4) Evernote Case Study

Evernote is the acquisition that put them on the radar. Their playbook was something like the below:

i) The deal was closed at the end of 2022, phenomenal market timing from the Bending Spoons guys (bottom of software over the last years). Evernote had been struggling for a few years, and downloads were falling significantly

ii) Bending Spoons started cutting jobs right away and by the summer of 2023, they instituted mass layoffs, shut its offices and moved operations to Europe from California

iii) Bending Spoons launched a few updated to the app and started to raise price very aggressively to take full advantage of the users who really need Evernote. The exact amount is not clear as sources online differ, but the range seems around ~2x+.

A recent post from Reddit share how "Mine [subscription] was $78 in 2023 (personal level). $145 in 2024.

Supposedly will be $160 in 2025". Another shared "A 2.6x price increase ($49.99 ---> $129.99)" I am not a user of Evernote so cannot comment too much, but users seem really annoyed at Bending Spoons on every social forum.

It is very much possible that the true users really need this software so just live with it, but I do wonder how scalable this strategy is. After all, the best businesses in the world are ~generally~ loved by their customers, here that is definitely not the case.