
A Letter From Media Temple Founder - dkroy
http://bin.mediatemple.net/newsletter/media-temple-godaddy/index.html
======
moot
Bummer. GoDaddy is easily the worst company I've had to deal with in over a
decade of running 4chan.

Godspeed to the MediaTemple guys!

~~~
resu
How so? I know they don't have a great reputation, but I am guessing you have
had to deal with a ton of companies while running 4chan. What made GoDaddy
stand out?

(Apologies if you've posted an answer to this somewhere else... please provide
a link if that's the case!)

~~~
moot
[http://www.4chan.org/news?all#39](http://www.4chan.org/news?all#39)

They essentially suspended 4chan's original .net domain without warning,
didn't notify me, then sent me in circles trying to get it back. At the time
you couldn't e-mail or call the abuse department. You would leave a message,
and they would [never] return your call. The domain was expired/released
early, requiring I attempt to get it at auction, and instead a squatter got
it.

So if you've ever wondered why 4chan is a .org, that's why. (And we were a
.net originally because the site is based on 2chan.net.)

~~~
resu
Makes a lot more sense now as to why gd could stand out so much... wow

Thanks moot!

------
izolate
So with both MT founders transitioning out as a result of this acquisition,
it's very apparent to me that they wanted to cash out.

All the fluff about how this wont change anything, or how this is better for
everybody is just noise. This is how it ends, MT.

------
jaredstenquist
Yuck. That's disappointing. It's only a matter of time before MT is inundated
with GoDaddy's garbage.

Moving all my domains off GoDaddy was a pain, but not being plastered with 90
sub-offers on my way to checkout is bliss. They have zero respect for
customers and are just generally shady in every aspect of business.

------
mcantelon
>We will continue operating as an independent and autonomous company and our
mission will remain unchanged.

That's what they all say.

~~~
phaus
You just made me sad about Blizzard all over again. I was just starting to
come to terms with their demise.

~~~
scarlson
Or any of the amazing small studios EA has picked up and discarded.

~~~
phaus
Thanks for reminding me about those too.

On the bright side, there is a spiritual successor to Syndicate in the works,
I can't recall where I read about it though.

------
subrat_rout
Never expected these guys will sell themselves to a company with questionable
reputation.

~~~
leoplct
money rules the world

~~~
subrat_rout
Money rules the world. Certainly not everything. Not principles, morale and/or
conscience. Does it sound too bookish?

------
phaus
At this point I guess anyone who works for Media Temple has lost confidence in
their founder. He stated that he is proud to have been acquired by Godaddy, so
that means one of two things. Either he has incredibly poor judgement, or he
is flat out lying to his work force.

If its the money, just say so.

------
jcomis
This letter combined with all the MT people trying to astroturf the comments
on the techcrunch post is pretty ridiculous. It's like they don't realize we
are capable of thought.

------
iwasakabukiman
From the FAQ about the merger:[1]

 _What about GoDaddy’s reputation in the tech community?_

GoDaddy has been transformed in recent months and is essentially a new
company. If we did not like what we have seen, we would not have joined the
GoDaddy family. They have overhauled their leadership team and attracted tech
talent from the best-of-the-best. We love “the new GoDaddy” that CEO Blake
Irving and his team have created, especially their new approach with
advertising, product focus and UX.

Though neither GoDaddy’s brand nor operations are being integrated into ours,
we are excited to be a positive influence on them with how to make even more
improvements to better serve the Web pro community

[1] [http://weblog.mediatemple.net/2013/10/15/faqs-about-the-
goda...](http://weblog.mediatemple.net/2013/10/15/faqs-about-the-godaddy-
acquisition/)

~~~
jcutrell
Well of course they are going to say things like this. They know that GoDaddy
has a bad reputation, and for good reason. We all have our stories about why
GoDaddy is awful.

But let's consider this: a company doesn't get rebuilt in "recent months" from
the inside out. Especially one as large and with as much baggage as GoDaddy
has.

Secondly, why would GoDaddy buy MediaTemple? I'd bet it has less to do with
hoping MediaTemple can help them improve their customer service. Maybe my bet
is wrong, but it seems to me that GoDaddy will continue making money the way
they have before, which has less to do with customer service and more to do
with customer count and customer confusion.

I for one believe MediaTemple will become a lower-barrier service that can be
attached to a domain in the checkout process, which will probably increase the
quality of package-store-website servers. Unfortunately, this will necessitate
an energy focus shift that could put the boutique firms lower on the priority
chain.

------
emhart
I think it speaks to GoDaddy's reputation that a portion of this letter was
dedicated to talking about GoDaddy's new leadership team and motto, one
assumes to assuage any concerns about that reputation's impact on MT. Judging
by the comments here...it didn't have the desired effect.

~~~
rfnslyr
As long it isn't Bob Parson's steering the ship.

------
mu_killnine
So when can we start expecting to see tasteless MT ads during sporting events?

------
justinph
Ah, an american love story: Two obese, dim-witted, overly wealthy hosting
companies marrying each other.

------
jimwalsh
Considering MT has made money time and time again citing GoDaddy's faults,
issues and outages, it strikes me a bit odd that they would sell out to them.
But then another part of me isn't really surprised at all to be honest.

------
catshirt
echoing the sentiment here but really; how sad. MT was a staple in my earlier
development career.

godaddy is a shit product. this won't hinder MT.

but godaddy is also a shit company. this makes MT a shit company by
association, if not definitively.

------
joshdance
Sad. I like Media Temple but I dislike GoDaddy more.

------
mihok
Ugh, this is really upsetting. Are there similar alternative services
available? I need to find a new host...

------
centro
Those days when one of the worst companies buys one of the best...

------
schmader
Here is to hoping Enom does not sell out to GoDaddy

------
instaheat
Well cash is nice...

------
jebblue
I've been with GoDaddy for years. People who blame them for their SOPA stance
need to remember there was a lot of support in Congress for SOPA. Was it the
best Bill? Nah, that doesn't mean GoDaddy's reputation should be torn to
shreds every single time their name comes up on HN. The same people should
remember there are a lot of good people at GoDaddy, techies just like them who
are trying to earn a living doing a job they love.

~~~
dublinben
This is some Grade A shilling. Well done.

~~~
jebblue
I've got some domains with GoDaddy, that's it. Does that make it ok for you to
make an unfounded and wrong accusation?

edit: Adding a reference:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shill](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shill)

