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Brilliant purchase there, Apple. The concept of meritocracy is well and alive. I can't imagine why they would break-even the VCs that had so clearly failed in

Brilliant purchase there, Apple. The concept of meritocracy is well and alive. I can't imagine why they would break-even the VCs that had so clearly failed in fulfilling their role as board members. They could probably have easily snagged all the engineers, given the dysfunctional work environment and well ... failure.

sriramk 14y ago
I suspect it is way cheaper to buy an engineering team (and IP/patents in this case?) as a unit rather than chase every engineering hire separately and try and construct a team afterwards.
- cwb71 14y ago
  In ¶ 64 it says that “there was no space in Patrice Gaultier’s [sic] group at Apple for Witherspoon.” According to https://www.linkedin.com/pub/patrice-gautier/0/14/139 https://www.linkedin.com/pub/patrice-gautier/0/14/139, Patrice Gautier is VP of Engineering, iTunes Store and iCloud. So maybe that is where those engineers will turn up…
macspoofing 14y ago
Did Apple actually buy Color Labs?
- GuiA 14y ago
  From the TC article: "One key thing to note is that the suit says that Color’s assets have indeed been sold to Apple, something that has not been confirmed on the record by either company to date. Witherspoon claims in his suit that he was the only technical employee at Color who was blocked from joining Apple in October. Today, Color’s website notes that its app will no longer be available after December 31st, 2012."
  - hkmurakami 14y ago
    I wonder if this suit will be enough to derail the acquisition...
jcampbell1 14y ago
You incorrectly assume that Apple did "break-even the VCs". What basis do you have for this? The rumors are that they paid a low 7 figure sum for the team and assets. Your sarcastic commentary seems to be based on a misunderstanding of the facts.
jfb 14y ago
Apple paid approx. 5m. It's hardly about making anyone whole.
easytiger 14y ago
I'm pretty sure there was something like a $30+ mil loss. And having worked with one of the VCs involved your right about their level of 'clue' in the companies they invest in being minimal

sriramk 14y ago

I suspect it is way cheaper to buy an engineering team (and IP/patents in this case?) as a unit rather than chase every engineering hire separately and try and construct a team afterwards.

cwb71 14y ago
In ¶ 64 it says that “there was no space in Patrice Gaultier’s [sic] group at Apple for Witherspoon.” According to https://www.linkedin.com/pub/patrice-gautier/0/14/139 https://www.linkedin.com/pub/patrice-gautier/0/14/139, Patrice Gautier is VP of Engineering, iTunes Store and iCloud. So maybe that is where those engineers will turn up…

macspoofing 14y ago

Did Apple actually buy Color Labs?

GuiA 14y ago
From the TC article: "One key thing to note is that the suit says that Color’s assets have indeed been sold to Apple, something that has not been confirmed on the record by either company to date. Witherspoon claims in his suit that he was the only technical employee at Color who was blocked from joining Apple in October. Today, Color’s website notes that its app will no longer be available after December 31st, 2012."
- hkmurakami 14y ago
  I wonder if this suit will be enough to derail the acquisition...

jcampbell1 14y ago

You incorrectly assume that Apple did "break-even the VCs". What basis do you have for this? The rumors are that they paid a low 7 figure sum for the team and assets. Your sarcastic commentary seems to be based on a misunderstanding of the facts.

jfb 14y ago

Apple paid approx. 5m. It's hardly about making anyone whole.

easytiger 14y ago

I'm pretty sure there was something like a $30+ mil loss. And having worked with one of the VCs involved your right about their level of 'clue' in the companies they invest in being minimal