Infogami
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Infogami was a wiki application framework and flexible content management system founded in 2005 by Aaron Swartz, then 18, with co-founder Simon Carstensen. Funded through Y Combinator's very first Summer Founders Program, it was designed to let users create rich, visually interesting websites and wiki-style structured data. As part of the work, Swartz created the web.py Python web framework. In November 2005 Infogami merged with fellow YC startup Reddit to form a new company, Not A Bug; Infogami's software went on to support the Internet Archive's Open Library project.
02 / Infogami FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Infogami failed to find further funding as a standalone venture. The wiki/CMS product never gained traction on its own, and Y Combinator organizers themselves suggested folding the effort into another portfolio company. Swartz and Carstensen merged Infogami with Reddit in November 2005, effectively ending Infogami as an independent company; its platform was abandoned after the merged firm Not A Bug was acquired by Condé Nast in 2006.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Company founded
Aaron Swartz and Simon Carstensen found Infogami in Y Combinator's first Summer Founders Program to build a flexible wiki/CMS platform; Swartz creates the web.py framework during the work.
- Merger with Reddit
After failing to raise further funding, Infogami merges with fellow YC startup Reddit in November to form Not A Bug; Swartz becomes a co-founder of Reddit.
- Acquisition
Condé Nast Publications acquires Not A Bug largely on the strength of Reddit's growth; the Infogami platform is abandoned, though its software supports the Internet Archive's Open Library.
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
The startup received its initial funding from Y Combinator's first summer program in 2005; no outside round followed.
- 02
Unable to raise further capital, Infogami merged with Reddit in November 2005 instead of shutting down outright, so the company ended with no separate financial wind-down.
- 03
The merged entity Not A Bug was acquired by Condé Nast in October 2006 on Reddit's momentum; no Infogami-specific financial return was disclosed.