Xmarks: Not So Dead Anymore

News of Xmark's death has been greatly exaggerated. The bookmark syncing startup that had been announced as dead just a week ago has gotten a new lease on life, thanks to 30,375 loyal users. Last week, the freely available cross-browser bookmark syncing startup Xmarks announced that it had failed to find a sustainable business model. It was collecting tons of data about how popular sites were, and what its 2 million users were interested in, but it just couldn't make that info work as a search tool, or as a tool for advertisers. With capital running low, and no buyers in site, co-founder and CTO Todd Agulnick decided to close up shop. But he left the light on just in case there was enough interest to turn Xmarks into a paid service. The company set up a page on PledgeBank, a UK non-profit startup that lets people post petition-based pledges. Example: I will give $1,000 to this charity if 25 other people also give $1,000. The pledge posted by the Xmarks founders was a little different: "I will commit to $10 - $20 per year for Xmarks Sync but only if 100,000 other people will do the same." So far 30,375 people have signed the pledge. And while it's only a pledge, not money in the bank (and it's still far short of the goal of 100,000), it was enough activity to attract the eyes of some buyers. Company CEO James Joaquin posted on the company blog that Xmarks had received multiple buyout offers as a result of the "death" announcement and the pledge. "This is not a signed, sealed done deal yet. But with multiple offers on the table we're pretty confident that Xmarks will continue on with no service interruption," wrote Joaquin. He added that Xmarks will send out an email update to users with more details once a deal has been signed. Joaquin chalked it all up to the power of the Xmarks community, and scoffed at the idea that the Xmarks team had engineered the whole thing as a publicity stunt. Either way, the team now has an exit strategy, and the users keep their service.

Social Pro Daily

Xmarks: Not So Dead Anymore

Kenneth Musante

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Kenneth Musante