Evernote, the app that has searched for 20 years to seek out a big paying viewers for its “exterior mind,” is shifting its operations to Italy, residence of its guardian firm Bending Spoons. It is one more large shift for an organization that is been helpful, however not fairly worthwhile, since at the very least 2004.
Bending Spoons, which acquired Evernote in November 2022, had laid off 129 employees in February 2023, stating that Evernote had been “unprofitable for years” and “unsustainable in the long run.” No matter unspecified variety of remaining workers stay within the US (and Chile) acquired discover of the transfer on June 23, then the layoff on July 5, in response to an organization weblog submit. Staffers usually acquired 16 weeks of wage, one yr of medical insurance, and a pro-rated efficiency bonus, together with help for these engaged on visas.
“Our plans for Evernote are as bold as ever: Going ahead, a devoted (and rising) group based mostly in Europe will proceed to imagine possession of the Evernote product,” wrote Francesco Patarnello, Evernote’s CEO. “This group shall be in a great place to leverage the intensive experience and energy of the 400-plus workforce at Bending Spoons, lots of whom have been engaged on Evernote full-time for the reason that acquisition.”
Many individuals at present, particularly youthful individuals, could have by no means heard of Evernote, which is a part of the issue. Evernote’s core pitch—an simply accessed, tag-friendly, searchable pocket book that syncs in every single place—was novel and impressive when it publicly debuted in 2004. Founder Stepan Pachikov, who had been growing the venture since 2000, had additionally labored on handwriting recognition for each Microsoft and Apple; on the time, an app that might maintain all the things paired up between a Pocket PC and a Home windows XP laptop, with none cable fuss, was novel.
Commercial
As iPhones, Android gadgets, and tablets arrived, Evernote confirmed up on them. As different apps appeared, Evernote nearly at all times had an official API integration with them.
Ars interviewed then-CEO Phil Libin in 2008, after Evernote launched an iPhone consumer, a brand new internet UI, and a premium membership. The corporate wished to “downplay consumer model numbers” and cost as a substitute for Evernote as a service, an thought that will later resonate with legions of app builders. “We wish individuals to be snug with Evernote as their exterior mind,” Libin defined. “Platforms and apps change, however individuals will at all times want entry to the service.”
Evernote was extra versatile than the words-on-a-page identify prompt. The app gained traction with the context/tagging/folder-focused Getting Issues Completed crowd, and Evernote welcomed them. Ars’ Casey Johnston wrote in late 2013 about how Evernote helped her overcome an irrational keep-everything mentality. By that time, there have been note-taking apps within the ecosystems of Google (Preserve), Apple (Notes), and Microsoft (OneNote), however Evernote’s multi-platform nature and beneficiant freemium mannequin maintained its enchantment. I had one good friend who, round that point, saved his Evernote password in a fireproof protected for his partner; it was a key a part of how she might settle his property ought to the sudden occur.
At one heady second in 2013, the corporate had 75 million customers, with 3.1 million of them paying. The corporate was reportedly valued at round $1 billion, and it was desperate to broaden. At its person convention that yr, documented by Harry McCracken, it pitched Evernote integrations with 3M’s Publish-It Notes, backpacks, messenger luggage, wallets, baggage, Moleskine notebooks, scanners and cameras, and Google Glass. Evernote was rising internationally, wanting towards an IPO, and toying with facet tasks like Evernote Hey (bear in mind individuals), Evernote Meals (recipes and ingredient purchasing), and Evernote Peek (flashcards for college students).
Commercial
Libin advised Quick Firm in 2013 that the objective for Evernote wasn’t a typical startup exit, like a sale or IPO. The corporate additionally wished to be round for 100 years. “We stated, 100-year startup, we nonetheless wish to be a startup in 100 years,” Libin stated. “At the same time as we get greater, we don’t wish to keep small, we wish to get fairly massive, however we wish to be a 100-year-old, very massive firm that’s nonetheless working like a startup, individuals are nonetheless in love with, that’s making modern selections, that’s appearing decisively.”
Quickly after that, nevertheless, Evernote began showing within the information for issues aside from new options and novel makes use of. The corporate was criticized for substandard cryptographic practices after a serious breach, because it was utilizing MD5 instruments to hash passwords, a system that might simply be overcome with brute computing energy. The corporate introduced large adjustments to its pricing in 2016, primarily by limiting free customers to 2 gadgets. Later that yr, Evernote’s new privateness coverage raised eyebrows, on condition that it appeared to suggest workers might have a look at your notes and you might not choose out. Afterward, then-CEO Chris O’Neill apologized and stated it truly concerned machine studying correction.
That very same yr, the corporate misplaced 4 executives in a single month, sought funds on a decrease valuation, and began pruning non-core companies, together with Evernote-branded gear, Meals, and a lot of the different issues McCracken wrote about in 2013. The corporate had dropped from the No. 1 slot in productiveness apps in Apple’s App Retailer to No. 55 by then. The worker who tipped off TechCrunch to the chief departures described the corporate as “in a demise spiral.”
The marketplace for a memory-storage app received harder after that, because the tech giants improved their default apps’ capabilities, and collaboration-focused newcomers like Notion gained consideration. Bending Spoons, maker of different way of life and productiveness apps like 30 Day Health, Splice, and Remini, acquired the corporate for an undisclosed quantity late final yr. At the moment, Evernote was reportedly pulling in $100 million in recurring income from 250 million customers.
It is unclear what the subsequent section of Evernote appears to be like like as an internally managed venture at Bending Spoons. The corporate’s longevity stays spectacular, particularly for its business. A whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of individuals nonetheless have knowledge with Evernote and may hopefully make use of it—or export it—ought to future headlines recommend additional adjustments.
Itemizing picture by Evernote