DropSend buyers are already lining up
Wow, as soon as we announced the sale of DropSend the emails started coming in.
So far we’ve received five six emails expressing interest. I also had an IM conversation with Geoffrey Arrone (from Flock).
We had several comments asking why would sell, if DropSend is profitable and requires very little maintenance. Here’s why:
DropSend could be even more successful if someone focused 100% of their attention on it.
As I said, we do zero marketing or advertising for it. This is because we don’t have enough time to focus on it (because we’re a small company). If someone devoted solid time to it, it would grow at an even faster rate. I believe it could double or triple it’s current revenue.
It’s like having a racing horse that has the potential to win the Grand National, and never taking it out to run.
So, the next step will be to publish our user stats and financial figures. Stay tuned …
[…] In a follow up post a few hours later Ryan Carson wrote that a number of people were already interested in buying the product, including Flock. I wonder how Flock feels about this disclosure. […]
Pingback by Techcrunch » Blog Archive » DropSend For Sale: Flock Is Looking — November 5, 2006 @ 8:56 am
Hi Guys,
Good luck with the sale. One thought: if simply is a question of advertising, wouldn’t it be useful for you to use DropSend as a way of “dogfooding” Amigo and advertising through appropriate newsletters? I would imagine that the perspective that would give you could be enormously valuable. Possibly much more in the long term that the shot in the arm the sale will give you capital-wise.
Also, there has been some discussion on various blogs wondering why there wasn’t as much buzz as one would think about this yet. It might have something to do with the post telling everyone that you were shutting down BNA. I don’t know about everyone else, but once I read that I took it as the clue to remove the feed from my reader…
Comment by --Josh — November 5, 2006 @ 9:40 am
[…] They have already received six email as of now. Ryan also hints that Geoffrey Arrone (from Flock) may be interested in the sale. […]
Pingback by Dropsend On Sale. Flock Interested? » Techtites — November 5, 2006 @ 11:17 am
Hey Ryan,
Best wishes on any deals, but I have to agree w/ Mike A. that a public forum is not the best (and indeed perhaps the worst) place to mention details of any potential partners or acquirors. This could lead to unexpected results, not the least of which is that persons in these positions will no longer trust you with confidential information.
I hope for the best for you, but I just don’t see any reason to discuss this publicly. If you already have potential buyers, why even announce this? If the potential buyer(s) came around after the announcement, ok, then stop talking and let any deal run its course. Perhaps I missed some other piece of the puzzle.
What possible advantage is there for you in doing it this way? I suggest you sit back - breathe deeply - and reconsider your approach. If you are simply looking for publicity, you have it.
Comment by John Minnihan — November 5, 2006 @ 4:27 pm
When are you going to be releasing the stats?
Comment by James Deer — November 5, 2006 @ 5:00 pm
I think we made a mistake posting that I had a conversation with Geoff (Flock). It was an honest mistake - not some attempt at grabbing publicity. This is the first time we’ve sold a product/company and we’re learning as we go.
We’ll keep releasing details, but we will no longer disclose the names or companies of those that get in touch.
Thanks for your comments - they help! :)
Comment by Ryan Carson — November 5, 2006 @ 6:55 pm
“This is the first time we’ve sold a product/company and we’re learning as we go. ”
Fair enough, but disclosing who you are speaking to (which can have no benefit other than bragging rights) as well as your contradiction in the reasoning behind selling the app just make it seem like this hasn’t been thought-through and appears to be a quick-grab.
I agree with the previous comments that you have completely shot yourself in the foot with disclosing who you have been speaking to, you probably would have had more enquiries if you didn’t do that. You might want to clear up the reasons for selling drop-send as well, you are saying ‘requires little overhead’, ‘requires some work’, ‘is doing well now’ and ‘has lots of potential’ all in one pitch.
Comment by Johnathan — November 5, 2006 @ 7:50 pm
Hey, best of luck with this, and I’m not trying to pick a scab/fight/otherwise but your reasoning behind the sale sounds quite anti-business (not necessarily a bad thing!).. that is, a ‘I want to see it do great by getting more attention from someone else’, versus the ‘let’s hang on to someone for as long as it turns a profit’ option. I mean, I’m sure even Basecamp, say, could make more money if 37signals focused on it more, but I severely doubt they’ll sell it while it makes a single red cent :)
Comment by Peter Cooper — November 6, 2006 @ 2:48 am
[…] As only a master of online buzz building can do, Ryan is live blogging the sale at BareNakedApp.com, which is the site where he live-blogged the development of their most recent product Amigo. In what some on his blog have characterized as a misstep, he revealed that he was having IM conversations with Flock, the alternative browser company, as potential buyers. This lead to the story breaking over the weekend on TechCrunch, which has undoubtedly driven a tremendous amount of awareness of the sale. […]
Pingback by Voodoo Ventures - Idea Fuel Blog » DropSend on the Block — November 6, 2006 @ 4:11 pm