
Microsoft acquires Acompli - nithinr6
http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2014/12/01/microsoft-acquires-acompli-provider-innovative-mobile-email-apps/
======
orand
The best feature about Acompli is that when your corporate IT goon tries to
remote wipe your device from the Exchange server, they can only wipe your
email, not your entire device. Most people don't realize that by using the
default iOS and Android mail clients to connect to an Exchange server, they're
implicitly giving it the ability to remotely wipe their entire mobile device.

~~~
spinchange
I wish there were more publicized about this. I was setting up my wife's
exchange-based work email with the default mail app in Android and was
prompted with some really crazy permissions that were to the basic effect you
mention. She decided that she didn't want her corporate office to have that
much power over her own personal device just for the added convenience of
being able to check work email on it. I'm going to mention this app to her and
give it a try instead.

~~~
sp_nster
Yep. Probably a MDM application like MobileIron or Airwatch.

Your wife made a decision most people miss because they are so used to
skipping to yes. And wouldn't it suck if your IT department wiped your entire
personal device including those vacation pictures of your recently deceased
grandma. This happens way more often then you know.

This total control decision is why a container approach (give power to wipe
what is the container only) to enabling corporate data is one I favor.

~~~
ams6110
You're as likely if not more so to lose those vacation pictures when your
phone falls into the toilet and shorts out. If it's important, back it up.

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joelandren
Absolute no brainer. Product was well-crafted and I don't know why no one
combined email and calendar before, but this made my life a lot easier and I'm
iPhone/Gmail. For exchange users this must be a quantum leap ahead.

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hbbio
Any clue about the acquisition price?

Edit: Their business model was we-will-see-later, so being acquired should
definitely have been one of the options.

"How is the Acompli mobile app free?

The full-featured Acompli app is completely free for everyone. Acompli is a
well-funded company that will later make paid services available to
companies."

~~~
uptown
Over $200 million according to Recode.

[http://recode.net/2014/12/01/microsoft-buys-mobile-email-
sta...](http://recode.net/2014/12/01/microsoft-buys-mobile-email-startup-
acompli-for-more-than-200-million/)

~~~
jkaljundi
Had they raised more than the $7.3m Series A? Any idea on headcount and
user/revenue numbers? EDIT: As I understand, the service was free, so no
revenues.

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ommunist
OK, I 've got the signal. Google buys email app company, what was it name?
Some birdy, wasn't it. And Google shuts it down. Now MS buys email app
company...

The is something important in email for big ones, they do not want small ones
there it seems. Just paranoid.

Before mobile era there was incredible mail <s>app</s> programme - Calypso.
Dead before Google became IPO. No one wanted to support it after it was open
sourced. Probably it would be better for it to be bought by some Microsoft.
Outlook could learn UTF-8 in subject lines a bit earlier.

UPD: on a second thought. I can see mutt and alpine behave very similarly in
terminal apps from iOS. Why, why people like GUI mail so much? Perhaps
Calendar integration is the answer?

UPD: Yeah, lads, it was Calypso. Survived till v3.3, but never did better.

~~~
balls187
> Some birdy, wasn't it.

Sparrow

~~~
ommunist
Good one still remembers it. Do you remember Calypso? The end is still the
same. Few years will pass, and no one will remember those. Only Google and MS
Office. Ah, and mutt for the dedicated.

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curiousDog
$200 million, for an email app from a company that was setup ~1.5 yrs ago. Has
the whole world gone mad?

~~~
robsharp
I'm not sure how much the age of the company matters. If they have customers
and/or revenue, that determines what they're worth much more than age.

~~~
Hermel
It matters as an indicator of how long it would take to rebuild acompli from
scratch.

~~~
misterbwong
How long it takes to rebuild an app really isn't that important. Revenue +
traction trump technical sophistication 9 times out of 10.

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uptown
To revoke GMail access to Acompli/Microsoft, go here:
[https://security.google.com/settings/security/permissions](https://security.google.com/settings/security/permissions)

~~~
thanksgiving
I wouldn't use a third party client for something as critical as my Google
mail account anyways.

~~~
tjpd
Would you mind clarifying why? I'm not sure I understand the concern.
[https://www.acompli.com/security/](https://www.acompli.com/security/)

~~~
uptown
Increasing the number of 3rd parties authorized to access your email accounts
increase the potential attack vectors for malicious people to utilize. If you
only use GMail's interface, then you need to trust Google to protect your
account. If you grant Acompli access to your account, now you've got to trust
two companies with that responsibility. It's basic cost/benefit in terms of
what you get from providing a 3rd party with that access - and in a day when
email is still one of the more critical achilles heels in resetting account
access, it's advisable to keep that access as limited as possible.

~~~
thanksgiving
Thank you. I couldn't have put it better myself. Gmail is the only reason I
have two factor authentication in my Google account.

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3rd3
While this app seems polished and well crafted, I find this acquisition
surprising. I can see no real innovation here besides combining convenient,
known features in one app. Nothing that depends on patents and nothing
Microsoft couldn’t build. Am I missing something?

~~~
jtfairbank
Could be for many reasons:

* The cost of acquisition is less than the cost of developing it themselves. * An aqui-hire. Microsoft wants to pick up the dev talent and skillsets at Accompli. * To prevent a competitor from getting them. Maybe there was other interest that would let a competitor move in on existing Microsoft products. * To continue to build its 'modern' image. There's a lot of additional branding to do if they do it themselves, buying Acompli gives them some nice press and puts the Microsoft brand in front of Acompli's users (which may not be Microsoft's traditional demographic).

~~~
hyp0
> To prevent a competitor from getting them.

Yes, or becoming a competitor, signalled by having users and getting more.
"Strategic" aquisitions often seem absurdly high, unless seen as a threat to
the future of the acquirer. You can be a threat without being fundamentally
new.

~~~
venomsnake
That is one problem I have with big exits lately. No one is allowed to grow or
develop as independent company.

~~~
bdcravens
"No one is allowed to grow or develop as independent company."

Of course you are. Just reject the offer. You don't think Uber/AirBnB/Dropbox
etc have received offers we've not heard about?

~~~
venomsnake
Two of those 3 are peripheral to the tech world. They employ tech to disrupt
other industries. And dropbox is not disruptive. It competes with similar
offerings from the tech giants.

But stuff like Oculus is bought in its infancy - that is not desire to profit,
but to control. FB could have acquired 20-30% of the company to provide them
with liquidity.

~~~
csmajorfive
"FB could have acquired 20-30% of the company to provide them with liquidity"

Not really. Most startups don't want to sell that much equity to a potential
partner/acquirer unless they have to.

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ams6110
Well good for Acompli... and I mean that, though I've never heard of them. But
it's sort of sad that it's almost 2015 and we're still building email,
contact, calendar, and to-do managers.

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larrybud
Realize that when using Acompli, all your email flows through their servers.
That means Acompli is storing your credentials. It's unfortunate that Acompli
hides this fact through hand-waving.

On a personal level, I say "no thanks" to this. On a corporate level, people
should realize that this violates many corporate infosec policies.

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jkaljundi
Wonder when we'll see more startups going more aggressively into replacing
e-mail, interoperating with it or adding features on top of it.

Of course have heard all the arguments against e-mail killers and why that
won't happen.

Will it?

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stephenitis
huge congrats to Accompli team! They were posted at Heavybit Industeries until
recently, I got the chance to second hand see Javier as a leader who
gravitates talent and happiness with the fellow employees.

Here is a talk by him entitled the first million is the hardest.
[http://www.heavybit.com/library/video/2013-05-21-javier-
solt...](http://www.heavybit.com/library/video/2013-05-21-javier-soltero)

~~~
walterbell
Informative interview, thanks!

------
o0-0o
I use this for access to my companies exchange server from my android device.
I'd imagine a lot of other folks use it like this as well.

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Yeri
I guess the surprise is kind of gone. ;)

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presty
related: [http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/26/microsoft-appears-to-pre-
an...](http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/26/microsoft-appears-to-pre-announce-its-
purchase-of-email-startup-acompli/?ncid=rss)

btw, 200M? Wow..

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rdo
Acompli sounds very similar to the native functionality of Windows Phone OS.

