Back in 2005, Google acquired Dodgeball, a mobile social networking service that allows users to send messages to the service containing their whereabouts, which are then relayed to selected friends to let them know where they are located.
Since the acquisition, some have noted that it appeared that Google had done little to enhance or build upon the mobile service, which is currently offered in only 22 U.S. cities. The co-founders of Dodgeball seemed to have noticed this too, which led to their departure from Fortune’s #1 "Best Company to Work For" in 2007.
Dennis Crowley and Alex Rainert made a post on Flickr that included a photo of the two co-founders giving thumbs down underneath a Dodgeball sign.
Beneath the photo, Crowley explained the reasoning behind the decision.
"The whole experience was incredibly frustrating for us - especially as we couldn't convince them that dodgeball was worth engineering resources, leaving us to watch as other startups got to innovate in the mobile + social space," he wrote.
Crowley has joined area/code, while Rainert has moved on to IconNicholson.
In a post-script to the post, Crowley indicated that there would be a party on Saturday, April 21, to celebrate their "escape."
There is no news about the direction, if any, of Dodgeball without its co-founders.
In a statement, Google indicated that "Dodgeball was an early attempt at understanding user needs in this space, and we are continuing to evolve our thinking and our offerings. However, we have nothing to announce at this time."
This occurrence certainly sheds a more somber light on the idea of being bought by the almighty search engine. It seems that not even bucketfuls of money can compensate for satisfaction with a job or product, no matter who is paying you.
Sources:
http://flickr.com/photos/dpstyles/460987802/
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2007/04/16/dodgeball-founders-stop-playing-google-s-game
http://blogs.zdnet.com/micro-markets/?p=1226
http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070416/tc_infoworld/
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