Originally Posted by Peter@Maemo Marketing

Hi,

here is a thought from somebody that knows plenty of the Jolla folks:

If you are thinking about the continuation of Jolla, then take a look at the facts on who is still around. In reality, all key contributors have left already or will leave in the near future. Here is a list:
Marc Dillon, Co-Founder & COO (former Maemo Variant Manager): Gone
Carsten Munk, Head of R&D (Former MeeGo developer): Gone
Valerio Valerio, Chief Software Engineer (former Maemo contributor): Gone
Souyma Bijjal, Head of SDK (former Maemo SDK program manager): Gone
Stefano Mosconi, Founder&CIO (former Maemo IT Manager): Leaving
Annikka Hautamäki, Chief Products Officer (former Maemo Product Manager): leaving
Pekka Itäpelto, Head of Business Development (former Nokia consultant): Gone
Tim McDonald, Marketing Director (former nokia.com design lead): Gone
Mikko Pykkö, VP Sales&Marketing (former Nokia sales director): leaving

Does anybody truly believe that Jolla will continue without these guys?

The only two guys "left" are Antti Saarnio and Sami Pienimäki who are already working on their next "adventure".

Jolla was a very ambitious project, maybe too good to be true. I personally believe that something like Sailfish OS will one day happen just like Linux takes over gradually more of the computing world. But Jolla? Well, the last word hasn't been spoken, but it won't be long until then.

Peter (former Head of Maemo Marketing, Host of Maemo Summit Amsterdam)

Originally Posted by NokiaFanatic

The second issue is Jolla the company and how damaged it has been by all this. Personally, it looks like irreparable damage to me. Suppliers have been burned, tablet buyers have been burned, employees have been burned, many customers who were fans of Sailfish, will simply no longer be able to trust Jolla the company. If Steve Lau (or whatever investor) was supposed to be investing last month - he certainly won't do so now that the company has been dragged through a sh1tstorm, lost piles of people and is now going through restructuring. With all the legacy of debt and bad feeling, Jolla (the company) isn't worth saving anymore.

Originally Posted by Stskeeps

It's a bad situation, sure, but not the end of the road right now for SailfishOS. How much the Jolla brand is tainted? That's a even bigger question. And how the organisation looks like after this situation and our ability to recruit.

Originally Posted by zenecho

Whats in a name?

Who remembers the "RMS Olympic" or the "HMHS Britannic" ?

no....

maybe you remember or have heard of their sister ship ..... "RMS Titanic"?

Originally Posted by billranton

Don't forget that all of this trouble was caused by the sudden departure of a large investor. Startups cannot anticipate that, otherwise they would never take the risks they must take to end up successful. Companies are built on a pile of debt and investment. It's usually a fatal blow for a company to lose a key investor - the fact they haven't been able to pay people or deliver in this situation is not something you can blame them for or judge the company for.

Originally Posted by billranton

However, the way they have suddenly, violently restructured themselves in the wake of this is commendable. No departing employee I have seen has ill will towards them. Most have indicated that they wish to continue contributing in some way. Some have volunteered to step down because they don't see their role as key right now. It may not be the same Jolla, but I can't see how it can not survive in some form considering this support.

Originally Posted by billranton

I don't see the point in the doomsaying that @Peter@Maemo Marketing is coming along with. Killing hope doesn't gain you anything. If the whole thing does fold tomorrow then you'll get no trophy. Might as well look on the bright side until there it no longer exists.

Originally Posted by NokiaFanatic

So you're saying this situation is all the fault of the investor? Would you not consider the investor's perspective in all this? i.e. the guts of $50M has went into Jolla since 2012 - going into 2016 the Sailfish user base is still tiny, there are no products in the pipeline, there is no plan as to how Sailfish can be commercially viable.

Clearly Jolla have worked hard, but Jolla as a commercial business entity has failed and failed pretty badly.

Jolla don't have customers to lose, and this debacle will have lost them the few they had. With piles of legacy debts and obligations built up, it's hard to see an investor wanting to take that over while also sinking more money in to fund future development.
No one is killing hope. The whole point of this thread was tl talk about the possibilities of keeping Sailfish going. Personally, I think the money just does not exist to keep Jolla the company going, but the community and less money does exist to keep Sailfish going on a smaller, cheaper basis.

This is in no way a pop at Jolla or any staff. They have clearly worked hard, they have developed a great OS - unfortunately, it has been a commercial flop. The question we ask from here is can Sailfish be kept going in a smaller, tighter ship? Personally, I think so.

Originally Posted by tortoisedoc

The tablet is not a product?
The Intex phone is not a product?

Aren't they both in the pipeline?

Originally Posted by NokiaFanatic

The tablet has already been sold. Money has been received and all of it has been spent but the product has not shipped. This is a serious liability to the company now, not something that exists in the pipeline and can receive revenue.

The Intex phone was supposed to be out in November, yet it has not materialized. With Jolla facing a very uncertain future, I suspect it will be shelved.

Originally Posted by tortoisedoc

I get your point, but are you saying the fact that x ammounts of a product have been sold, implies another x number of the same product cannot be sold anymore?