WebFives/Vizrea - Winner

In reading Alec Saunder's blog, I saw that WebFives/Vizrea got sold to Microsoft and the CEO, Mike Toutonghi's, will head back to Microsoft.  There is an article by Matthew Miller here which also talks about it.

Some observations for you.

First. Alec used two, what I would call, 'hot phrases.'  In the title he said the site is 'shutting down' and in the first sentence he used the word "pity."

Alec's implication is that Mike failed. He didn't.  Like any big company with lots of talent and a nice amount of Not Invented Here mentality, Microsoft doesn't do charity work and pass out checks to crappy developers for crappy code/patents, etc.  If Mike's stuff sucked, he would have shut it down and simply gotten a job back with Microsoft (he's very good) or some other company.

Second. Mike's a winner.  He now an experienced start up guy with all the trials, ups and downs that comes with these gigs.  MSFT is getting an already senior guy who now gets to add some street creed to his reputation and that, frankly, is gold for a big companies trying to stay ahead, relevant, etc, etc.

Third. If Don Dodge or any of the Microsoft guys come along and want to buy your code/company, score!  Seriously, it is not a "pity" to get bought out by any company, pretty much regardless of the reasons.  I know, there are some exceptions, this is high level.

It's technical true that as part of the sale the site will shut down, however, Alec's blog post does not do Mike's hard work justice.

Comments

[Don Dodge]

I agree Rick. This was a win/win deal for WebFives/Vizrea and Microsoft.

Great entrepreneurial talent is hard to find...as any VC knows. Getting that talent inside Microsoft, or any big company,has leverage effects across the entire company. Think about the impact Ray Ozzie has had on Microsoft. Compare that to any other random Microsoft exec. That is why experienced entrepreneurs have value far beyond that of their startup.

Don Dodge