Bubbleshare: Practicing the Scoble Resolution

I'm hanging out at the Consumer Electronics Show here in Lost Wages for the next couple of days. 

Like everybody else, I take part in making resolutions that usually have a short life span. All the regular resolutions; eat healthy (right after this Krispy Kreme), get more exercise (lifting the doughnut boxes), etc.

The one interesting resolution I'm taking a shot at working is what I call the Scoble Resolution. Long time lovers/readers/haters of Robert Scoble will not doubt agree, Robert is famous (or infamous, depending) of firing off blogging shots before getting more data, thinking about it, etc.  Over the course of 2006, he gradually came to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, a bit of reflection before hitting the send key might be in order. Well done, Robert.

I'm not known for my carefully, well consider, thoughtful actions either. In fact, I'm far worse the Scoble every was or could be.  To work on my "ready, fire, aim" actions as well as honoring that mellowing out of Robert, I came to create the Scoble Resolution.  That meant I would think about stuff, sit on it for a day or two, before diving in.

A test of this arrived in the form of Bubbleshare's purchase by the folks at Kaboose.

There was the professional kudos/acknowledgement from TechCrunch and Michael Arrington.  Knowing Albert and knowing how hard he works, it was nice to see this post. For all the flack/crap that gets tossed at Arrington, he is consistent. When somebody does good, he is gracious and when they don't he calls it out.

Then up pops a post from Om Malik on Bubbleshare where we see the snarky "an exit is an exit, even if it is a puny one".  My original reaction when I read this was; whatta pompous prick.  But these days with everybody suing everybody, I figured blogging that Om Malik needs an ego check or let's see your puny exit dude, was probably a bit reactionary.  I can't say Om is pompous (Mark Evans loves em, for example) and it is certainly not within my area of expertise to comment on any of Om's body parts. So, I'm not saying any of that. 

Whew, the Scoble Resolution remains in place at least for another day.

More to the point, Bubbleshare is a great case study for many start ups, including you.  An exit is an exit and if it is a net positive, chalk one up and do it again.  You will be considered successful, not withstanding some editorial labeling (puny, sheesh...) and you will get the full credit of those that matter, fellow business people, customers, VCs, and the family and friends who supported you.  Sometimes, you don't need Venture Capital, don't need all the overhead, and don't need to be diluting yourself.  It is 100% possible to win one on your own.  

The objective of the game is to be successful as you define it for yourself and not let others define it for you.

Albert's scored twice, well done, Albert.

Comments

[Alec Saunders]

Nicely done, Rick. Small exit, but when you don't have a lot of capital invested it doesn't necessarily matter. I'm sure he's earned the right to go do it again in the future.

[Matt]

A company that's worth buying for more than its founders and investors spent to build it counts as a win. Any other impression is just the perverse sensibilities of bubble-trained dreamers.

[Michael O'Connor Clarke]

Extremely well said, Rick. Amen to all that.

No venture investment, and a $2.25 million deal with a company where there's a genuinely strong strategic fit. That's far from puny. Further, with a string of successful deals to his name, Albert now looks even more golden from where I'm sitting (ok, so I'm exceptionally biased, but the boy done good).

[Greg Cannon]

Hmmm...Om seems to change his tune when a "puny" $10 million deal involves a friend.
http://gigaom.com/2007/01/08/yahoo-buys-mybloglog-for-real/

"Whatever the amount might be, it is clear that five-employee company (including Rafer) have done well, primarily because the company was completely boot strapped and raised zero dollars in angel or venture capital investment."

[MRM]

Love the "lost wages" reference. You hanging out at the Hard Rock again?

MRM

[Michael Garrity]

My guess would be that the definition of "net positive" would be important for the lesson to be truly significant. Start ups are most often boot-strapped and maybe even funded by the likes of Uncle Ned (who really believes in you guys) which means that a possible formula for "net positive" would look something like: Total Capex + Labour costs over time (goosed up with the opportunity costs of suffering through lower salaries for years) + Uncle Ned's investment (and it's opportunity cost) + any other hard costs in the business over time - revenue. If this number is smaller than the purchase price then by definition you have created something of value, should be proud and the rest of us have something to learn. If not, it's still an exit and there's probably still something there both to be proud of and to learn from, it's just a different definition of success. Maybe that's what Om Malik was getting at.

[Albert Lai]

Thanks for kind comments Rick.

I just realized my last posting, didn't post (browser/saving issues) from yesterday.

I've crossed paths with Om multiple times thoughout the years, and I've known him to be a good guy. I'm sure the post was meant in the most positive way possible. While I agree that the deal is not a YouTube sized transaction, and we are lucky to get the buzz that we got given the relatively small size of the deal, what I will say is that I'm happy to had the opportunity to have 2 exits here in Toronto. BubbleShare is a located in a city which to me has been a place which has been a little more difficult build b2c companies in than say, the valley, so I hope we'll have some positive impact on the scene here locally.

Its also good to see that Mike at TechCrunch was able to highlight the positive as well as he did, and touch on the fact that this was the second time around for me and I have been lucky to have participated in the creation of two positive exits in the past several years. Always good to have multiple perspectives.

Furthermore, what I will say and what I'm most proud of, is that everyone here at BubbleShare are very happy about announcement. This is a result of us having archived a "net positive" result for ALL of our partners, and have given everyone involved a return on their efforts and investment.