4 ms·
Ask HN: What product/service do you want to stay independent?
First off, to avoid semantic distinctions that would detract from the possible answers, I've tried to word this question to allow for a lot of subjectivity. I hope this "pseudo-coded" question works out. Without further ado:
Inspired by this comment [0], I'm interested in your answers to this question: Is there an [independently|privately] owned [product|service|app] that you [use|depend on|really love], and would [prefer|desire|demand] stay [independent|private]?
And the extra credit follow up: Is there some corporation you would trust to take it over? What's your "Plan B" if it gets snapped up?
[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12206192
- spdustin 10y agoLinked version: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12206192 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12206192
- niftich 10y agoI will answer in a similarly meta way. If I really like a product, I want it to stay independent, or rather, I want it to stay available so I can keep using it, until a superior alternative emerges that piques my interest. While this does not necessarily preclude the product being acquired, in recent times most product teams have been acqui-hired by larger companies and used as a piece of their respective business strategies. Those strategies don't always align with mine, as a user of the product. Often, the product is discontinued; sometimes it's turned into a piece of a larger SaaS offering of the parent; sometimes it's released as open source but effectively abandoned. Occasionally, the product improves in an objective way under the new parent. Therefore any potential acquisition is a risk until proven otherwise.