When we reviewed file-sharing service DivShare way back in October 2007, we were mildly impressed with its one-stop solution for storing, managing and sharing files. A month later, the service was put up for sale on an auction site which prompted us to deadpool it.
Fast-forward to January 2009, when the small startup behind DivShare was finally picked up by a group of internet veterans who started a new company called 3Sixty and aim to not only continue the service but also add some bells and whistles to it in the near future. The reason it took so long for DivShare to be acquired, so I was told, was because the service was doing well and making money and the owners just wanted to make sure it fell into the right hands and not sell it off to quickly and see it fade.
As everyone knows, online file storing and sharing services are a dime a dozen, but DivShare boasts over a million registered users and – gasp – profitability (it helps when you haven’t take a dime in VC funding, of course). I tested the service and while it was not special in any way you look at it, it did work as advertised and you get a decent amount of storage (5 GB) for free. The company is apparently also very serious about not hosting anything but legitimate material on their servers. Annoyingly, a free account means that when you upload a file, it displays on a page filled with blatant in-your-face advertising units and pop-up ads, so that’s definitely a big turn-off. That said, the price for an ad-free service is reasonable and the company is re-evaluating how it displays advertising at the moment.
DivShare also has some nice features like an iPhone application to access your files, a Facebook application for easy sharing on the social network, a WordPress plugin that replaces your regular uploading form with one from DivShare and an extensive API. You can find out more about that here.
Interestingly, the people behind 3Sixty (who used to work for companies like Netscape, Roku, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, PSINet, Sybase, etc.) tell me that the acquisition of DivShare is just one of the steps in the direction they want to take their company, and that they’ve got some really exciting integrated internet communication services in the pipeline. Unfortunately, that’s about all they shared for the moment so we’ll just have to wait and see how that translates in practice.
In any case, DivShare is no longer tagged ‘deadpool’ and you should try it out.
Fantastic.
I think if it is ALREADY profitable, then the owners are in good shape.
The fact of the matter is that storage, server and bandwidth costs are continuously declining which helps out their long term cost structure tremendously.
The only issue is the presence of companies like Google who can afford to subsidize similar products for free at a loss. The owners need to start thinking hard about a contingency plan B for a world in which Google offers everyone a Gdrive in the cloud with 100 GB for free.
From India
Anjali Sen
yeah. please tell me how hosting videos, photos, and other files for free is like different from any other social networking site; and how’s it p2p?
oh and the big names… rule number one…don’t blow money on blow hard pr to push vapor ware.
dat like so ‘95 and microsoft like.
what really happened is a developer got a job.
I wouldn’t trust these guys with shit. One of their sites IS currently defaced. I don’t know how long has it been that way. I just visited their site for curiosity and found a link to their site http://groupredholdings.com/
“technology veterans” my ass.
The link above is not to a site of ours. Though that is humorous.
We had a link pointed in the wrong direction. That’s been fixed and thanks for kindly pointing it out.
Enjoy
Cool !
## Days to go for the next DeadPool run……
If you are going to count us down at least put some numbers to it…
http://bit.ly/4fTaC
The dead has finally risen….
TechFilipino
this sounds like a cool product. I will have to check it out. Note to self it is a good idea to have a backup copy of your stuff
How techcrunch definedeadpool. Divshare never really shut down. Does going on the auction block make you dead? For example Imeem or Digg were said to be looking for a buyer, that surely doesn’t put them in the deadpool does it?
Hiring banks and organizations to explore a potential acquisition is hardly the same as listing your web service and domain on a bidding forum.
Even Yahoo briefcase is closing the service on 30th Mar 09
And many others:
Lycos Mail
Lycos Europe
Tripod
SpringWidgets
….
You need to add xDrive from AOL in here too.
The big problem for big companies is that they put so much overhead on a service that it’s impossible to make a profit, and if there is a profit, large companies need huge numbers.
But those failures only help to strengthen the ones left…
And now HP Upline, as of 3/31/09.
http://www.thet...nd-storage.html
Must try it fist, to experience
I mean first! Sorry for error!
Sounds cool
Good for them! Well done!
Ha ha ha. A company from the dead pool rises again under the mantra 3Sixty? Does anyone else find this hilarious? Think about all the jokes:
“I wonder if they can pull it out and do a 360 to…err…failure…again…cause 360 is right back to the same place…”
I’ve been with Divshare since the start. They have changed tremendously since the beginning. I don’t know if the original owners were swallowed up in overhead or ????. The service idea is fantastic and very unique. I tried all the other things out there. Microsoft’s failed shared folders, dropbox, etc.
I gladly signed up for the pay account to help promote the growth of the venture but with this new company called “3sixty” now i have apprehensions of the longevity of divshare.
I will probably start looking for an alternative, maybe Google’s Gdrive will be online by then. I prefer not to leave Divshare but with a company named “3Sixty” I tend be wary of what the future holds.
btw. the wp uploader plugin doesnt work with the latest wp.
also, their blog is a mess now. all links give you 404.