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How are they funded, and are they profitable? I've been using Google Apps for email for 10+ years and I don't want my e-mail provider to die at the whim of som
by dheera 3y ago
How are they funded, and are they profitable?
I've been using Google Apps for email for 10+ years and I don't want my e-mail provider to die at the whim of some Sand Hill investor's emotions at a bay area house party.
- scblock 3y agoYou pay them.
- dheera 3y agoIs that enough for their company to be alive? Many startups offer paid services but it isn't enough to cover their own costs and salaries in the first several years; everything depends on investors willing to fund them through that period.
- Semaphor 3y agoFWIW, they are not a startup, they are 24 years old and (after being bought by opera and then buying themselves out again) fully independent [0]. They are also probably HN’s most beloved company, but that just as a side ;) [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastmail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastmail
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- hackernewds 3y ago> (after being bought by opera and then buying themselves out again) that history does not assign to me confidence in them as custodian of my emails
- Semaphor 3y agoThis was in 2010, not the opera you know today.
- koalacola 3y agoTo be fair no one is forcing you to switch, just recommending options per your request. I'd recommend trying them out for a bit and just keeping Gmail in your back pocket. May as well decide for yourself than listening to randoms on HN.
- danielheath 3y agoReally? A staff buyout is one of the best indicators I can think of. I'd rather entrust my mail service to someone who wants to keep running it strongly enough that they'll put their own money down to keep doing it. The alternatives are mostly investor-owned companies - if this years CEO decides to fuck you over, they can replace any staff who object.
- labster 3y agoFor comparison, newcomers like Gmail have only been in the market for 19 years.
- no_wizard 3y agoThey're not venture backed[0] and have been around for 15 years at least [0]: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/fastmail-fm https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/fastmail-fm
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- error503 3y agoIt's been fully independent for like 10 years, and existed as a commercial product for over 20, so I think it is pretty safe from 'startup' risk.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- calvinmorrison 3y agoFunded? by payments from customers. FastMail has been around longer than Gmail and before the endless startup hype cycles
- balderdash 3y agoI think the risk of them going out of business overnight/no warning, is lower than google arbitrarily locking you out of your account with no recourse (at least with the free versions)
- jfb 3y agoThey're a business, that the users of their services pay money to. The only differences between them and Google is who their users are, and who is significantly more likely to shoot useful products in the head.
- brongondwana 3y agoPerfectly legitimate question - and I don't think you should have been downvoted for asking. We're entirely funded by our customers, and fully self-bootstrapped. We have no debts to outside parties. We have 8 owners, 7 of which work in the business and the 8th is the brother of one of the founders (and only owns a couple of percent). Source: I'm CEO. Have worked here since 2004, through the Opera acquisition (I moved to Norway for nearly 2 years) and back. We've controlled our growth such that we keep our spending under our income - I know, what a shocking idea in current day!
- Sammi 3y agoSo refreshing to see a tech company that values having a stable profitable business over hyper growth.