ON A VICTORY LAP FOR TELLME

MARATHON RUN

It's always great to see good things happen for one's friends, whether it's sooner or later.
That's why I was so glad to see today's announcement of Microsoft buying Tellme, for a sum reported to be a touch less than a billion dollars (the specific financial terms aren't being released).  There's a good discussion of the deal over on Techmeme.

From the founding team of Mike McCue and Angus Davis, to many of it's investors, employees, and board members, I have a good number of friends in all these buckets at Tellme,. 

So I'd like to convey my heartfelt congratulations to all these folks who've been part of the Tellme adventure for almost a decade.  It was a marathon in many ways.

Om Malik at GigaOm has a good post summarizing some of those good people, along with a post summarizing the highlights of today's announcement.

For those not familiar with Tellme, you've encountered their almost magical voice infrastructure services many times when a human-sounding voice answers your calls to many telephone-based information and support services.  Tens of millions have used Tellme without ever knowing they were using Tellme over the years.

It's also pretty interesting to contemplate what Tellme technologies and people will be able to contribute over at Microsoft.  This is especially important given Microsoft's increasing footprint in operating systems for mobile phones, smart or otherwise. 

As I highlighted in a post a few weeks ago, Microsoft needs something more in it's operating and application software products for mobile phones.  This despite the fact that their offerings represent some of the leading efforts in this rapidly growing market.

Perhaps Tellme can help provide that little bit extra helping of magic.

Here's wishing both companies the very best in these efforts ahead.

DISCLOSURE:  As highlighted in the post, I have many personal friends involved with Tellme over the years.  I do not have a financial interest in the company.