Will millions in funding ruin 1Password?

Twitter was alive yesterday with drama, after 1Password raised a whopping $200 million in funding, breaking an independence streak of 14 years. Usually, funding announcements are met with a resounding meh, but the internet was divided on a single point: why is 1Password taking all this money, and isn't that bad in the long run for its users?


The disdain resonated with me for a single reason: tech companies, particularly those focused on consumers, that take a metric ton of cash from venture capitalists usually hunker down on growth at all costs, pivoting into new features and markets... when those customers were perfectly happy before.




It always seems that when a startup raises too much cash, or a company gets too big, it just can't resist adding random bloat. The infamous

@DHH put it well on Twitter:

Whenever I read about a software service I like hopping on the venture capital train to unicorn-ville, I fully expect them to go to shit. 1PW now need to beome a many billion dollar company OR DIE TRYING. That usually lead to desperate/shitty decisions.


It's easy to find evidence of this in companies that have previously had incredibly focused products, like 1Password, but ultimately pivoted away from their core competencies to justify their valuations. Dropbox is a prime example of this: the company recently pivoted to be more than a file sync service, instead offering a "work management utility" to help busy knowledge workers organize all of their digital things.




The overwhelming sentiment? The new Dropbox sucks, and the company has been railed for forcing users into using a bloated, feature-laden app they didn't actually ask for. Another example of this can be found in Google's rumored plan to offer banking in 2020, which prompted me to wonder: does every tech company need to do every damn thing?



1Password is good because it's focused, simple, and does the job very well, so taking on venture capital money does seem dubious. That's what makes the reaction to 1Password's fundraising so visceral: a worry that a huge blob of cash will lead the company to add new features, pursuing growth at all costs in markets that nobody really wanted them to be in anyway.Will millions in funding ruin 1Password?


Sorry for the long quote but to be honest, I could have pasted the entire post, it's a great read by Owen. Choosing simple over complex still remains the holy grail (unfortunately).

Newsletter

Join thousands of designers, developers, and product people from companies like Amazon, IDEO, Figma, and Shopify on my mailing list. Usually once or twice a month.

Newsletter

Join thousands of designers, developers, and product people from companies like Amazon, IDEO, Figma, and Shopify on my mailing list. Usually once or twice a month.

All posts

December 4, 2023

November 6, 2023

September 13, 2023

June 29, 2023

May 25, 2023

April 27, 2023

December 9, 2022

September 13, 2022

June 29, 2022

April 5, 2022

December 20, 2021

November 24, 2021

November 1, 2021

October 11, 2021

September 22, 2021

August 23, 2021

March 1, 2021

January 25, 2021

January 2, 2021

November 2, 2020

October 12, 2020

October 1, 2020

September 21, 2020

September 3, 2020

August 19, 2020

August 10, 2020

June 23, 2020

June 22, 2020

June 22, 2020

April 8, 2020

March 31, 2020

March 29, 2020

March 11, 2020

March 1, 2020

February 24, 2020

February 10, 2020

January 22, 2020

January 20, 2020

December 16, 2019

December 2, 2019

November 18, 2019

September 25, 2019

September 9, 2019

June 27, 2019

June 18, 2019

June 13, 2019

May 20, 2019

February 22, 2019

February 18, 2019

February 15, 2019

February 7, 2019

January 29, 2019

January 23, 2019

January 18, 2019

December 28, 2018

December 17, 2018

December 13, 2018

November 29, 2018

October 22, 2018

October 12, 2018

September 13, 2018

August 17, 2018

August 13, 2018

August 12, 2018

July 20, 2018

May 24, 2018

May 21, 2018

May 16, 2018

May 7, 2018

April 26, 2018

April 24, 2018

April 16, 2018

April 9, 2018

April 9, 2018

April 9, 2018

April 9, 2018

April 3, 2018

March 29, 2018

March 29, 2018

March 27, 2018

March 27, 2018

March 19, 2018

March 19, 2018

March 19, 2018

March 15, 2018

March 11, 2018

February 28, 2018

February 28, 2018

February 11, 2018

February 1, 2018

January 22, 2018

January 15, 2018

January 8, 2018

January 5, 2018

November 10, 2017

November 10, 2017

October 31, 2017

October 7, 2017

September 25, 2017

September 11, 2017

September 4, 2017

August 29, 2017

August 28, 2017

August 25, 2017

August 15, 2017

July 10, 2017

July 7, 2017

July 4, 2017

June 30, 2017

March 28, 2017

March 6, 2017

February 7, 2017

November 22, 2016

September 28, 2016

June 27, 2016

March 7, 2016

December 16, 2015

June 16, 2015

May 5, 2015

April 14, 2015

April 7, 2015

November 13, 2014