IAC sold 17 apps to Bending Spoons. $100M deal, all 330 employees fired

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

IAC has sold 17 consumer apps, including products like NOAA Weather Radar and RoboKiller, to Italian firm Bending Spoons in a $100M deal that reportedly resulted in all 330 staff being laid off. Commenters scrutinize Bending Spoons’ model of acquiring mature apps (such as Evernote and Meetup), cutting teams, moving work to cheaper regions, and then aggressively monetizing a captive user base through higher prices and data-driven ad tactics. The exchange raises broader concerns about data privacy, user lock‑in, and the absence of safeguards or notifications when popular apps change ownership.

Perceived Business Model of Bending Spoons

  • Many describe Bending Spoons as a “digital burial” / “vulture” buyer:
    • Acquires mature apps with loyal user bases.
    • Fires most or all existing staff, often in higher‑cost regions.
    • Either runs with a skeleton crew (often in cheaper markets) or minimal maintenance.
    • Maximizes short‑term revenue via higher prices, reduced free tiers, and more aggressive monetization and data collection.
  • Others argue this is simply “rightsizing” mature products that no longer need large teams; disagreement centers on intent (sustained service vs. pure extraction).

Impact on Apps and Users

  • Reported examples: Evernote, Filmic Pro, Meetup, several consumer apps (weather, productivity, robocall blocking, etc.).
  • Users expect:
    • Price hikes and feature cuts (Evernote cited repeatedly).
    • Worse support and slower updates, though some say Evernote hasn’t technically “fallen apart” yet.
    • More intrusive tracking/“adware”-like behavior, especially around data harvesting; details remain partly unclear.
  • Some long‑time users are canceling subscriptions (e.g., Productive, Robokiller, NOAA Weather Radar) and migrating to alternatives or planning to build their own tools.

Employment, Ethics, and Compensation

  • Strong disagreement about morality of joining such a company:
    • Critics see it as helping squeeze loyal users for profit, creating net negative value.
    • Others say most of these apps are not socially critical and devs understandably optimize for salary and stability.
  • Bending Spoons’ European base and lower regional salary levels are seen as a cost advantage; compensation numbers shared for Milan are viewed as high for that market.

Regulation, Data, and Ownership Transparency

  • Concern about data‑harvesting apps moving to Europe; counterpoint that EU law is still generally better for privacy than much of the US.
  • Some advocate for nationalist US laws restricting foreign companies’ access to American user data.
  • Multiple calls for:
    • Mandatory user notification when an app (or its owning entity) changes hands.
    • Similar transparency for browser extensions.
    • Better enforcement against misleading uses of government branding (e.g., “NOAA Weather Radar”), though the exact legal boundaries are debated and seen as poorly enforced.

Meetup, Evernote, and Alternatives

  • Acquisition of Meetup and Evernote is widely viewed as a bad sign for their futures.
  • Alternatives mentioned for:
    • Evernote: Obsidian, Logseq, org‑roam, Joplin, Apple Notes, OneNote.
    • Meetup: Facebook, WhatsApp/Signal, Luma, Partiful, River, RSVP‑focused tools, and several indie/open‑source projects.
  • Consensus: many tools can replace features, but few match Meetup’s discoverability of new local groups.

Wikipedia, PR, and Investors

  • The company’s Wikipedia page is described as previously promotional; some participants report editing it to be more neutral.
  • The investor list (including celebrities and tech figures) draws criticism; debate centers on whether investors and their portfolio managers share responsibility for the company’s practices.