| - They raised a $4M round led by USV in 2010 (http://avc.com/a_vc/2011/03/the-hashable-pivot.html) - The founder (http://linkedin.com/pub/michael-yavonditte/3a/919/3b6) was previously the CEO of an ad company that AOL acquired for $340M, and he's also an angel investor and partner at a VC fund -- so, he's obviously an experienced entrepreneur and has an amazing network to support him Best of luck to everyone on the team and all in their future endeavors, but I think this just tells you how hard startups really are, esp during these crazy times. It's a constant reminder that having all the money and connections in the world doesn't mean shit about whether you're actually going to build a strong business and end up dominating your market. Obviously, having a nice war chest and good connections will help you execute, but it's only a means to an end and still kind of superficial, and not what makes startups fundamentally succeed. Drop.io was another case in point, the founder was extremely well-connected in the tech scene and in VC circles, yet they failed and got owned by Dropbox - only thing that matters in the long-run is talent and hardcore execution. Also highlights just how important timing/luck and product-market fit are: http://pmarca-archive.posterous.com/the-pmarca-guide-to-star... "Markets that don't exist don't care how smart you are." |