About.Me CEO Tony Conrad: Why I sold my company to AOL so quickly
In this 2010 acquisition retrospective, @aresant reflects on the journey of bootstrapping and successfully selling their business.
Core Principles for Independent Builders:
Unsolicited buyer inquiries versus running a deliberate auction process require very different negotiation leverage.
Bootstrapping for years without external capital provides extreme freedom, but exits are often triggered by energy depletion as much as financial gain.
Retaining ownership of code and operations creates pride, but transitioning to an acquirer requires letting go of absolute autonomy.
Community Debate Themes:
Hacker News peers debated transaction structures (cash vs earnout), founder tax strategies, and life after liquidating a long-term indie asset.
CATEGORY Startup Exits →
HISTORICAL ERA Web 2.0 Genesis (2007–2013)
COMMUNITY SCORE ★ 9 points
TOTAL DISCUSSIONS 6 comments
while he had already had profitable "exits" before, and doesn't need the money, other members of the About.me team had not. While Conrad isn't disclosing the size of the deal, it's apparently enough money to be an amazing Christmas bonus for his teammates.
If that was really one of the major motivators here, I think it's super cool and it makes me respect the decision a lot more. Still, it must be nice to have that much leverage - seems like this guy could literally make just about anything and sell it to AOL.
i think frommer did a great job analyzing the situation. my guess is there were too many question marks surrounding the future of the company.
for all we know, they could have been at the core of our entire social experience. on the flipside, they may have never found a sustainable model once the hype cycle died down.
kudos to tom conrad for padding his track record...
In the days of facebook and groupon, it's nice to see someone get in, take the money and get out as quick as they can. Sometimes it is all about the money.
"The payoff for a little more than a year of work, in this case, was too much to pass up."
They worked on this for over a year?