We have a new product that takes a bland b2b product (commercial premium cake mix) and made it better by giving it a brand and marketing spin that caters to new audiences in the D2C space. Or at least we think so... 😂
They used to use an HTML over the wire approach, where the views were rendered server-side and then the relevant bits of HTML were swapped out by JS when you did things like filtering the issues on a repo.
They are slowly rewriting all of that stuff in react. HTML -> JSON
The behavior you're describing from "before" (updating part of the dom based on data received async) is fundamentally the same behavior that's used nowadays in React the only difference is the absence of a server-side rendering of the initial view...but even that's not uncommon in React w/ SSR.
If I'm understanding you correctly, the "HTML -> JSON" isn't really any more true now than it was back when everything was rendered initially server side and then you only manipulate the view in small ways via async; React just does it on a much larger scale, facilitating better (imo) UX.
For sure. I have heard a lot of good about how much Microsoft improved the previous infrastructure issues of GitHub. But the reason they bought it was to improve Microsoft's own software development processes, because there was much to learn from the small company. Learning went both ways.
Yes! Maps is one of the few apps that I gladly give me data to, because they (seem to genuinely try to) make it beneficial for me rather than it feeling like they're _just_ using my data for ad targeting.
Justin often discusses topics related to startups and bootstrapping with a long track record of positive contributions to the indie dev/founder community. It's why awesome customer-focused small businesses like Transistor exist. I'm not sure where this negativity is coming from, but it's misplaced!
Does Good Mythical morning acquiring Smosh from a bankrupt production firm that was sucking all soul out of it, and then selling it back to the original owners once Ian and Anthony reconciled and were able to do so?
Ian talks at length at how he felt like he was rescued by them.
biggest ones for me are Youtube and Twitch, more so because they could get the (nearly) unlimited backing to have the resources & time to become what they are today
Every publicly traded / VC-backed company has no choice but to enshitify eventually. Even if an acquisition is handled well in the short term, it accelerates the timeline of enshitification because the acquirer is further down that path than the company getting acquired.
At WP Engine, we acquired Genesis, doubled the engineering team, created a community steering committee so that the strategy was both open and joint witih others, and shipped so much faster people said it was too fast for them.
Also at WP Engine we acquired ACF, increased the engineering team, and shipped more in the two years since acquisition than in multiple years before that. We also embraced Gutenberg, now being one of the most popular ways to create blocks.
I still agree with your root point, which is the "norm" is probably that it gets worse, or at least abandoned. I'm not contradicting that. But it 𝘤𝘢𝘯 work, and because it can, it's worth studying 𝘸𝘩𝘺, so that acquisitions can be more like that.
Feels like it needs a whole write-up. Some things:
1. Culture-fit (enough)
2. Decision to invest in growth before acquisition happens
3. Keep arms-length with coordination, not "merge" into main product
4. Team wants to stay and has energy
Comments
or a food truck "park" thing
They are slowly rewriting all of that stuff in react. HTML -> JSON
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/youtube-responds-to-delayed-loading-in-rival-browser-complaints
When they kicked out Ford, the quality of their vehicles immediately went up. They're now one of the most reliable brands along with Toyota and Honda.
Also: how do you know we're not thinking about *acquiring* a product? 😉
Why be so cynical?
I'm genuinely curious about these questions (or ask fun questions simply because it's fun).
Ian talks at length at how he felt like he was rescued by them.
Tiny buying Aeropress.
(mostly b/c I'm just stubborn and want to see how long I can make it last; I'm sure the new ones are great)
It seems to have positive feedback and is growing?
Hopefully saleforce's product ethos doesn't seep into Slack
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Great, now we know who to blame 😁
Amazon acquired https://justin.tv / Twitter, and made it better.
Google acquired doubleclick ads and made it better, for decades.
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Feels like it needs a whole write-up. Some things:
1. Culture-fit (enough)
2. Decision to invest in growth before acquisition happens
3. Keep arms-length with coordination, not "merge" into main product
4. Team wants to stay and has energy
Although I'm sure there's loads of examples where the founders get stuck just waiting for their vesting period then leave.
https://bsky.app/profile/asmartbear.com/post/3ld4zvuykpa2a