Broadbean acquired by Associated Northcliffe Digital

Broadbean have announced that they have been acquired; more info is on Dan's blog.

So is this a real good deal for everyone or is there something else to question?

I think Dan has done a fantastic job of growing the Broadbean brand and hope that his 25% shareholding allows him a few of life's luxuries.  However, the company line may be that 'nothing will change' but in reality it already has.

Job board neutral
Having been in the job posting game, being acquired by anyone linked to a job board was always a big no for us.  OK, so we got acquired by a bunch of idiots (yep, my fault) but at least we stayed independent of the job boards.  Although AND will make every assurance to not use any of the Broadbean data to their advantage the job boards will of course be slightly nervous!

Dan won't last long
Not because he is bad but because he is too good to work in a big corporate environment.  He's an entrepreneur and won't want to be caged at all.  Of course AND have told him he will retain his freedom but really.....

The undisclosed sum
Why not disclose the amount that was paid?  Was it so little or too much?  Never a great sign.

Anyone seen a job poster around here?
Not that much was achieved with Conkers so let's buy another horse for the stable.  Doesn't make a lot of sense yet.

The model needs to change
Dan and I disagree on this one but I still say the job posting model needs to change and hope that maybe Dan will take this opportunity to do something a lot smarter than just post jobs.

I must be wrong
However, Keith Potts is still working within AND so there must be something good.  Keith is one of the industry vets and a very good one at that.  So why would he stay?  There must be a damn good reason because he hardly needs the cash.  And Dan could learn a hell of a lot from Keith.

And finally
I think there are some interesting times ahead on this one and if anyone can make it work I think they can.  But I'm yet to be convinced! 

Good luck Dan and hopefully well done.  You can't have got it any more wrong than I did!!!