
FlightCaster (YC S09) Acquired - jaf12duke
http://blog.flightcaster.com/flightcaster-acquired
======
jacquesm
Super news for you guys, that's less than 18 months from launch to
acquisition, really cool.

What I really love about this deal is this line:

"Before we go any further, let us address our users. FlightCaster.com will
stay right where it is and continue to provide flight delay prediction for
free. We're also making our mobile app free -- you can download it now. We'll
continue to use our powerful algorithms to predict flight delays. We'll
continue to push the envelope on getting the best travel intelligence to
people when they need it."

How much better is that than: "hey our team just got acquired by Facebook/Some
other 500 # gorilla and we'll be shutting down our service next week".

That really sets a good example on how it is done.

~~~
Ixiaus
Yeah, it being a merger of interests rather than a strategic takeover will
serve both the companies well.

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JacobAldridge
_"We're pleased to announce that FlightCaster has been acquired by Next Jump
Inc. It's a good day here at FlightCaster HQ (freakin' phenomenal day!), and
we're stoked about the new possibilities._ "

How much better an opening statement is that, when compared to generic PR
shrill about XYZ Co joining with ABC Ltd to provide blah blah blah leverage.
Made me even more excited for the team and FlightCaster users.

~~~
jaf12duke
Thanks Jacob! --Jason from FlightCaster-- The good vibe is much appreciated.
We've got really sweet stuff we'll be rolling out soon...

~~~
paul9290
Congrats & thank you for a great product & access to your API!

We're (<http://sleep.fm>) using it to wake up our users & speak whether their
flight is delayed or on-time. THough I do wonder if things will change in
regards to the the API?

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citricsquid
That sounds like an excellent deal for both the team and users, awesome, don't
see that often :-) Congratulations.

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siculars
Again, where is the link to your site on your blog? I realize there is a link
in the post. This has been a recurring theme here, site blogs that do not link
to the site they are blogging about.

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muuh-gnu
Another nice Lisp/Clojure success story.
<http://groups.google.com/group/clojure/msg/9203e07d197dbd29>

Mentioning that, does anybody know what happened to Postabon, another Lisp
startup, which went silent a while ago?

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bretpiatt
Congratulations, I'm really looking forward to where this can go.

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vidar
Price?

~~~
random42
_The price of the deal wasn’t disclosed._

[http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/10/next-jump-acquires-
flightca...](http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/10/next-jump-acquires-flightcaster-
the-flight-delay-prediction-engine/)

~~~
vidar
I was aware of that, I was hoping for some "word on the street" type of
information.

~~~
tomtc
[http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/22/confirmed-motorola-
mobility...](http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/22/confirmed-motorola-mobility-
acquires-cloud-storage-startup-zecter/)
[http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/05/yousendit-buys-email-
collab...](http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/05/yousendit-buys-email-
collaboration-startup-attassa-and-e-signature-service-zosh/)
[http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/10/next-jump-acquires-
flightca...](http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/10/next-jump-acquires-flightcaster-
the-flight-delay-prediction-engine/)

Third exit by Tandem Entrepreneurs in less than a month -- ZumoDrive, Attassa,
and now FlightCaster. All for undisclosed terms.

~~~
skmurphy
At first I thought tomtc meant that ex-Tandem computers folks had been part of
these startups, But he is talking about <http://www.tandementrepreneurs.com/>

~~~
pstcm
sherpalo <http://www.sherpalo.com/> has invested in these companies too.

~~~
skmurphy
Good catch:Ram Shiram, the prime mover behind Sherpalo, is also on the board
of directors at NextJump.

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omeega
Shouldn't we reserve the "congratulations" until more info is provided about
the terms (price) of the deal.EG- Pownce.com wasn't congratulated for being
acquired.

~~~
jackowayed
Pownce was floundering because Twitter basically made them irrelevant.
Flightcaster hasn't been around all that long and seemed to be doing fine.
It's pretty unlikely that they sold for a price that they're unhappy with.

~~~
skmurphy
Not clear what the real situation was and it may be difficult to determine for
a while. They clearly abandoned their initial business and business model
completely, no shame in that, but this may just be a talent acquisition.

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rjett
Congrats! I've always been curious how the conversation goes when one company
reaches out to another in hopes of being acquired. Do deals like this usually
happen as stock swaps?

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MLnick
Congratulations! I was wondering why Bradford's posts were suddenly becoming
so focused on the news and personalisation! :)

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EGreg
Congratulations! Flightcaster seems like an awesome execution. Now I'm excited
to see what you have planned... even though Woven is ambitious, you have the
track record to pull it off!

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ameyamk
Why next jump acquired flightcaster? (May be they also want to combine their
ecommerce shop with flights along with price predictions data as a
differentiator) but why?

~~~
jacquesm
> Why next hump acquired flightcaster?

Freudian slip or typo?

~~~
ameyamk
:-) Fixed

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zachallaun
For those seeing an Error 503, the post can be seen at the top of their blog:
<http://blog.flightcaster.com/>

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Tonnie
How much??

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woid
Congrats!

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michaelty
Congratulations, sirs.

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xyzzyrz
very niice! how much?

