Over the weekend, the AP ran a story about Tellme, a Silicon Valley company which makes the technology behind directory assistance and other voice-controlled services that was acquired by Microsoft about a year ago. Mike McCue, founder of Tellme, tells how ten months into his “marriage” with Microsoft, he doesn’t regret selling it. The article supposedly serves to tell Yahoo that an acquisition shouldn’t be all that bad, at least if Tellme’s experience is anything to go by.
According to McCue, although he was bought out by Microsoft for $800 million, Tellme was allowed to keep their culture intact, and he expects the same would be true if Microsoft acquired Yahoo.
In my opinion, however, Tellme’s experience is unlike what Yahoo would experience if they were to be bought out by Microsoft. Tellme had technology and services that Microsoft wanted. In the case of Yahoo, Microsoft wants to eliminate competition, and believe that by merging with Yahoo they’ll actually be able to take on the behemoth known as Google. That’s two entirely different situations. I think Yahoo has every right to be worried, and to want to protect their company and identity. What do you think?
