
Hashable is shutting down - matthewphiong
http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/11/hashable-the-app-that-aimed-to-replace-business-cards-to-shut-down-on-july-25/
======
sayemm
\- They raised a $4M round led by USV in 2010
(<http://avc.com/a_vc/2011/03/the-hashable-pivot.html>)

\- The founder (<http://linkedin.com/pub/michael-yavonditte/3a/919/3b6>) was
previously the CEO of an ad company that AOL acquired for $340M, and he's also
an angel investor and partner at a VC fund -- so, he's obviously an
experienced entrepreneur and has an amazing network to support him

Best of luck to everyone on the team and all in their future endeavors, but I
think this just tells you how hard startups really are, esp during these crazy
times.

It's a constant reminder that having all the money and connections in the
world doesn't mean shit about whether you're actually going to build a strong
business and end up dominating your market. Obviously, having a nice war chest
and good connections will help you execute, but it's only a means to an end
and still kind of superficial, and not what makes startups fundamentally
succeed. Drop.io was another case in point, the founder was extremely well-
connected in the tech scene and in VC circles, yet they failed and got owned
by Dropbox - only thing that matters in the long-run is talent and hardcore
execution.

Also highlights just how important timing/luck and product-market fit are:
[http://pmarca-archive.posterous.com/the-pmarca-guide-to-
star...](http://pmarca-archive.posterous.com/the-pmarca-guide-to-startups-
part-4-the-only)

"Markets that don't exist don't care how smart you are."

~~~
earl
I think this is yavo's second failed startup post quigo, the ad network. He
did tracked first, then hashable. I'd bet he'll do well in mobile ads though
given how well he understands the space. And never underestimate the power of
the right rolodex.

~~~
objclxt
Mobile ads is a _shitty_ business, and by 'shitty' I mean 'hugely
competitive'. The margins are so slim it can be very difficult to turn any
kind of profit - not to say the right idea can't totally shake up the
industry, just that it's very, very competitive.

------
ishi
Yet another startup with no viable business model shutting down after spending
the investors' money. I simply don't understand how companies get funded when
they have no real way of turning a profit.

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Zenst
Well I suppose users got 2 weeks notice of the closure - though for many who
are on holiday as it is summer(apparently in some countries), then this will
be moot.

Not sure what there doing next and advertising a advertisng company on the
back of a demise of a project that has failed is not entirely inspiring,
though in this day and age I doubt it will be held against them.

If they open source the old system then I'm sure even more will forgive them.
Though I'm sure alot of investors will not be too happy, but thats how
investing works.

I wish them well, if only for the aspect they explained how to get your old
data, even if only a two week window of opertunity, could of been worse.

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rhizome
People who like business cards, use business cards. I think in the future
"intentional identity communication" will be moot, where people will either
know who you are already, or know how to find you (FB, LinkedIn, Ravelry,
etc.). If all you really need is a name and a saved contact, I can see people
getting used to not carrying and exchanging stuff. "Back in olden times, your
'wallet' had like a quarter-inch of these business cards, both other peoples'
and yours to hand out. Yes, we had back problems."

~~~
ivanb
I imagine a ubiquitous feature in every business smartphone that just
broadcasts your vCard to nearby smartphones if you want to be contacted. Just
something more comfortable than current Bluetooth vCard sharing. I say a
"feature" because I think that there is no monetization opportunity in this
idea. It would only look good as a standard feature.

~~~
rhizome
VCard is still on the "intentional transmission" side of things. What I'm
talking about is the question, "why have a discrete identity blob to hand out
(physically or digitally) when your identity is out there and easy to find
with the right proximity. "Proximity" being measured by social distance.

If I meet you someplace and we're talking like "I'm rhizome from HN," you can
then click on my name when you get home (or from your phone) and get a means
of communicating further with me. The goal of business cards isn't really just
to collect pieces of paper, it's to have a reference by which to enable
further interactions. Those references are becoming more and more ephemeral,
and more and more ubiquitous.

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dneb7
My friend was in the right place at the right time, had a small company that
made millions. He figured it was all him, so he spent all of his money on a
second attempt. It failed, and he's back working a j.o.b. now.

I wonder: If we could track enough of these cases where a successful
entrepeneur started a second company (and then track whether it
succeeded/failed), could we come up with a measurement of how much luck has to
do with overall success rates?

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kiichigoto
I still remember the big hype about Hashable.

I wonder what they are pivoting to next.

~~~
kaitari
Hashable's CEO mentioned on Twitter that they've been working on a "very
unique mobile ad system"

<https://twitter.com/mikeyavo/status/223256300874764290>

~~~
rurounijones
More ads, great...

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Julianhearn
$4 million in funding, all down the drain, wow.

