Disclosure certainty 4/5 debate potential 2/5

Valade: Sunrise sold to Microsoft because the team couldn't monetize it

Pierre Valade · FF 08: Pierre Valade, CEO @ Sunrise on Being Acquired By Microsoft for $100m and Building Beautiful Products · Aug 14, 2015 · at 15:55

Pierre Valade was the co-founder and CEO of calendar app Sunrise, which was acquired by Microsoft for $100 million in 2015.

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“I think we didn't know exactly how we could take it from a great product to a great business. I think we've done a good job building a great product. We didn't really know how we could make money. Or turn it into, and turn this into a successful business. And those are really two different things. Like, people build amazing business, and I think, you know, sometimes they build crappy product. We've built a great product, but we didn't really know to build a great business out of it.”

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More from Pierre Valade

Disclosure
Valade: Some Sunrise investors wanted to reject Microsoft's $100M offer
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Pierre Valade Aug 14, 2015 ▶ 17:27 FF 08: Pierre Valade, CEO @ Sunrise on Being Acquired By Microsoft for $100m and Building Beautiful Products
Insight
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Pierre Valade Aug 14, 2015 ▶ 6:23 FF 08: Pierre Valade, CEO @ Sunrise on Being Acquired By Microsoft for $100m and Building Beautiful Products
Opinion
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Disclosure
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Pierre Valade Aug 14, 2015 ▶ 14:30 FF 08: Pierre Valade, CEO @ Sunrise on Being Acquired By Microsoft for $100m and Building Beautiful Products
Insight
Pierre Valade: Startup CEOs carry unique pressure as ultimate decision-makers
“When you're the CEO of the company, you're the guy who's making the last decision, right? Like, no one can just everyone can blame you for everything, and you can't blame anyone, right?”
Pierre Valade Aug 14, 2015 ▶ 18:25 FF 08: Pierre Valade, CEO @ Sunrise on Being Acquired By Microsoft for $100m and Building Beautiful Products
Insight
Valade: Mobile and smartwatch features must be evaluated in real-life contexts
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Pierre Valade Aug 14, 2015 ▶ 7:57 FF 08: Pierre Valade, CEO @ Sunrise on Being Acquired By Microsoft for $100m and Building Beautiful Products
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