
Startups Should Make it Easy on Users if they Shut Down - iProject
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/06/03/startups-should-bend-over-backwards-to-let-users-take-their-data-after-they-shut-down/
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gwillen
"Should", yes. It's not in their interest to spend the time doing it.
Realistically, how many of their users are going to bother to figure out who
it is that just screwed them, so they can avoid being screwed by the same
founders again in the future?

If you value your shit, don't store it in the cloud. If you value your shit,
don't hand your only copy of it to people who have no business model. If
you're not paying money, you're not the customer. Etc. Etc. This shouldn't
even need to be said anymore.

~~~
snprbob86
It's in their interest for their reputation in the startup community if they
value that.

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ctdonath
I'm reminded of a startup that was bought by HP to host photos. Eventually,
there was nobody running the service. It was running, but just because the
servers were stable and self-sufficient. Money was coming in, but nobody had
time allocated to address the site beyond cashing checks. Someone was nice
enough to post a note somewhere (showed up on HN) suggesting users get data
out while they could.

The point is: when a service collapses to a certain level, it's done. Yes,
great if someone can pitch in to help users recover the loss. In the example
given and ranted at in the article, be thankful the service was still running
and there was at least a "download" button.

~~~
rogerbinns
And here is the blog post by Ned Batchelder explaining how he wrote Lifeboat
for Tabblo (the startup in question).

<http://nedbatchelder.com/blog/201201/goodbye_tabblo.html>

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tlogan
This part is funny:

> See, just because things didn’t work out for

> your company doesn’t mean that users should have to

> pay the price.

The service was free! Meaning 100% free. What kind of entitlement is this?

~~~
icebraining
No, it wasn't; the users paid with their time and access to their personal
photos, with a license that allowed them a "nonexclusive, royalty-free,
perpetual, irrevocable and fully sublicensable right to use, reproduce,
modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute,
perform and display" the photos.

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gojomo
Also, airplanes should crash in uninhabited areas.

