Geekhack sold to—probably—ZealPC^WMassdrop

davkol · 02 Jul 2018, 11:01

andrewjoy · 02 Jul 2018, 11:11

Is that not a conflict of interest ?

Shame the DT finances are not up to buying it.... for one reason and one reason only. TO TURN OFF THAT TERRIBLE THEME! I jest ( the theme is terrible tho)

Back to seriousness, i highly recommend that everyone mirrors there workshop / guides / sale threads on DT and r/MechanicalKeyboards for that matter. It may be fine, but you never know when things change hands.

green-squid · 02 Jul 2018, 11:44

Not sure what to think, at first sight. Since ZealPC is pretty connected with the community (and isn't some big company that doesn't understand keyboards), I hope this will be for the better.

andrewjoy · 02 Jul 2018, 12:02

Well yes its not your coolermaster or your cherry or your unicomp ( ahahaha) buying it.

But, its something you should keep an eye on for sure. I prefer a community and "media" to be independent of anyone.

green-squid · 02 Jul 2018, 12:19

andrewjoy wrote: ↑Well yes its not your coolermaster or your cherry or your unicomp ( ahahaha) buying it.

But, its something you should keep an eye on for sure. I prefer a community and "media" to be independent of anyone.

yeah, hope I could still talk shit about Zealios being stupidly expensive

Wodan · 02 Jul 2018, 12:52

I am a lot more worried about someone like ZealPC becoming the owner of GH than a large corp like Cherry or Coolermaster or even Matias.

These large corps have very little interest in messing with the community topics and probably mostly care for ad space and representation. They make <1% of their profits from the REAL enthusiast community represented on GH.

These small vendors like ZealPC and Mykeyboard.eu make almost their entire profit off of the community they are looking to purchase and their profits HEAVILY depend on the reputation of their "projects" and products in the community. Their detailed interest in community matters and discussions will be MUCH greater than that of a large corp.

I've seen other enthusiast communities owned by large community-focussed vendors and my experience was even without the vendors actively getting involved in the community, there will be a core of "loyal" members that are very dedicated to the site and community and inherently become protective of the vendor financing it all. To those people really dedicated to GH, once ZealPC owns the place ... hurting Zeal or his business somehow means hurting GH. It a natural process and I am pretty sure few core GH members will truely rise above that attitude. Don't bite the hand that feeds you ...

So yeah i am expecting the circle jerking evolving around Zeals absurdly overpriced products to spread and intensify. I don't trust people who are in this community to make money.

andrewjoy · 02 Jul 2018, 12:53

That is a good point. I did not think of it like that.

_PixelNinja · 02 Jul 2018, 13:21

According to Zeal, the sale is confirmed. No mention on iMav's side of things.

Like others, I am also uncomfortable with the conflict of interest brought on by a vendor owning Geekhack.

iMav · 02 Jul 2018, 13:22

Note, the sale is not yet final. (still working through things with several different community members)

On a completely unrelated note...

: Capture.PNG (1.94 KiB) Viewed 12465 times

(guess I haven't been all that active here...you should SEE the PMs I have in my inbox from Ripster from 2012! LOL)

_PixelNinja · 02 Jul 2018, 13:24

iMav wrote: ↑Note, the sale is not yet final. (still working through things with several different community members)

Thanks for clarifying.

kekstee · 02 Jul 2018, 13:29

iMav wrote: ↑(guess I haven't been all that active here...you should SEE the PMs I have in my inbox from Ripster from 2012! LOL)

Haha, time capsule inbox.

webwit · 02 Jul 2018, 14:07

I offer $15010.

* Sets up redirect to marketplace-f30/ *

depletedvespene · 02 Jul 2018, 14:15

webwit wrote: ↑I offer $15010.

Jokes aside, I wonder how many core GHers would be more offended by GH being owned by webwit than by Zeal...

scottc · 02 Jul 2018, 15:41

I’d pay €100 to redirect geekhack to the DT marketplace. Who else is in?

Blaise170 · 02 Jul 2018, 16:04

I'd much prefer webwit own it than Zeal. The conflict of interest bothers me a lot. It bothers me less because I'm way more active here than there, but still...

I also really don't understand how it can be costing $300-400/month to run the site.

andrewjoy · 02 Jul 2018, 16:14

Webwit to buy geekhack , plans to take over reddit and be in charge of all the keyboard media !

depletedvespene · 02 Jul 2018, 16:28

andrewjoy wrote: ↑Webwit to buy geekhack , plans to take over reddit and be in charge of all the keyboard media !

Well, if that rids us from ripster... who's to say no?

andrewjoy · 02 Jul 2018, 16:52

I am not supporting all his actions , but his guides etc back in the day got me into keyboards so i have at least a little time for him.

iMav · 02 Jul 2018, 16:55

I hate to say it (as it makes me sound like a sell out...and, I suppose, I am), that initial price has been blown out of the water by several other potential buyers...

I am trying to balance the money offered and decent new ownership. (but the chinese vendors are making that difficult...who extends and offer and then says, "is that enough?") Crazy.

Blaise170 · 02 Jul 2018, 17:01

It's an understandable situation, life is expensive and all.

scottc · 02 Jul 2018, 17:06

Yikes.

Can't say I blame you. I can't pretend that I wouldn't sell a significant money-sink (iirc someone mentioned ~300$/mo in hosting fees) for big bucks. I'm sure people will be very pious and puritan about "not selling out", but they're not the ones in debt from it.

And hey, worst-case scenario, if it all goes tits up everyone can come hang out at DT.

Kurplop · 02 Jul 2018, 20:52

iMac shouldn’t feel greedy getting the most he can for GH. I’ve seen too many times someone selling something at a discounted price to the “right buyer”, only to see them turn around and resell it at a big profit. Go for the gold, Imav!!

webwit · 03 Jul 2018, 00:33

I got an offer lately, but when I replied "ONE MILLION DOLLARS" I didn't hear back!

To management:

I'm Travis, part of the corporate development team at VerticalScope. We are a digital media company focused in the acquisition and development of websites in a variety of verticals such as automotive, pets, and health & wellness.

Currently, VerticalScope is looking to expand its technology-related portfolio, and I was referred to your site by a friend who's a frequent visitor of Deskthority. If there is interest from your side, I hope we can connect with the goal of making a cash offer to acquire your site.

I can send over our mutual NDA to get the process started. Please let me know.

Bass · 03 Jul 2018, 01:04

webwit wrote: ↑I got an offer lately, but when I replied "ONE MILLION DOLLARS" I didn't hear back!

To management:

I'm Travis, part of the corporate development team at VerticalScope. We are a digital media company focused in the acquisition and development of websites in a variety of verticals such as automotive, pets, and health & wellness.

Currently, VerticalScope is looking to expand its technology-related portfolio, and I was referred to your site by a friend who's a frequent visitor of Deskthority. If there is interest from your side, I hope we can connect with the goal of making a cash offer to acquire your site.

I can send over our mutual NDA to get the process started. Please let me know.

Anyways pretty interesting to see the skepticism over here about Zeal being the new owner. I have seen much more positive reactions outside of DT.

chuckdee · 03 Jul 2018, 05:50

iMav wrote: ↑I hate to say it (as it makes me sound like a sell out...and, I suppose, I am), that initial price has been blown out of the water by several other potential buyers...

I am trying to balance the money offered and decent new ownership. (but the chinese vendors are making that difficult...who extends and offer and then says, "is that enough?") Crazy.

Are they reputable vendors that you know about, though? That would be my major concern...

ideus · 03 Jul 2018, 06:42

Wodan wrote: ↑I am a lot more worried about someone like ZealPC becoming the owner of GH than a large corp like Cherry or Coolermaster or even Matias.

These large corps have very little interest in messing with the community topics and probably mostly care for ad space and representation. They make <1% of their profits from the REAL enthusiast community represented on GH.

These small vendors like ZealPC and Mykeyboard.eu make almost their entire profit off of the community they are looking to purchase and their profits HEAVILY depend on the reputation of their "projects" and products in the community. Their detailed interest in community matters and discussions will be MUCH greater than that of a large corp.

I've seen other enthusiast communities owned by large community-focussed vendors and my experience was even without the vendors actively getting involved in the community, there will be a core of "loyal" members that are very dedicated to the site and community and inherently become protective of the vendor financing it all. To those people really dedicated to GH, once ZealPC owns the place ... hurting Zeal or his business somehow means hurting GH. It a natural process and I am pretty sure few core GH members will truely rise above that attitude. Don't bite the hand that feeds you ...

So yeah i am expecting the circle jerking evolving around Zeals absurdly overpriced products to spread and intensify. I don't trust people who are in this community to make money.

This. Being vendor neutral is a key feature for a forum to allow keyboard aficionados to flourish. It seems that GH under ZealPC or any other similar vendor will turn into a store disguised as a community. I do not think that a community could be sold, only the forum and its information, but not the people. In the other hand, ZPC business model capitalizes on insane prices paired with overhyped products. which by any means does not blend well with an open vendor neutral forum. It is great that DT is still a great place to continue exploring our interest for keyboards.

chuckdee · 03 Jul 2018, 07:01

A vendor being in control doesn't necessarily mean that it will not be vendor neutral. It's a possibility, but it seems like a lot of Sturm and Drang over something that hasn't come to pass. The fact of the matter is that though it is perceived to be a community site, it really isn't. One person owns it, and in many cases, he has had his own views while the mods have had theirs. To think that the community really is of one mind or has a say over any of this isn't indicative of the real situation. The only recourse the community really has is to go somewhere else. All of this conversation over something that we have only as much input as iMav decides that we have is rather damaging, IMO.

andrewjoy · 03 Jul 2018, 10:47

Bass wrote: ↑
Anyways pretty interesting to see the skepticism over here about Zeal being the new owner. I have seen much more positive reactions outside of DT.

At deaskthority we take pride in being cynical, if you assume the worst then your prepared for it.

chuckdee wrote: ↑A vendor being in control doesn't necessarily mean that it will not be vendor neutral. It's a possibility, but it seems like a lot of Sturm and Drang over something that hasn't come to pass. The fact of the matter is that though it is perceived to be a community site, it really isn't. One person owns it, and in many cases, he has had his own views while the mods have had theirs.

No, but its a potential conflict of interest. As for it being owned by one man, yes it is and DT is also. But moderation on GH and DT are very different. At DT we delete spam and possibly in very rare circumstances step in when things are getting very heated or targeted but that's about it. So your right when you say its up to the mods or owner but that's the case with anything, they are independent of a companies interest. Not saying GH is run more in the interest of an agenda i dont visit that often any more but its clear its more hands on with its moderation and this could be used to push a companies agenda.

Oblotzky · 03 Jul 2018, 11:00

I guess Zeal is pulling back

Zeal wrote:Goodbye.

Let's see if tomorrow has a brighter future.

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=96 ... msg2631865

Wodan · 03 Jul 2018, 12:05

webwit wrote: ↑I got an offer lately, but when I replied "ONE MILLION DOLLARS" I didn't hear back!

They are just securing the funds right now...

chuckdee wrote: ↑A vendor being in control doesn't necessarily mean that it will not be vendor neutral. It's a possibility, but it seems like a lot of Sturm and Drang over something that hasn't come to pass. The fact of the matter is that though it is perceived to be a community site, it really isn't. One person owns it, and in many cases, he has had his own views while the mods have had theirs. To think that the community really is of one mind or has a say over any of this isn't indicative of the real situation. The only recourse the community really has is to go somewhere else. All of this conversation over something that we have only as much input as iMav decides that we have is rather damaging, IMO.

Guess it's more than just being a cynic in some situations. The whole commercialization of this hobby in the past months (not even years!) did come with a couple of benefits but is also a scary development. And seeing one of the pioneers of commercialization reach out for his prime target community - especially with the funds involved here - makes me worry that this is just the next level of commercialization and marketing.

No matter which company becomes the new "owner" of GH - this is going to be a huge marketing coup and they do this as an investment that is supposed to pay itself off. My perception of people in online communities tells me that a large number of GH members will feel associated or in debt with the company running the site. It's like Youtubers getting free stuff for review and then expect an honest opinion of them. We are "getting" something from the new owner - for free - and there will be a sense of gratitude towards them which unfortunately will distort their image and the image of their products. And getting on the good side of some of the more verbose GHers can be a REALLY powerful lever in this small and easy-to-influence community.

Very simple ... there is no such thing as a free lunch.

From a corporate point of view I think purchasing GH and running the site even ad free and with ZERO active influencing might even be the best thing to do. I don't blame companies or people for trying to buy GH because I think it is a very smart business decision. Capitalism gives me a raging hardon and everyone is just trying to play their cards right. In this part of the game we're the cattle and I am telling everyone of be aware of what's going on.