Tracking202 has been reaquired and given back to Wes
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As I said before, their business plan was viable (not getting into the specifics). The market changes and that's totally out of anyone's control.
Prosper/Tracking 202 wasn't the financial arm of the company, but it's the one that you and I relied on daily and deserves our generosity ... especially when we know they've sold before and has the potential to be sold again.
You (plural) not being thoughtful and giving without 202 asking for a handout does not make my statement silly.
The moral of this story: Don't expect goodwill when you do something to put a community on the map.
I think Wes and the entire Team202 deserves a lot of credit for trying to create something great and putting themselves out there.
Some bets in business are inherently risky, as they rely on unproven assumptions and business models. Many technology-driven bets are set up as huge-or-nothing payoffs, which as I understand Wes has been pursuing all along. Not every bold bet turns out to be the next Facebook or Google. While we can point to many things they could or should have done differently, they definitely made a great contribution to this industry that we should all be thankful them for.
We'll see what they are going to do with their recovered assets, but I truly wish them to make the best out of this very tricky situation.
Some bets in business are inherently risky, as they rely on unproven assumptions and business models. Many technology-driven bets are set up as huge-or-nothing payoffs, which as I understand Wes has been pursuing all along. Not every bold bet turns out to be the next Facebook or Google. While we can point to many things they could or should have done differently, they definitely made a great contribution to this industry that we should all be thankful them for.
We'll see what they are going to do with their recovered assets, but I truly wish them to make the best out of this very tricky situation.
I think a lot of people donated, I did and so did most of my affiliate friends. They made some coin off of this I'm sure. I'm also willing to bet that they purchased it back for much less than it was sold for 
. What they should do is find a way to digitally protect a strongly revamped version of p202 and sell it similar to any major software suite. Most of us would pay in a heart beat.
. What they should do is find a way to digitally protect a strongly revamped version of p202 and sell it similar to any major software suite. Most of us would pay in a heart beat.
Do any of you know how much money Wes and Steven made from the acquisition of 202 by Bloosky?
a) If so, you've probably not commented on this thread.
b) If not, you have no idea how effective their business plan was, or was not.
Do any of you know the terms of the re-acquisition of T202 by Wes and Steven?
a) If so, you've probably not commented on this thread.
b) If not, you have no idea whether this was a good business move or not.
For all we know, Wes and co got $20 million for the whole business (not just the tracking platform), and Bloosky may have sold the tracking back to them for a bag of beans since it was not making money for them, and probably was a pain in the ass for them to deal with since they didn't have the technical expertise to manage it. A situation like that would be like the Herschel Walker trade of the affiliate industry so don't jump to conclusions. If I have to pick the smartest of the two groups between 202 and Bloosky, I'm going with 202 hands down so that should tell you something.
a) If so, you've probably not commented on this thread.
b) If not, you have no idea how effective their business plan was, or was not.
Do any of you know the terms of the re-acquisition of T202 by Wes and Steven?
a) If so, you've probably not commented on this thread.
b) If not, you have no idea whether this was a good business move or not.
For all we know, Wes and co got $20 million for the whole business (not just the tracking platform), and Bloosky may have sold the tracking back to them for a bag of beans since it was not making money for them, and probably was a pain in the ass for them to deal with since they didn't have the technical expertise to manage it. A situation like that would be like the Herschel Walker trade of the affiliate industry so don't jump to conclusions. If I have to pick the smartest of the two groups between 202 and Bloosky, I'm going with 202 hands down so that should tell you something.
My completely uninformed take on the situation is this:
1 - Wes and Steven built an awesome tracking tool and gave it away for free to build a brand.
2 - Once T202 became the defacto standard in the industry they decided to monetize it.
3 - First attempt to monetize was through 202 Pro which was never very well received since the free version did most of what affiliates needed for free.
4 - Then they decided to build a network. Their idea for what would make the network "different" was a great idea in my opinion - but as mentioned above, the timing wasn't right because the rebill craze was at it's height and that wasn't the approach they wanted to take (picture CJ type/volume of offers, with C2M level of support).
5 - Wes decides to cash out which is why they moved to Cali to begin with.
6 - Bloosky is retarded. They see themselves picking up a great brand, a network and most importantly all that data in their back pockets from the tracking platform, so they overpay.
7 - Wes and Steve roll around naked in $1,000 bills for weeks on end.
8 - Bloosky realizes there isn't a lot of valuable data to be had, because most people self hosted T202 and refused to upgrade. They also realize they have no desire to deal with T202 anymore.
9 - Wes and Steven decide the network was worthless anyway, so they offer a happy meal, an amputee panda and reindeer feces to Bloosky to take T202 off their hands.
10 - Bloosky is retarded. They sell back the only part of the company that actually had value.
11 - Wes and Steven stop rolling around in $1,000 bills cuz that shit gets old. They decide to...
12 - ???
13 - Profit.
1 - Wes and Steven built an awesome tracking tool and gave it away for free to build a brand.
2 - Once T202 became the defacto standard in the industry they decided to monetize it.
3 - First attempt to monetize was through 202 Pro which was never very well received since the free version did most of what affiliates needed for free.
4 - Then they decided to build a network. Their idea for what would make the network "different" was a great idea in my opinion - but as mentioned above, the timing wasn't right because the rebill craze was at it's height and that wasn't the approach they wanted to take (picture CJ type/volume of offers, with C2M level of support).
5 - Wes decides to cash out which is why they moved to Cali to begin with.
6 - Bloosky is retarded. They see themselves picking up a great brand, a network and most importantly all that data in their back pockets from the tracking platform, so they overpay.
7 - Wes and Steve roll around naked in $1,000 bills for weeks on end.
8 - Bloosky realizes there isn't a lot of valuable data to be had, because most people self hosted T202 and refused to upgrade. They also realize they have no desire to deal with T202 anymore.
9 - Wes and Steven decide the network was worthless anyway, so they offer a happy meal, an amputee panda and reindeer feces to Bloosky to take T202 off their hands.
10 - Bloosky is retarded. They sell back the only part of the company that actually had value.
11 - Wes and Steven stop rolling around in $1,000 bills cuz that shit gets old. They decide to...
12 - ???
13 - Profit.
+1 thats quite a post. Definitely puts everything into perspective. I think at the end of the day we all need to remember the simple fact that t202 is the shit and that it is free /thread
Wes and Steve are two of the sharpest and nicest guys I have ever met in this industry. They created something with Tracking202 that has become the de facto standard in this industry for tracking. Sure, some of you ballers have your own tracking systems built out, but the majority do not. The open source version of 202 allowed anyone to build in the changes they wanted to have on an already-tested framework, and millions upon millions of dollars of traffic have been run through the 202 platform.
Was it a mistake to sell out to Bloosky? Probably. But in business you take gambles sometimes, and sometimes they don't pay off. I for one am super glad that Wes and Steve have the platform back, and I would be extremely surprised if they go off and sell it again.
The value of what they created in 202 was not just the tracking platform, but also the culture that they built up around it. If you were a 202 user, you had access to support through their Meetup202 groups, often to Wes and Steve directly through their forums or even AIM, and a network of thousands of other affiliates that were using the same platform and could help you through it.
They obviously were on to something because since they sold 202 to Bloosky there have been a bunch of new tracking platforms popping up everywhere (Lambda Tracker, Bevo Media, w3roi, etc). Affiliates did feel slightly betrayed by the sale and didn't feel comfortable with Bloosky, but they still wanted that 202 feeling.
Now that Wes and Steve are back, the ball is 100% in their court. I personally have no doubt that they are going to bust their asses to win back the goodwill of the affiliate community and most likely will work on a Tracking202 upgrade that will blow everything else away. 1.5.1 was just a bandaid upgrade with a few tweaks (and a heavily-rumored Bloosky spy script). Whatever version is coming next will be the true successor to 1.3.2 and I can't wait to see what it is.
Anyone that says that 202 will never be what it was before is correct: it can't be the same, it will either be better or worse than before. I'm putting my money on better.
Was it a mistake to sell out to Bloosky? Probably. But in business you take gambles sometimes, and sometimes they don't pay off. I for one am super glad that Wes and Steve have the platform back, and I would be extremely surprised if they go off and sell it again.
The value of what they created in 202 was not just the tracking platform, but also the culture that they built up around it. If you were a 202 user, you had access to support through their Meetup202 groups, often to Wes and Steve directly through their forums or even AIM, and a network of thousands of other affiliates that were using the same platform and could help you through it.
They obviously were on to something because since they sold 202 to Bloosky there have been a bunch of new tracking platforms popping up everywhere (Lambda Tracker, Bevo Media, w3roi, etc). Affiliates did feel slightly betrayed by the sale and didn't feel comfortable with Bloosky, but they still wanted that 202 feeling.
Now that Wes and Steve are back, the ball is 100% in their court. I personally have no doubt that they are going to bust their asses to win back the goodwill of the affiliate community and most likely will work on a Tracking202 upgrade that will blow everything else away. 1.5.1 was just a bandaid upgrade with a few tweaks (and a heavily-rumored Bloosky spy script). Whatever version is coming next will be the true successor to 1.3.2 and I can't wait to see what it is.
Anyone that says that 202 will never be what it was before is correct: it can't be the same, it will either be better or worse than before. I'm putting my money on better.
Before P202, Wes was a mere mortal.
After P202, Wes is known throughout the whole industry.
Even if P202 sold for peanuts (doubtful but I dont know the #'s), you cant put a price on the connects/personal friends Wes must have these days.
If you ask me, he did pretty damn well for himself. And now hes got P202 back? Congrats to him fo sho'!!!
After P202, Wes is known throughout the whole industry.
Even if P202 sold for peanuts (doubtful but I dont know the #'s), you cant put a price on the connects/personal friends Wes must have these days.
If you ask me, he did pretty damn well for himself. And now hes got P202 back? Congrats to him fo sho'!!!
The reputation and halo effect of P202 boils over to his paid products, like Stats202.
Wes is thinking long term and I’m certain it will pay soon enough.
Wes is thinking long term and I’m certain it will pay soon enough.
I can think of several paid projects that can be attached to T202.
Hell, it should be kicking Clickable's ass.
There's lots of room for more paid stuff.
Hell, it should be kicking Clickable's ass.
There's lots of room for more paid stuff.
Wes is hands down one of the nicest people I've ever met in this industry.
I wish him only the best!
I wish him only the best!
For some reason you expect the general population here to understand business.
With good management it can easily recover from what happened. I think that their software needs some core fixing though but other than that props to Wes. He's always been a great guy to me.