After 20 years at the heart of the web, Yahoo is all but done, with a sale expected soon and talent fleeing as fast as it can. CEO Marissa Mayer’s plan to turn things around involve buying 50 startups. What happened to them?
17. October 2013: Bread
The advertising/link shortening company shut down its services in November 2013, and according to a statement by Yahoo at the time, six of its team members joined the company’s ad tech team.
18. December 2013: Ptch
The DreamWorks Animation mobile video startup shut down in January 2014. Business Insider reported that Ptch was supposed to merge with Qwiki, another Yahoo purchase, but those talks fell apart, and Mayer bought them separately. Early employees who had equity reportedly didn’t get much in the deal, either.
19. December 2013: EvntLive
The online concert streaming company shut down and said it would be joining Yahoo’s video team. But based on their LinkedIn profiles, it appears that none of the company’s co-founders actually went to work for Yahoo.
Has anyone considered the possibility that at Yahoo’s heart is an evil, ancient, sentient sword? Which Mayer must use to to kill other companies and consume their souls in order to survive? Just saying, it’s a thing.