Comments on: Classmates IPO Tries to Cash In On Social Networking Craze

By: maston

maston — Fri, 01 May 2009 13:47:21 +0000

hi barack obama

By: maston

maston — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:30:24 +0000

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

By: Steve Ballmer

Steve Ballmer — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 03:09:31 +0000

Classmates is only a wannabe MSGradClassOnline!

http://fakestev...er.blogspot.com

By: sd

sd — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:20:13 +0000

is good.

By: Devil's Advocate

Devil's Advocate — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:16:26 +0000

“Maybe the FTC should try to find out why anyone would pay to be part of a social network when there are so many others out there that let you keep up with your high school or college friends for free.”

Maybe the writer should try to figure out why sites are available for free when people are clearly willing to pay for it.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:26:33 +0000

King Tut and Arju are spot on. ‘Sleazy Tactics’? Netflix does the same thing. You sign up, they bill you till you tell them to stop. That’s why it’s called ‘recurring revenue’. It’s what nearly all subscription services do. My cellphone company charges me every month without telling me until they bill it. Yes, sometimes there are terms involved (like cell phones and gym memberships) that specify the total billing time and cancellation fees, etc. But that comment makes Erick at Techcrunch appear as if he doesn’t understand really anything about how the world of subscriptions works, and makes Techcrunch look extremely judgmental and inexperienced because those ’sleazy tactics’ are used by 100’s of companies in nearly every industry out there.

By: Basic Thinking Blog | me2 Social Networking: schade

Basic Thinking Blog | me2 Social Networking: schade — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:16:56 +0000

[...] auf Techcrunch findet man ein “altes” SN bzw. einen Einblick in die Einnahmestrukturen: Classmates. Artikelzusatzinfos 1. Tags: classmates, micrsoft, myspace, social networking, xbox 2. Related [...]

By: Ben M

Ben M — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:15:47 +0000

@24 “ease” means “erase”. Just say “ease” for short. All the 1337 peeps are doing it.

By: Doug Mehus

Doug Mehus — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:48:01 +0000

Looks like United Online’s strategy of branching into free Web content and hosting services has largely failed. They’re spinning off 20% of Classmates Media, which includes MyPoints.com and Classmates.com that acquired only two years ago, and prior to that they shut down PhotoSite.com which they had acquired from Homestead Technologies. Interestingly, Homestead was just acquired by Intuit today for a lofty $170 million. They managed to make some money off PhotoSite by selling it before it was shut down now they’re selling the whole company. Nice!

With the market correction we’re experiencing and the start of a bear market, coupled with a likely recession, I expect a lot more exit strategies at slightly reduced (though still high) valuations to large media conglomerates before the market runs completely dry and we head into a full-on recession.

It should make for some nice buying opportunities for those of us that “missed the boat” on this bubble!

Cheers,
Doug

By: Shakir Razak

Shakir Razak — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:08:29 +0000

Hi,

In the UK and Australia, there’s a counterpart to reunion/classmates.com called Friends-Reunited.

It’s owned by the countries largest commercial broadcaster, ITV (which might have limited its agressivness), and while it might not be the hip in-thing, it continues to generate an approx. of $100million in profit.

Not bad, compared to… how much profit does FaceBook make with it’s 10’s of millions of users and ignorant media-hype?

If anything, because of the badly-run/un-developed nature of Classmates.com, possibly after a dot.bomb 2.0, there’s potential for additional revenue-generation………….(id & aggregate)…………

Yours kindly,

Shakir Razak

By: Wow, couldn't understand most of the comments

Wow, couldn't understand most of the comments — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 03:08:26 +0000

Anywho, I just spent extensive time on mypoints figuring out their value proposition, and man, it is slim. I read their privacy policy, TOC, SEC (via United online), and I thought it was 1999. These folks need a wake up call. Dave, what’s your take, you seem to believe in that ‘gimmick of a website’?

By: David Mackey

David Mackey — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 02:53:47 +0000

Mmm…Classmates has been around for absolutely forever. I think they’ve missed their chance. Unless perhaps they can offer significantly more rewards for MyPoints and integrate it into their other offerings.

By: Thieves

Thieves — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:53:25 +0000

If your mother is name valerie plame who works at CIA. What would you do if someone spotted mom’s name on classmate.com?

By: Arju Ahluser

Arju Ahluser — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:14:44 +0000

clearly king tut and i are the only true capitalists on this forum.

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:12:05 +0000

Okay, I admit, I am ignorant. What does it mean to ‘ease my identity,’ and for that matter to ‘ease my wealth’? Wouldn’t it be to tighten your wealth, as in, to have your wealth buttoned up and secure? If it’s just a typo, I understand, my foreign language skills are pathetic by comparison. If not, enlighten me.

Tut, my gym memberships and my online subscriptions have always required an annual re-subscription of some kind. I thought it was just a chance to increase my subscription rates, but maybe it was a better-business policy.

By: Arju Ahluser

Arju Ahluser — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:12:03 +0000

“Oh, and the FTC is investigating its membership subscription auto-renewal policy……….”

You actually signed up to pay classmates using this “tactic” and you blame Classmates? The world is full of so many VICTIMS. Anyone belong to 24 Fitness? Wasn’t there a “Friends” episode just about quitting the gym?

Adam #4 – be a big boy and visit the site to cancel your subscription. don’t rip them for getting you to sign up in the first place, when you are just too uber busy to go cancel it yourself.

By: Adrian Keys

Adrian Keys — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:59:07 +0000

@11 Forget the anger and go into comedy…for real!

Anyways…the IPO seems a bold move since it’s very a apparent that this company is just turning the corner.

I love the domain name though…they may very well be getting quite a bit of natural traffic…

By: KingTut

KingTut — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:57:29 +0000

I was speed reading this, cuz, eh…what IPO isn’t frought with issues?

I read this, however: “Oh, and the FTC is investigating its membership subscription auto-renewal policy, where it just keeps charging your credit card until you tell it to stop. (Imagine what its churn rate would be if it didn’t resort to that sleazy tactic?).”

Um. Ok. Have you ever had a gym membership? It’s actually a courtesy. Imagine them calling you every month asking for money. You’d cancel.

I dare say this is how it is with pretty much every recurring membership in the world…odd that Classmates is singled out as using “sleazy tactics”.

If you can’t remember, or do not read your monthly CC statement, it’s your fault. You cannot manage your money.
True story.

Now, if there is actually something underhanded going on — that’s another story. And you aught to include that important piece of info. I’m sure many people would like to know why the FTC is investigating them (surely not because of a normal subscription renewal process).

By: Antje Wilsch

Antje Wilsch — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:27:40 +0000

sadly for me I found more obscure people through lists (classmates, my university alumni group) of fomer classmates [who are now in their mid to late 30's] than I do on FaceBook/LinkedIn. LI works on the assumption that users come to them, whereas Classmates did the opposite – they posted the consolidated data (lists of school attendees) then let people add to it and connect. It’s not the world’s worst business model although it’s probably becoming less relevant w/ the proliferation of MySpace, LI, FB etc. that are all free and as more people join.

By: mathew johnson

mathew johnson — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:26:14 +0000

is this comment thread just one long group non-sequitur joke?

if it is, i like it – or is it just all esl around here today?

By: FLEEING THE ECONOMY

FLEEING THE ECONOMY — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:18:17 +0000

You see people flee from United States of America. They fear identity stolen.
This is why you have number empty homes.

Many of us dream of leave this country. Of course, we do…

By: Gupaye

Gupaye — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:14:05 +0000

@16 …same here

By: cocktails, gadgets & more

cocktails, gadgets & more — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:08:09 +0000

Comment 11 just made my day

By: GET OFF MY NAME

GET OFF MY NAME — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:07:12 +0000

This will make Enterpenurers here angry.

Every entrepreneurs and founders need private life. It is our duty keep stalkers away. Remember chairman bill gates got cream pie in face.

Need to ease name…

By: 12

12 — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:01:49 +0000

@11 & 13:

Succinct, yet powerful. I salute you, sir (or madame).

We all have right to live wealthy life. Wealthy, wealthy, wealthy life.

Techcrunch, how do I ease my not so wealthy life?