B at least team that works well together gets to continue to do so. In a nutshell that's what happened when I was at chumby. Sadly the company we shifted to was terrible so there was a mass exodus anyway over the following year.

misiti3780 11y ago
it seems like a lot of money to burn through though - right?
- georgemcbay 11y ago
  Yes, it seems like a lot of money to burn through, but as someone who only casually watches the overall startup market I've sort of lost the ability to be surprised when a startup burns through a ridiculous amount of money in a very short time, so it still seems like a plausible thing to me, though I'll reiterate I have no actual knowledge of what happened in this case.

benwilber0 11y ago

they ran out of money and Google hired-away a bunch of their staff. simple as that. happens.

cwyers 11y ago
That's the context that the post doesn't mention. (They don't say anything about Google at all, even.)

Cieplak 11y ago

It is possible for a company or its assets to be acquired without public acknowledgement of the deal. I'm not suggesting that this was the case, just a possibility. I understand that Apple generally doesn't announce its acquisitions: http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/05/21/tight-lipped-apple-could-keep-quiet-on-beats-deal-thanks-to-sec-rules http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/05/21/tight-lipped-apple...