Su(roj)it Niyogi

Appfog kinda sorta sucks.

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 04:29:59 -0600

With this post, I’m going to start a new blog post format that is basically a bullet-point list. Here we go.

Appfog kinda sorta sucks.

They’re expensive. That is, Appfog is expensive enough to expect 24x7 customer service.
If you’re a PaaS service and platforms are expected to be up 24x7, the PaaS should have 24x7 customer service. $20/month hosting companies do and so do normals datacenter like SoftLayer (which rocks by the way).
This fancy gems-based deployment bullshit is overkill. I’m sure Appfog has some seemingly scientific reason for why it must be this way versus me being able to scp/sftp content to an “origin” and then pushing a button to send to the instances but it better be good.
Their cloud has a ceiling. A system which scales to be a platform should really really scale. I don’t want to contact sales to go past their $720/month plan - there’s nothing cloud about that. I want to just buy the damn plan.

That’s it. That’s why Appfog kinda sorta sucks. There is no excuse when you have $8MM in funding and can’t hire somebody to watch support around the clock.

Why bandwidth limiting is important for cloud storage and offices

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 19:31:47 -0500

DropBox has bandwidth limiting. Google Drive (currently) doesn’t.

This makes a massive difference in company environments that depend on cloud storage for file sharing. Consider the following:

A UI/UX designer uploads a 10MB psd file to Dropbox. Her upload consumes much of the upstream bandwidth. 5 other team members have Dropbox as a folder which immediately starts fetching the new file. Network comes to a screeching halt as a result. Yes that’s enough to take down networks (or cause performance blips).

It’s surprising Google didn’t add this out of the gate and should be considered a pre-requisite for companies considering cloud storage solutions. We recently switched from Google Drive from Dropbox and while I don’t want to deal with having to switch back - it has crossed my mind.

Considering Google Drive is an option for Google Apps for Businesses - it ought to be a feature that’s not only available but controllable at the admin level (that is, bandwidth rates should be “throttlable” by Google Apps admin. It’s wishful thinking that this could/would exist but important because you wouldn’t want to have to mandate each staff member to individually configure this on their machines.

If anybody has other creative ways of throttling Google Drive at the network level, I’d love to hear it. Possible with a dd-wrt setting?

How about you donate first? #lame http://t.co/3HBcWUrs

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 06:35:07 -0600

How about you donate first? #lame http://t.co/3HBcWUrs

Where is Steve Jobs to refute? Android crushes iPhone, makes Google $5 billion :...

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:55:54 -0600

Where is Steve Jobs to refute? Android crushes iPhone, makes Google $5 billion : http://t.co/XBBYavPw via @CBSNews

♫ Listening to “Suddenly (Ferry Corsten Remix)” by BT on @Rdio: http://t.co/0QOLp4Li

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 05:49:57 -0600

♫ Listening to “Suddenly (Ferry Corsten Remix)” by BT on @Rdio: http://t.co/0QOLp4Li

unfollowing some people who have proven themselves to be quite douchey. feels good.

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 09:13:02 -0600

unfollowing some people who have proven themselves to be quite douchey. feels good.

Why Google TV will win http://t.co/wsVg6Hwf

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:46:25 -0600

Why Google TV will win http://t.co/wsVg6Hwf

Miso crowdsources second-screen content with SideShows http://t.co/c5If14Jm

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:58:19 -0600

Miso crowdsources second-screen content with SideShows http://t.co/c5If14Jm

RT @steepdecline: Hey USPS, offer junk-mail free service for $5/month per address and make billions....

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 08:20:17 -0600

RT @steepdecline: Hey USPS, offer junk-mail free service for $5/month per address and make billions. You’re welcome.

the $5 pricepoint @louisck chose is just plain smart

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:15:31 -0600

the $5 pricepoint @louisck chose is just plain smart

in other words. startup #fail. On @Quora: How much did Facebook pay for Gowalla? Answer:...

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:22:39 -0600

in other words. startup #fail. On @Quora: How much did Facebook pay for Gowalla? Answer: http://t.co/lYRZ6BD9

RT @AnandWrites: Anyone else notice that in-flight service on US carriers has plunged below...

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 08:22:45 -0600

RT @AnandWrites: Anyone else notice that in-flight service on US carriers has plunged below not-greatness to reach active rudeness as th …

RT @SAI: Cuban: If you’ve got $25K, don’t invest in stocks. Pay off your debt. Keep it...

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:47:14 -0600

RT @SAI: Cuban: If you’ve got $25K, don’t invest in stocks. Pay off your debt. Keep it in cash. Get discounts buying things in cash. #I …

I eye this next. Sonos Update Adds Social, New Android Tablet Version http://t.co/2SuN1UGI via...

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:23:15 -0600

I eye this next. Sonos Update Adds Social, New Android Tablet Version http://t.co/2SuN1UGI via @techcrunch

Love it. This is just plain #awesomeness. http://t.co/WrRM2Azb

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:57:20 -0600

Love it. This is just plain #awesomeness. http://t.co/WrRM2Azb

RT @NYTimesDealBook: Zynga’s Tough Culture Risks a Talent Drain http://t.co/c6I2fYET

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 10:06:45 -0600

RT @NYTimesDealBook: Zynga’s Tough Culture Risks a Talent Drain http://t.co/c6I2fYET

muppets movie is good; should serve as litmus test as to whether you have a true sense of humor or...

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 07:38:16 -0600

muppets movie is good; should serve as litmus test as to whether you have a true sense of humor or not

gunslingin’ code around

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:08:30 -0600

gunslingin’ code around

Valuations, Terms, and Vanity Metrics - Hunch is selling to eBay for $80M after raising $20M. I’ve...

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:20:57 -0600

Valuations, Terms, and Vanity Metrics - Hunch is selling to eBay for $80M after raising $20M. I’ve been… http://t.co/nBN1tR4w

Valuations, Terms, and Vanity Metrics

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:30:18 -0600

Hunch is selling to eBay for $80M after raising $20M.

I’ve been seeing congratulatory tweets stream by and what I consider to be weak journalism by those reporting the acquisition. Who won and who lost in this deal?

One general problem with financing events and the press releases that surround them is that the key terms are kept under wraps. These are - at the end of the day - nothing more than the vanity metrics startups are told to avoid when evaluating their own performance and progress. Yet, the vanity metrics are what we hear about regularly (company X raised $20MM, company Y has an audience reach of 250MM) - so it’s not surprising that companies consider these success figures and strive accordingly.

So, with this in mind, who won and who lost in the Hunch acquisition deal?

(1) The investors lost according to original expectations (most want 10x returns) but won in the sense that they at least got their money back (and then some).

(2) Founders won (they leveraged VC money to command a high pre/post money valuation) and probably ended up selling at that valuation netting them > $1MM each. If that’s not leverage, I don’t know what is.

(3) eBay I’m not so sure about but props to them for making the acquisition and perhaps using Hunch technology. Recommendation engines are important these days to navigate the Internet jungle and growth from sites like StumbleUpon is a good indicator that people want recommendations more and more.

Of course all of this is purely speculative - it’s conceivable that liquidation preferences of the financing round were 2x in which case in which case investors walked out with more than they put in but I have to assume Dixon’s clout won him much favorable terms as well as a high valuation.

Nobody knows anything.