Guy Who 'Hates To Be A Curmudgeon' Explains Why Yahoo Buying A 17-Year-Old's Startup For $30 Million Makes No Sense
Apr 24, 2020, 08:11 IST
When a startup sells for multiple millions, other founders are left reeling.
Advertisement
"Why him, not me?" they wonder.Advertisement
One Y Combinator founder, Origami's Vibhu Norby, vented publicly about this in a post that rose to the top of Hacker News over night. His article, "The Summly deal makes no sense" details Yahoo's acquisition of 17-year-old Nick D'Aloisio's startup for $30 million.
"I hate to be a curmudgeon, but I think Yahoo shareholders deserve an explanation," he wrote. "It's not clear at all to me that they are getting their money's worth."
Complimentary Tech Event
Transform talent with learning that works
Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More
- Summly doesn't make any money
- Summly doesn't have one million users
- Only two of its five employees passed a Yahoo technical/CS screening test.
- Yahoo doesn't plan to use Summly. It plans to shut down the app. So it really spent all that money to acquire a teenager and a colleague or two.
Advertisement
We're not sure either. Here's our best guess into Yahoo's thought process.
- D'Aloisio is a hustler. His investor list includes Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus, Lady Gaga's manager Troy Carter, Automattic's Matt Mullenweg, Ashton Kutcher, Wendy Murdoch, and Yoko Ono.
- It's possible that, in addition to wanting D'Aloisio's hustle and teenage, One Direction-y good looks for a marketing spokesperson position, Yahoo wanted to make all those big names in California happy.
- Yahoo also knew acquiring a 17-year-old's startup would get a lot of press.
- Marissa Mayer has spoken publicly about her acquisition strategies, and Summly fits the bill. It's a mobile app, and Mayer is looking to onboard mobile talent. It was also a relatively cheap acquisition.