Kiko, an online web calendar has come up with a new exit strategy. If Yahoo or Google doesn’t come calling, try the eBay strategy.
Actually, I think it’s a pretty darn good way to exit a crowded space and would be surprised if some mega-company or funded startup doesn’t pony up something just for the technology and the 40K a month of web traffic. If I were Netvibes, I’d think about spending a little of that mad money (<– that link is tribute that supposedly will lead to some noblesse oblige one day) I just got on a ready-made new feature in my effort to battle My Yahoo for the hearts and minds of the portal crowd.
When I talked a few months ago about taking the corner market approach in the development of Web 2.0 applications, this is the sort of thing I was talking about. While trying to hit the grand slam and get bought by Google for millions is a bad gamble and a worse business plan, some smart guy or gal could make a fine living by developing useful, narrowly crafted applications and selling them for tens of thousands of dollars on eBay. Granted, they won’t be a TechCruch (<– no tribute there, because, well, I don’t want to) darling, but so what.
The Kiko team offers to fly to anywhere in the US and help integrate Kiko into the buyer’s existing site or services for an additional $1500 to cover travel expenses. Again, this sounds like a good deal to me.
One issue, that is noted in the auction description, is how Kiko’s current users will feel about Kiko transferring their data. Kiko has attempted to address this concern by providing account export and deletion options.
Sounds like a pretty good exit strategy to me.
Newsome.Org 