10 ms·

Great. Hiring your buddies by acquihiring their failing iPhone app startup.

by revelation 14y ago

cloudwalking 14y ago
If you need really good iOS devs this is an effective way to get them.
- codeonfire 14y ago
  The founders don't appear to be devs, one guy is a product manager, another started his career as a tech manager. The other worked on "partnerships and marketing". Quoting crunchbase here. If I were a formed stamped dev and now a Yahoo dev, I would quit Yahoo and form a startup. After all, Yahoo bought their work for lots of money.
cpeterso 14y ago
Acquihiring startups is probably easier than convincing good developers to join Yahoo.
- 001sky 14y ago
  Just in a different form: $$$ is the great convincer. -- The market
nswans 14y ago
You sound bitter. If you've used the product, you can see that it was beautiful, usable, and the performance was solid. If we assume that the product is failing (even though they've raised two rounds of funding from seasoned and celebrity investors alike), we know that the team can execute well. Mayer wants to move to mobile-first, so acqui-hiring a team who know how to build well for mobile can be a smart move. It may also attract talent who respects that team. Perhaps Stamped wasn't growing like they planned, but I'm sure they and Mayer think that with the right direction at Yahoo they can do great things. Who knows if it will work out. But it seems like a solid partnership for both sides.
- jlarocco 14y ago
  Ha! I'm inclined to agree that their product was doing well simply because it was discontinued immediately after Yahoo bought them. Isn't killing successful products what Yahoo is known for?
  - jemfinch 14y ago
    This type of snarky comment diminishes the level of discourse here. Please stop making them, and please encourage others to stop making them.
    - samstave 14y ago
      Your comment is far more meta than the OP, he makes a claim that Yahoo has propensity for killing acquired services... that's germane to the subject of this thread, yours is not...
      - jemfinch 14y ago
        "Meta"ness is not a problem here. Rudeness is. Comments like mine are necessary if the level of discourse is to remain higher here than other sites. Comments like the OP's are not.
- phillmv 14y ago
  raising funds != success What was that comparison? No one says, "congratulations on that huge loan you just took out!". I'm sure the team was great, but I'm confused as to why we should be lauding this state of affairs. If they were making money, then why should they all have up and left to go work at Yahoo!? From the, admittedly poor on information and high on snark, position I'm comfortably seated on it seems like you had a great team that was wonderfully subsidized by VC that managed to save face with an 'exit'. I'm sure it's really fun to go through the motions, but I don't really see the part where they added value; I only see an elaborate social signaling event (again, obviously the team is competent, filled with A players) fully subsidized by Yahoo! shareholders. If I'm missing out on something I'd love to know about it.
barredo 14y ago
How can we all know if Stamped was failing? Care to share?
- webwright 14y ago
  Here's how they've done: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s4/sh/80502dd0-c6d7-49f2-9a8c-70b0d627b475/23b563603f74a06ad3832d38357b4963 https://www.evernote.com/shard/s4/sh/80502dd0-c6d7-49f2-9a8c... Definitely not a mobile success-- but they built pretty, intuitive, usable software that didn't break.
  - dave1619 14y ago
    Yeah, the chart tells the story. I think they had a difficult time picking up traction. They did a kind of pivot recently when they added the ability to stamp books, music, TV, movies, iOS apps, etc. But when I used the app it was confusing and scattered. I read a blog post by MG Siegler about Stamped a few months ago (http://parislemon.com/post/28144863354/stamped-is-it-worthy http://parislemon.com/post/28144863354/stamped-is-it-worthy), but didn't buy his enthusiasm. Stamped seemed like too difficult of a concept/activity for the masses to understand and too broadly marketed for early adopters to get really excited.
webwright 14y ago
Way to add to the conversation. Hiring your "buddies" is WAY lower risk that acqui-hiring strangers. They are a known quantity AND they have enough loyalty that they probably won't bolt the instant they are able. They'll also probably work harder for you than the average acquihire. This is how the world works-- and it makes sense. It isn't just bullshit "who you know rather than what you know". Moral of the story is that you should kick ass, work hard, and make friends with executives-- it'll give you an alternative to startup-death when YOUR startup fails.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- samstave 14y ago
  >It isn't just bullshit "who you know rather than what you know". I dont believe in your assessment.
- iand 14y ago
  All you say is correct, even down to the "it's who you know line", but I disagree that we should exploit it or even tolerate it. It's just Cronyism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronyism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronyism) and my personal moral compass rejects it.
  - adamzochowski 14y ago
    Cronyism is when one hires useless people just because they are beneficial for your own sake, not for the collective good. Wikipedia agrees "" The practice of favoritism based on relationships and connections - rather than someone who demonstrates top credentials and well-suited experience "". The main question then becomes, were they hired more for relationship and connection or because of their credentials and experience?
    - iand 14y ago
      Cronyism says nothing about the skills of the people. They may well be the best people for the role. It merely means they were chosen on the basis of relationship.
majani 14y ago
I've began to think of late that this may be the most prevalent market inefficiency in the world. Hiring people you know without due process is a big reason for the incompetence that creeps into companies after a while. This means that consistently hiring objectively while following due process could be considered a competitive advantage.
majani 14y ago
I've began to think of late that this may be the most prevalent market inefficiency in the world. Hiring people you know without due process is a big reason for the incompetence that creeps into companies after a while. This means that consistently hiring objectively while following due process could be considered a competitive advantage.
nicholassmith 14y ago
Well, they were failing in terms of user traction and numbers yes, but the app itself was really nice to use, well designed and will give Yahoo a nice iOS developer talent pool to work with. Buying a successful iPhone app start up would have been way more expensive.
codeonfire 14y ago
The very first thing I though when reading this was one or all of these guys were former Google APMs.

Great. Hiring your buddies by acquihiring their failing iPhone app startup.

cloudwalking 14y ago

If you need really good iOS devs this is an effective way to get them.

codeonfire 14y ago
The founders don't appear to be devs, one guy is a product manager, another started his career as a tech manager. The other worked on "partnerships and marketing". Quoting crunchbase here. If I were a formed stamped dev and now a Yahoo dev, I would quit Yahoo and form a startup. After all, Yahoo bought their work for lots of money.

cpeterso 14y ago

Acquihiring startups is probably easier than convincing good developers to join Yahoo.

001sky 14y ago
Just in a different form: $$$ is the great convincer. -- The market

nswans 14y ago

You sound bitter. If you've used the product, you can see that it was beautiful, usable, and the performance was solid. If we assume that the product is failing (even though they've raised two rounds of funding from seasoned and celebrity investors alike), we know that the team can execute well. Mayer wants to move to mobile-first, so acqui-hiring a team who know how to build well for mobile can be a smart move. It may also attract talent who respects that team. Perhaps Stamped wasn't growing like they planned, but I'm sure they and Mayer think that with the right direction at Yahoo they can do great things. Who knows if it will work out. But it seems like a solid partnership for both sides.

jlarocco 14y ago
Ha! I'm inclined to agree that their product was doing well simply because it was discontinued immediately after Yahoo bought them. Isn't killing successful products what Yahoo is known for?
- jemfinch 14y ago
  This type of snarky comment diminishes the level of discourse here. Please stop making them, and please encourage others to stop making them.
  - samstave 14y ago
    Your comment is far more meta than the OP, he makes a claim that Yahoo has propensity for killing acquired services... that's germane to the subject of this thread, yours is not...
    - jemfinch 14y ago
      "Meta"ness is not a problem here. Rudeness is. Comments like mine are necessary if the level of discourse is to remain higher here than other sites. Comments like the OP's are not.
phillmv 14y ago
raising funds != success What was that comparison? No one says, "congratulations on that huge loan you just took out!". I'm sure the team was great, but I'm confused as to why we should be lauding this state of affairs. If they were making money, then why should they all have up and left to go work at Yahoo!? From the, admittedly poor on information and high on snark, position I'm comfortably seated on it seems like you had a great team that was wonderfully subsidized by VC that managed to save face with an 'exit'. I'm sure it's really fun to go through the motions, but I don't really see the part where they added value; I only see an elaborate social signaling event (again, obviously the team is competent, filled with A players) fully subsidized by Yahoo! shareholders. If I'm missing out on something I'd love to know about it.

barredo 14y ago

How can we all know if Stamped was failing? Care to share?

webwright 14y ago
Here's how they've done: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s4/sh/80502dd0-c6d7-49f2-9a8c-70b0d627b475/23b563603f74a06ad3832d38357b4963 https://www.evernote.com/shard/s4/sh/80502dd0-c6d7-49f2-9a8c... Definitely not a mobile success-- but they built pretty, intuitive, usable software that didn't break.
- dave1619 14y ago
  Yeah, the chart tells the story. I think they had a difficult time picking up traction. They did a kind of pivot recently when they added the ability to stamp books, music, TV, movies, iOS apps, etc. But when I used the app it was confusing and scattered. I read a blog post by MG Siegler about Stamped a few months ago (http://parislemon.com/post/28144863354/stamped-is-it-worthy http://parislemon.com/post/28144863354/stamped-is-it-worthy), but didn't buy his enthusiasm. Stamped seemed like too difficult of a concept/activity for the masses to understand and too broadly marketed for early adopters to get really excited.

webwright 14y ago

Way to add to the conversation. Hiring your "buddies" is WAY lower risk that acqui-hiring strangers. They are a known quantity AND they have enough loyalty that they probably won't bolt the instant they are able. They'll also probably work harder for you than the average acquihire. This is how the world works-- and it makes sense. It isn't just bullshit "who you know rather than what you know". Moral of the story is that you should kick ass, work hard, and make friends with executives-- it'll give you an alternative to startup-death when YOUR startup fails.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
samstave 14y ago
>It isn't just bullshit "who you know rather than what you know". I dont believe in your assessment.
iand 14y ago
All you say is correct, even down to the "it's who you know line", but I disagree that we should exploit it or even tolerate it. It's just Cronyism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronyism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronyism) and my personal moral compass rejects it.
- adamzochowski 14y ago
  Cronyism is when one hires useless people just because they are beneficial for your own sake, not for the collective good. Wikipedia agrees "" The practice of favoritism based on relationships and connections - rather than someone who demonstrates top credentials and well-suited experience "". The main question then becomes, were they hired more for relationship and connection or because of their credentials and experience?
  - iand 14y ago
    Cronyism says nothing about the skills of the people. They may well be the best people for the role. It merely means they were chosen on the basis of relationship.

majani 14y ago

I've began to think of late that this may be the most prevalent market inefficiency in the world. Hiring people you know without due process is a big reason for the incompetence that creeps into companies after a while. This means that consistently hiring objectively while following due process could be considered a competitive advantage.

majani 14y ago

nicholassmith 14y ago

Well, they were failing in terms of user traction and numbers yes, but the app itself was really nice to use, well designed and will give Yahoo a nice iOS developer talent pool to work with. Buying a successful iPhone app start up would have been way more expensive.

codeonfire 14y ago

The very first thing I though when reading this was one or all of these guys were former Google APMs.