In a brazen display of greed, Squarespace is abandoning its struggling restaurant reservation service Tock to American Express for a whopping $400 million, a paltry return on investment after just three years. The move is seen as a clear sign that the company is willing to sacrifice its principles for a quick buck.
The timing of the sale couldn’t be more ironic, coming just days after private equity giant Permira agreed to take Squarespace private in a $6.9 billion deal. One can’t help but wonder if Squarespace is using Tock as a pawn in its game of financial chess, jettisoning the service to pad its pockets before being acquired itself.
Tock, founded in 2014, had been touted as a revolutionary platform for the hospitality industry, offering reservation and event management tools for restaurants and event spaces. But despite its initial promise, the service seems to have stalled, and Squarespace’s decision to offload it to American Express for a fraction of what it paid for it just three years ago is a stark reminder of the cutthroat nature of the tech industry.
The sale is seen as a significant departure from Squarespace’s original vision of integrating Tock with its main website building offering. Instead, the company is choosing to abandon its restaurant clients and focus on its core business of building websites for small businesses. One can’t help but wonder if Squarespace is simply washing its hands of its restaurant customers, leaving them high and dry in the process.
TechCrunch has reached out to Permira and Squarespace for comment on the sale, but so far, both companies have declined to provide any further information. One thing is clear, however: the sale of Tock is a major blow to the company’s credibility, and raises serious questions about its commitment to its customers and the values it claims to hold.
