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{{Short description|Software company in Canada}}
#REDIRECT [[Flickr]]
{{infobox company
| logo = Ludicorp logo.gif
| name = Ludicorp
| type = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| industry = Software development
| foundation = {{start date and age|2002}}
| founder = [[Stewart Butterfield]], [[Caterina Fake]] and Jason Classon
| location_city = [[Vancouver|Vancouver, British Columbia]], Canada
| products =
| website = {{URL| http://www.ludicorp.com/}}
}}
'''Ludicorp''' was a company based in [[Vancouver|Vancouver, British Columbia]], Canada, that created [[Flickr]] and Game Neverending.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2008/04/02/game-neverending-rises-from-the-dead/ |title=Game Neverending Rises From The Dead |date=April 2, 2008 |website=Tech Crunch}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/13830206/smugmug-acquires-flickr-promises-to-keep-community-alive |title=SmugMug Acquires Flickr, Promises to Keep Community Alive |date=Apr 23, 2018 |website=KQED}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/1043750/flickr.html |title=Yahoo acquires Flickr photo sharing service |date=Mar 21, 2005 |website=Macworld}}</ref> It was founded in 2002 by [[Stewart Butterfield]], [[Caterina Fake]] and Jason Classon and was bought by [[Yahoo!]] on March 20, 2005.<ref name="founders-at-work">{{cite book |title= Founders at Work |last= Livingston |first= Jessica |year= 2007 |publisher= Apress |isbn= 978-1590597149 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/foundersatworkst00livi }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB111136815551984786 |title=Yahoo Acquires Flickr Creator |website=Wall Street Journal |date=March 20, 2005}}</ref>

==Ludicorp's structure==

=== Team ===
Their team consisted of:

*[[Stewart Butterfield]], President
*Jason Classon, Operations Lead
*Eric Costello, Client Development Lead
*[[Caterina Fake]], VP Marketing and Community
*Craig Johannsen, Server Development Lead
*[[Cal Henderson]], Web Development Lead
*Paul Lloyd, Developer
*[[George Oates]], Producer
*[[Ben Cerveny]], Game Designer and Advisor

=== Advisory board ===
*[[Cory Doctorow]]
*Andrew Zolli
*[[Clay Shirky]]

== Founding ==

=== Background ===
Stewart Butterfield, one founder of Ludicorp earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1996 from the [[University of Victoria]]. and then went on to earn a master's degree in philosophy from the [[University of Cambridge]] shortly after.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last1=Hembroth |first1=M |last2=Hartmans |first2=A |date=December 4, 2020 |title=The life and career of Stewart Butterfield, the Flickr cofounder and Slack CEO who just sold his company to Salesforce for $27.7 billion |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-life-of-slack-ceo-stewart-butterfield-2015-9 |website=Business Insider}}</ref> He also earned a master's degree in history from the University of Cambridge.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Welch |first=J |date=2021 |title=Success beyond STEM: an analysis of educational background of the Fortune 50 CEOs. |url=https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-02-2020-0018 |journal=Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=557–575|doi=10.1108/HESWBL-02-2020-0018 |s2cid=225426350 }}</ref> Butterfield says his choice in degree, although uncommon for a [[Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics|STEM]] CEO, has benefited him in management and running businesses.<ref name=":1" /> Following this, he became a part of Jason Classon's start up business Gradfinder.com, which they would end up selling.<ref name=":0" />

Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield met as web designers living in [[San Francisco]] and Vancouver respectively when they met.<ref name="founders-at-work" /> Fake moved to Vancouver and the two got married, starting Ludicorp with Classon, just after their honeymoon.<ref name="founders-at-work" /> Fake says that the inspiration for the name Ludicorp came from the Latin word ludus, meaning play, as they are working on an online game, Game Neverending.<ref name="founders-at-work" />

=== Early operations ===
Shortly following Ludicorp's founding, Butterfield, Classon and Fake began working on Game Neverending.<ref name="founders-at-work" /> According to Fake “[She] did the game design, Stewart did the interaction design and Jason did the [[PHP]] for the prototype.”<ref name="founders-at-work" /> During the time they were developing Game Neverending, Ludicorp were able to secure a government loan and began to break even shortly later.<ref name="founders-at-work" /> Fake expressed how raising funds for Flickr however was difficult as it was a new concept, including many new features in the new social media market.<ref name="founders-at-work" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite magazine |last=Honan |first=M |date=2014 |title=The Most Fascinating Profile You'll Ever Read About a Guy and His Boring Startup. |url=https://www.wired.com/2014/08/the-most-fascinating-profile-youll-ever-read-about-a-guy-and-his-boring-startup/ |magazine=Wired}}</ref>

== Development of Game Neverending ==
According to Fake, “[[Neopets Trading Card Game|Neopets]] was one of the inspirations for Game Neverending,” a game where online multiplayer interaction was available.<ref name="founders-at-work" /> It was meant to be a game that would not end, and there was no concept of winning or losing in it.<ref name=":2" /> Game Neverending was finished and released in 2002, however it did not gain the success Ludicorp had wanted it to.<ref>{{Cite news |last=The Economist |date=2016 |title=Office connection; the Slack generation |url=https://www.economist.com/business/2016/05/14/the-slack-generation |newspaper=The Economist |volume=419 |pages=53–54}}</ref> Game Neverending eventually became Ludicorp's major project, Flickr.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=The Week |date=2017 |title=City Profiles |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2054110009 |journal=The Week |volume=44|id={{ProQuest|2054110009}} }}</ref>

Fake said that many in Ludicorp were disappointed to forgo Game Neverending, but they also realised that Flickr was a rising source of success for them.<ref name="founders-at-work" />

== Development of Flickr ==
Game Neverending contained a feature which would allow players to communicate and share photographs with each other.<ref name="founders-at-work" /> However, all the technical features used to create this function were also the fundamental features of Flickr.<ref name=":2" /> After Game neverending became a financial failure, the Ludicorp executives then decided to drop that project and pursue Flickr, especially as it was beginning to gain financial success in 2004.<ref name="founders-at-work" />

Flickr's first version was built in 8 weeks, as Ludicorp already had the necessary technology and software from Game Neverending.<ref name="founders-at-work" /> It was essentially a social networking site, allowing users to post and share pictures they had taken, without any help from professional companies.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Zeng |first1=X |last2=Wei |first2=L |date=2013 |title=Social ties and user content generation: evidence from Flickr |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42004270 |journal=Information Systems Research |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=71–87|doi=10.1287/isre.1120.0464 |jstor=42004270 }}</ref> Its fast growth was pushed by the increasing popularity of social networking sites, such as [[YouTube]] and the increasing availability of smartphones with built in cameras.<ref name="founders-at-work" /><ref name=":3" />

Although many users were professional photographers, Flickr was aimed at those who found photography as a hobby.<ref name=":3" /> According to Fake, herself and Butterfield were both bloggers in their spare time and this was beneficial for them when creating the site.<ref name="founders-at-work" /> Ludicorp created Flickr in a way that it filled a hole in the market; other competitors did not allow bloggers to post pictures.<ref name=":2" /> Ludicorp also added many first ever features in Flickr, such as “authing in,” being able to change the amount of information you share with your friends and activity streams.<ref name=":2" />

Ludicorp also designed Flickr to be more focused on content, rather than as a social interaction site, unlike a platform such as [[Facebook]].<ref name=":3" /> Users can follow other users in a non-mutual subscription model, like YouTube.<ref name=":3" /> Furthermore, content can be viewed without the subscription, another first for social media sites in 2004.<ref name=":3" /> Fake said that they allowed this as at the time publicly viewable content was not a feature on other social media platforms.<ref name="founders-at-work" />

According to Fake, Flickr “turned the tide for Ludicorp,” as with the failure of Game Neverending, the company was struggling.<ref name="founders-at-work" /> By the end of 2004 Flickr was worth approximately US$25 million.<ref name=":2" /> This led to many companies having interest in acquiring Ludicorp, one such company being Yahoo!.<ref name="founders-at-work" />

== Acquisition by Yahoo! ==
At the end of 2004, Butterfield, Fake and Classon sold Ludicorp to Yahoo!.<ref name=":2" /> However, Butterfield also has admitted to selling the company too early,<ref name=":2" /> as many fans and users of [[Twitter]] considered Yahoo! to be a poor owner.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Frommer |first=D |date=2018 |title=Flickr has been sold after 13 years at Yahoo. Can Flickr be relevant again? |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/4/20/17264274/flickr-smugmug-yahoo-oath-verizon-deal-photo-sharing-service-mobile-instagram |website=Recode}}</ref> Following the acquisition, Fake and Classon left, with Butterfield following two years later in 2007 after having his second child and divorcing from Fake.<ref name=":2" /> In a memoir he sent to Brad Garlinghouse, announcing his resignation he said he felt “sidelined” by Yahoo! and did not have as much of a say in his company anymore.<ref name=":2" />

In the years that Yahoo! owned Ludicorp, its main product Flickr peaked and then began to decline, with other social media networks taking over,<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Tiffany |first=K |date=2019 |title=Flickr will soon start deleting photos — and massive chunks of internet history. |url=https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/2/6/18214046/flickr-free-storage-ends-digital-photo-archive-history |website=Vox}}</ref> such as [[Instagram]] and [[Snapchat]].<ref name=":4" /> Furthermore, as Yahoo! did not focus on the development of Flickr it became difficult to monetize becoming unprofitable for Ludicorp and Yahoo!.<ref name=":5" /> Realising this, Yahoo! sold Flickr to [[SmugMug]],<ref name=":4" /> causing Ludicorp to lose its main product. Although Ludicorp no longer owns Flickr as Yahoo! sold the product, not the company.<ref name=":4" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/*/www.ludicorp.com|date=*|title=Ludicorp}}

[[Category:Canadian companies established in 2002]]
[[Category:Software companies established in 2002]]
[[Category:2002 establishments in British Columbia]]
[[Category:Software companies of Canada]]
[[Category:Yahoo! acquisitions]]
[[Category:Companies based in Vancouver]]
[[Category:2005 mergers and acquisitions]]

Latest revision as of 22:42, 5 August 2024

Ludicorp
Company typePrivate
IndustrySoftware development
Founded2002; 22 years ago (2002)
FounderStewart Butterfield, Caterina Fake and Jason Classon
Headquarters
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Websitewww.ludicorp.com

Ludicorp was a company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, that created Flickr and Game Neverending.[1][2][3] It was founded in 2002 by Stewart Butterfield, Caterina Fake and Jason Classon and was bought by Yahoo! on March 20, 2005.[4][5]

Ludicorp's structure

[edit]

Team

[edit]

Their team consisted of:

Advisory board

[edit]

Founding

[edit]

Background

[edit]

Stewart Butterfield, one founder of Ludicorp earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1996 from the University of Victoria. and then went on to earn a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Cambridge shortly after.[6] He also earned a master's degree in history from the University of Cambridge.[7] Butterfield says his choice in degree, although uncommon for a STEM CEO, has benefited him in management and running businesses.[7] Following this, he became a part of Jason Classon's start up business Gradfinder.com, which they would end up selling.[6]

Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield met as web designers living in San Francisco and Vancouver respectively when they met.[4] Fake moved to Vancouver and the two got married, starting Ludicorp with Classon, just after their honeymoon.[4] Fake says that the inspiration for the name Ludicorp came from the Latin word ludus, meaning play, as they are working on an online game, Game Neverending.[4]

Early operations

[edit]

Shortly following Ludicorp's founding, Butterfield, Classon and Fake began working on Game Neverending.[4] According to Fake “[She] did the game design, Stewart did the interaction design and Jason did the PHP for the prototype.”[4] During the time they were developing Game Neverending, Ludicorp were able to secure a government loan and began to break even shortly later.[4] Fake expressed how raising funds for Flickr however was difficult as it was a new concept, including many new features in the new social media market.[4][8]

Development of Game Neverending

[edit]

According to Fake, “Neopets was one of the inspirations for Game Neverending,” a game where online multiplayer interaction was available.[4] It was meant to be a game that would not end, and there was no concept of winning or losing in it.[8] Game Neverending was finished and released in 2002, however it did not gain the success Ludicorp had wanted it to.[9] Game Neverending eventually became Ludicorp's major project, Flickr.[10]

Fake said that many in Ludicorp were disappointed to forgo Game Neverending, but they also realised that Flickr was a rising source of success for them.[4]

Development of Flickr

[edit]

Game Neverending contained a feature which would allow players to communicate and share photographs with each other.[4] However, all the technical features used to create this function were also the fundamental features of Flickr.[8] After Game neverending became a financial failure, the Ludicorp executives then decided to drop that project and pursue Flickr, especially as it was beginning to gain financial success in 2004.[4]

Flickr's first version was built in 8 weeks, as Ludicorp already had the necessary technology and software from Game Neverending.[4] It was essentially a social networking site, allowing users to post and share pictures they had taken, without any help from professional companies.[11] Its fast growth was pushed by the increasing popularity of social networking sites, such as YouTube and the increasing availability of smartphones with built in cameras.[4][11]

Although many users were professional photographers, Flickr was aimed at those who found photography as a hobby.[11] According to Fake, herself and Butterfield were both bloggers in their spare time and this was beneficial for them when creating the site.[4] Ludicorp created Flickr in a way that it filled a hole in the market; other competitors did not allow bloggers to post pictures.[8] Ludicorp also added many first ever features in Flickr, such as “authing in,” being able to change the amount of information you share with your friends and activity streams.[8]

Ludicorp also designed Flickr to be more focused on content, rather than as a social interaction site, unlike a platform such as Facebook.[11] Users can follow other users in a non-mutual subscription model, like YouTube.[11] Furthermore, content can be viewed without the subscription, another first for social media sites in 2004.[11] Fake said that they allowed this as at the time publicly viewable content was not a feature on other social media platforms.[4]

According to Fake, Flickr “turned the tide for Ludicorp,” as with the failure of Game Neverending, the company was struggling.[4] By the end of 2004 Flickr was worth approximately US$25 million.[8] This led to many companies having interest in acquiring Ludicorp, one such company being Yahoo!.[4]

Acquisition by Yahoo!

[edit]

At the end of 2004, Butterfield, Fake and Classon sold Ludicorp to Yahoo!.[8] However, Butterfield also has admitted to selling the company too early,[8] as many fans and users of Twitter considered Yahoo! to be a poor owner.[12] Following the acquisition, Fake and Classon left, with Butterfield following two years later in 2007 after having his second child and divorcing from Fake.[8] In a memoir he sent to Brad Garlinghouse, announcing his resignation he said he felt “sidelined” by Yahoo! and did not have as much of a say in his company anymore.[8]

In the years that Yahoo! owned Ludicorp, its main product Flickr peaked and then began to decline, with other social media networks taking over,[13] such as Instagram and Snapchat.[12] Furthermore, as Yahoo! did not focus on the development of Flickr it became difficult to monetize becoming unprofitable for Ludicorp and Yahoo!.[13] Realising this, Yahoo! sold Flickr to SmugMug,[12] causing Ludicorp to lose its main product. Although Ludicorp no longer owns Flickr as Yahoo! sold the product, not the company.[12]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Game Neverending Rises From The Dead". Tech Crunch. April 2, 2008.
  2. ^ "SmugMug Acquires Flickr, Promises to Keep Community Alive". KQED. Apr 23, 2018.
  3. ^ "Yahoo acquires Flickr photo sharing service". Macworld. Mar 21, 2005.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Livingston, Jessica (2007). Founders at Work. Apress. ISBN 978-1590597149.
  5. ^ "Yahoo Acquires Flickr Creator". Wall Street Journal. March 20, 2005.
  6. ^ a b Hembroth, M; Hartmans, A (December 4, 2020). "The life and career of Stewart Butterfield, the Flickr cofounder and Slack CEO who just sold his company to Salesforce for $27.7 billion". Business Insider.
  7. ^ a b Welch, J (2021). "Success beyond STEM: an analysis of educational background of the Fortune 50 CEOs". Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning. 11 (2): 557–575. doi:10.1108/HESWBL-02-2020-0018. S2CID 225426350.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Honan, M (2014). "The Most Fascinating Profile You'll Ever Read About a Guy and His Boring Startup". Wired.
  9. ^ The Economist (2016). "Office connection; the Slack generation". The Economist. Vol. 419. pp. 53–54.
  10. ^ The Week (2017). "City Profiles". The Week. 44. ProQuest 2054110009.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Zeng, X; Wei, L (2013). "Social ties and user content generation: evidence from Flickr". Information Systems Research. 24 (1): 71–87. doi:10.1287/isre.1120.0464. JSTOR 42004270.
  12. ^ a b c d Frommer, D (2018). "Flickr has been sold after 13 years at Yahoo. Can Flickr be relevant again?". Recode.
  13. ^ a b Tiffany, K (2019). "Flickr will soon start deleting photos — and massive chunks of internet history". Vox.
[edit]
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