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Why is it only about the team and the shareholders? What about the general public that you were trying to help out with your product? I think they're actually m

by ericd 15y ago

Why is it only about the team and the shareholders? What about the general public that you were trying to help out with your product? I think they're actually more important than the other two - it's millions vs. a handful. They lose out more often than not when products are killed in acquisitions like this.

happybuy 15y ago
The lucky thing for the general public is that if there is an addressable market some other company will step in to service it. I'm hoping that in time our startup http://www.happybuy.com/ http://www.happybuy.com/ will be able to fill some of the gap that the closure of Sparkbuy has created. The history of Google acquisitions also shows that in many cases the acquired product is shelved and their ideas don't end up being used in any Google services. In such cases small startups like ours can help to service abandoned users.
biot 15y ago
I thought that was the rationale for selling to Google... it's $millions vs. a handful.
bruce511 15y ago
There seems to be this complete disconnect for most people as to why a business exists. It exists for the owners and the employees. Helping customers, or creating something a customer wants may be a welcome side-effect but it's not the _reason_ a business exists. Of course you get the "pageant-effect" when you ask a business why they exist. They always have some altruistic reason as the "official party line" just like "miss somewhere" wants world peace. But businesses are bottom-line driven, indeed they have a fiduciary responsibility to optimize share-holder value. There are organizations that exist exclusively for the benefit of the customer. they're called "not for profits" or "charities". We even give them a different name to show they're not a business. In their case the side effect is paying employees, but their _reason_ is to help customers. Every time you use a "free" service on the internet you have to determine if the provider is a charity or a business. If a business they _have_ to have some sort of payment strategy. (Or, if they don't they quickly go out-of-business and the free-users will moan bitterly about that too.) If you are not paying for the service you are _not_ a customer. You are a _user_. Customers trump users every single time. (Of course users may turn into customers, that's the precept of most startups. Equally this is the point most of them fail at.) >> What about the general public that you were trying to help out with your product? The general public were being helped only in as much as they fulfilled the business' needs. Google filled the need better (with cash), and so they became the customer.
- ericd 15y ago
  Not all businesses are the same. What you're talking about is the standard business school definition of a business. In reality, businesses vary as much as their founders. Some are altruistic and genuinely want to help people and solve problems. Others are ruthless. If it's a public company, they may be bound by fiduciary rules, but private companies can mostly do what they want. There exist real businesses whose primary goal is to help people, even to the detriment of profits, and many of those that don't have it as a genuine secondary goal. Those that have helping people just as the "party line" are dishonest. I would hope that people would shun those businesses.
  - chopsueyar 15y ago
    Tell that to the IRS, when you show a loss for three years, yet keep going. Is it a business or a hobby?
    - ericd 15y ago
      I didn't say it had to be run at a loss, that's a false dichotomy. A sadly prevalent attitude, though.
- _delirium 15y ago
  > Helping customers, or creating something a customer wants may be a welcome side-effect but it's not the _reason_ a business exists. For many small businessmen I know, that is the reason a business exists. If they just wanted to make money, they would work somewhere on wall street and reel in bonuses. Why do they work longer hours for less money running their own business? For some, it's freedom and not having a boss. But for others, it's because they have some sort of vision for how they want to change an industry or society; and they want to leave a legacy of having done so, not just make money.
  - chopsueyar 15y ago
    This guy is not leaving a legacy with his startup. Google acquired it and him and will/has buried his project.
chopsueyar 15y ago
That would be a non-profit.
Hisoka 15y ago
They're definitely not more important. The actual stakeholders come first b/c they were the ones who took on the most risk. Second came the employees who took a job for a company that might not even have existed in a year. Third came the soccer moms and the rest of the ordinary ppl who could care less if you didn't earn any profits and had to go back to working a 9-5 until you die of a heart attack when you're 60

by ericd 15y ago

happybuy 15y ago

The lucky thing for the general public is that if there is an addressable market some other company will step in to service it. I'm hoping that in time our startup http://www.happybuy.com/ http://www.happybuy.com/ will be able to fill some of the gap that the closure of Sparkbuy has created. The history of Google acquisitions also shows that in many cases the acquired product is shelved and their ideas don't end up being used in any Google services. In such cases small startups like ours can help to service abandoned users.

biot 15y ago

I thought that was the rationale for selling to Google... it's $millions vs. a handful.

bruce511 15y ago

There seems to be this complete disconnect for most people as to why a business exists. It exists for the owners and the employees. Helping customers, or creating something a customer wants may be a welcome side-effect but it's not the _reason_ a business exists. Of course you get the "pageant-effect" when you ask a business why they exist. They always have some altruistic reason as the "official party line" just like "miss somewhere" wants world peace. But businesses are bottom-line driven, indeed they have a fiduciary responsibility to optimize share-holder value. There are organizations that exist exclusively for the benefit of the customer. they're called "not for profits" or "charities". We even give them a different name to show they're not a business. In their case the side effect is paying employees, but their _reason_ is to help customers. Every time you use a "free" service on the internet you have to determine if the provider is a charity or a business. If a business they _have_ to have some sort of payment strategy. (Or, if they don't they quickly go out-of-business and the free-users will moan bitterly about that too.) If you are not paying for the service you are _not_ a customer. You are a _user_. Customers trump users every single time. (Of course users may turn into customers, that's the precept of most startups. Equally this is the point most of them fail at.) >> What about the general public that you were trying to help out with your product? The general public were being helped only in as much as they fulfilled the business' needs. Google filled the need better (with cash), and so they became the customer.

ericd 15y ago
Not all businesses are the same. What you're talking about is the standard business school definition of a business. In reality, businesses vary as much as their founders. Some are altruistic and genuinely want to help people and solve problems. Others are ruthless. If it's a public company, they may be bound by fiduciary rules, but private companies can mostly do what they want. There exist real businesses whose primary goal is to help people, even to the detriment of profits, and many of those that don't have it as a genuine secondary goal. Those that have helping people just as the "party line" are dishonest. I would hope that people would shun those businesses.
- chopsueyar 15y ago
  Tell that to the IRS, when you show a loss for three years, yet keep going. Is it a business or a hobby?
  - ericd 15y ago
    I didn't say it had to be run at a loss, that's a false dichotomy. A sadly prevalent attitude, though.
_delirium 15y ago
> Helping customers, or creating something a customer wants may be a welcome side-effect but it's not the _reason_ a business exists. For many small businessmen I know, that is the reason a business exists. If they just wanted to make money, they would work somewhere on wall street and reel in bonuses. Why do they work longer hours for less money running their own business? For some, it's freedom and not having a boss. But for others, it's because they have some sort of vision for how they want to change an industry or society; and they want to leave a legacy of having done so, not just make money.
- chopsueyar 15y ago
  This guy is not leaving a legacy with his startup. Google acquired it and him and will/has buried his project.

chopsueyar 15y ago

That would be a non-profit.

Hisoka 15y ago

They're definitely not more important. The actual stakeholders come first b/c they were the ones who took on the most risk. Second came the employees who took a job for a company that might not even have existed in a year. Third came the soccer moms and the rest of the ordinary ppl who could care less if you didn't earn any profits and had to go back to working a 9-5 until you die of a heart attack when you're 60