GigaOM

[...] So Matt Mullenweg has announced on his blog not too long ago that his company Automattic(The company that runs wordpress.com) has bought Gravatar. I think this is fairly big and if not big, important news and so does Om Malik. [...]

[...] October 18th, 2007 Matt Mullenweg posted yesterday on the Gravatar blog about the acquisition of Gravatar by Automattic. The post isn’t there now. It wasn’t just my imagination: Om Malik linked to the post. [...]

[...] of the nonsense being written about the new “bubble”. And related discussions about the need for startups to “bulk up” (from Om Malik no less, a man full of good sense usually) and palpitations about being five months [...]

[...] Startups Should Team Up to Grow - Om Malik dice que en un sector en el que todo ocurre tan rápido y con cada vez menos barreras de entrada, los startups deben considerar muy seriamente la opción de aliarse con otras empresas o competidores para crecer más rápido [...]

[...] Read more at Gravatar and GigaOM [...]

[...] Startups Should Team Up to Grow « GigaOM  Annotated The low barriers to entry for building and deploying consumer web products has resulted in an abundance of companies, many of marginal utility. “Every single one of these [technology] cycles lasted between eight and 11 years. The eight-year anniversary of the last collapse is in March 2008. Now, if someone wants to stand up and tell me why this cycle is somehow going to be a longer one — I’m all ears,” he says. If Rafer is right, then it is prudent for startups to start coming up with Plan B. And maybe Plan B should stand for “buying or merging.” [...]

[...] Malik authored a column earlier this week describing the need for small startups to work together to achieve results. What better way for this type of collaboration than in a incubator space where [...]

[...] kaže Om Malik, komentirajući ovo, ako ovakve dealove gledamo izolirano, ispadaju gotovo marginalni, ali stvar je [...]

[...] look of television, Valleywag’s post, which was fine with me (thanks for the link!), and Om Malik’s smart observation that startups are beginning to band together in the space. The only way we can answer them is to [...]

Automattic compra Gravatar

Automattic compra Gravatar, el servicio que te permite poner avatares en WordPress, y algunos otros servicios, es ahora parte de la empresa que hace WordPress, Akismet y otros. Es MUY interesante el análisis que hace Om Malik sobre la compra de este star

[...] is what Om Malik thinks about this acquisition, as for myself I could see how to use it for tracking comments I put on [...]

Teaming up is so critical these days - people fear it because they believe that a merger might be the end result but the truth is that both companies can walk away smarter than going it alone.

This is one of the benefits of co-working.

Widget makers CAN make a lot of money - look at shareware. There is no willingness-to-pay for Web 2.0, that’s the problem. I have said enough already, the solution is obvious.

think how amazing what blogs can influence in this world scale business.

Om,
I think you’ll start to see more teaming up as start-ups look for creative ways to operate more efficiently. I would argue that a more pragmatic approach to spending is the biggest difference between the last tech boom and the current one - something lost amid all the talk about a bust.

In a way, this entire bubble is a product of the acquisition spree of the companies like Yahoo, Google, Microsoft etc. Taking the case of Google, just because they want to be omnipresent in the internet world, and now in the mobile world, they keep on acquiring companies irrespective of their profitability. Their process allures all these start-ups for the dream of quick money. I guess, when the bubble breaks, these big companies also will get their share of regret.

You linked to Matt’s post on the Gravatar blog. That post seems to have vanished.

What if rich startup with funding is searching for real technological basis for its proposals? Looks like bubble 2.0 is coming…

Whenever I hear of synergies (because I guess that is what “teaming up” is all about), I try to leave the room.

I found that very rarely it works out for both parties. I can totally see why people are sceptical.

“Every single one of these [technology] cycles lasted between eight and 11 years. The eight-year anniversary of the last collapse is in March 2008. Now, if someone wants to stand up and tell me why this cycle is somehow going to be a longer one — I’m all ears,” he says.

Here’s why…
Broadband penetration
Speed to market
Development costs
Millions (if not tens of) more computers all around the world connected (more potential consumers/customers)
Mobile

Do smaller companies have the resources needed to merge differing platforms without damaging customer loyalty? Just look at AuctionAds.

@Vin Turk Every cycle included improvements in bandwidth, software tools (both productivity and cost), and an increase in IT’s fraction of the world economy. Tech is now a huge fraction of the world’s production. How does that remove or delay business cycles? Given how quick we all operate, it might speed them up.

I think in this situation Gravatar wins out because of the huge WordPress userbase. Gravatar realized that they needed to make a move and I think the made the right one.