Amazon Acquires Woot; Woot CEO Pens Best Acquisition Letter Ever

from the earning-a-living-on-snarky-commentary-and-junk dept

Wed, Jun 30th 2010 5:32pm — Mike Masnick

It appears that Amazon is expanding by trying to buy up cool e-commerce companies that have unique and fun cultures that its fans love. I would imagine there are worse strategies out there. We already covered how Amazon bought Zappos, with the company culture playing an important role in the decision-making. Now Amazon has bought Woot (a site, I should admit, that I have a bit of an addiction to). And unlike the lame corporate-speak note that Zappos put out when it was acquired, Woot has handled the announcement in true Woot-like fashion with perhaps the best CEO letter you'll ever read about an acquisition. Here's just an excerpt:

Over the next few days, you will probably read headlines that say "Matt Rutledge revealed to be monstrous pseudo-human creation of Jeff Bezos." You might even see this photo making the rounds. Rest assured that these rumors have nothing to do with our final decision. We think now is the right time to join with Amazon because, quite simply, every company that becomes a subsidiary gets two free downloads until the end of July, and we very much need that new thing with Trent Reznor's wife on our iPods.

Other than that, we plan to continue to run Woot the way we have always run Woot -- with a wall of ideas and a dartboard. From a practical point of view, it will be as if we are simply adding one person to the organizational hierarchy, except that one person will just happen to be a billion-dollar company that could buy and sell each and every one of you like you were office furniture. Nevertheless, don't worry that our culture will suddenly take a leap forward and become cutting-edge. We're still going to be the same old bottom-feeders our customers and readers have come to know and love, and each and every one of their pre-written insult macros will still be just as valid in a week, two weeks, or even next year. For Woot, our vision remains the same: somehow earning a living on snarky commentary and junk.

We are excited about doing this for all sorts of reasons. One, our business model is so vague that there's no way Amazon can possibly change what it is we're truly doing: preparing the way for the rise of the Lava Men in 2012....

And then there's this lovely rap video Woot staff put together to explain the acquisition. The video even ends by noting "the preceding video does not represent the view or opinions of Amazon.com. Obviously." Let's just say that it's not your standard bland "hey we've been acquired" announcement:

Taking a step back, it's pretty interesting to see Amazon acquiring companies with such unique cultures and then leaving them alone and letting them act entirely independently. It will be worth watching to see if that lasts (or if it can last). But for now, it's cool to see.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: acquisitions
Companies: amazon, woot

15 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Dave (profile), 30 Jun 2010 @ 6:42pm

Woot Sale
Looks like WOOT sold everything in one deal.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
bob, 30 Jun 2010 @ 6:42pm

Crap
Bag of Crap that is.

So far Amazon has yet to screw up any of it's acquired companies, so it will be interesting to see what happens to the Little Company outside of Dallas.

0 bags of crap, but lots of other Woots.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 30 Jun 2010 @ 7:13pm

Dammit!
I missed another woot-off?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Yair Yona, 30 Jun 2010 @ 8:07pm

This is great
I don't know what will happen with Woot and if Amazon would do them good or not, but it clearly shows that Amazon knows with who to make business, by taking a company with a sharp thinking, and realistic observation, like the one proven here in this letter.
I loved it. wishing them great luck and success.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I came from reddit, 30 Jun 2010 @ 8:08pm

I tried to upvote this.
Where is the H?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Schmoo, 1 Jul 2010 @ 3:30am

What are Woot all about? I can't get near enough to find out, allergic as I am to attention-whoring.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
slacker525600 (profile), 1 Jul 2010 @ 5:28am

wait...
the day after the sell themselves to amazon they are selling the kindle? lulz
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2010 @ 5:39am

Re:
They sell cheap stuff cheap.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
packrat (profile), 1 Jul 2010 @ 5:54am

a fish, a barrel, a gun...
flash in the panned that...

THIS is media-mania, media on media and MUD in yer eye..

this is NOT your mother's miltary-industrail complex , kid. It anti even Kansas.

woot? this is the communication revolution?

betcha problems with property (monopoly, ownership, control) in the supply eco start slapping 'em hard, too.

packrat
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2010 @ 5:57am

Was shipping just $5 on the deal?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
John Duncan Yoyo, 1 Jul 2010 @ 6:06am

$149 Kindle
Today's Woot Offering is a $149 Kindle. $40 off the current price.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Danny, 1 Jul 2010 @ 9:36am

Damn...
That was a serious Woot Off. I wonder how much it sold for? Or maybe it was in one of the Random Bags of Crap.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Overtkill (profile), 1 Jul 2010 @ 9:56am

Hmm...
Wait for whatever the contracts that were signed by the "big wigs," to expire. I have lived through two corporate acquisitions. When that contract signed at purchase expires, things will change. They always do. They always come in with the "nothing will change" speech, saying "we want that uniqueness that is ." But the sad truth is that a VERY HIGH percentage of corporate acquisitions are made to remove the competition.

They will be assimilated! :)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Koowie, 25 Apr 2011 @ 6:58pm

really
Nice witty letter.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Skoffer, 16 May 2013 @ 6:49am

Re: Hmm...
In light of this weeks events, how prophetic was this? Amazing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]