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Horrible examples... MySQL, WebEx, Zimbra had very healthy cash flows before they were acquired. They didn't have to be acquired for them to be very successful.
by nickb 18y ago
Horrible examples... MySQL, WebEx, Zimbra had very healthy cash flows before they were acquired. They didn't have to be acquired for them to be very successful. Just look at Zimbra's revenues before they were acquired: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9780434-7.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9780434-7.html You need different examples ;).
- nir 18y agoI'm not a business person, but couldn't Sun, for example, get almost everything it got out of buying MySQL by partnering with them, paying much less than $1b (perhaps paying nothing)? I mean, doesn't buying MySQL practically guarantee it will lose the very value it could bring to Sun (more agile process, highly motivated small company, close contact with the OSS dev & user community)? One of the themes in "Burn Rate" is how, once corporations became aware of the Internet, they began purchasing anything they perceived "belongs" to the Internet and was for sale, hoping to somehow own some part of it. Perhaps, at some degree, a similar thing is happening with Open Source now? (Edit: please don't get me wrong, I truly believe Open Source is one of the most important ideas of our time. I'm just skeptic a company can buy its way into it)
- markbao 18y agoAh, true. Then what about mentioned VU/Buzzword and Flektor, plus Mozy/EMC, Gravatar/Autommatic, MyBlogLog/Yahoo! and Newsvine/NBC? Offered useful products, not sure if they were in the black yet, but acquired.