Shutterfly buying SmugMug? Say it ain’t so!
It ain’t so.
Some of our customers are worried that we might be selling, based on Bambi Francisco’s latest newsletter at MarketWatch.
Bambi is a great journalist, and I’m flattered that we’re on her radar, but I’m afraid we’re not for sale.
We love our business, we love our customers, and we love the people we work with. Not only that, but it pays the bills – we’re profitable, with no debt and no investors! Why mess with a good thing?
Besides, I’m still trying to wrap my head around why anyone would want to invest in Shutterfly in the first place. Alan Meckler, CEO of JupiterMedia, has a write-up that resonated with me. Let’s take a quick look at their business (I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t really paid that much attention to the whole thing, being buried in our own business, so fact-check my stuff before quoting me):
- Devoured a massive (I believe >$100MM over multiple rounds) investment.
- Has trouble turning a profit ($24M of their $28M last year was apparently a one-time tax benefit)
- Incredibly competitive marketplace, complete with a nasty price war ($0.12 4×6 prints) and deep-pocketed competitors (Kodak and HP)
- First quarter loss increased by nearly 2.5X this year compared to last year
- HP’s Snapfish seems to have the best product, marketing, and awareness in the online photo printing space. (In other words, they seem to be winning)
We’re small, fun, happy, and profitable. Best of all, our customers love us. Does it get any better than this?
