5 ms·

> Goes to show that even if there are a lot of competitors in a product space you can still do well simply by giving a shit. The sad thing is that it's probabl

> Goes to show that even if there are a lot of competitors in a product space you can still do well simply by giving a shit. The sad thing is that it's probably inevitable that someday an MBA will decide to burn that goodwill for some quick cash. Maybe not for a long time, but eventually it will happen. That's the society we've built and live in.

ocdtrekkie 4y ago
The key thing is, with Fastmail building on open standards and promoting using your own domain, they have very little lock-in here. That future MBA is going to have a hard time keeping people from just moving on.
- deadbunny 4y ago
  Inertia is a killer.
  - jjoonathan 4y ago
    Owning your mail domain reduces the inertia by a lot.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - selcuka 4y ago
      It only takes a few "improvements" to the "export data" functionality. Here comes the inertia.
      - Semaphor 4y ago
        Exporting data over pop3 and Cal/Card/Web DAV is pretty easy, more than enough tools available. And without them supporting standards, they’d lose their customers.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
danielheath 4y ago
Pretty sure they’re employee owned since 2013, which limits how much BS can be brought in.
jph00 4y ago
Actually we sold FastMail to Opera, and since it didn't really work out, bought it back again. Based on that experience, I'd be surprised if FastMail got (re-)acquired...
- zinekeller 4y ago
  > Actually we sold FastMail to Opera Can you elaborate what happened in the Opera era or are you under an NDA?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
josephg 4y ago
Hopefully not for awhile. Fastmail is bootstrapped and profitable. They aren't beholden to outside investors trying to 10x their money. Fastmail also just doesn't have that sort of culture. (Source: I have friends there). They aren't looking to be a unicorn. They seem very happy to have a profitable business that they can nurture for decades. Culturally, they're growing a garden, not launching a rocket ship. Eventually the company will change hands. Knowing some of the people involved, I trust that when that happens, they'll find good stewards.
- Thorentis 4y ago
  Everybody has their price though. They may not ever IPO or raise venture capital, but if Google came along and offered them $50b I doubt they'd say no.
Gareth321 4y ago
I've come to embrace this as the business lifecycle. It's quite well-studied. Eventually, all businesses rest on their laurels; over-price, under-compete, and allow space for newer entrants. If we consider the positives here, this creates fantastic market and product dynamism, and (in theory) prevents companies becoming country-sized monopolies. I'm actually more concerned about companies which remain competitive and loved over generations. The kind of global power they could wield is scary.

ocdtrekkie 4y ago

The key thing is, with Fastmail building on open standards and promoting using your own domain, they have very little lock-in here. That future MBA is going to have a hard time keeping people from just moving on.

deadbunny 4y ago
Inertia is a killer.
- jjoonathan 4y ago
  Owning your mail domain reduces the inertia by a lot.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - selcuka 4y ago
    It only takes a few "improvements" to the "export data" functionality. Here comes the inertia.
    - Semaphor 4y ago
      Exporting data over pop3 and Cal/Card/Web DAV is pretty easy, more than enough tools available. And without them supporting standards, they’d lose their customers.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

danielheath 4y ago

Pretty sure they’re employee owned since 2013, which limits how much BS can be brought in.

jph00 4y ago

Actually we sold FastMail to Opera, and since it didn't really work out, bought it back again. Based on that experience, I'd be surprised if FastMail got (re-)acquired...

zinekeller 4y ago
> Actually we sold FastMail to Opera Can you elaborate what happened in the Opera era or are you under an NDA?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

josephg 4y ago

Hopefully not for awhile. Fastmail is bootstrapped and profitable. They aren't beholden to outside investors trying to 10x their money. Fastmail also just doesn't have that sort of culture. (Source: I have friends there). They aren't looking to be a unicorn. They seem very happy to have a profitable business that they can nurture for decades. Culturally, they're growing a garden, not launching a rocket ship. Eventually the company will change hands. Knowing some of the people involved, I trust that when that happens, they'll find good stewards.

Thorentis 4y ago
Everybody has their price though. They may not ever IPO or raise venture capital, but if Google came along and offered them $50b I doubt they'd say no.

Gareth321 4y ago

I've come to embrace this as the business lifecycle. It's quite well-studied. Eventually, all businesses rest on their laurels; over-price, under-compete, and allow space for newer entrants. If we consider the positives here, this creates fantastic market and product dynamism, and (in theory) prevents companies becoming country-sized monopolies. I'm actually more concerned about companies which remain competitive and loved over generations. The kind of global power they could wield is scary.