Flektor
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
Some sections are still being researched1 / 4
Sections to complete：03
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Flektor was a Flash-based online mashup and video-editing startup founded by the team behind Naughty Dog. Its browser editor let users create slideshows, photo albums, polls, postcards, and widgets with text, music, photos, video, effects, and transitions, and embed them across the web. In May 2007, Fox Interactive Media (News Corp) acquired Flektor for a reported $15-20 million, folding it into MySpace.
02 / Flektor FAILURE REASONS
Failure factors
Fox Interactive Media shuttered Flektor (acquired 2007) along with SpringWidgets to control costs and consolidate products into MySpace, with a FIM representative confirming both sites would shut down.
Fox Interactive Media shuttered Flektor to control costs after the MySpace-parent acquisition.
FIM consolidated widget platforms rather than maintain Flektor as a separate brand from MySpace.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Won a strategic acquisition in May 2007: Fox Interactive Media bought Flektor for ~$15-20M to power MySpace's user-generated content tools.
- 02
Built the official site for the 2008 US presidential debates (MyDebates) in fall 2008.
- 03
In January 2009, Fox Interactive announced Flektor would be shut down as part of a directive to focus on the core MySpace property; some technology was absorbed into MySpace.
- 04
Lesson: acquisition by a media giant is not survival — when the parent pivots, the product dies regardless of team quality.