The bad news for mobile VoIP startups keeps coming. EQO, which had cut nearly 65 percent of its workforce about two months ago, might have finally hit the deck and be down for the count, according to Canadian technology news site, Techvibes.
In response to my previous post, EQO CEO Bill Tam said that cuts would allow the company to operate near profitability. He also claimed that the company had 2 million users, was doubling every eight weeks and growing its revenues. Apparently, that wasn’t enough.
EQO had raised about $13 million and was trying to sell itself, but apparently it didn’t find any buyers, according to the report. Some of my sources are confirming this shutdown. There has been chatter about VCs trying to claw back unspent cash, though I have not been able to confirm it. Some senior executives, including CFO Laura Colwill, have been job hunting. A sure sign that the party is over: information about the management team has been removed from EQO’s About Us page.
haha i thought so that something like this was coming … however not sure its recession or lack of their business planning in this case ? any body got a clue to this ?
“He also claimed that the company had 2 million users, was doubling every eight weeks and growing its revenues. Apparently, that wasn’t enough.”
Or, more likely… it just wasn’t true.
It looks as though the only traffic they’re getting lately is from blogs talking about them dying.. that last bump coincides nicely with Om’s article about their layoffs:
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/eqo.com/?metric=uv
@Jim Lazar,
Trying to be polite here. I think like you everyone can read between the lines.
the fact that a dude like bill thinks he can get away with this deception only reveals how little he understands the game they are playing. spinning is one thing — that’s what ceo’s do. outright lying about your company in public in ways that are easily auditable is just st00pid.
no service with more than a million paying users would ever just shut its doors… there is always a buyer
The fixed line business has had a large “alternative” calling sector for many years and it is still going strong. For example, Ofcom, the UK regulator said that it has issued over 600 codes for fixed line phone services. (Some operations have more than one code, but there are probably at least 300 different “operators”). And now I believe a similar sector is emerging for mobile. No doubt this sector will see many changes as it evolves.
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