> Goes to show that even if there are a lot of competitors in a product space you can still do well simply by giving a shit.
The sad thing is that it's probably inevitable that someday an MBA will decide to burn that goodwill for some quick cash. Maybe not for a long time, but eventually it will happen. That's the society we've built and live in.
Actually we sold FastMail to Opera, and since it didn't really work out, bought it back again. Based on that experience, I'd be surprised if FastMail got (re-)acquired...
Fastmail is bootstrapped and profitable. They aren't beholden to outside investors trying to 10x their money. Fastmail also just doesn't have that sort of culture. (Source: I have friends there). They aren't looking to be a unicorn. They seem very happy to have a profitable business that they can nurture for decades.
Culturally, they're growing a garden, not launching a rocket ship.
Eventually the company will change hands. Knowing some of the people involved, I trust that when that happens, they'll find good stewards.
Everybody has their price though. They may not ever IPO or raise venture capital, but if Google came along and offered them $50b I doubt they'd say no.
The key thing is, with Fastmail building on open standards and promoting using your own domain, they have very little lock-in here. That future MBA is going to have a hard time keeping people from just moving on.
Exporting data over pop3 and Cal/Card/Web DAV is pretty easy, more than enough tools available. And without them supporting standards, they’d lose their customers.
I've come to embrace this as the business lifecycle. It's quite well-studied. Eventually, all businesses rest on their laurels; over-price, under-compete, and allow space for newer entrants. If we consider the positives here, this creates fantastic market and product dynamism, and (in theory) prevents companies becoming country-sized monopolies. I'm actually more concerned about companies which remain competitive and loved over generations. The kind of global power they could wield is scary.
The sad thing is that it's probably inevitable that someday an MBA will decide to burn that goodwill for some quick cash. Maybe not for a long time, but eventually it will happen. That's the society we've built and live in.