6 ms·

TapEngage (YC S11) acquired by Dropbox

56 points by sean_lynch 14y ago

mshafrir 14y ago
Congrats Sean and Matt!
amirmc 14y ago
I'm curious. Are there any other cases where one YC company has acquired another? Is this the first?
- oxwrist 14y ago
  Certainly not the first. I remembered there's Loopt acquiring GraffitiGeo but I'm sure there's more: http://techcrunch.com/2009/10/20/mobile-social-network-wars-loopt-acquires-graffitigeo/ http://techcrunch.com/2009/10/20/mobile-social-network-wars-...
- jaredsohn 14y ago
  From YC's first class, Reddit either acquired or merged with infogami (depending on who you read it from). http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20239 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20239
- nihaar 14y ago
  Here's another example: http://techcrunch.com/2009/06/23/posterous-acquires-fellow-y-combinator-alum-slinkset/ http://techcrunch.com/2009/06/23/posterous-acquires-fellow-y...
FredBrach 14y ago
Is there a link between tablet-ads and dropbox? Sounds like a talent acquisition mmh?
- modarts 14y ago
  Seems more like a pivot into an ad supported revenue stream.
- nickwoodhams 14y ago
  Relevant ads based on your Dropbox contents? Interested in the motive here.
RachelF 14y ago
Is Dropbox getting into ad-supported models?
- leeskye 14y ago
  Was this in acquihire or is Dropbox intending to get into the tablet ad network game (http://www.tapengage.com/about http://www.tapengage.com/about)?
ikailan 14y ago
(I noticed that this was posted by Sean) Congrats to Sean! For people that aren't aware, for a long time, Sean was the lone product manager on Google App Engine, and he played a significant role in helping that product scale.
kyro 14y ago
Interesting acquisition. Perhaps Dropbox is moving more in the media center direction with their mobile apps, which are currently rather bland lists of folders and files. I could see them creating a much more interactive mobile interface to access your data and embedding ads throughout. I'd hate for them to go the way of online video and force you to watch an ad to open a file.
- nl 14y ago
  I'm not sure how you get that - I assumed this was a fairly conventional Aquirhire. Having said that.... SugarSync has a deal with Samsung where you can keep your files in SugarSync and play them on (some) Samsung Smart TVs. Seems like a win/win - SugarSync gets distribution and Samsung gets a nice feature. Dropbox is already playing a similar space with its deals to get on Android phones.

56 points by sean_lynch 14y ago

mshafrir 14y ago

Congrats Sean and Matt!

amirmc 14y ago

I'm curious. Are there any other cases where one YC company has acquired another? Is this the first?

oxwrist 14y ago
Certainly not the first. I remembered there's Loopt acquiring GraffitiGeo but I'm sure there's more: http://techcrunch.com/2009/10/20/mobile-social-network-wars-loopt-acquires-graffitigeo/ http://techcrunch.com/2009/10/20/mobile-social-network-wars-...
jaredsohn 14y ago
From YC's first class, Reddit either acquired or merged with infogami (depending on who you read it from). http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20239 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20239
nihaar 14y ago
Here's another example: http://techcrunch.com/2009/06/23/posterous-acquires-fellow-y-combinator-alum-slinkset/ http://techcrunch.com/2009/06/23/posterous-acquires-fellow-y...

FredBrach 14y ago

Is there a link between tablet-ads and dropbox? Sounds like a talent acquisition mmh?

modarts 14y ago
Seems more like a pivot into an ad supported revenue stream.
nickwoodhams 14y ago
Relevant ads based on your Dropbox contents? Interested in the motive here.

RachelF 14y ago

Is Dropbox getting into ad-supported models?

leeskye 14y ago
Was this in acquihire or is Dropbox intending to get into the tablet ad network game (http://www.tapengage.com/about http://www.tapengage.com/about)?

ikailan 14y ago

(I noticed that this was posted by Sean) Congrats to Sean! For people that aren't aware, for a long time, Sean was the lone product manager on Google App Engine, and he played a significant role in helping that product scale.

kyro 14y ago

Interesting acquisition. Perhaps Dropbox is moving more in the media center direction with their mobile apps, which are currently rather bland lists of folders and files. I could see them creating a much more interactive mobile interface to access your data and embedding ads throughout. I'd hate for them to go the way of online video and force you to watch an ad to open a file.

nl 14y ago
I'm not sure how you get that - I assumed this was a fairly conventional Aquirhire. Having said that.... SugarSync has a deal with Samsung where you can keep your files in SugarSync and play them on (some) Samsung Smart TVs. Seems like a win/win - SugarSync gets distribution and Samsung gets a nice feature. Dropbox is already playing a similar space with its deals to get on Android phones.