Color, a video sharing start has seen its best day according to rect reports. The company was launch to much hype but things have gone down hill since. It was recently report that the company was about to shut up shop after the business went bust. The start up was created to provide mobile device consumers with an easy way to photo-sharing and share video.
According to the company’s website, Color helps you to:
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Share your everyday.
With Color, you can share everyday moments LIVE, as they happen. From Sunday breakfast with the family, to chilling at the beach, nothing beats the LIVE experience.
Special moments LIVE.
Be there, even when you can’t be. From baby’s first steps, to that precious “I do”, with Color you’ll never have to miss out on those snapshots in time ever again.
Promote your brand.
Deliver your LIVE video Broadcast directly to the phones of all your Facebook Fans. Engage in a highly relevant, new way. From Happy Hour specials to behind-the-scenes access, reach your fanbase when it means the most.
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However, a recent report from TechCrunch revealed that the company was in financial troubles with the CEO Bill Nguyen spending lots of time away from the company.
Here is what the TechCrunch article had to say on the matter:
Today, we contacted Color with an alert that this story would be published, we were finally able to reach Bill Nguyen by phone to discuss what our sources told us. Nguyen, who called while on his way to board a plane to Maui, confirmed that he has been absent from day-to-day operations at Color for months — but initially, he stressed that it was a non-issue.
“I do this historically. I take off for a little while and I vacation. It’s nothing new or exciting,” he said. “The roles of founders and CEOs is to get everyone engaged and give opportunities to people. And when things haven’t worked out as expected, the best way for me to recharge is to go on sabbatical.”
Nguyen said that he did the same thing at Lala, the online music startup he founded back in 2006. Weeks after Nguyen handed over the CEO role to Geoff Ralston to go on sabbatical, Lala sold to Apple for a reported $80 million.
But when we pointed out that he formally stepped down from the CEO role at Lala before ceasing day-to-day duties there, he acknowledged that this was the case. He also admitted that his retention of the CEO title at Color while being MIA could be seen as troubling to both the board and to rank-and-file employees — and could be a factor in recent departures at the company.
“I feel bad about that. It’s tough, any time you start a company with crazy high expectations and you don’t deliver. I totally understand why some people would depart from the company in these circumstances,” he said.
This news quickly followed by reports that the company was shutting up shop and selling off to Apple. A report from The Next Web stated that, “Color Labs, the photo-and-video-sharing social network that received much criticism over its pre-launch $41 million funding round, is about to be acquired by Apple. We’ve heard through trusted sources that the startup was nabbed for a price that is in the ‘high double digits’, as in millions, and that the deal is ‘done’, though papers have yet to be signed.”
[quote]What’s really happening is that Color’s engineering team — about 20 people, comprising almost the entire company — is being “acqhired” by Apple[/quote]
Fast forward today and AllThingsD is reporting something different. According to their understanding, Apple is only acquiring Color’s engineering talents and not the company or its intellectual property.
Here is what the report had to say about the matter:
What’s really happening is that Color’s engineering team — about 20 people, comprising almost the entire company — is being “acqhired” by Apple at what’s being called a “nominal” price of something like $2 million to $5 million, according to multiple sources familiar with both sides of the situation. To repeat, there are no “double-digit” millions involved, according to many people familiar with the deal.
Apple is not buying Color’s technology, intellectual property, domain names or liabilities. Those are being left with the company, which still has considerable cash in the bank — something like $25 million — and is going to be wound down.
