

Blackboard to Buy Rival Angel Learning for $95 million - paulgb
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/06/AR2009050603933.html

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jballanc
I gagged a little when I read the line about money for R & D. Blackboard and
its ilk are some of the worst examples of UI design anywhere. This merger is
only going to mean more difficulty for their customers.

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treyp
It's true; as a recent graduate, I can tell you that Blackboard (still) looks
and feels like a rush job from 1995.

I'm not an expert on the markets, but one thing that has amazed me is that
Blackboard has maintained a P/E ratio in the hundreds for quite some time.
Today, BBBB's P/E ratio is 367:
<http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3ABBBB> Seriously. Three- _hundred_
-sixty-seven. Am I missing something? Are they really set up for that much
growth, especially with a product like that?

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callmeed
Interesting. I worked in the .edu space before my current company–including
working with Blackboard a bit when they were young.

I still think there's a ton of room for new startups in this space–these
companies (Angel and BB) are still, as far as I know, very mired in old/web1.0
technologies and methodologies.

The biggest problem is the sales cycle in education is painfully long. It
takes months to get a deal started, approved and then paid.

I'm not sure if the solution is to go with a cheaper SaaS solution that
requires less approval, but I definitely hope to see some YC companies in this
space soon (I have an idea for one but no time at the moment).

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blogimus
I agree that the sales cycle is long, but that could only be the start of
bigger problems.

From what I've seen in the news and discussions on e-learning, the biggest
problem facing startups is being sued by blackboard

[http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/2006/08/blackboard_...](http://www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/2006/08/blackboard_lawsuits_wikis_oh_m.html)

just for fun:

<http://www.google.com/search?q=blackboard+patent+suits>.

Please show me otherwise if I'm wrong.

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callmeed
No, you're definitely not wrong ... I'm curious what PG's thoughts are on
this.

Does YC consider things like potential patent litigation when choosing
startups? Have they ever faced issues like this after funding a startup?

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altano
PG's thoughts _were_ that this is a bad idea because 90% of the problems being
solved in this area of software aren't technical but rather bureaucratic.

At least, that's what he said to me and my co-applicant to explain our
rejection in the first YC round back in the day. Perhaps he was just being
nice, though.

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auston
Mutual friends of mine applied to YC with an app to compete with Blackboard.

This is definitely validation that they should continue to work on their idea!

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ieatpaste
fyi

Blackboard's #6,988,138 patent has begun the process of being overturned by
the PTO (not yet finalized), but they have a revised patent #7,493,396.

I agree with buugs: Blackboard has been suing left and right - they even tried
to sue the PTO.

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neovive
Colleges should be investing more in the open source Sakai project. Which has
already produced an extremely functional and completely open learning
management system. Sakai is by higher-ed for higher-ed.

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comster
omg Blackboard should die

