PubSub co-founder Bob Wyman responded to rumors that PubSub is falling apart on his blog today.
He says the problems were not that the company lacked killer technology or great employees, but instead lays the blame squarely at the feet of ex-CEO and co-founder Salim Ismail. Bob trashes Salim quite publicly:
What has prevented us moving forward is a battle with a group of minority shareholders, some of whom claim to be lead by our ex-CEO Salim Ismail and are, in any case, primarily his “friends and family.” This group is using very unusual clauses in our Shareholder’s agreements to block mergers or financings. We’ve found it difficult to determine their motives, however, some have said that they believe that it is in their interest to drive the company into bankruptcy so that they can buy our software and start a new company.
Now I certainly don’t have the full story and Bob may or may not be correct. But there are plenty of people out there who say Bob was the problem, not Salim, or that the two of them together were a disaster. Regardless of who’s right, Bob was wrong today. A founder should never try to solve problems by publicly attacking another founder. Who’s going to step in now and fund or buy the company with all of this incredibly immature drama being thrown about?
What a waste.