>Acquired & Closed != Failed

If that's so, what does == Failed?

I can see how this move might make sense for Pownce's people, but the product itself certainly failed - how else can you define a situation where you're forced to shut down your service?

Failure is obviously very subjective, but you spin it very poorly.

the product itself certainly failed - how else can you define a situation where you're forced to shut down your service

They were not forced, they entered into an agreement because it was favorable to them.

If Pownce was doing well, they wouldn't have shut it down.

Once again, not doing well does not make it a failure.

google define:fail disagrees with you.

---------

be unsuccessful

disappoint

fall short in what is expected

Failure (or flop) in general refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective

Guys, this doesn't have to be a binary decision.

There are degrees of failure and success.

Goal: beat twitter. Outcome: fail.

You can change the goal post-outcome, but it doesn't change what really happened.

I disagree. Pownce the app did fail. I'm not seeing anyone online calling this an "acquisition". Even on the Pownce blog, Leah says "We will be closing the service and Mike and I, along with the Pownce technology, have joined Six Apart".

Yes, maybe they got a small chunk for the IP, and maybe they will start something else down the road ... but Pownce failed and they have to work for someone else now.

+1. This is not a failure. Granted, I dont know what their total investment was, and whether they got any $$ from Six Apart to cover that investment, but personally for those two this will probably end up more in the success columns.

Tried something awesome against entrenched competitors. Made progress, and accomplished a lot. It didnt work out, but they got some sort of payout and immediate jobs! For the founders this is a lukewarm win, but still a win, I would think.

For an entrepreneur, building something this visible is a success. It'll build their reputation.

But for the company, this is an absolute failure. The site is shutting down. The money invested in this business is not getting repaid. The vision wasn't close to realized.

If they were bought by some company other than SixApart, do you think that they would have shut them down as well?

If there was a buyer who was willing to keep this company alive, I believe Pownse would have sold to them.

You see this is what a lot of people get wrong. You think Pownce or X didn't grow because of Twitter or Y? This is a very wrong assumption assuming the world has 1600 million internet users.

this. was going to edit my comment to include this, but you beat me to it :)