6 ms·

EverythingMe is Closing Down

30 points by dvirsky 11y ago

joshmn 11y ago
Looking at the picture they put on the post... Can someone please explain why a launcher needs so many employees?
- seibelj 11y ago
  Yeah, I mean, sorry they closed down, but an Android only niche product doesn't scream "sustainable business model" to me.
- juskrey 11y ago
  Here is the answer -> They have received $35 millions in funding and... the story now looks "familiar". https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/everythingme#/entity https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/everythingme#/entity
  - treelovinhippie 11y ago
    Wow. How does something like this even get $35m in funding and just burn through that over 5 years, then shutdown because they couldn't monetise? Were the investors hoping for a Google acquisition? In Australia I'm struggling to raise $50k for a global product with a clear monetisation and cashflow strategy.
    - juskrey 11y ago
      Please do not get caught on that hook. Try to earn that 50k yourself.
      - treelovinhippie 11y ago
        Yeah I've given up on seed/accelerator/incubator over here. There's a reason why only the boring cashflow +ve enterprise startups come out of Australia. Just means I need to be juggling various different projects to bootstrap. Currently monetising a separate startup in order to fund the one I actually want to work on.
    - juskrey 11y ago
      And, as for the question "how", the answer is " irrational exuberance".
- cloakandswagger 11y ago
  My first thought as well. I imagine a good portion of them focused on getting through a work day with nothing to do.
swagv 11y ago
Discovery for anything is always overrated
TeMPOraL 11y ago
From reading the post I understand that they're taking down the launcher, or that it otherwise won't work anymore. And I have to ask - why? Why just not leave it there? Is there something in it that requires Internet connection to access their servers? It's a launcher, even predictive smart whatever features should not require Internet access.
- cbhl 11y ago
  The prediction is likely entirely centralized machine learning; similar to how Netflix predictions work. Tell the server <x apps installed, y location, z time of day>, get a response showing <show apps a, b, q>.
  - TeMPOraL 11y ago
    > <x apps installed, y location, z time of day> This is exactly the kind of data that should not fly over the wire unless it's absolutely necessary, which in this case I believe it isn't. I can't imagine what kind of machine learning they'd have to be using to make it not work on a phone. It doesn't take much computing power to do a decent predictor. I'm going to assume process laziness here - being used to the idea that if everything is running on your server, you can tweak stuff there and have it immediately working on everyone's (Internet-connected) endpoints. It makes sense for websites, but IMO it's a wrong approach for devices.
    - beagle3 11y ago
      Big data learning. They're (probably) inferring how you do stuff based also on how other people do. In fact, there's no way to recommend apps not already installed on your phone without consulting a server.
      - TeMPOraL 11y ago
        I think I misunderstood their app's description. I thought it was about recommending things to launch out of the things you have installed. EDIT: And I'd pay for a launcher that learns from my interactions with it off-line, and recommends me apps based on context such as location, time of day, previously launched apps, etc. Such a thing does not need "big data learning". It's an undergrad-level machine learning exercise.
ignoramous 11y ago
EverythingMe was a great product. Having been a long time Android user and a AOSP developer, the platform holds a tremendous promise, in my eyes. EverythingMe tried solving the right problem. Launcher has so much potential to be smarter, yet it wasn't (then). Also, the amount of data one can get hands on must be monteziable somehow...think how valuable it is to be at the homepage of a browser... A launcher is similar, only that it absolutely dwarfs browser hompages in usage time. I'm sure EverythingMe tried everything, but like Aviator (acquired by Yahoo!), they found out that there's no competing with Google products. If Google has a competing app on Android, what choices have you got of beating them? They control all the keys parts on the platform (rightly or wrongly), they rule the web, they have got endless source of resources... It's a tough world out there being an Android developer. Even Facebook, with all its might, couldn't make much of its Launcher, 'Home.' Google Now is great and all. And with custom APIs for contextual cards, in-app searching and so on, Google is making it more difficult for the competition. It's web-search type dominance all over again, but on a much much bigger scale.
shrikant 11y ago
I hope this doesn't mean that re:dash will stop getting love from the developer. It's one of the best browser-based query front-ends I've used! http://redash.io/ http://redash.io/ Edit: Looks like the Github repo has changed from the EverythingMe owned one to a Redash-specific one, huzzah! https://github.com/getredash/redash https://github.com/getredash/redash

30 points by dvirsky 11y ago

joshmn 11y ago

Looking at the picture they put on the post... Can someone please explain why a launcher needs so many employees?

seibelj 11y ago
Yeah, I mean, sorry they closed down, but an Android only niche product doesn't scream "sustainable business model" to me.
juskrey 11y ago
Here is the answer -> They have received $35 millions in funding and... the story now looks "familiar". https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/everythingme#/entity https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/everythingme#/entity
- treelovinhippie 11y ago
  Wow. How does something like this even get $35m in funding and just burn through that over 5 years, then shutdown because they couldn't monetise? Were the investors hoping for a Google acquisition? In Australia I'm struggling to raise $50k for a global product with a clear monetisation and cashflow strategy.
  - juskrey 11y ago
    Please do not get caught on that hook. Try to earn that 50k yourself.
    - treelovinhippie 11y ago
      Yeah I've given up on seed/accelerator/incubator over here. There's a reason why only the boring cashflow +ve enterprise startups come out of Australia. Just means I need to be juggling various different projects to bootstrap. Currently monetising a separate startup in order to fund the one I actually want to work on.
  - juskrey 11y ago
    And, as for the question "how", the answer is " irrational exuberance".
cloakandswagger 11y ago
My first thought as well. I imagine a good portion of them focused on getting through a work day with nothing to do.

swagv 11y ago

Discovery for anything is always overrated

TeMPOraL 11y ago

From reading the post I understand that they're taking down the launcher, or that it otherwise won't work anymore. And I have to ask - why? Why just not leave it there? Is there something in it that requires Internet connection to access their servers? It's a launcher, even predictive smart whatever features should not require Internet access.

cbhl 11y ago
The prediction is likely entirely centralized machine learning; similar to how Netflix predictions work. Tell the server <x apps installed, y location, z time of day>, get a response showing <show apps a, b, q>.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  > <x apps installed, y location, z time of day> This is exactly the kind of data that should not fly over the wire unless it's absolutely necessary, which in this case I believe it isn't. I can't imagine what kind of machine learning they'd have to be using to make it not work on a phone. It doesn't take much computing power to do a decent predictor. I'm going to assume process laziness here - being used to the idea that if everything is running on your server, you can tweak stuff there and have it immediately working on everyone's (Internet-connected) endpoints. It makes sense for websites, but IMO it's a wrong approach for devices.
  - beagle3 11y ago
    Big data learning. They're (probably) inferring how you do stuff based also on how other people do. In fact, there's no way to recommend apps not already installed on your phone without consulting a server.
    - TeMPOraL 11y ago
      I think I misunderstood their app's description. I thought it was about recommending things to launch out of the things you have installed. EDIT: And I'd pay for a launcher that learns from my interactions with it off-line, and recommends me apps based on context such as location, time of day, previously launched apps, etc. Such a thing does not need "big data learning". It's an undergrad-level machine learning exercise.

ignoramous 11y ago

EverythingMe was a great product. Having been a long time Android user and a AOSP developer, the platform holds a tremendous promise, in my eyes. EverythingMe tried solving the right problem. Launcher has so much potential to be smarter, yet it wasn't (then). Also, the amount of data one can get hands on must be monteziable somehow...think how valuable it is to be at the homepage of a browser... A launcher is similar, only that it absolutely dwarfs browser hompages in usage time. I'm sure EverythingMe tried everything, but like Aviator (acquired by Yahoo!), they found out that there's no competing with Google products. If Google has a competing app on Android, what choices have you got of beating them? They control all the keys parts on the platform (rightly or wrongly), they rule the web, they have got endless source of resources... It's a tough world out there being an Android developer. Even Facebook, with all its might, couldn't make much of its Launcher, 'Home.' Google Now is great and all. And with custom APIs for contextual cards, in-app searching and so on, Google is making it more difficult for the competition. It's web-search type dominance all over again, but on a much much bigger scale.

shrikant 11y ago

I hope this doesn't mean that re:dash will stop getting love from the developer. It's one of the best browser-based query front-ends I've used! http://redash.io/ http://redash.io/ Edit: Looks like the Github repo has changed from the EverythingMe owned one to a Redash-specific one, huzzah! https://github.com/getredash/redash https://github.com/getredash/redash