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This isn't really a typical Venture funding, and is definitely not a "Series A". Traditionally, at this point, 1Password would probably have just gone Public,

This isn't really a typical Venture funding, and is definitely not a "Series A". Traditionally, at this point, 1Password would probably have just gone Public, without any need for venture funding. But, why go to the hassle of doing that when you can get most of the same benefits ($$$) without any of the pain (public reporting, SOX, etc...). The VCs at this point would be happy with a 3-4x return, because the risk is minimal - companies at this level of maturity, profitability, market dominance, and growth are highly unlikely to fail. So, if they picked up (for arguments sake) 25% of the company, giving it pre-money valuation of $800mm, all they really need to do over the next 3-4 years is build an $3.2B company, which, given 1Password's dominance/quality of product - should be relatively straightforward. Their killer organic entry is: "Everyone" is already using them for personal password management, which means cost of training/installation/use is trivial to add the Enterprise element. As a personal user, I consider 1Password the GitHub of password management - sure, there are lots of GitHub competitors, and you can roll your own - but, when there is one product that has completely nailed it - why bother going with anyone else.

ttul 7y ago
This is so so true. I have tried them all. 1Password is the no-brain option that crushes all others.
- jliptzin 7y ago
  I haven’t tried 1password, I have been using LastPass, would you recommend I switch?
  - tnorthcutt 7y ago
    Without hesitation. The user experience with 1Password is far better than LastPass (I’ve used both).
  - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
    Not any more. It used to be a no brainer, but they switched to cloud based subscription at great cost increase, loss of some features, and dark-patterned the native app into invisibility. Native is still available apparently, but you won't find it from the homepage, unless they were persuaded to change recently. Report an error in the native app, and they suggest switching to cloud subscription without addressing the error at all. When my current native install of 1pw stops working I'll be migrating elsewhere.
    - ValentineC 7y ago
      > Native is still available apparently, but you won't find it from the homepage, unless they were persuaded to change recently. I haven't verified this myself, but standalone licences seem to be available for purchase in the app itself: https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/92275/how-do-i-purchase-a-standalone-license-of-1password-7 https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/92275/how-do-i-...
      - MrFoof 7y ago
        Can verify that it's possible. Recently (past 30 days) did an upgrade to 7 with a standalone license.
      - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
        Which until someone had to ask the question on the forum, having been unable to find any word, was not revealed at all on their main site, which was all about getting you on the sub. You wouldn't normally download the next (unlicensed) version on the off chance the buying mechanism has been quietly put in there instead. The former significant discounts for buying both phone and desktop, or Mac and Windows at the same time are gone too. Hence it's there, but intentionally dark patterned to near invisibility. They would prefer everyone on the pointlessly expensive sub.
    - vsl 7y ago
      The subscription version still uses native app. It’s not a webpage or electron crap. From context, you mean “one-time purchase”.
  - warpech 7y ago
    Bitwarden IMO beats LastPass and 1Password. Very polished, hassle free experience
    - swozey 7y ago
      Bitwarden didn't allow Android fingerprinting when I used it a few months ago (limitation in one of their electron libraries) which pretty much ruined it for me unfortunately. Not sure if this works in IOS. edit: I'm wrong, it didn't support touchID in OSX https://community.bitwarden.com/t/touch-id-support-for-macos/568?page=2 https://community.bitwarden.com/t/touch-id-support-for-macos...
    - Eric_WVGG 7y ago
      the Mac client doesn’t support biometric login (TouchID), which we’ve only had on these computers for about four years...
      - wlesieutre 7y ago
        Electron finally added support for TouchID a few months ago (version 6), so hopefully that's coming
        ble52 7y ago
        And that's one of the major reasons for me to choose 1Password - native apps on macOS, iOS and Windows
      - mathieuh 7y ago
        Are you on an old version? I’ve been using TouchID with 1Password on Mac and FaceID on iPhone for as long as I can remember them being a thing I think when they switched to subscription model they left people who didn’t switch on an old version
        stevewodil 7y ago
        I believe they were referring to lack of TouchID support in Bitwarden, not in 1Password.
  - overcast 7y ago
    Yes, immediately, we use LastPass in the corporate world, and it's horrific to deal with. Slow, bloated, mess of an interface. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21172569 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21172569 is a good discussion on it.
  - latortuga 7y ago
    Yes 100%. I was a lastpass user for years but it always had its quirks for me. I switched to 1P within the last year and it is miles better and "Just Works", everywhere. I or someone in my house use 1P on Ubuntu, Android, iPhone, and macos, and it is a seamless and wonderful experience.
  - greggman2 7y ago
    yes! go read LastPass's privacy policy. They spy on everything you do and share it with anyone and everyone.
    - jsutton 7y ago
      This is outright false, no basis in fact whatsoever.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
      - greggman2 7y ago
        From their Privacy Policy > 1. Information We Collect and Receive > Service Data (including Session and Usage data): > When you use our Services, we receive information generated through the use of the Service, either entered by you or others who use the Services with you (for example, schedules, attendee info, etc.), or from the Service infrastructure itself, (for example, duration of session, use of webcams, connection information, etc.) We may also collect usage and log data about how the services are accessed and used, including information about the device you are using the Services on, IP addresses, location information, language settings, what operating system you are using, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data ... > Third Party Data: We may receive information about you from other sources, including publicly available databases or third parties from whom we have purchased data, and combine this data with information we already have about you. We may also receive information from other affiliated companies that are a part of our corporate group. This helps us to update, expand and analyze our records, identify new prospects for marketing, and provide products and services that may be of interest to you. > Location Information: We collect your location-based information for the purpose of providing and supporting the service and for fraud prevention and security monitoring. If you wish to opt-out of the collection and use of your collection information, you may do so by turning it off on your device settings. > Device Information: When you use our Services, we automatically collect information on the type of device you use, operating system version, and the device identifier (or "UDID"). That's pretty much everything given they put an extension in your browser and can collect all of that info for every page you visit > 4. Information Sharing > ... We may share your personal information with (a) third party service providers; (b) business partners; (c) affiliated companies within our corporate structure > Examples of how we may share information with service providers include: The above basically says they share your info with anyone they feel like So I don't know how you think my comment has no basis in fact. They spell out what they can do in their privacy policy. Why would they spell it out if they weren't doing it? Compare to 1password (note I use neither service and am in no way affiliated with 1password but for comparison it's telling > Your data is yours, and we don't want to know anything about it. We don't use it, we don't share it, and we don't sell it. > We only collect the information necessary to provide our services and help you with troubleshooting. Personally identifiable information is never shared with third parties. People on HN complain about Google collecting and yet we seem to have LastPass with access to all webpages you visit and also able to track every service you use them with an their policy basically says they collect and share your data (something even Google doesn't do. AFAIK google doesn't share data)
  - joegahona 7y ago
    I tried 1Password before switching to LastPass in 2015 or so. I hated 1Password. Haven't had a reason to switch, as free LastPass covers my needs nicely.
    - hk__2 7y ago
      > I hated 1Password. This is not helpful. Why did you hate it?
michaelbuckbee 7y ago
At the smaller level of things I see similar bets in what Earnest Capital and Tiny Seed are doing: non-controlling amount of investment in a profitable company to make a return higher than standard but with a less crazed risk profile than traditional venture capital.
bernierocks 7y ago
If you asked me about 1password a few years ago, I would agree with you. Ever since they went to the cloud, I stopped using and recommending them to friends and family. I now use Keypss, which is free and doesn't require the cloud. The only reason they went to the cloud is because most people were buying one copy and sharing it with multiple people. It's a way for them to make more money, which is fine, but I really don't think a cloud-based password solution is necessary. Edit: The 1password employees must be down voting me. It's ridiculous that I get down voted for a specific opinion about the topic.
- overcast 7y ago
  and the reason I went to their cloud solution, is so that I can sync passwords between my iPhone, Mac, PC, and Linux machines. It's $35.88 for an entire year of something that I use constantly, every day, and it works perfectly.
  - ahuth 7y ago
    Agreed. It's so nice updating/creating a password on desktop, and being able to use it immediately and seamlessly on my phone or other machines. This seamlessness is also critical for my less-technical family members on my plan. They want the better security, and recognize that a password manager is necessary. But if it was a pain to use they wouldn't put up with it.
  - braythwayt 7y ago
    FWIW, if you have DropBox, they can sync passwords via DropBox, giving you many of the same benefits as their cloud solution. You can use the pay-one-price license if you already have the motivation to use DropBox.
    - overcast 7y ago
      That's not going to work outside of Mac or PC. Linux is a browser plugin.
      - 7y ago
halite 7y ago
1Password is slowly starting their enterprise game. All employees were offered 'free' 1Password accounts last week for entire family as long as I'm with my current company.
- GordonS 7y ago
  I'm reading this as a negative comment - do you really feel negatively about this gesture/benefit?
- acjohnson55 7y ago
  My company offered that for individual personal accounts in 2015, but perhaps the family plan thing is new.
  - snowwrestler 7y ago
    It is explicitly listed on the 1Password site as a benefit of the Business level plan: https://1password.com/teams/pricing/ https://1password.com/teams/pricing/ "Free family accounts for all team members - $60 value per person"
harikb 7y ago
I have been following this company for like 10 years now, if not more. 1Password is anything but a typical software company. When they were small, I forget the year, they emailed us (each) six licenses of 1Password as a thanksgiving gift. A small gesture, but clearly the courage to leave that much money on the table for a small startup is laudable. On the other hand, each of my friends who got it "free" wouldn't have considered any password manager (free or not). They had the uphill task of creating the market. I am sure all the recent password leaks helps a bit. They sponsored Gophercon in 2018(?). I didn't even know they use Go. Good luck to them and hopefully they will keep us from password disasters of the future. Now, if only I could convince everyone to use a password manager...
- dak1 7y ago
  On Nov 23, 2010 (still have the e-mail in my inbox), they sent a "Happy Thanksgiving and 3 Gifts For You!" with free downloads of 2 books and links to give away a license of 1Password for Mac, 1Password for Windows, and Knox for Mac.
- Marsymars 7y ago
  Small touch, but my office recently starting 1Password in large part because most of the competition only offer USD billing. While we can pay for services in USD, it's unpalatable given none of our own income or accounting is done in USD.
  - hk__2 7y ago
    How did you do that? I can’t find a way to pay 1Password in € rather than $. Every year my bank is stealing^W taking a fee because 1Password is billing in USD.
    - Marsymars 7y ago
      I went through 1password.ca, 1password.eu seems to direct to pricing page with € pricing.
      - 7y ago
ticmasta 7y ago
I think you are largely correct about this being a liquidity event vs series A funding; They are likely not looking at massive employee growth or marketing campaign as much as a way to unlock equity without going public. This is good for users as it likely mean not huge changes to appease corporate overlords, but continues the sad story of limited young, profitable, small-cap Canadian tech companies available for outsider, passive investment. There are quite a few in the category of 10-15 years old, solid revenues/profit and founders that are ready to step back; most choose private equity or sovereign wealth funds investments in the 100M - 1B range over going public because of the hassle and reporting requirements. The average individual investor doesn't have access to these deals which is a shame because they tend to be established, profitable return generators. I don't blame the founders; I'd likely do the same route.
ummonk 7y ago
Who is “everyone”? I imagine most people are just using Chrome or iCloud for personal password management.
- lotophage 7y ago
  Most people I know who use password managers beyond Chrome/iCloud use LastPass. All the companies I have worked for in the last 7 years have used it too.
  - aquark 7y ago
    I switched from LastPass to 1Password earlier this year (after 5+ years of use) due to issues with LastPass stopping sync. 1Password fixed that and numerous UI glitches around the actual password filling in that I was just living with. It is night and day a better experience ... and no invested interest in them (unfortunately!)
    - tempestn 7y ago
      Similar situation here. Also, anecdotally, I recall hearing numerous tales of people making that switch, but few to none moving in the other direction. (Which doesn't surprise me at all having experienced both products.)
turc1656 7y ago
They might have great software - I don't know. But personally I absolutely refuse to use a paid option for a service of this type. There's just too much risk. What happens if my credit card expires and I forget to update/pay? Or I get hospitalized suddenly and there's a similar payment issue? Is my account just closed and everything deleted? Then there's the risk of me putting everything in there and them jacking up the price. I'd either have to eat it or manually migrate everything. There are other concerns as well. And I'm not saying I think they are dishonest. But when there are open source methods that are free and battle-tested for security, I see no reason to go with a paid option.
- markdown 7y ago
  > What happens if my credit card expires and I forget to update/pay? I paid for it once and then used it for years and years without updating. After a few years the browser extension stopped working (was no longer compatible with current browsers) so I decided to buy again. By this time they'd moved to a subscription system and I have no idea how it works. It used to be simple... there was an app, and if you stored the password file in Dropbox, you got cross platform support. But now the UX is terrible. I don't know where my passwords are stored, I don't know if the entire thing will stop working if I stop paying, etc. What a shame. I used to recommend it all the time but since the update there's no way I could recommend it to anyone I know who isn't a techie.
  - NegativeLatency 7y ago
    There’s still a stand-alone app. Just upgraded a couple of weeks ago.
- sedatk 7y ago
  You can always backup your data and move to another manager if needed. Almost all of its competitors support importing from their format.
- zaksoup 7y ago
  This is a really easy question to answer. I duck-duck-went "1password what happens if I stop paying" and the first link was https://support.1password.com/membership-billing-policy/ https://support.1password.com/membership-billing-policy/ From the link: > Your data is yours. Even if you cancel your subscription and your account is frozen, you can still sign in to 1Password.com or in the apps to view and export your data.
fireattack 7y ago
What does "mm" in $800mm mean?
- tlb 7y ago
  Million. Because, in the old days, accountants used 'm' for thousand. I prefer the modern style of k=1e3, M=1e6, B=1e9.
- mplanchard 7y ago
  I believe this is because 1000 in Latin is “mille” (also modern French), so 1 million is one thousand thousands.
ksec 7y ago
> all they really need to do over the next 3-4 years is build an $3.2B company, I really did laugh out loud as you make it sound so easy. Having said that the money isn't in the consumer side, but the Enterprise. 1Password is only just entering this market and there are huge potential.
- jejeiloo9 7y ago
  The potential is just as huge Apple and MS add “good enough” solutions. From a biz context, 1pwd is winning in its niche. But it’s just a feature the OS vendors haven’t prioritized from a technical context. I am grabbing AWS keys from MacOS keychain and can access creds I save in iCloud from any device. Uh oh 1pwd
  - EwanToo 7y ago
    An "ok" password manager is surely a feature Microsoft will add to Office 365, with a pro upgrade to shared passwords, etc
    - judge2020 7y ago
      I would say GSuite could also do it, but they'd much rather you move everything to BeyondCorp.
      - riffraff 7y ago
        an ok password manager is Chrome's password manager, isn't it? It allows you to use smart unique passwords, syncs between devices, and uses the OS master key to hide the passwords. It's not great, but it's probably good enough for many people.
      - pmart123 7y ago
        Right now, it seems like none of the big guys provide interoperability on their password managers by design. Apple's works great for apps and Safari, but won't work on Chrome, Google only works on Chrome, Microsoft's doesn't work on an iPhone.
efficax 7y ago
I work for a company in a similar position, which recently did a funding round like this for the sole purpose of letting some existing employees get some cash for their equity, since an IPO is a big question mark.
nodesocket 7y ago
> companies at this level of maturity, profitability, market dominance, and growth are highly unlikely to fail What happens if Apple implementes their own native password manager into macOS and iOS? I know I would switch to Apple's native assuming it worked as well as 1Password.
- mcbutterbunz 7y ago
  They would need to make it cross platform and work in all major browsers for me to switch and I highly doubt they would.
- mnem 7y ago
  Apple have had that since iOS 11 with iCloud Keychain. It suggests passwords for websites on signup, and offers to save them if you log in. It even correctly offers the password you used on a website when logging in on the native app equivalent for the site.
- saagarjha 7y ago
  They already do?
agwa 7y ago
> As a personal user, I consider 1Password the GitHub of password management Ah, GitHub. The company which was bootstrapped and profitable like 1Password, but then took venture capital, became unprofitable, and had to sell to Microsoft. Let's hope they aren't the GitHub of password management.
- jagger27 7y ago
  Unless they want Apple to buy them.
  - vl 7y ago
    Apple already has it’s own, pretty good, password management.
    - Frank2312 7y ago
      Apple is using 1Password internally : https://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/18/07/10/apple-looking-to-deploy-1password-company-wide-may-buy-out-apps-developer https://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/18/07/10/apple-look... There were also rumors of an acquisition at the same time, which were denied.
- nixgeek 7y ago
  Where has this story been publicly discussed? What’s the origin of this rumor that GitHub “had to sell” due to financial stability concerns?
- askafriend 7y ago
  GitHub being sold to Microsoft was a huge win for GitHub. They got acquired for $9B which is a staggering valuation - one they never would have gotten on their own. Not only that, but the GitHub product is getting much better under Microsoft. So overall I think it was a win for consumers too.
scarface74 7y ago
Even if 1Password is dominant, it’s really in the bubble to think that most people use 1Password. Users are generally happy with their passwords syncing through Google or Apple. The YC darling DropBox still isn’t profitable and probably never will be as they are becoming “just a feature”. 1Password will doubtfully never be profitable enough to be worth $3.2 billion. Whether they can pawn themselves off to the public markets first is another question.
- Arubis 7y ago
  It doesn't really matter if 1P is dominant across the whole market. It matters a lot if it's dominant across the part of the market that's willing to pay actual cash money for password management.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    How did that work out for DropBox? Google and/or Microsoft could announce tomorrow that they are either giving the same functionality away or bundling with their Office product.
    - Arubis 7y ago
      It worked out well enough for them to get an exit. DBX is unexciting, but it’s not a penny stock. And Google and Microsoft do exactly that already.
      - scarface74 7y ago
        That’s originally what I said, if you define “success” as the original investors being able to pawn a money losing company off on the public market, it could be successful. But if you define success as a company that can actually turn a profit consistently, Dropbox is not a success.
- nixgeek 7y ago
  They’re selling Teams at $4/mo per user and I guess if they go after enterprise we’ll see additional tiers with features aimed specifically at that. It doesn’t take too many deals with huge companies who need cross-platform to get to $200-300 million, and “worth” $3.2bn. Multiples from revenue have been a little interesting lately.
juped 7y ago
Great. What's the Sourcehut of password management?
- JenrHywy 7y ago
  pass (passwordstore.org) - self hosted, built from independent components (git, gpg) and completely open source.
- zertrin 7y ago
  Keepass, been using it for 10 years. Just a password manager, just works well. No fear of being locked in.
- htns 7y ago
  pfp: https://pfp.works/ https://pfp.works/ With its generated passwords there is no way to lose your passwords in a hilarious backup failure.
baot 7y ago
So what is to stop someone else who wants a slice of that 3 billion? We have AWS and Keepass (though it is GPL) for anyone to quickly implement there own competitor, or the already-huge userbases of Google, Apple, and Mozilla's implementations. With such a low barrier to entry, won't it become a commodity? And aren't we moving away from passwords as a whole?
tripzilch 7y ago
> there is one product that has completely nailed it yes that's Keepass, cause it's open source and you keep control of your password database instead of on somebody else's server.

ttul 7y ago

This is so so true. I have tried them all. 1Password is the no-brain option that crushes all others.

jliptzin 7y ago
I haven’t tried 1password, I have been using LastPass, would you recommend I switch?
- tnorthcutt 7y ago
  Without hesitation. The user experience with 1Password is far better than LastPass (I’ve used both).
- NeedMoreTea 7y ago
  Not any more. It used to be a no brainer, but they switched to cloud based subscription at great cost increase, loss of some features, and dark-patterned the native app into invisibility. Native is still available apparently, but you won't find it from the homepage, unless they were persuaded to change recently. Report an error in the native app, and they suggest switching to cloud subscription without addressing the error at all. When my current native install of 1pw stops working I'll be migrating elsewhere.
  - ValentineC 7y ago
    > Native is still available apparently, but you won't find it from the homepage, unless they were persuaded to change recently. I haven't verified this myself, but standalone licences seem to be available for purchase in the app itself: https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/92275/how-do-i-purchase-a-standalone-license-of-1password-7 https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/92275/how-do-i-...
    - MrFoof 7y ago
      Can verify that it's possible. Recently (past 30 days) did an upgrade to 7 with a standalone license.
    - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
      Which until someone had to ask the question on the forum, having been unable to find any word, was not revealed at all on their main site, which was all about getting you on the sub. You wouldn't normally download the next (unlicensed) version on the off chance the buying mechanism has been quietly put in there instead. The former significant discounts for buying both phone and desktop, or Mac and Windows at the same time are gone too. Hence it's there, but intentionally dark patterned to near invisibility. They would prefer everyone on the pointlessly expensive sub.
  - vsl 7y ago
    The subscription version still uses native app. It’s not a webpage or electron crap. From context, you mean “one-time purchase”.
- warpech 7y ago
  Bitwarden IMO beats LastPass and 1Password. Very polished, hassle free experience
  - swozey 7y ago
    Bitwarden didn't allow Android fingerprinting when I used it a few months ago (limitation in one of their electron libraries) which pretty much ruined it for me unfortunately. Not sure if this works in IOS. edit: I'm wrong, it didn't support touchID in OSX https://community.bitwarden.com/t/touch-id-support-for-macos/568?page=2 https://community.bitwarden.com/t/touch-id-support-for-macos...
  - Eric_WVGG 7y ago
    the Mac client doesn’t support biometric login (TouchID), which we’ve only had on these computers for about four years...
    - wlesieutre 7y ago
      Electron finally added support for TouchID a few months ago (version 6), so hopefully that's coming
      - ble52 7y ago
        And that's one of the major reasons for me to choose 1Password - native apps on macOS, iOS and Windows
    - mathieuh 7y ago
      Are you on an old version? I’ve been using TouchID with 1Password on Mac and FaceID on iPhone for as long as I can remember them being a thing I think when they switched to subscription model they left people who didn’t switch on an old version
      - stevewodil 7y ago
        I believe they were referring to lack of TouchID support in Bitwarden, not in 1Password.
- overcast 7y ago
  Yes, immediately, we use LastPass in the corporate world, and it's horrific to deal with. Slow, bloated, mess of an interface. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21172569 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21172569 is a good discussion on it.
- latortuga 7y ago
  Yes 100%. I was a lastpass user for years but it always had its quirks for me. I switched to 1P within the last year and it is miles better and "Just Works", everywhere. I or someone in my house use 1P on Ubuntu, Android, iPhone, and macos, and it is a seamless and wonderful experience.
- greggman2 7y ago
  yes! go read LastPass's privacy policy. They spy on everything you do and share it with anyone and everyone.
  - jsutton 7y ago
    This is outright false, no basis in fact whatsoever.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - greggman2 7y ago
      From their Privacy Policy > 1. Information We Collect and Receive > Service Data (including Session and Usage data): > When you use our Services, we receive information generated through the use of the Service, either entered by you or others who use the Services with you (for example, schedules, attendee info, etc.), or from the Service infrastructure itself, (for example, duration of session, use of webcams, connection information, etc.) We may also collect usage and log data about how the services are accessed and used, including information about the device you are using the Services on, IP addresses, location information, language settings, what operating system you are using, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data ... > Third Party Data: We may receive information about you from other sources, including publicly available databases or third parties from whom we have purchased data, and combine this data with information we already have about you. We may also receive information from other affiliated companies that are a part of our corporate group. This helps us to update, expand and analyze our records, identify new prospects for marketing, and provide products and services that may be of interest to you. > Location Information: We collect your location-based information for the purpose of providing and supporting the service and for fraud prevention and security monitoring. If you wish to opt-out of the collection and use of your collection information, you may do so by turning it off on your device settings. > Device Information: When you use our Services, we automatically collect information on the type of device you use, operating system version, and the device identifier (or "UDID"). That's pretty much everything given they put an extension in your browser and can collect all of that info for every page you visit > 4. Information Sharing > ... We may share your personal information with (a) third party service providers; (b) business partners; (c) affiliated companies within our corporate structure > Examples of how we may share information with service providers include: The above basically says they share your info with anyone they feel like So I don't know how you think my comment has no basis in fact. They spell out what they can do in their privacy policy. Why would they spell it out if they weren't doing it? Compare to 1password (note I use neither service and am in no way affiliated with 1password but for comparison it's telling > Your data is yours, and we don't want to know anything about it. We don't use it, we don't share it, and we don't sell it. > We only collect the information necessary to provide our services and help you with troubleshooting. Personally identifiable information is never shared with third parties. People on HN complain about Google collecting and yet we seem to have LastPass with access to all webpages you visit and also able to track every service you use them with an their policy basically says they collect and share your data (something even Google doesn't do. AFAIK google doesn't share data)
- joegahona 7y ago
  I tried 1Password before switching to LastPass in 2015 or so. I hated 1Password. Haven't had a reason to switch, as free LastPass covers my needs nicely.
  - hk__2 7y ago
    > I hated 1Password. This is not helpful. Why did you hate it?

michaelbuckbee 7y ago

At the smaller level of things I see similar bets in what Earnest Capital and Tiny Seed are doing: non-controlling amount of investment in a profitable company to make a return higher than standard but with a less crazed risk profile than traditional venture capital.

bernierocks 7y ago

If you asked me about 1password a few years ago, I would agree with you. Ever since they went to the cloud, I stopped using and recommending them to friends and family. I now use Keypss, which is free and doesn't require the cloud. The only reason they went to the cloud is because most people were buying one copy and sharing it with multiple people. It's a way for them to make more money, which is fine, but I really don't think a cloud-based password solution is necessary. Edit: The 1password employees must be down voting me. It's ridiculous that I get down voted for a specific opinion about the topic.

overcast 7y ago
and the reason I went to their cloud solution, is so that I can sync passwords between my iPhone, Mac, PC, and Linux machines. It's $35.88 for an entire year of something that I use constantly, every day, and it works perfectly.
- ahuth 7y ago
  Agreed. It's so nice updating/creating a password on desktop, and being able to use it immediately and seamlessly on my phone or other machines. This seamlessness is also critical for my less-technical family members on my plan. They want the better security, and recognize that a password manager is necessary. But if it was a pain to use they wouldn't put up with it.
- braythwayt 7y ago
  FWIW, if you have DropBox, they can sync passwords via DropBox, giving you many of the same benefits as their cloud solution. You can use the pay-one-price license if you already have the motivation to use DropBox.
  - overcast 7y ago
    That's not going to work outside of Mac or PC. Linux is a browser plugin.
    - 7y ago

halite 7y ago

1Password is slowly starting their enterprise game. All employees were offered 'free' 1Password accounts last week for entire family as long as I'm with my current company.

GordonS 7y ago
I'm reading this as a negative comment - do you really feel negatively about this gesture/benefit?
acjohnson55 7y ago
My company offered that for individual personal accounts in 2015, but perhaps the family plan thing is new.
- snowwrestler 7y ago
  It is explicitly listed on the 1Password site as a benefit of the Business level plan: https://1password.com/teams/pricing/ https://1password.com/teams/pricing/ "Free family accounts for all team members - $60 value per person"

harikb 7y ago

I have been following this company for like 10 years now, if not more. 1Password is anything but a typical software company. When they were small, I forget the year, they emailed us (each) six licenses of 1Password as a thanksgiving gift. A small gesture, but clearly the courage to leave that much money on the table for a small startup is laudable. On the other hand, each of my friends who got it "free" wouldn't have considered any password manager (free or not). They had the uphill task of creating the market. I am sure all the recent password leaks helps a bit. They sponsored Gophercon in 2018(?). I didn't even know they use Go. Good luck to them and hopefully they will keep us from password disasters of the future. Now, if only I could convince everyone to use a password manager...

dak1 7y ago
On Nov 23, 2010 (still have the e-mail in my inbox), they sent a "Happy Thanksgiving and 3 Gifts For You!" with free downloads of 2 books and links to give away a license of 1Password for Mac, 1Password for Windows, and Knox for Mac.
Marsymars 7y ago
Small touch, but my office recently starting 1Password in large part because most of the competition only offer USD billing. While we can pay for services in USD, it's unpalatable given none of our own income or accounting is done in USD.
- hk__2 7y ago
  How did you do that? I can’t find a way to pay 1Password in € rather than $. Every year my bank is stealing^W taking a fee because 1Password is billing in USD.
  - Marsymars 7y ago
    I went through 1password.ca, 1password.eu seems to direct to pricing page with € pricing.
    - 7y ago

ticmasta 7y ago

I think you are largely correct about this being a liquidity event vs series A funding; They are likely not looking at massive employee growth or marketing campaign as much as a way to unlock equity without going public. This is good for users as it likely mean not huge changes to appease corporate overlords, but continues the sad story of limited young, profitable, small-cap Canadian tech companies available for outsider, passive investment. There are quite a few in the category of 10-15 years old, solid revenues/profit and founders that are ready to step back; most choose private equity or sovereign wealth funds investments in the 100M - 1B range over going public because of the hassle and reporting requirements. The average individual investor doesn't have access to these deals which is a shame because they tend to be established, profitable return generators. I don't blame the founders; I'd likely do the same route.

ummonk 7y ago

Who is “everyone”? I imagine most people are just using Chrome or iCloud for personal password management.

lotophage 7y ago
Most people I know who use password managers beyond Chrome/iCloud use LastPass. All the companies I have worked for in the last 7 years have used it too.
- aquark 7y ago
  I switched from LastPass to 1Password earlier this year (after 5+ years of use) due to issues with LastPass stopping sync. 1Password fixed that and numerous UI glitches around the actual password filling in that I was just living with. It is night and day a better experience ... and no invested interest in them (unfortunately!)
  - tempestn 7y ago
    Similar situation here. Also, anecdotally, I recall hearing numerous tales of people making that switch, but few to none moving in the other direction. (Which doesn't surprise me at all having experienced both products.)

turc1656 7y ago

They might have great software - I don't know. But personally I absolutely refuse to use a paid option for a service of this type. There's just too much risk. What happens if my credit card expires and I forget to update/pay? Or I get hospitalized suddenly and there's a similar payment issue? Is my account just closed and everything deleted? Then there's the risk of me putting everything in there and them jacking up the price. I'd either have to eat it or manually migrate everything. There are other concerns as well. And I'm not saying I think they are dishonest. But when there are open source methods that are free and battle-tested for security, I see no reason to go with a paid option.

markdown 7y ago
> What happens if my credit card expires and I forget to update/pay? I paid for it once and then used it for years and years without updating. After a few years the browser extension stopped working (was no longer compatible with current browsers) so I decided to buy again. By this time they'd moved to a subscription system and I have no idea how it works. It used to be simple... there was an app, and if you stored the password file in Dropbox, you got cross platform support. But now the UX is terrible. I don't know where my passwords are stored, I don't know if the entire thing will stop working if I stop paying, etc. What a shame. I used to recommend it all the time but since the update there's no way I could recommend it to anyone I know who isn't a techie.
- NegativeLatency 7y ago
  There’s still a stand-alone app. Just upgraded a couple of weeks ago.
sedatk 7y ago
You can always backup your data and move to another manager if needed. Almost all of its competitors support importing from their format.
zaksoup 7y ago
This is a really easy question to answer. I duck-duck-went "1password what happens if I stop paying" and the first link was https://support.1password.com/membership-billing-policy/ https://support.1password.com/membership-billing-policy/ From the link: > Your data is yours. Even if you cancel your subscription and your account is frozen, you can still sign in to 1Password.com or in the apps to view and export your data.

fireattack 7y ago

What does "mm" in $800mm mean?

tlb 7y ago
Million. Because, in the old days, accountants used 'm' for thousand. I prefer the modern style of k=1e3, M=1e6, B=1e9.
mplanchard 7y ago
I believe this is because 1000 in Latin is “mille” (also modern French), so 1 million is one thousand thousands.

ksec 7y ago

> all they really need to do over the next 3-4 years is build an $3.2B company, I really did laugh out loud as you make it sound so easy. Having said that the money isn't in the consumer side, but the Enterprise. 1Password is only just entering this market and there are huge potential.

jejeiloo9 7y ago
The potential is just as huge Apple and MS add “good enough” solutions. From a biz context, 1pwd is winning in its niche. But it’s just a feature the OS vendors haven’t prioritized from a technical context. I am grabbing AWS keys from MacOS keychain and can access creds I save in iCloud from any device. Uh oh 1pwd
- EwanToo 7y ago
  An "ok" password manager is surely a feature Microsoft will add to Office 365, with a pro upgrade to shared passwords, etc
  - judge2020 7y ago
    I would say GSuite could also do it, but they'd much rather you move everything to BeyondCorp.
    - riffraff 7y ago
      an ok password manager is Chrome's password manager, isn't it? It allows you to use smart unique passwords, syncs between devices, and uses the OS master key to hide the passwords. It's not great, but it's probably good enough for many people.
    - pmart123 7y ago
      Right now, it seems like none of the big guys provide interoperability on their password managers by design. Apple's works great for apps and Safari, but won't work on Chrome, Google only works on Chrome, Microsoft's doesn't work on an iPhone.

efficax 7y ago

I work for a company in a similar position, which recently did a funding round like this for the sole purpose of letting some existing employees get some cash for their equity, since an IPO is a big question mark.

nodesocket 7y ago

> companies at this level of maturity, profitability, market dominance, and growth are highly unlikely to fail What happens if Apple implementes their own native password manager into macOS and iOS? I know I would switch to Apple's native assuming it worked as well as 1Password.

mcbutterbunz 7y ago
They would need to make it cross platform and work in all major browsers for me to switch and I highly doubt they would.
mnem 7y ago
Apple have had that since iOS 11 with iCloud Keychain. It suggests passwords for websites on signup, and offers to save them if you log in. It even correctly offers the password you used on a website when logging in on the native app equivalent for the site.
saagarjha 7y ago
They already do?

agwa 7y ago

> As a personal user, I consider 1Password the GitHub of password management Ah, GitHub. The company which was bootstrapped and profitable like 1Password, but then took venture capital, became unprofitable, and had to sell to Microsoft. Let's hope they aren't the GitHub of password management.

jagger27 7y ago
Unless they want Apple to buy them.
- vl 7y ago
  Apple already has it’s own, pretty good, password management.
  - Frank2312 7y ago
    Apple is using 1Password internally : https://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/18/07/10/apple-looking-to-deploy-1password-company-wide-may-buy-out-apps-developer https://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/18/07/10/apple-look... There were also rumors of an acquisition at the same time, which were denied.
nixgeek 7y ago
Where has this story been publicly discussed? What’s the origin of this rumor that GitHub “had to sell” due to financial stability concerns?
askafriend 7y ago
GitHub being sold to Microsoft was a huge win for GitHub. They got acquired for $9B which is a staggering valuation - one they never would have gotten on their own. Not only that, but the GitHub product is getting much better under Microsoft. So overall I think it was a win for consumers too.

scarface74 7y ago

Even if 1Password is dominant, it’s really in the bubble to think that most people use 1Password. Users are generally happy with their passwords syncing through Google or Apple. The YC darling DropBox still isn’t profitable and probably never will be as they are becoming “just a feature”. 1Password will doubtfully never be profitable enough to be worth $3.2 billion. Whether they can pawn themselves off to the public markets first is another question.

Arubis 7y ago
It doesn't really matter if 1P is dominant across the whole market. It matters a lot if it's dominant across the part of the market that's willing to pay actual cash money for password management.
- scarface74 7y ago
  How did that work out for DropBox? Google and/or Microsoft could announce tomorrow that they are either giving the same functionality away or bundling with their Office product.
  - Arubis 7y ago
    It worked out well enough for them to get an exit. DBX is unexciting, but it’s not a penny stock. And Google and Microsoft do exactly that already.
    - scarface74 7y ago
      That’s originally what I said, if you define “success” as the original investors being able to pawn a money losing company off on the public market, it could be successful. But if you define success as a company that can actually turn a profit consistently, Dropbox is not a success.
nixgeek 7y ago
They’re selling Teams at $4/mo per user and I guess if they go after enterprise we’ll see additional tiers with features aimed specifically at that. It doesn’t take too many deals with huge companies who need cross-platform to get to $200-300 million, and “worth” $3.2bn. Multiples from revenue have been a little interesting lately.

juped 7y ago

Great. What's the Sourcehut of password management?

JenrHywy 7y ago
pass (passwordstore.org) - self hosted, built from independent components (git, gpg) and completely open source.
zertrin 7y ago
Keepass, been using it for 10 years. Just a password manager, just works well. No fear of being locked in.
htns 7y ago
pfp: https://pfp.works/ https://pfp.works/ With its generated passwords there is no way to lose your passwords in a hilarious backup failure.

baot 7y ago

So what is to stop someone else who wants a slice of that 3 billion? We have AWS and Keepass (though it is GPL) for anyone to quickly implement there own competitor, or the already-huge userbases of Google, Apple, and Mozilla's implementations. With such a low barrier to entry, won't it become a commodity? And aren't we moving away from passwords as a whole?

tripzilch 7y ago

> there is one product that has completely nailed it yes that's Keepass, cause it's open source and you keep control of your password database instead of on somebody else's server.