4 ms·

Yelp Buys Eat24 for $134M

40 points by illahuluo 12y ago

semmem1 12y ago
I'm almost surprised they didn't do this sooner.
hbhakhra 12y ago
According to crunchbase[1], Eat24 was bootstrapped. That is going to be a nice payout for the two founders. [1] https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/eat24hours https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/eat24hours
- rubicon33 12y ago
  whats bootstrapped mean?
  - dclusin 12y ago
    They didn't take money from professional investors. They funded the companies growth with their own money.
    - rubicon33 12y ago
      "“All without taking a single dime in venture capital,” the company said in the news release. Eat24 attributes its success to hard work, chutzpah, comfortable shoes and a thing or two not mentionable in this publication." Anyone want to speculate what "a thing or two not mentionable" is? Adderal? Modafinil? THC?
      - jonchang 12y ago
        "giant balls", per the press release. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eat24-successfully-secures-zero-dollars-in-funding-172642431.html http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eat24-successfully-s...
        dclusin 12y ago
        They also used porn actors to advertise.
- vassvdm 12y ago
  They even seemed to be quite vocal about it: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2012/10/04/food-delivery-start-up-successfully-secures-0-in-venture-funding/ http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2012/10/04/food-delivery...
- dlu 12y ago
  That's the dream
basseq 12y ago
I hadn't heard of Eat24 before the Super Bowl. (Where their 30-second commercial with Snoop Dogg cost at least $4M.[1][2]) [1] http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/35255.html http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/35255.html [2] http://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2014/01/29/yes-a-super-bowl-ad-really-is-worth-4-million/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2014/01/29/yes-a-sup...
jdcryans 12y ago
Will it be the end of eat24's weekend coupons? When they started they were regularly giving 3-4 bucks per coupon. Now, I can't remember the last time it wasn't $2, apart from those times when they teamed up with other companies like Paypal and gave away $10. I'm actually surprised it went on for so long, seems like an expensive way to help retention.
- turtlebits 12y ago
  I talked to them once to get pricing and they wanted 12% of every order. I'm sure handing out coupons regularly isn't costing them much is worth more in boosting their ordering volume.
omgitstom 12y ago
Yelp has had the online eat24 integration for a bit now. I guess they bought it to be able to control the integration further?
immy 12y ago
I was only last week discussing how I felt Eat24's brand has been breaking away from the staid competition over the past year. This move puts Yelp ($YELP) on my investing radar; their business is clearly more than milking businesses on the reviews side.

40 points by illahuluo 12y ago

I'm almost surprised they didn't do this sooner.

According to crunchbase[1], Eat24 was bootstrapped. That is going to be a nice payout for the two founders. [1] https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/eat24hours https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/eat24hours

rubicon33 12y ago
whats bootstrapped mean?
- dclusin 12y ago
  They didn't take money from professional investors. They funded the companies growth with their own money.
  - rubicon33 12y ago
    "“All without taking a single dime in venture capital,” the company said in the news release. Eat24 attributes its success to hard work, chutzpah, comfortable shoes and a thing or two not mentionable in this publication." Anyone want to speculate what "a thing or two not mentionable" is? Adderal? Modafinil? THC?
    - jonchang 12y ago
      "giant balls", per the press release. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eat24-successfully-secures-zero-dollars-in-funding-172642431.html http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eat24-successfully-s...
      - dclusin 12y ago
        They also used porn actors to advertise.
vassvdm 12y ago
They even seemed to be quite vocal about it: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2012/10/04/food-delivery-start-up-successfully-secures-0-in-venture-funding/ http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2012/10/04/food-delivery...
dlu 12y ago
That's the dream

basseq 12y ago

I hadn't heard of Eat24 before the Super Bowl. (Where their 30-second commercial with Snoop Dogg cost at least $4M.[1][2]) [1] http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/35255.html http://www.superbowl-commercials.org/35255.html [2] http://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2014/01/29/yes-a-super-bowl-ad-really-is-worth-4-million/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2014/01/29/yes-a-sup...

jdcryans 12y ago

Will it be the end of eat24's weekend coupons? When they started they were regularly giving 3-4 bucks per coupon. Now, I can't remember the last time it wasn't $2, apart from those times when they teamed up with other companies like Paypal and gave away $10. I'm actually surprised it went on for so long, seems like an expensive way to help retention.

turtlebits 12y ago
I talked to them once to get pricing and they wanted 12% of every order. I'm sure handing out coupons regularly isn't costing them much is worth more in boosting their ordering volume.

omgitstom 12y ago

Yelp has had the online eat24 integration for a bit now. I guess they bought it to be able to control the integration further?

immy 12y ago

I was only last week discussing how I felt Eat24's brand has been breaking away from the staid competition over the past year. This move puts Yelp ($YELP) on my investing radar; their business is clearly more than milking businesses on the reviews side.