Twitter acquires startup Values of n

Tue Nov 25 2008, 08:47 AM

Twitter is acquiring, for an undisclosed sum, Values of n, the startup behind Stikkit - a post-it note app - and I Want Sandy, a personal productivity portal for email, SMS and the web. The acquisition appears to be linked to the Values of n founder Rael Dornfest to the Twitter team.

Deal Details

Dornfest joins Twitter as an engineer following a period of consulting for the micro-blogging service. On his blog, he says: "I started consulting there a few months ago, and fell in love with the team, their way of thinking about things, and of course the product."

Twitter says that although it values Values of n, the service was not going to meet its huge expectations as a standalone business. Values of n will now shut down its existing products, although Twitter says the technology will potentially re-emerge as part of Twittter's systems and services.

Dornfest says: "While Twitter has no immediate plans to incorporate Sandy or Stikkit's feature sets into its core products, those who know our apps may notice familiar-feeling bits and bobs appearing in your Twitter experience."

Twitter emphasised its desire to improve its services earlier this month, when the blog reportedly refused a USD500m takeover offer from Facebook.

Although Twitter expressed concern at the value of Facebook stock, the site also hopes to turn a profit before allowing itself to be acquired by another firm.