6 ms·

Summify acquired by Twitter

81 points by domino 15y ago

icn 15y ago
Congratulations guys!
bonaldi 15y ago
Will they delete all their user data, shut down their service and present this as "Great News!"? /checks. Yes, yes they will.
- aaronblohowiak 15y ago
  I wish companies would let the current version continue to hum along until the new version w/ integration were done.
frabcus 15y ago
I don't get it, why are Twitter shutting it down? Makes little sense to me. I guess there are some cases (like Wordly ----> Google Docs) where that happened and was good in the end? Most seem to mean the product is completely dead.
- danudey 15y ago
  It's most likely a talent acquisition, not a product acquisition. Keeping Summify up and running would be a waste of developer time (from Twitter's point of view).
  - pors 15y ago
    With such a long list of investors (http://www.crunchbase.com/company/readfu http://www.crunchbase.com/company/readfu) it must have been quite a large sum of money to acquire Summify. So IMHO not just a talent acquisition.
- paulovsk 15y ago
  I don't get it either. I used to love it :(
danudey 15y ago
Well good for them. They used to rent space in our office, and they were a great bunch of guys, quite clever and always focussed on making a good service for their users. Twitter is lucky to have them.
- domino 15y ago
  Thanks Dan for the support!
asreal 15y ago
Good for those guys for living the dream. Too bad that dream didn't also result in job creation in Vancouver, Canada. There is quite a bit of noise in media about the economic benefits of investing in foreign entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, it strikes me that these guys chose the quick win and we will now see those economics benefits move south of the Canadian border.
- zach 15y ago
  This is starting to happen all over. Tech startup accelerators in places like Vancouver are in danger of becoming a farm system, a "minor league" of tech entrepreneurialism. A team that attracts attention will impress the scouts (either acquirers or investors) who will sign them up to play for the "big leagues" in the Bay Area. This isn't malicious, but so many accelerators are trying to build a community, which is really hard to do when so many potential leaders of that community decide to 301.
  - puls 15y ago
    Along these lines, it makes me wonder how long it will be until we see the rise of free agency in the tech sector.
  - imack 15y ago
    I don't think this goes against the efforts to build a community in satellite locations. The reality is that there aren't many potential acquirers in Vancouver (virtually nil for consumer internet), so one takes an exit where one can get it. The community is helped by the fact now that when startups are raising in the Bay Area we can point to a company that was in the same geography that made a return for their investors.
- wavephorm 15y ago
  This isn't new. Canada -> US brain drain has been happening for a long time. The economic situation for entrepreneurs in Canada is abysmal. The smart people leave because they know what they're up against. Every corner of the Canadian economy is controlled by either a monopoly, or a cartel supported by the government. The entire Canadian economy is essentially a syndicate consisting of banks and big businesses, and it's all wrapped up in rah-rah Go Canada! Go! patriotism.
eps 15y ago
How much?
eroach 15y ago
This seems much more like a talent acquisition vs a company being acquired.
- JohnSmithz8 15y ago
  of course ... otherwise they would not close the service :(
  - ccalder 15y ago
    Check out brief.xydo.com - used them both for months now, and I actually prefer my news delivered topically like xydo does.
ChrisArchitect 15y ago
not to be confused with Summize. (also taken over by twitter, becoming early incarnation of twitter search back in the day)
- benatkin 15y ago
  Indeed; I thought it might have been a nostalgia piece until I realized that my memory isn't fuzzy enough that I could have memorized Summify as Summize.
tyrelb 15y ago
What was the buy-out?
staunch 15y ago
Twitter only acquires companies that match /^Summi\w+$/i
villesundberg 15y ago
Users abandoned by Summify should check out our alternative - a newsletter based on reader engagement: http://www.scoopinion.com http://www.scoopinion.com

81 points by domino 15y ago

icn 15y ago

Congratulations guys!

Will they delete all their user data, shut down their service and present this as "Great News!"? /checks. Yes, yes they will.

aaronblohowiak 15y ago
I wish companies would let the current version continue to hum along until the new version w/ integration were done.

frabcus 15y ago

I don't get it, why are Twitter shutting it down? Makes little sense to me. I guess there are some cases (like Wordly ----> Google Docs) where that happened and was good in the end? Most seem to mean the product is completely dead.

danudey 15y ago
It's most likely a talent acquisition, not a product acquisition. Keeping Summify up and running would be a waste of developer time (from Twitter's point of view).
- pors 15y ago
  With such a long list of investors (http://www.crunchbase.com/company/readfu http://www.crunchbase.com/company/readfu) it must have been quite a large sum of money to acquire Summify. So IMHO not just a talent acquisition.
paulovsk 15y ago
I don't get it either. I used to love it :(

danudey 15y ago

Well good for them. They used to rent space in our office, and they were a great bunch of guys, quite clever and always focussed on making a good service for their users. Twitter is lucky to have them.

domino 15y ago
Thanks Dan for the support!

asreal 15y ago

Good for those guys for living the dream. Too bad that dream didn't also result in job creation in Vancouver, Canada. There is quite a bit of noise in media about the economic benefits of investing in foreign entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, it strikes me that these guys chose the quick win and we will now see those economics benefits move south of the Canadian border.

zach 15y ago
This is starting to happen all over. Tech startup accelerators in places like Vancouver are in danger of becoming a farm system, a "minor league" of tech entrepreneurialism. A team that attracts attention will impress the scouts (either acquirers or investors) who will sign them up to play for the "big leagues" in the Bay Area. This isn't malicious, but so many accelerators are trying to build a community, which is really hard to do when so many potential leaders of that community decide to 301.
- puls 15y ago
  Along these lines, it makes me wonder how long it will be until we see the rise of free agency in the tech sector.
- imack 15y ago
  I don't think this goes against the efforts to build a community in satellite locations. The reality is that there aren't many potential acquirers in Vancouver (virtually nil for consumer internet), so one takes an exit where one can get it. The community is helped by the fact now that when startups are raising in the Bay Area we can point to a company that was in the same geography that made a return for their investors.
wavephorm 15y ago
This isn't new. Canada -> US brain drain has been happening for a long time. The economic situation for entrepreneurs in Canada is abysmal. The smart people leave because they know what they're up against. Every corner of the Canadian economy is controlled by either a monopoly, or a cartel supported by the government. The entire Canadian economy is essentially a syndicate consisting of banks and big businesses, and it's all wrapped up in rah-rah Go Canada! Go! patriotism.

eps 15y ago

How much?

eroach 15y ago

This seems much more like a talent acquisition vs a company being acquired.

JohnSmithz8 15y ago
of course ... otherwise they would not close the service :(
- ccalder 15y ago
  Check out brief.xydo.com - used them both for months now, and I actually prefer my news delivered topically like xydo does.

ChrisArchitect 15y ago

not to be confused with Summize. (also taken over by twitter, becoming early incarnation of twitter search back in the day)

benatkin 15y ago
Indeed; I thought it might have been a nostalgia piece until I realized that my memory isn't fuzzy enough that I could have memorized Summify as Summize.

tyrelb 15y ago

What was the buy-out?

staunch 15y ago

Twitter only acquires companies that match /^Summi\w+$/i

villesundberg 15y ago

Users abandoned by Summify should check out our alternative - a newsletter based on reader engagement: http://www.scoopinion.com http://www.scoopinion.com