

Filtrbox acquired by Jive Software - paraschopra
http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/07/jive-software-acquires-social-media-monitoring-startup-filtrbox/

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webwright
I read (somewhere else) that this is the _4th_ of the TechStars class of 10 to
be acquired. Obviously, "acquired" can mean that the founders got a fat
signing bonus and an unusually large options plan at the acquiring company,
but I still think that's impressive for TechStars. It's still early to judge,
but the % of TechStars companies that get Series A funding and the % that have
been acquired is starting to look pretty impressive, especially considering
that it's in Boulder.

/respect to Filtrbox and TechStars both.

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feverishaaron
The "especially considering that it's in Boulder" statement really rubbed me
wrong. The rate at which the Techstars founders are succeeding isn't
surprising, if you look at the caliber of mentorship that's available in the
area.

I'm originally from the SV, and am currently fairly active in the Boulder
startup and tech community. I've been very impressed with the accessibility of
prominent investors and successful founders in Boulder. There's the same type
of geek magic here that the SV has. There's the same communal desire to help
other startups succeed and grow, but with a tight-knit small-town feel.

If you haven't tried Boulder's tech community on for size, you really should.
Hit <http://boulder.me> for more.

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webwright
You read it wrong (or I was unclear in what I meant, more likely).

YC and PG (and thus news.yc) has a STRONG valley bias. I personally think the
Valley's importance is overblown (and that the domination of the Valley is
fading). So the remark was more of a jab at valley purists than a statement
that "secondary" cities like Boulder (and Seattle, where I am) are less solid.
That said, of course, statistically more startups get funded and sold in the
valley than anywhere else (by raw # and percentage, near as I can tell). So
yeah, I guess these numbers would be remarkable in the valley and are slightly
more remarkable in a non-valley town.

I have a few posts (with some data) talking about how I think the Valley is
losing dominance-- and I'd think TechStars' success is yet another data point
here.

(search for "valley" and see 1st, 2nd, and 5th post on my blog if you'd like
to see some interest data: <http://www.tonywright.com/> )

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MikeCapone
Am I the only one who first read this headline as:

"Firefox acquired by Jive Software" ?

I just had to click on it after thinking "how is that possible?".

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bitwize
I read it as Flirtbox. Jive Software makes "enterprise" blogs and wikis; I
wondered if they were getting into the business of dating sites for the
enterprise?

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wensing
How do the financials of an exit like this work out?

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webwright
Pretty hard to know without knowing the landscape.

Scenario #1: FiltrBox was almost out of money and wasn't doing well enough to
justify additional investment. They had no compelling IP/patents. Investors
make a few phone calls and get a CEO to "buy" the company, which really means
$50k signing bonuses for the founders and a nice options package.

Scenario #2: FiltrBox was killing it, growing like wildfire. They had a great
IP attorney and some really impressive tech. Jive wanted the team and the IP
bad and put together a $5m offer (stock heavy, likely).

Or anything in between....

(or anything in between).

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wensing
I do wonder how they were doing. I tried out FiltrBox and after the trial they
wanted $1k/yr for the service. Suffice to say we weren't their target market.

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andrewhyde
Congrats to Ari and Tom!

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hiroprot
Congrats, guys!

