Does anybody know where the founders come from? if they were known from before?
Asking because it sounds like Google was after the team more than anything… 5 months doesn't leave much time for them to prove what they're capable of, so I'm curious.
This was not just a team play. I saw Talkbin signs in Coupa Cafe in Palo Alto - immediately understood the concept and potential. I sent a text to the owner and received a response within 10 minutes. Talkbin if I understood it correctly is enabling us all to "talk with" the store managers or workers via text and mobile app. It's actually a very powerful communication vehicle and right up Google's ally.
Mobile's going to be an increasingly interesting strategy with local businesses. When these owners and workers are running their business, they're not running into the back room to check computers or laptops or websites - but they do have their phones and can often step aside to respond to a quick SMS. I imagine Talkbin has caught on to this - lots of other startups don't seem to - and this really feels like a product where everyone benefits in the end.
There will be a lot more opportunities. At least your gut told you they were a winner. Now ask your gut to go pick the next one (and tell me what it is.)
If you read between the lines, Google's announcement focuses on the team and says "the team", not the product will be a great addition to Google. Similarly, the TalkBin announcement uses words like "While we are proud of what we accomplished ... Google will help us make our bigger goals a reality".
Both sides know the product is dead. I guess Google is acquring the talent and the concepts.
Actually from what I've heard that's not the case.
As I often find myself saying on HN, if you're going to be nasty, you'd better be right. Though honestly, why be nasty at all? These guys are celebrating. Why post comments belittling their achievement?
While I'm sure everyone here is happy for them (and you, their backers), I think it's also natural to be inquisitive as to the nature of the acquisition. alain94040's post might have benefited from a more curious and less categorical tone, but I don't think it was fundamentally 'nasty' either, as it's common knowledge that many products do not really continue to exist once in Google.
Of the YC companies that have gone to Google, what were their products, and those products' fates inside Google? (Not a rhetorical question, the subject got me interested; maybe I'm wrong in my 'common knowledge'). Edit: something else interesting to look at, utilizing your own data, might be the acquisition price vs the product's fate.
In any event, it's good news, and the team deserve congratulations.
I was trying to show how double-speak works. I stand by my analysis of both parties' announcements. Read them again for yourself and tell me they are not phrased carefully:
“We’re thrilled to welcome the TalkBin _team_ to Google. They’ve built a cool way for customers to engage with local businesses, and we think _they_’ll be a great fit for our mobile and local _teams_.”
When we started building TalkBin in 2010, we set out to find a better way for consumers to connect with their local businesses in a more personal way. While we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, we believe Google’s awesome mobile and local _teams_ combined with their consumer reach will help us make our bigger goals a reality.
To be clear, when I said the product was dead, I meant the code base. Its ideas and concepts will now be incorporated into the larger Google team.
I'd rather be acquired for my personality than for my product, actually.
That's what you do too, right? You always say that you'll fund the team, not the product.
Google bought 3 engineers, not a business that has relationships with vendors, that Skweal is acquiring. Not sure if you can solve social problems with more code.
I see them less as an equivalent to yelp and more as a way of providing instant feedback to business owners. It seems more a feedback system than a review site. I haven't had the chance to try it out though so this is based purely on what I've read about them.
There's a back-end to Yelp, Groupon and all of the "pre-sale aid" models out there. Foursquare and their cohorts move it forward in time a bit to reflect "I'm here," or sellING.
For a pedestrian example, think of the times you've called your cellphone or power company and the recording on the phone tells you to have the helper send you to a satisfaction survey. Now transpose that to proximity services: you leave a restaurant and your phone pops up, "Thanks for visiting! Care to tell us how we did?" ...which is then popped-up to the manager. Googlers are smarter than me, so I'm sure they have more nuanced and lubricative plans, but you get the idea.
Yelp deals with what you're planning or where you've been, bracketing your experience, and the coupon services act as nudges against your retail future. 'Long as you keep checking your phone, that is. The pot of gold I feel is to reflect where the user will actually go (determination). This is where recommendation engines become useful: to (try to) tell the user where they're going to go. "Rhizome, there's a Taco Bell on the next block. I KNOW YOU LOVE TACO BELL"
The user's time and attention is getting pinched at all times for these services to pull information about where the user is in the retail thought process, and maybe Yelp will have their reactionary review model knocked from under them when recording the reaction takes much less effort on the user's part. Then again, maybe this is all cynical and evil on my part. I don't know. ;)
Yeah... your comment clarified this for me. "Reviews" are intended for other (potential) customers. "Feedback" is intended for the business itself. Prior to TalkBin, customers left reviews on Yelp/Foursquare/etc and hoped the business itself looked at it once in awhile. TalkBin makes the feedback process more direct.
Congrats Qasar and Guys! I think all things aside, talkbin worked because of two simple reasons that are not usually evident : People like to give feedback. Businesses want feedback. I remember how they started with the idea to give coupons to entice folks and how they realized people simply want to give feedback. Great Execution guys!
Anyone know how they were planning on getting revenue? I know that can sometimes be a snarky question, but this seems like a good idea and I'm genuinely curious... especially because it looks like they launched as a free service. Were they thinking this is something that a small business owner would eventually pay $5-20/month for?
Asking because it sounds like Google was after the team more than anything… 5 months doesn't leave much time for them to prove what they're capable of, so I'm curious.