Ok.. so the companies (finally, perhaps?) today confirmed that Nokia did indeed acquire Dopplr.
Here's the blog entry from Dopplr:
http://blog.dopplr.com/2009/09/28/nokia-acquires-dopplr/
And the press release from Nokia:
http://www.nokia.com/press/press-releases/showpressrelease?newsid=1344044
For a while there many people were a bit sceptic on did the deal happen at all or not; so now you have confirmation.
If you hope to get an inside scoop or some detailed information about this deal from me, the ex-COO of Dopplr, I'm sorry to disappoint you; I have to remain quiet on the topic.
Mike Butcher of TechCrunch Europe published a post a few days back on this. He was keen to analyze Dopplr's "space", history, investors behind the company, and added a bit of speculation on the deal and gave feedback on what has nagged him about Dopplr. Also he probably didn't know that I am also ex-Nokia and excluded me from his list of "Ex-Nokia people who work/worked at Dopplr", no biggie. If there's something I rather like NOT being remembered for; it's being an ex-Nokia person ;)
One thing in Mike's post is a good show of recognition for Dopplr, him saying: " Let’s acknowledge that Dopplr was an amazing idea, designed beautifully and executed almost perfectly." Fully agree there. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with the talented team of Dopplr, and the company's "stellar group of backers" (investors). During my time as Chief Operating Officer we were actively building up the launch of Dopplr and the first important critical masses of people. I learned a lot - including to really respect the great skill, talent, motivation and faith of the team members. Their level of commitment, talent and professionalism still remains to be beyond what is found in many many Finnish startups - a lot of you (the startups) would have tons to learn from Dopplr. Get to know the case, the people and learn what you can; I feel entirely that this kind of success can be repeated - so go for it!
Congrats Dopplr Team! - you deserved a good exit! I hope to see Dopplr continue strong with (and despite of) the new corporate owner!
Hi. My name is Taneli Tikka. This is where I preach what I practice. I'm a
serial entrepreneur and a startup activist of sorts. People usually know me
from my past and present consumer Internet service projects: IRC-Galleria,
Dopplr, Muxlim, StarDoll, RunToShop, Vakuutuskone.com, and a bunch of other stuff. My
"proper" bio is behind this link. Glad to see you here, thanks for browsing
around.