Italy's Bending Spoons, owner of AOL and Vimeo, files for Nasdaq IPO
Italy’s Bending Spoons, a fast-growing owner of aging but still-popular digital brands like AOL, Vimeo, Evernote, Komoot, Meetup, and Eventbrite, has filed for a Nasdaq IPO after rapidly boosting revenue and swinging to profitability. Commenters scrutinize its private-equity-like model of acquiring stagnating services, cutting staff, raising subscription prices, and aggressively monetizing remaining user bases, with mixed reports on whether product quality improves or deteriorates. The prospective valuation and heavy reliance on recurring subscriptions raise questions about sustainability, user “enshittification,” and whether financial gains come at the expense of long-term product health.
Bending Spoons’ Portfolio and Model
- Owns a large set of “once-great” or mature digital products: AOL, Vimeo, Eventbrite, Meetup, Evernote, Komoot, Filmic, Harvest, Issuu, WeTransfer, etc.
- Seen by many as a kind of PE-style “retirement home” for aging apps: buy, cut costs, squeeze subscriptions, accept decline in user goodwill.
- Several commenters compare them to 1980s junk-bond LBO firms or to other aggregators (Red Ventures, IAC).
Impact on Acquired Products
- Mixed experiences:
- Some users say Komoot and Vimeo improved in speed, UI, and shipped features after acquisition.
- Others report Komoot and Filmic quality dropping and features moving behind logins or subscriptions.
- Evernote is viewed by some as “saved” from an already bad state; others say it’s now too expensive and are leaving.
- Meetup users report more cluttered UI and aggressive upsells.
Pricing, Subscriptions, and “Enshittification”
- Common pattern described:
- Mass layoffs → cost cuts.
- Rapid subscription price hikes and locking more behind paywalls or logins.
- Several users abandoned Evernote over steep price increases, moving to tools like Obsidian.
IPO, Financials, and Valuation Debate
- Reported Q1 numbers: strong revenue growth, swing from loss to profit, heavy recurring subscriptions.
- Debate over a ~$20B valuation:
- Critics say profit is too low relative to interest rates and risks; call it bubble territory.
- Defenders say 8× sales with 140% YoY revenue growth (including acquisitions) is not extreme.
- Some see timing the IPO into a “bubbly” market as opportunistic rather than courageous.
Workplace Culture and Operating Approach
- Described as intense, high-pay-for-Europe, heavy crunch, then a big annual New Year’s resort party.
- Performance framed around “impact,” which some interpret as incentivizing visible changes and feature churn, even if quality suffers.
Market Dynamics, Lock‑in, and User Responses
- Comparisons to CA and Broadcom: once you’re locked in, acquirer can hike prices drastically and many IT orgs struggle to switch.
- Others argue vendor migration is feasible with planning and that exec politics, not tech, often prevent exits.
- Some users preemptively leave products when Bending Spoons buys them; others start building replacements (e.g., new cycling or event apps).