A business I started, www.TwitJump.com, has been predicted by TechCrunch to be purchased by Twitter in 2010. I am incredibly flattered that TwitJump is included by TechCrunch in this short list of five companies. If nothing else, it solidifies TwitJump as a highly valuable tool for Twitter. What do you think, should I sell this business to Twitter in 2010? Read the article here:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/03/top-ten-digital-deals-2010/
Not sure what the financial possibilities are for TwitJump, but if the oppurtunity arises I say sell the sucker. Your team has better data than me, but I saw a story where Tweets have been declining recentley and websites like Facebook, their traffic has been increasing exponetially. I’m not sure why Facebook can’t duplicate Twitter??? My vote is to pull a Mark Cuban and go out on top. That would be great if it happens, if not, it’s great publicity for TwitJump.
TwitJump is profitable, great margins, great growth, some unique technology. Twitter isn’t declining, growing like mad still. Some people just don’t measure it right. For example, they use stats from Twitter.com to measure traffic, tweets, etc. – when 3rd party apps like TwitJump dominate usage. Facebook is for more personal use – and it’s for people you already know. Twitter is for people you want to know. Twitter is MUCH more business friendly and has many unique business related applications that FB would have to change their ENTIRE model to match. They will peacefully co-exist in my opinion. Stay tuned, some cool stuff happening in the background…
Makes sense, I knew you had better data. That makes it a tougher decision. I think there is an article in the last Inc. magazine “To Sell or Not to Sell” you might have seen it. Keep us posted. Good Luck!
P.S. Do you think Twitter gets bought out this year?
You, my friend, have better data about just about anything else though. That is what you do – data. And for those reading, The Draconian is a great monthly newsletter to sign up for. Really interesting market related analysis.
I did read the sell/no sell article. I have had extensive talks with friends about the mentality in Utah in particular to sell to early. Utah is like this great farm team, we have a ton of $10-75MM exits. But very few larger then that (OMTR to Adobe is a rare exception). I think many of the companies that can sell for much more sell out too soon. However, others are the opposite – count their lucky stars they sold for what they did when the did. The magic trick is knowing which is which.
I’m not smart enough to figure that one out. I will say this though. I am a fan of a bird in the hand. So if a good offer, providing a good ROI and some cash that is meaningful, comes along, I think that most entrepreneurs should consider it very seriously. The good news is, you’ll go do it again, so if you find out you sold too early or for too little this time, sell later and for more next time!!!
And for the record, I’d be quite surprised if Twitter was bought this year. They need to start acquiring more businesses and shoring up their revenue model to really juice the exit price in my opinion.
Question for you – is an IPO likely for Twitter in 2010/11? Seems like the IPO markets are heating up, and Twitter seems like the kind of company that’d like to stay independent, but will still need a liquidity event for shareholders – hence the IPO thought. Would love your take.