

Is Scvngr/LevelUp’s Latest Marketing Ploy a Cry for Help? - sliggity
http://bostinnovation.com/2011/08/30/is-scvngrlevelups-latest-marketing-ploy-a-cry-for-help-freelunch/

======
jgmmo
Poor guys. I met Seth and the first few employees back at Dreamit Ventures.
Seth is a brilliant guy, and for such a young guy he was quite impressive.
It's a shame to hear that things arent looking great for the company at
present. I havent been following the storyline of SCVNGR religiously, but this
does sound a bit like the company got pushed into trying to be a home-run when
it was a sure thing as a single or double. Unfortunately, when funding is in
the mix the incentives point in the direction of trying to become gigantic at
all costs. To be honest, I feel this is the same thing that did in the first
startup I was a member of - we knew we could be a successful business but the
pressure to become the next LinkedIn for fundraising reasons caused us to
pivot and crush ourselves as we got over-extended and ran out of runway. I'd
hate to see the same thing happen to SCVNGR.

------
Hisoka
Theory: The first pivot to LevelUp was planned partially to change the name to
something more memorable. They thought they might as well pivot to something
else more profitable while they were at it.

The second pivot is just desperation.

