Formspring

What did it do?

Formspring was a Q&A site where users publicly answered questions sent to their profiles, often anonymously. Launched in Indianapolis in November 2009 by Ade Olonoh, founder of the form software company Formstack, the service later became a separate company and moved to San Francisco.

Why did it shut down?

The service reached 1 million registered users in its first 45 days, but that early momentum did not turn into lasting growth. Big platforms such as Tumblr adding an anonymous question feature to their own products made the feature that set Formspring apart commonplace. Anonymity also brought cyberbullying controversies; in 2011 the company had to attend the White House conference on bullying prevention and announce new safeguards. Having raised a total of $14 million, the company announced on 15 March 2013 that it would shut down, saying it was struggling to sustain its resources. The assets passed to Spring.me in May 2013, and that new brand also came to an end when it began redirecting to Twoo from August 2015.

The story

In November 2009 in Indianapolis, Ade Olonoh, founder of the form software company Formstack, opened a simple site where users asked each other questions and published the answers on their profiles. The fact that questions could be asked anonymously spread the service fast, especially among teenagers, and Formspring reached 1 million registered users in its first 45 days. Success came so quickly that the service took on a separate identity to avoid confusion with the parent company and moved to San Francisco as an independent company.

A $2.5 million seed investment came from backers including SV Angel, Lowercase Capital, Kevin Rose and Dave Morin; the total capital the company raised eventually rose to $14 million. In June 2011 the 25 millionth user signed up, and by early 2012 the number of answers given on the site had passed 4 billion.

But anonymity was also creating problems. Abusive messages sent through the site were mentioned in news stories about the suicides of several teenagers, and Formspring found itself at the centre of the cyberbullying debate. In 2011 the company attended the White House conference on bullying prevention and announced it would work with the MIT Media Lab to detect bullying. Over the same period big platforms such as Tumblr added an anonymous question feature to their own products, and what set Formspring apart became commonplace. The user base stopped growing, and key people left, including director of operations Ro Choy.

On 15 March 2013 Olonoh announced the closure, saying it had become increasingly difficult to secure the resources to keep the service going. Under a last-minute deal the assets were transferred to Spring.me, and the service reopened under its new name in November 2013. In August 2015, however, the site was redirected to Twoo, and that attempt also came to an end. Formspring is remembered today as the pioneer of anonymous Q&A apps.

Lessons for founders

• A product built on a single feature is left defenceless when big platforms copy that feature; build a second layer of value that keeps users early on.
• Anonymity boosts engagement quickly but also inflates moderation costs and reputational risk; develop safety tools at the same pace as growth.
• Do not mistake a viral burst in the first weeks for lasting demand; base your spending plan on regular usage and return rates, not on sign-ups.

Sources

1. Formspring, The Pioneering 'Ask Me Anything' Anonymous Q&A Platform, Is Shutting Down (TechCrunch, 2013-03-15)
2. Q&A Site Formspring Shuts Down (AllThingsD, 2013-03-15)
3. Spring.me (Wikipedia)

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