You may have seen the news that Facebook has acquired my fledgling startup, Parakey. The project remains very much alive, and since we will be working to port the concepts and technology to Facebook, it will remain stealthy.
When making the important decision about whether to join Facebook, Joe and I weighed the key socioeconomic aspects of the company that the media has been investigating, such as: What sort of footwear does Mark prefer? When we got the answers we hoped for (”sandals,” respectively), we knew we’d found our place.
As you may know, there has been a lot of buzz about Facebook lately based on thoroughly researched journalism. I expect this news will only fuel the flames, given that, as you’ve probably already deduced, “Joe Hewitt Parakey” is an anagram of “Etjk! Where ya at, IPO?” Also, I studied U.S. History in high school, and one of the units we did was on Puritanical punishment, and one popular means of such punishment was locking people up, and those locking apparatuses were known as: stocks. COINCIDENCE???
Today was my first day at Facebook and so far it’s a blast. I have plenty of weekend reading ahead to learn all about the site architecture. From what I’ve seen so far, it is truly amazing. For instance, all the data is stored in a sqlite database that runs on Mark’s iPhone.
I’ll write more about all this soon. Many thanks to Parakey’s investors (Sequoia, MSD Capital, YCombinator, OATV, Thomvest, Paul Buchheit, Ron Conway and Warren Zide). And thanks everyone for the well wishes.
July 20th, 2007 at 12:09 am
Congratulations and All the Best!
… as you continue the journey to let us “Take back the Web”!
July 20th, 2007 at 12:43 am
lol.
congrats & pls don’t lose your sense of humor (or stop blogging) once you’re on the inside ;)
- dave mc
July 20th, 2007 at 4:13 am
Bawling with laughter :) And, a big congrats!
July 20th, 2007 at 6:57 am
That just made me laugh like a school girl.
Keep it real, yo.
July 20th, 2007 at 7:06 am
Welcome on board Blake!
We gotta represent the 305 now, and I’ll try and tivo some dolphin games :D
July 20th, 2007 at 8:07 am
Nice Blake - Congrats, well deserved!
July 20th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
This is perhaps the most interesting acquisition of the year. Congrats.
July 20th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Welcome!
and don’t forget the back up database he keeps in his birkenstocks!
July 20th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
congrats Blake. I signed up for the Parakey beta after reading your story in Founders at Work: http://www.grid7.com/archives/151_faw-29-blake-ross-of-firefox.html
sounds like a promising future for the app. looking forward to see what comes of it under FB!
sean
July 20th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
Nice that you have resumed blogging and have a sence of humor but it’s damn hard to figure out what is your humor and which is fact. Can we have more of the fact please? (I’d like to hear a little about what facebook really runs on, etc…)
July 20th, 2007 at 11:49 pm
Congrats Blake! Good luck with new company. I am sure that you will excel whereever you go. You are a good asset for Facebook.
I hope that I will see you as multi millionier very soon :)
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:02 am
What’s the difference between selling to Facebook over Yahoo!? They are both heading in the same direction… but I guess you don’t need the FAQ
July 24th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Greetings Blake,
Your Parakey idea is very much needed & of far reaching value.
Best wishes for the success of your partnership with Facebook.
I taught myself to use a computer & start an internet business a few years ago. I am now 60 & really enjoy helping others my age do the same.
“What a wonderful world” this can be if we share our positive talents. I am so impressed by your ability to do just that at your age. If I can be of any help to you please contact me.
Best Regards,
Jane Langdon
www.uniqueshoppes.com
July 25th, 2007 at 2:05 am
Your posts are great. I want to personally thank you for firebug, it changed my programming life.
July 26th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
My best wishes - and may you and your apps remain stealthy for a long time to come.
July 26th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Congratulations Blake! Need to celebrate at Clocktower ;-)
July 26th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
A nice landing, Blake. It all makes sense too. Let’s continue to stay in touch please. Cheers GAM|out
August 4th, 2007 at 12:15 am
Congrats blake!.I wish u all the best for ur future at Face book.
August 4th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
I’d like to give congratulations, but since there’s never been any sort of posting of screenshots or a public demo of parakey (that I could find), on youtube or something, I’m more concerned that the original idea (my understanding at least) of parakey will be lost under a facebook frontend.
When I read that you wanted to make it easier for mom and dad to share photos, I saw that as an exciting goal. Now though when I think that mom and dad will first have to log into facebook and go through this or that rigamarole, I’m more bummed than congratulatory at this point. But again, how would I know because I haven’t seen anything. I’ve just read and re-read the interview and about the private parakey demo that was given many months ago, hanging on with anticipation for want of any kind screenshot or mockup.
Only you will know if the sale was the right decision, but I just hope that it means that new funding will make the final product easier and more accessible, not locked up or restricted. I just think of the moment when I want to share parakey with my parents and I’m like, well you have to log into such and such, oh wait, you need any account.. blah blah. And I’ve already lost them. And it’s no easier for them to show someone else, like grandma or aunt may so they can share together. They’ll still need the techy helper son to intervene.
Whatever happens, it won’t be the end of the world. So I’ll just say, continued thanks for your hard and meaningful work. I’m hoping for the best.
August 30th, 2007 at 9:01 am
Haha - awesome!