// startup autopsy

Dabble DB

A promising database tool silenced by Twitter's talent hunger

acquisition gone wrongAcqui-hire

Fatal mistake: Dabble DB accepted a Twitter acqui-hire without ensuring a viable migration or sunset plan for existing paying customers.

Founded	2010
Closed	2010
Country	Canada
Sector	Developer tools

50%

Key Events Timeline

2006-01-01

FOUNDING

Dabble DB founded in Canada as a web-based collaborative database tool for non-technical users.

2006-06-01

FUNDING

Dabble DB receives early-stage investment to develop and launch its web database platform.

2009-01-01

PRODUCT LAUNCH

Dabble DB refines its product and grows a niche user base among small business and productivity users.

2010-06-01

ACQUISITION ATTEMPT

Twitter approaches Dabble DB for an acqui-hire, targeting the engineering talent behind the platform.

2010-09-01

SHUTDOWN

Dabble DB shuts down its product following Twitter acquisition, leaving users without data migration support.

Full Analysis

Analyst plan

Documented cause

Dabble DB, a web-based database and collaboration tool from Canada, was acquired by Twitter in 2010 in an acqui-hire transaction. The acquisition was primarily motivated by acquiring talent rather than integrat...

ing the product into Twitter's platform. Following the acquisition, Dabble DB's product was shut down shortly after, leaving customers stranded without a data migration path. This represents a classic

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HypeCycle · MoatType · ResearchTags

Dabble DB collapsed from dabble db accepted a twitter acqui-hire without ensuring a viable migration or sunset plan for existing paying customers.. Documented cause, verified lesson, all failure signals.

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