We are pleased to announce that Cyndx LLC entered into an agreement with Mode Media to take over the operations of Ning Inc from Mode Media effective immediately. The Ning and Cyndx teams together are bigger, stronger, and better positioned to provide innovative media solutions that will improve our customers social experience.
Our combined organization is committed to maintaining excellence and strong customer relationships throughout the integration and providing you with superior levels of service and product quality. A new dedicated team from across the organization will ensure that the transition period is seamless for you while seeking new ways to improve overall service levels.
We look forward to providing you with an even more comprehensive and innovative Social Media experience and solutions.
You can continue to count on service and support from the current and expanding customer team. In the coming weeks, we will keep you informed of our progress and introduce the new management team.
We thank you for your continued support and customer loyalty. Your satisfaction is very important to us, and we want to hear from you so that we can make the service better together.
Should you have any comments, questions or concerns, please contact a member of the integration management team by sending an email to support@ning.com so that we can respond to you promptly and address your customer service needs.
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FT lmfao!
By Deborah Gage
Sept. 15, 2016 4:07 p.m. ET
Mode Media Corp., a life-style content network that had been valued at $1 billion, abruptly shut down its operations Thursday.
The Brisbane, Calif.-based company informed employees at a staff-wide meeting on Thursday morning, according to several people with knowledge of it.
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In a memo to employees that was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, Mode said it was “closing its doors effective today, September 15, 2016.”
A spokesman confirmed the shut-down but declined to provide details.
According to the memo, Mode said that for the last five months, it had been “actively and continuously” seeking financing or an acquisition and believed its efforts would not be successful if employees were told.
“We deeply regret having to take this action and we wish we could have provided you with greater notice,” the memo said.
Mode cut some employees earlier this year as part of a restructuring and has been through several executive changes, including the departure in April of co-founder and former Chief Executive Samir Arora.
That same month, Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen resigned from Mode’s board. Mr. Andreessen had joined the board in 2011 after Mode, then called Glam Media, acquired Ning, a social networking company he co-founded.
Interim Chief Executive Jack Rotolo, who replaced Mr. Arora, told The Wall Street Journal in August that Mode was “kind of at the end” of its transition and said he was focusing on “getting the company back into high-growth mode,” with profitability expected by the end of 2017.
But Mode apparently couldn’t move fast enough to survive. Founded in 2004, the company was called Glam Media until it changed its name to Mode two years ago in an effort to broaden its reach beyond women, blogs and online advertising.
As Glam, the company had been valued at $1 billion based on an investment secured in August 2013, and it filed that year for an initial public offering, although it never listed.
Mode then sought to become a destination site for original videos focused on fashion and design, and last year it also launched a social news app.
The company had raised at least $230 million over the years from a long list of investors, including the German company Hubert Burda Media, which announced a partnership with Mode in January 2015. Hubert Burda Media could not be reached for comment.
Write to Deborah Gage at Deborah.Gage@dowjones.com
I also believe that Cyndx is a scavenger company since they do not operate online communities platforms.
Personally, if I were in your shoes, I'd pay monthly until I was either sure that Cyndx would keep us going, or until I could find an alternative. Tech companies are often purchased for the sole purpose of acquiring their personnel, which the new company then repurposes to their own needs -- whatever those may be. I have my doubts as to whether or not they will keep Ning going, and provide support that has been sorely lacking in the past several years. We paid back in July for another year, so theoretically we should be good until next July. But we've already put our contingency plan into place, just in case!
That is commitment - the kind of commitment we creators had to have in order to go through this rollercoaster.
Writer Chick
Thumbs Up!
writer chick- I wish there were thumbs up for your comment... I agree...
Sadly, I cancelled three of my Ning sites today. You hiked (more than doubled) your prices, gave short notices, and failed to give your customer's ample time to make financial adjustments. Did you ever think about clients who had more than one site? It was quite unfair. I could pay your hiked prices but I refuse to remain any longer with a company that goes through so many unexpected changes with no regard for client need, direction, and vision. How can I expect you to help me birth my vision when you clearly have no direction? How can I trust you when you underhandedly throw these curve balls out of left field? Your Ning 2.0 was amazing. I'm so glad that I did not upgrade to the 3.0 because according to the record, hundreds of people are crying about it now. When you made the changes the last time, I bit the bullet and stayed with you, but you stung us yet again. I refuse to remain with a company that continually throws its clients under the bus. The amount of complaints I have read from my fellow Ningsters, on Facebook and other social media is so sad to say the least; especially to those who worked so hard, invested dollars and time to build and beautify their sites, build a reputation, and for my Ningsters who have extremely large membership and are now stuck, I feel you. Excellence should always be the signature. Unfortunately, you have failed.
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