Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Veer gets Owned

The event that I have been waiting years for has finally happened. Yesterday, it was announced that Veer had been purchased by Corbis, a company out of Seattle, Washington.

My Veer. The one that I am part owner of.

I've been through an acquisition before and it didn't have a happy ending. I remember when Getty purchased EyeWire, we ended up closing the office in Calgary and I was one of the last guys to go. It wasn't pleasant, seeing all my coworkers go off to new and exciting things whilst I stayed to clean up the messes, both literal (their flotsam of desk belongings, old computers, files, corporate documents and such) and figurative (systems and processes that hadn't been transitioned before their release dates). Some left willingly, some hung on to their jobs until the last day and left with tears in their eyes as I escorted them to the door. It was an experience that I do not want to have to live through again.

This acquisition, I don't see the same thing happening. Times (and my duties within the company) have changed. The guys we are dealing with are after our brains and ability, not just the assets of Veer. They know our business is making money, and we're not even competing directly with them. The see us as complimentary to what they are doing in Seattle.

I am tentatively striding into the future with my ever-optimistic attitude.

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