The new way for startups to sell out
Want to sell your startup? Forget the eBay auction - that's so August. Try posting a notice on your blog, as Ryan Carson did at Bare Naked App, and let the offers to roll in. Carson is looking to sell DropSend, a file-transfer service that one reviewer calls "the answer to your data transfer prayers."

Who knows if selling Dropsend will be the answer to Carson's financial prayers. Carson claims DropSend is profitable and requires only 10 minutes a day to maintain, which begs the question why he's selling in the first place. Carson explains on his blog that "DropSend could be even more successful if someone focused 100% of their attention on it....It’s like having a racing horse that has the potential to win the Grand National, and never taking it out to run." DropSend charges users up to $99 a month, so there must be some consumer demand for file-transfer services. And Carson promises details of DropSend's financials soon.

Without hard numbers, it's hard to evaluate Carson's sellout bid. But in principle, we like it a lot better than the notion of trying to manage two or three companies at once, as some startup founders are now trying to do. Selling businesses you're neglecting is the sensible response to attention-deficit-disorder entrpreneurialism. Once you're bored with a startup, flip it and forget it.
Posted by Owen Thomas 11:26 AM 0 Comments comment | Add a Comment

To send a letter to the editor about The Browser, click hereTop of page

Got a news tip? Send it to The Browser


Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.