Intuit and Homestead join forces

Big news in the Homestead universe today!  We announced this afternoon that Homestead has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Intuit for a generous amount of cash.  You can read the standard-issue press release here.  It's expected to close early next year.

The backstory is a bit more interesting.

Ever since I started Homestead in 1997, I have kept two lists.  The first list is all the acquisition offers we have received over the years (it's nineteen long, not counting this one).  The second list is a "wish list" that contains companies I would actually consider selling our "baby" to; companies that have resonated with me and the Homestead philosophy of doing business over the span of my career (this list has four members).  Intuit is on the first list twice and, as you might guess, a member of the illustrious second list.

You have to understand that when you start a company in your bedroom because you don't want to work for "the man," it is quite exhilarating (and a bit amusing) the first time another company comes along and offers to pay you a lot of money for what you've created.  I've never intended to sell Homestead, but then again I've never intended not to sell it either.  It just hasn't been a primary focus.  It's much more fun to hire amazing employees, build great products, and delight the pants off of your customers.  In fact, you can ask my wife: getting an acquisition offer is a major distraction and usually knocks my world off of its axis for a few weeks until we eventually say no.

Saying no, even though we've done it a lot of times, is not a simple matter.  We have investors who have put millions into our company, and they deserve a rewarding and timely return.  We have employees who have spent many years laboring away, and they deserve to sock away some money in their kids' college funds, maybe upgrade from their 1200 square foot million-dollar Silicon Valley house (or buy one at all).  We have white boards full of product plans that don't see the light of day because of scarce resources.  We have 100's of thousands of business websites that are counting on us being around--and staying the best in the industry--for many years to come.

I have to weigh all of those factors (and consult with many folks) every time this happens, before I can give a response that I feel is fiducially and ethically responsible.  Nineteen times that calculus has resulted in a "no."  Last week it came out with a resounding "yes."

Here's why.  We don't get our kicks out of delivering financial returns for our shareholders (although it feels good, we think of it more as a responsibility than a thrill).  As I said above, our thrills come from employees, products and customers.  So if we can deliver a great return to our shareholders--while accelerating our dreams for employees, products and customers--an acquisition makes a ton of sense. 

Which brings us back to the second list.  A suitable acquiring company for Homestead has to be a place that we all can feel as strongly about as we do about Homestead.  It has to have a set of core values that matches the Homestead Creed.  It has to have a hiring policy similar to our "no jerks, no idiots" rule.  It has to believe in giving back to the community.  It really helps if we can keep our brand, our offices, our wacky traditions, our identity.  And we absolutely have to keep all of our people, and be able to maintain the sense of ownership and pride that we all feel today.

I'm happy to report that Intuit passed all of these tests with flying colors.  I'm 100% confident the merger between Intuit and Homestead is in the best interest of all 5 Priorities that Homestead's Creed spells out.  To our Shareholders (#5), we'll feel proud that we delivered for them as we bid them a fond farewell and begin serving different financial stakeholders.  To our Community (#4), we'll be announcing several fantastic initiatives in the coming months (stay tuned).  To our Customers (#3), you'll notice no changes (except a new privacy policy and a little "an Intuit company" logo under our name); however, we'll be rolling out more great Products (#2) even faster.  And finally, to our Employees (#1), you'll have to buckle your seat belts once again--this wild ride is only going to get more exciting in the years to come!

Oh, and the blog stays, too.

--jsk

Comments

[Casey Edwinson]

Well done Homestead! As a customer and former employee I hope this does not end the journey of the House but is just another chapter in its success. I also hope you continue to offer a great service with great support at a great price. Rock on… rock on!

[Matt Franklin]

Congratulations!

I will now redirect all of my QuickBooks tech support questions directly to a Homestead employee. :)

I'd imagine this will definitely help get Homestead products out to more people. You guys have some really, really talented employees, so I'm super happy to see their work get more exposure.

[Village Green]

Don't trip over your wealth on the way out of the building.

[Moni]

I'm hyped about the news. Will the prices increase?

[Kelle Arvay]

Congratulations on what sounds like a very promising merger. As far as cool new features can we start to put in our request now? (= I'm thinking a user friendly way to upload video or embed video from other sources. I know it can be done but while I play with PHP elsewhere, I still can't figure it out on Homestead. By the way I've been with you guys like forever...so maybe that will give my request a little push eh? (;

[Joshua]

I hope you made the right choice. I have been with you for about 5 or 6 years and own a lot to you. Your site builder helps to take web design to the common computer user. Our church has grown because of a website designed with site builder.I also built a website for another church and a site for youth. Don't let us down, okay?I pray that God will direct you in the right path.

[Stephanie Sullivan]

I am very excited for you, this seems like an amazing opportunity! I would have taken it. You have put your heart and soul into this company and it shows. I know of at least one company you have helped along the way (Driving Jacks)and we are eternally grateful that you were there to help us when no one else would. Your generosity will not be quickly forgotten.

I look forward to your future successes and future business adventures. Keep us updated, I love your blog.

[Paul Boisvert]

Congrats Justin to you and to all of Homestead's amazing employees that I personally took pride in working with for years. I knew you would only "sell up" and not "sell out". Looks to be the case here as you have described it. Best wishes, Paul

[Rich Pearson]

Congrats Justin and to all the Homestead employees. Great news, indeed!

[Robin Alsoffi]

as a fellow entrepreneur and homestead customer since 2001, i congratulate you and am sure that anyone of us who had the opportunity to make money and sell would have done the same thing in a new york minute. homestead just like our businesses is not a "not for profit" cause. you have been a very hands on ceo, have offered a great service to me since 2001 with excellent customer service and product. you have helped me make some awesome websites with your excellent product and i really wish the best for you and your homestead family. of course i also hope that intuit follows in your path and continues to make homestead a great resource for small business owners. best regards. robin alsoffi

[113.com ceo]

Congratulations! Absolutely delightful for the old timers along the Internet timeline, /ac.

[Jeffrey Johnson]

I am not excited at all about this news! This brings flashbacks from when I got the e-mail from PhotoSite (which I signed up for back when it was Homestead). In fact my heart dropped when I saw your e-mail because it looked almost the same as the e-mail I got way back when PhotoSite was bought.

I joined Homestead a little over 7 years ago and I must say I am very nervous about this move. I can just see the same thing happen that happened to PhotoSite (a few years down the road things change drastically or even close down).

This is really scary news. I am very disappointed.

[Barry Myers]

I can't say that I am either excited or disappointed about the transaction...I would say nervous and anxious is more like it. I have been with Homestead since it has been a FREE site and have spent COUNTLESS hours (well into the hundreds) creating a website that my customers have grown to love and rely on. Homestead has helped me create this customer loyalty. I guess my fear is how will this truly affect current Homestead customers...will we really see no change..in service, quality or pricing?? If not, great! If Homestead is losing creative control, pricing control, etc., however, this make me very nervous. Knowing what the truth really is to me is the key. Justin, are you telling the truth or being "fed" what to say??

[Jayne tingay]

This site supposed to be easy to use but im finding certain things wrong i would like to use my own header page not home steads own and its a rip off having to use google and having to pay for it when microsoft give free web site .

[Shreekumar Varma]

I have been with Homestead for about seven years, I think, and I've had no cause for complaint. In fact, I considered writing to you several times about how much I enjoyed my "home-stay". Even though my site isn't a commercial one, I have benefitted hugely because people from all over the world have accessed my writing and publishing information through it. My congratulations on the merger, and best wishes for better things.

[Brian Smith]

Congrats Justin!
-brian

[Greg Campbell]

Just repeating the congratulations above, as another former Homestead employee. I know how hard everyone's worked to reach this point, and I know there are good things to come from this partnership in the future.

[Denis Ryan]

Congratulations to all at Homestead and Intuit for that matter too! Have been here, building sites, since 2000 and look forward to many more years of service from the Team! Great tool and one I wouldn't be without! Thanks and congratulations to all again.

[Karen]

Congratulations, with reservations.. I hope this isn't another PhotoSite situation and we'll all be told in a few months that the Homestead program is being shut down! I also hope we don't see an increase in the price, since this will undoubtedly mean many people will say goodbye to Homestead, including me!
It always makes me nervous when company's start selling out to other company's..
Aren't you basically now working for "the man" again? I guess it's hard for me to understand why you would sell your "baby"... Why is money always more important than anything else? Just a thought.

[Tim]

Why is it that you require people to submit credit card info before signing up for the 'free' trial? This is a turn off, and feels manipulative and sneaky. Many similar companies I have checked out allow you to test the software without collecting credit card data. If you believe in your product, you shouldn;t have to do this. I abandoned the free trial.

[Deana]

Congratulations, Justin, on your business news. You are most deserving of this reward, and, to me, you are the finest example of what a CEO should be.....a great businessman who is accessible and responsive to his customers.
Now, if y'all can come up with a simple way fer us simpletons to add an internal search engine to our sites, life would be complete....(I have a school site and folks are always looking for someone).
Sincere good wishes for the future,
Deana
(a customer pretty well from the start).


www.theeclecticgallery.com

[Heather]

Congratulations! I joined Homestead in its infancy, one of the first questions I asked was, 'How long do you think you'll be around?'
Well you are still here, and looks like going from Strength to Strength!
Cant wait to see what happens next!

[Deb Wickwire]

Congratulations...I hope this will be a win-win. I've searched for a year to find a user-friendly, somewhat easy web design/hosting model, finally found you, and now maybe you will change or go away. Aaaagh. Please, please don't forget about your customers. Your success is due to all those positive votes. Good grief maybe my search isn't over yet. I hope it is. congratulations for your success
Deb Wickwire

[Cynthia]

"There is a season for everything" is not only my professional motto, it is my personal motto. As a customer and referring "cheerleader" of Homestead,I have only great comments about your products and service. No doubt, you've given careful consideration to this merger and I wish you and your employees the best as you enter this "new season" in your life!

[Ramon Ray]

JUSTIN congrats to you and YOUR TEAM!!!!!!

Ramon Ray, Technology Evangelist, Smallbiztechnology.com

[Perry Andropolis]

Morning Justin.
Congrats on the merger with Intuit. Great company. I've been a customer for about 3 years and love your company. One big issue a company/service as user friendly as yours - in our opinion you should support Apple computers. With Vista endless problems with Apple exploding PC growth, , the fact you are located near Apple and the fact that we are moving exclusively to Apple we like to encourage you to support Mac with your full version. Anyway have a great day. Regards, Perry and Tracy - Apple lovers.

[Sid]

OK, So I clicked on this blog to hear about the buyout. When will we see the official anouncement on Homesteads Site and when will we find out what will change.

[Erik Lane]

I'm excited...and cautious. Should I hold onto my wallet? The price has been right for over 5 years....

[Todd Donald]

Why did you delete my earlier post Justin?

Are you deleting any posts which are in clear objection to YOUR recent decision?

Isn't it lovely how the small companies we support turn into corporate tyrants who have zero concern for the customers who made them what they are. I do not remeber ever being asked for my opinion on selling to Intuit, despite the fact that I have invested $1000's in Homestead AND recommended to everyone online and off. Now, in your lust for greed, (and your slaveship to stock holders apparently) you have sold Homestead.

And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Matthew 19:23-25

CANCEL MY ACCOUNTS ASAP

[Todd Donald]

Looks like someone named Erik Lane (perhaps a moderator) is latching onto my blog comment:

"Why did you delete my earlier post Justin?"

[Colin O]

Oh dear,

I guess it will be us homestead users that loose out again.

Those who have used Homestead for a long time will remember when Homestead annouced that their free service was to go.

We were faced with the choice of reducing our current websites to a couple of pages only, or paying their full-whack fees.

ONLY once the sign-up deadline had passed & many people had been forced to start paying for the all-singing-all-dancing service did homestead choose to announce their light/home user package.

I guess we may be facing many nmore such unpleasant supprises.

[Pooneet Goel]

Great news Justin...Congrats!

[Christine]

I have been a Homestead customer since the beginning. I've received great customer service in the past and I'm sure that will continue in the future. Hoping all goes well in 2008 and looking forward to some new features.

[Eric N faith]

Justin
Is any of "Homesteads" customer service going to be outsourced to India ...Like Intuit's?

Your faithful customer...Eric

[Donny Walters]

WOW! Should have held onto my money a little longer. I JUST paid for the entire year and now I am skeptical of the outcome of this news. I know someone with power at Homestead is going to read this. Therefore, I want you know that I have spent hundreds of hours on our website and others. Please tell me if there is a way to back up my websites.

Erik,
Judge lest you not be judged. Your post was out of context Bro.

"And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."
Matthew 19:23-25

[Jennifer]

Well Ive only been with Homestead for 2 months and the fact that they are selling out leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Im out as soon as I can find a site to transfer to without any interruptions.
I refuse to call customer service and get someone from another world that can hardly understand me and I, them. Im not an intuit fan....and no longer a Homestead fan. Prices will go up, customer service will be lacking, etc etc. NO THANK YOU!

[David]

I'm really impressed by your 11-26-07 blog entry. I'm an investor, businessman, and customer of Homestead. Your philosophy and patient discipline in executing it really impressed me!

Good luck.

[MarkAlan]

I have been with your from the start.
You have a great product and great service.

Regards,

[Justin]

Folks,
Thanks for all of the great emails and comments. Please don't worry about prices going up--that is not in the plans. For the few of you who seem to be taking the news a bit hard, please rest assured that myself and our fantastic team will still be in full control of the day-to-day Homestead experience.

And Todd, I'll leave your last two comments, but please try to follow the "rules of the road" that I ask all commenters to follow: feel free to share your opinions as long as it is on topic and respectful of me and your fellow commenters.
--jsk

[darlene]

congrats! please! Just don't change the tech support team. I am so happy that i can understand them!
thanks

[Jessica]

Guess you got sick of running Homestead, and want a way out huh? I know how you feel, disappointed that it's getting harder and harder to take Homestead to the next step, and you want to just take the cash and leave.

I really believed in you, Homestead and your support for the user, but now I don't know what to think now. Selling out...to Intuit?!?!?! I can't believe out of all the companies in the Silicon Valley, you chose...Intuit.

But hey, whatever, congrats on your big pile of cash.

Disappointed.

[Keith MacAllister]

Hi
I've been with homestead from the start.When it was free. You guys have always given us a break on price and other perks.(free .com name, ect"
I hope it stays this way I don't want to start over somewhere else.

and Congrats on the sale.

[Shinmew]

Ummm... I got quite upset when I saw the email. I have this feeling that the price will go up in the future and/or I might lose features that I've grown to love. I'm glad things are working out for you by this, but will it have a negative effect on the rest of us in the future? All I can do is cross my fingers and hope not. It hurt me enough when you started charging people and the price slowly went up each year. Then I got the upgrade account for no change of price due to being with you for so long. I hope this new company does not get a wild itch to raise my price. I'd hate to have to downgrade or leave. They BETTER take good care of us.

[Joshua]

Thank you for reading our comments and for enteracting with us. It shows that you are concerned for us. To repeat what I said befor, keep your same services and your price under $30 and you will always have me with you.

[David Halland]

Congrats to Homestead!
As yet another former employee I have to say that I am very impressed. I am convinced that Justin will only lead the company and its employees to more success. I was fortunate enough to be Homestead's 2006 Salesperson of the Year and know firsthand how committed Justin is. Good luck to all my friends at the company.

David Halland

[hugh]

Who are you people to tell someone what they can do with their company? Does Justin get to tell you how to run your personal business. Secondly the people who got upset when it was free, what do you do for FREE? YOU WORK FOR FREE ?
I have been with Homestead from the beginning Congrats Justin. I understand not wanting things to change but being upset at someone doing something with their own property and or asset is just unbelievable. WOW

[Donny Walters]

Also, I recenlty made a call to upgrade some things and was told that I could have x number of e-mail accounts, two more domains, and space added for FREE. I questioned the gentleman several times, he assured me that since I called in he was able to do these things. Well the next thing I know my card had been billed about $40 more than what I expected. When I called about it, I was told that it was because of ALL the upgrades. I did not expect to get something for nothing, that is just what I was told when I called.

Now I know how hard Homestead tries to work with its customers, but what is to be expected with someone that may not even be able to speak english...nightmares.

Back to my original question. Can someone in Tech support or otherwise please tell me how to save the changesd to my websites just in case something goes south with this deal?

[Todd Donald]

Justin, Thanks for leaving my last post in. I have not taken the time to study your blog's rules and obviously this news hit me hard. Your decision is between you and your creator. Obviously whenever a company sells it spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E rgardless of how good a sales pitch or PR spin is put on it.

I am a firm believer in loyalty above all else and your news of selling broke my heart and just added one more nail in the coffin for humanity in general. I have stood by Homestead all these years because I knew that you were a mid-sized company strong enough to maintain your position and protect my assets.

Although Intuit is a great name for marketing hype and will certainly make stockholders giddy, personally I hate Intuit because I have been on the receiving end as a customer. Their software is hokey at best and their customer service is so bad, it makes Homestead's CSR Team look like they were schooled by Mother Theresa. Intuit's products are over priced, under engineered and they have zero customer support. In so far as takeovers, mergers and acquistions go, everybody knows that no matter how well intentioned a good buy-out may begin, once they figure out they have extra office space, or too many Dottie's they scale back. Sometimes this happens in days, other times it takes weeks or months, but it is absolutely guaranteed to happen just as soon a stheir bean counters get involved in the day to day budgeting. My advice to you, is be honest with your employees, because they can make or break your future endeavors. It is often said that the best leaders bring their team with them.

The customer base will also change. Those who like "Brand Names" will buy in.. People like me, who appreciate good service at a fair price and therefore are opposed to big business (because it offers the opposite) will leave, (I've already dropped over two dozen domains and am in the process of moving sites out).

It's sad that corporations even exist really... All they do is suck investors out of money with promises of big returns, which produces a new company which is behind the eight ball and a slave to profits and dividends. Whenever the bottom line is most promising, or least promising big changes occur. I saw it happen to mine and my wife's employer's including Platinum Technology, divine inc., Lockformer, Motorola, etc. Anyone seen the Cobert Report where he jokes about AT&T?...

Well, Anyway - Sorry for condemning you just for giving into temptation. It's hard to resist money and the pleasant thought of saying bye bye to creditors. Your creation of Homestead was a pleasure for many, myself included. I have enjoyed your offerings over the past 1/2 decade. Times change... You need to pay the piper and I need to find a new worthy host.

Will you be offering any dividends to the real investors (existing customers) who fed Homestead $ and molded you into something worth selling?

[Michael Geller]

A heart-felt CONGRATULATIONS goes out to JSK and the entire Homestead team! Very well done. One for the good guys. What would David Coursey say now? :o)

MG

[Eric Nebbia]

Cool. Congrats! Glad to see that things worked out and you're going to be part of a great company.

[Joe Davila]

Well done and congratulations, JSK and team! Serendipitous to have bumped into you and the family in HMB a couple weeks ago in advance of this great news. You've poured your heart into Homestead, and this is just reward. Best to you and the team.

JD

[Arjan de Raaf]

Congratulations Justin and the Homestead team!

[MFDC]

Congratulations to you and your investors. How can we (who invest in you monthly) buy stock in this?

[Tiffany]

I'm not comfortable with this new move at all. Having some experience with big company by outs in the past, leave a very bitter taste in my mouth and eventually the customers are usually the ones left on the "losing" end of the stick. I guess we should have seen this coming and maybe it should have been discussed in the newsletters over a course of time before a decision is made. You say that your customers are most important and have made you larger than life, so this is very difficult to swallow. These big companies come in and make all sorts of promises they never keep. I have been a loyal Homestead customer for years and I am extremely dissapointed by all of this. Just seems like a sellout to me.

[Steve]

I am happy for you, after all Business is Business. I have been with you from the beginning, and your tools made it so easy for a newbie to create a website with little knowledge. I have become number one under google and have made fantastic strides. I pray and hope that all of us, your loyal members will be able to continue with ease and not too many disruptions. Most of us depend on this for our living and it would be heartbreaking to start setting up home somewhere else. Please think of us everytime you start to change a price or a feature. Most of us would agree, life is stressful enough; Homestead was one stability I depended upon:)

[Sherry Britton]

Piangero la sorte mia...just kidding..I found you in '97 on a search for free web hosting for my business, and have been with you ever since. Your service has been a Godsend. I'm a single parent of three --my oldest now in college. Because of the 24 hour availability of the site I don't have any advertising expenses (other than homestead), I also don't have the expense of employees, as I'm able to run the entire thing through the web---from home. Congrats on your merger, proof that dreams pay off when one marches to one's own... You'll be my role model, as I'm waiting for the day when my company sells-- so I can finally concentrate on making my debut at LaScala.

[Varti Pomakian]

Hi Justin,

One of the most difficult, yet most rewarding things in life is "To be able to see beyond what is"! Not everyone is willing to give it a shot, because is hard work, but you did! I absolutely respect you for that! Thank you also for helping improve the confidence level for people like me - not many companies do that for their customers! All I am expecting from this merge is many more great products and services that will only benefit me, as your customer. I believe in that, just like you do. So Rock On, dude! Rock On!

[Ture Sjolander]

I have now blocked Homestead.com, out from my Creditcard. They censur info and do not respond to relevant enquires and also delete your contribution on this blog thing. This is ridicules!!!
By by Homestead, after 8 year! Do Intuit rules now?

[Hali]

pissed

[Nova Scotia Fundraisers]

I have never had such horrible customer service from a company ever. I spoke to steve (866) and his customer service skills sucked. I will never again use Homestead!! I deal with many Fortune companies and i will inform them on this service and cancel all account that I have created with homestead since 2000. I have been using Homestead to create pages for many businesses, but will never again and will redirect all account i made. YOU BLOW HOMESTEAD!

[Jeanne Reslan]

Dear Homestead CEO,

Your sales reps don't know about the offers your company represents.

When looking into Quickbooks Pro on Intuit's website, I came across an offer on this link on Intuit's website: http://qbmerchantservices.homestead.com/qb_offer_popup.html.

When I called the number, I got a rep David Green, from Homestead. He set up my webstore application with me then told me to call back when I was ready to get the Quickbooks and Merchant Services to take advantage of the offer.

So, I called back a few weeks later, today. The person who answered the phone, like David, had no knowledge of this offer. I called the 1-800 number listed on the offer!!! So, I called the quickbooks main page 1-800 number and she didn't know of the offer.

So, I signed up and spent my time working with the Homestead team to set up my website, but now am having a problem getting signed up for the rest of the offer.

I am going to report this as a BAIT AND SWITCH to the Better Business Bureau unless someone from Homestead calls me back today with answers on how I may get signed up for this offer.

I am not going to waste anymore of my time being transfered from this 1-800 number to the next or told to hang up and call another 1-800 number. I was told that twice just today

[Ture Sjolander]

Since Feb. this year, I have changed my view about Homestead. It is not that bad after all !
Cheers!