Sessions, a once-promising video conferencing startup with AI features, is now dead. The founder is now kicking the dead horse and trying to resurrect the zombie startup. Good luck to him. But I’ve about had it with the poor communication and terrible planning.
I got an email in my inbox one day ago (see below) announcing that Sessions was shutting down all operations…except for fundraising. Somehow, they tried to make into a positive thing in the note. I.e., One of their goals is to “Reignite growth, restore operations, and clear outstanding obligations.”
But unless I missed an email, this is the first I’ve officially heard from Sessions in eons. The last update I posted in October was only made possibly by my tracking down the owner on LinkedIn.
So it’s a week before Christmas, and out of the blue we’re told the service will stop functioning in a day and to get any recordings downloaded before December 27.
I had already stopped using Sessions when it started to go under months ago. I do have a few recordings I had not bothered (well, forgotten) to download yet…nothing super important. I knew Sessions was in a death spiral. I should have downloaded the videos earlier. But I’m still annoyed - seriously, he’s shutting it down a week before Christmas? Oh well, forget about the recordings. I’ll make new ones.
This to me is a prime example of the terrible communication and screwups that have plagued Sessions since it ran out of money. The founder (Radu Negulescu) begged people to donate more money to him so he could rescue the company. Many people poured hundreds or thousands more dollars into Sessions, money that they’ve now lost. After the big fundraiser, Radu basically went radio silent.
Was this an outright scam? I didn’t get that vibe from Radu, but I do get an incompetency vibe. I could be too kind here.
I mean, this is the guy who told us that one of his big plans to rescue the company was to move to Silicon Valley, and he did that even though everyone told him it was a waste of money. The new Session address, about the only thing that has been updated on their website since April?
345 Sheridan Ave, Unit 301,
Floor 3, Palo Alto, CA 94306, USA
That address is associated with an apartment complex called the Mayfield, where a two-bedroom apartment goes for $4,900 per month.
Well, no wonder Radu is broke.
This is quite spendy, to say the least. Let’s hope the apartment is rented by a friend of his and Radu is sleeping on the couch, not paying out the money people donated for unnecessarily high rent costs.
What gets me is that when I contacted AppSumo, they said this in the email:
Please note: if you choose this option, your Sessions license will be revoked and you will no longer have access to the tool, even if they turn things around.
If Sessions turns things around? I sooner expect Congress to balance the budget at this point. Although I do appreciate AppSumo letting us know we’d no longer have access to a tool that doesn’t work anymore.
I really think Sessions, if it ever got back on its feet in a Hail Mary miracle, should be offering free lifetime deals to everyone who paid in and got a refund.
But for now, I cannot continue to bet on a losing horse that chooses to spend donated money on unnecessary expenses.
The only way I would ever buy Sessions again is if the assets were completely sold to a company that actually knew what it was doing and Radu just walked away with some cash he probably does not deserve. But Radu should not be running the resurrected Sessions. No way.
Well, at least I didn’t lose my shirt. I got a year’s usage out of the tool. AppSumo did offer me a 100% refund in AppSumo credits, not cash, but that’s better than nothing…so I now have $629.10 in my AppSumo account. Let’s see what else I can lose that money on!
Here is the Sessions email:
Hello,
We have an important announcement to share regarding SESSIONS. Over the next 6–9 months, we will be significantly reducing our operations (close to 0) to focus on rebuilding and securing the future of our platform. Please read this carefully to understand how this affects you.
We are taking these steps to:
Minimize operational costs.
Focus on stabilizing our finances.
Rethink our business strategy from the ground up.
Prioritize fulfilling our past commitments to users.
Access to the platform: The platform will remain live until December 27 for you to download your recordings and other data. Please ensure you retrieve any valuable information before this date.
Service changes: All other services, including videoconferencing, will stop functioning as of tomorrow.
Support: While we will monitor our community Slack channel (join here), response times may be delayed. We will do our best to assist where possible.
Our goals during this pause are to:
Secure financing to stabilize SESSIONS.
Adapt our strategy to fit the current market landscape.
Reignite growth, restore operations, and clear outstanding obligations.
Our journey started with the vision of revolutionizing collaboration. We made significant progress, thanks to your support, but unfortunately ran out of funds before reaching market readiness.
Despite running out of funds in July, we:
Maintained platform functionality without shutting down or filing for insolvency.
Explored fundraising, partnerships, and even sale scenarios.
Operated without payroll, leading our team to pursue other opportunities while still helping sustain the platform.
Unfortunately, these efforts have not yet succeeded. To avoid a permanent shutdown, we are moving into conservation mode while we work toward a sustainable solution.
We acknowledge that communication during this period has been challenging, and we appreciate your understanding.
If you are owed a refund and have not received one through channels like AppSumo, we will do our best to honor it when we are financially stable again.
We will try our best to communicate properly but in the current situation, that might not be possible
We are deeply grateful for your support and understanding as we navigate this difficult time. We understand this is disappointing news, but we are committed to rebuilding and coming back stronger. Thank you for being a part of our journey so far.
Sincerely,
The SESSIONS Team
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