# GetKVM acquired by Bradler & Krantz & Co.



## mikho (Sep 3, 2013)

Looks like Ash from GetKVM is changing course (again), remember vmPort?

Quoted the email sent out to customers below ... comments on their actions?



> we are pleased to announce that Bradler & Krantz & Co. KG has acquired the VPS
> hosting provider GetKVM.com and its assets in September 2013. This includes
> all VPS nodes in Germany, Moldava and the USA.
> 
> ...


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## drmike (Sep 3, 2013)

The story last time went like this:



> Kevin Hillstrand:
> 
> We’ll be sure to take good care of them, we promise!
> 
> ...


Back then we had an imaginary man welcoming folks.  He also liked to talk to himself and about himself as Ethan in the above linked LEB thread.

Those poor customers stayed put less than a year before URPad sold itself.

I'll skip GetKVM_Ash / Ashley Hawkridge  and his next VPS flipper experiment.


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## Jack (Sep 3, 2013)

VMPort 

Created: 19 Jun 2011

Sold: May 14, 2012 

Duration: 11 months

 

GetKVM

Created: 27 Apr 2012

Sold: 3rd September 2013

Duration: 17 Months


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## peterw (Sep 3, 2013)

So that was the reason to abandon the US business!


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## drmike (Sep 3, 2013)

> We regret to inform you that on the 28/08/13 we will close all of our KVM and OpenVZ services in the US (New Jersey). Due to a lack of demand for services here it is no longer financially viable for us to continue operating at a loss as we have been for the past 6 months. We appreciate this may be an inconvenience to you and will do anything in our power to assist you with migrating away and retaining your data.


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## Francisco (Sep 3, 2013)

buffalooed said:


> > We regret to inform you that on the 28/08/13 we will close all of our KVM and OpenVZ services in the US (New Jersey). Due to a lack of demand for services here it is no longer financially viable for us to continue operating at a loss as we have been for the past 6 months. We appreciate this may be an inconvenience to you and will do anything in our power to assist you with migrating away and retaining your data.


They changed this as they claim they cut a deal with their host. It's possible they moved to an RTO or... Does anyone have a test IP from the NJ location?

Francisco


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## drmike (Sep 3, 2013)

NJ IPs were:

Test IPv4: 108.61.95.174
Test IPv6: 2001:19f0:1614:12f::8e83:71da


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## drmike (Sep 3, 2013)

.But as the great internet God in the pipes so found:



> Hello.
> 
> We are pleased to announce that we have negotiated a deal with our New Jersey provider which will allow us to continue services here. Our US location and services will now remain active. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and hope you’re happy to continue business with us.
> 
> ...


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## AnthonySmith (Sep 3, 2013)

wow this actually came as a surprise..

What is next Ash, Xenport?


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## jcaleb (Sep 3, 2013)

To his defense, it seems he did not offer very crazy prices to pump a lot of customers


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## mikho (Sep 3, 2013)

By the looks of it, Ash likes to set things up but then when all is done and its down to "business as usual" he gets "bored" and wants something else.


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## AnthonySmith (Sep 3, 2013)

mikho said:


> By the looks of it, Ash likes to set things up but then when all is done and its down to "business as usual" he gets "bored" and wants something else.


Seems so, and nothing wrong or illegal about company flipping either, it is not like he is getting them in to an over sold state before jumping ship and dropping people in the poo, he runs the business well then flips it.


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## lv-matt (Sep 3, 2013)

jcaleb said:


> To his defense, it seems he did not offer very crazy prices to pump a lot of customers


He did, he was offering 2GB KVM VPSs on LET for $7.


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## Patrick (Sep 3, 2013)

Bradler & Krantz GmbH is ProviderService who have an pretty tight solid reputation, think of it as a upgrade and seems like a better company than what Ash's venture was sold to before


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## drmike (Sep 3, 2013)

Note to all the good providers, the $7 or less 2GB resource wars are artificial and unsustainable.

If you are going to try such stunts:

1. Colo your own gear

2. Invest in LARGE RAM servers

3. Invest in multiple servers per 1U footprint

4. Control/own your own IP space

5. Lean towards abuse friendly platform like OpenVZ

I see annuals now where the IP cost exceeds the plan (mind you on lower RAM plans).


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## HalfEatenPie (Sep 3, 2013)

Totally unrelated, I just cancelled my VM with GetKVM like a few days ago.


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## drmike (Sep 3, 2013)

^--- Oh you are the cancellation that broke Ash's back.


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## jcaleb (Sep 3, 2013)

@lv-matt i stand corrected


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## HalfEatenPie (Sep 3, 2013)

buffalooed said:


> ^--- Oh you are the cancellation that broke Ash's back.


#YOLO

Ok I'm done.


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## concerto49 (Sep 3, 2013)

Maybe a fusion for the next round? GetKVMPort? But yes, it is a tough market.


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## Amitz (Sep 3, 2013)

Even though there is nothing wrong with building up companies just to sell them - I do not like this kind of serial entrepreneur attitude. Especially if someone always claims to be "here to stay". I was already one of the customers that Ash sold out of the blue in the past and none of his future ventures will see me again as a customer. I am done with "Mr. Thistimeheretostay".

Selling to Providerservice is indeed good for the existing clients. My Providerservice VPS is running very stable and does a good job.


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## TheLinuxBug (Sep 3, 2013)

Since LET fell apart I haven't seen much of Ash to begin with.  I am not ever sure he has an account here on vpsBoard.  I think after LET hit the fan he decided he was no longer interested.  I think he has been trying to sell again for a while.  I also question if he was able to pay his bills for his servers in the Germany  location, this might also explain why his German provider acquired the business from him.  Providerservices is a decent group of guys.  Sometimes their support staff can be a little difficult to work with though as they have no real help desk, only e-mail support and there is usually a delay of a few hours on support requests. 

It would have been nice for Ash to have the balls to tell LET and vpsBoard this was coming, but I doubt he even wants to defend him self anyways.  I would hope at this point he is done with this business anyhow, cause I can tell you if I see him back here selling services under another name, I will surely give him a hard time.  It is quite bullshit to sell people services and say "I am here to stay and not going anywhere" and then play the game of selling it all off under his customers, for the second time.

Grow some balls Ash and step up and explain you self.  Hell, you didn't even send out the notice, you made the guys who acquired you do it. Couldn't even take the time to look your customers in the face and tell them your self?  Shame on you!

Cheers!


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## Reece-DM (Sep 3, 2013)

As said, at least he didn't run a crappy service then bailout on everyone.

Nice little brand he could of had there.


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## TheLinuxBug (Sep 3, 2013)

> Ash_Hawkridge Member
> 
> 
> 9:57AM FlagThanks
> ...


From LET.



*sigh* 

so who knows.


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## mikho (Sep 3, 2013)

TheLinuxBug said:


> From LET.
> 
> 
> *sigh*
> ...


Later in that thread he mentions consultants and local work. He is probably not leaving the business, only the low end market.


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## AnthonySmith (Sep 3, 2013)

Not having a pop at anyone specific but I have to say I do find it unusual that people seem to think a VPS host/Web hosting related company owes a personal explanation when they are bought by a larger company, I mean its great that people have such a personal relationship with hosts at times but it is always like:

via Imgflip Meme Maker


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## MartinD (Sep 3, 2013)

It's hypocrisy and ethics that are the issue.


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## AnthonySmith (Sep 3, 2013)

MartinD said:


> It's hypocrisy and ethics that are the issue.


Expand?


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## MartinD (Sep 3, 2013)

'Pump n dump' is synonymous with Ash it would seem with there being previous for it. It's not even 'entrepreneurial' as a real entrepreneur forms a valid exit plan from the get-go.

Hypocrisy, well, never mind.


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## AnthonySmith (Sep 3, 2013)

Your right what he should have been saying instead of "here to stay" is,... don't rely on me personally I will probably sell in a year... come on..


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## Ishaq (Sep 3, 2013)

It's not like he knew the future.

On a related note, I don't see anyone complaining about Microsoft practically taking over Nokia.


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## Aldryic C'boas (Sep 3, 2013)

Ishaq said:


> It's not like he knew the future.
> 
> On a related note, I don't see anyone complaining about Microsoft practically taking over Nokia.


You mean people still use Nokia? >_>

In all seriousness though.. that one's been coming for awhile.  Not quite the same circumstances, either.


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## jcaleb (Sep 3, 2013)

I like Nokia phones as they still do cheap non-smart phones


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## drmike (Sep 3, 2013)

Did Nokia claim they were going to be here for the long haul?  I think Ash did.  

The long haul commitment, twice, hasn't been very long.

I see buying of small providers (for peanuts) and consolidation.  Coupled with that, zero income to barely income sales models for every product sold at many VPS companies.

What happens in this scenario?  Providers start being unable to put dinner on their table, the hosting bills go unpaid, the bigger more diverse colo/datacenter ends up often "acquiring" the customer base in lieu of incurred debts.

Did that happen here?  Possibly.

Disturbing point isn't this deal though, it's the many ghost operated companies that are being ran as pass throughs to sell the datacenter (new owners) feature margin products --- think dedicated servers.

VPS providers better start taking notes.  Competing downward on price isn't a viable business model.  Offering the same old OpenVZ, is barely a business model.

We are going to see a lot of failures and covered up front co's real soon.


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## Francisco (Sep 3, 2013)

I've always had an uneasy feeling about him.

Originally vmport was known as boxsrv and they straight up ripped our design and slapped a logo on it. We called them out on WHT and after some time it was replaced.

Now, Ash claims he bought the brand off someone else and that it was the previous owner that had done it.

http://lowendbox.com/blog/boxsrv-2-50-128mb-openvz-vps-in-kansas-city/

Was there 2 Ash's involved? Or was Ash a sales rep and took over ownership at a later time?

Francisco


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## jcaleb (Sep 3, 2013)

I hope customers not look at price only.


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## wlanboy (Sep 3, 2013)

buffalooed said:


> Did Nokia claim they were going to be here for the long haul?  I think Ash did.
> 
> The long haul commitment, twice, hasn't been very long.


Not again. That's it - won't ever buy anthing again from Ash.

If I would like to buy from big companies I would not do business with small providers. I like the personal touch and the trust in persons I know.

My backups, my webpage, my emails, my wiki, my vpns .... are important things for me. So I buy into persons I trust to host that stuff.

I don't like the idea of being part of a show just to stay long enough to keep the numbers for a buyout.


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## drmike (Sep 4, 2013)

I agree @wlanboy,  I like and promote small businesses.  That's where I eat, try to shop and certainly spend for VPS and related services.

I expect small businesses to close shop every now and then.

It's the flip once then twice inside of two years that has me head scratching.

Credit given for not running with folks money or just disappearing.


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## texteditor (Sep 4, 2013)

buffalooed said:


> Credit given for not running with folks money or just disappearing.


Well if he ever did that he wouldn't get a chance to flip business #3


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## Ash (Oct 13, 2013)

Francisco said:


> I've always had an uneasy feeling about him.


Really? You never mentioned that in any of our conversations. A bit of a snake aren't we Fran.


For the record nobody was part of a show. I do what i do to make money and feed my family not to win a popularity contest, during the time i do this i provide a solid service no doubt.


I don't understand how some people take my decisions so personally. Are you still getting the service you signed up for? I bet you are. I'm the first to admit the VMPort > URPAD move was a trainwreck, but this is a completely different scenario.


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## MartinD (Oct 13, 2013)

Necro ftw.


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## Ash (Oct 13, 2013)

MartinD said:


> Necro ftw.


It's called time away from the keyboard, you should try it some time. There's a whole world out there.


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## nunim (Oct 13, 2013)

MartinD said:


> Necro ftw.


He was out thinking up a good name for his new brand, GetFucked by Ash.


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## MartinD (Oct 13, 2013)

GetKVM_Ash said:


> It's called time away from the keyboard, you should try it some time. There's a whole world out there.


That you're dying to trap with your pump n dumps?


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## Ash (Oct 13, 2013)

MartinD said:


> That you're dying to trap with your pump n dumps?


Pump and dump would entail me pumping out ridiculous offers, then ditching clients. Take a look around, that hasn't happened.


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## mikho (Oct 13, 2013)

Just ignore MartinD. Everyone else does.


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## Ash (Oct 13, 2013)

mikho said:


> Just ignore MartinD. Everyone else does.


That red title really gets him going.


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## texteditor (Oct 13, 2013)

GetKVM_Ash said:


> Really? You never mentioned that in any of our conversations. A bit of a snake aren't we Fran.



Everytime I have an uneasy feeling about someone I tell them because that's what people normally do, right?


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## Francisco (Oct 13, 2013)

GetKVM_Ash said:


> Really? You never mentioned that in any of our conversations. A bit of a snake aren't we Fran.
> 
> For the record nobody was part of a show. I do what i do to make money and feed my family not to win a popularity contest, during the time i do this i provide a solid service no doubt.
> 
> I don't understand how some people take my decisions so personally. Are you still getting the service you signed up for? I bet you are. I'm the first to admit the VMPort > URPAD move was a trainwreck, but this is a completely different scenario.


How am I a sneak? You jacked my website <_<

I always felt uneasy after that but I let it be and based any opinion on what feedback people said of your services offered.

I never used GetKVM/VMPORT. I did like the vmport brand more, but maybe that's just because I liked the designs more 

Francisco


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## Ash (Oct 13, 2013)

texteditor said:


> Everytime I have an uneasy feeling about someone I tell them because that's what people normally do, right?


Yeah? That's what people with balls would do.


I wouldn't act all Mr Niceguy in conversations (AKA Fran), then talk crap about somebody the first chance i got. I guess I expect other people to be genuine too.


And i didn't call you a sneak, i called you a snake.


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## Aldryic C'boas (Oct 13, 2013)

Ash said:


> I wouldn't act all Mr Niceguy in conversations (AKA Fran), then talk crap about somebody the first chance i got. I guess I expect other people to be genuine too.
> 
> 
> And i didn't call you a sneak, i called you a snake.


The difference between you and Francisco is that he genuinely is a nice guy that tries to give people the benefit of the doubt.  Instead of nitpicking over the _sneak/snake _nonsense, perhaps take a moment to acknowledge that he directly pointed out what made him uneasy about you (ie - you pulling a bluevm and straight up jacking our website).  He was friendly to you as a courtesy;  being the unpitying asshole is my job.



Ash said:


> Yeah? That's what people with balls would do.


You are of course welcome to simply go fuck yourself if you happen to dislike someone's opinion of you.  That 'direct' enough for you?  Perhaps if more of your interactions had been with me instead, you'd come to appreciate Fran's politness rather than my apathy.


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## Magiobiwan (Oct 14, 2013)

"ie - you pulling a bluevm and straight up jacking our website"


Hmm? BlueVM's site isn't stolen from you guys. Unless this was from before my time?


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## jarland (Oct 14, 2013)

Magiobiwan said:


> "ie - you pulling a bluevm and straight up jacking our website"
> 
> 
> Hmm? BlueVM's site isn't stolen from you guys. Unless this was from before my time?


http://lowendtalk.com/discussion/1135/bluevm-warning/p1


Love that I can do this here without being moderated.


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## BlueVM (Oct 14, 2013)

We've changed a lot since then... I'll be the first to admit having our site design look similar to BuyVM's when we started was not a great choice on my part.


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## Francisco (Oct 14, 2013)

Good ol' Aldryic >_>

Get a few drinks in him, some late night pizza, & a sit in the hot tub and he goes stampeding for peoples faces >_>

I'll try to restate things nicer than Aldryic. I never forgave the site ripping of many hosts (not just the 2 mentioned here) and have gone out of my way to help them. Be it doing my best to recover a trashed array or trying to direct some sales to them for areas we aren't in at this time.

Look at it from an outsider. "Ashley" created boxsrv then sold it to...Ashley. The site was changed later on and later renamed to VMPORT. VMPORT went through 3 - 4 designs and was then sold. While the details of the sale to URPAD was never documented, more than a few people said it was nasty to put it lightly.

You formed a new brand with the aim of doing things a lot better than you first run, only to sell it < 1 year later. You had at least 1 post up that you were closing out your east coast (NJ?) location only for the terms of that to suddenly change due to some deal you cut with your datacenter.

That deal didn't matter, though, since you still sold it a few months later on the basis of "Screw this childish BS I need to get a real living". You get my praise for at least admitting to that and hopefully going through with it. There is countless hosts around that shouldn't be in this business, not only because of technical skill, but because they aren't pricing themselves properly to get more staff onboard and or enough for them to cover their own salaries.

There's simply too many hosts that have owners with 2+ jobs just to get things by. There has been too many stories on WHT where said owners lose one of those jobs and has to *close* that brand because the brand was *never* breaking even. Their hopes were to either sell out to someone or to get enough sales to buy themselves into better pricing brackets.

Francisco


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## jarland (Oct 14, 2013)

BlueVM said:


> We've changed a lot since then... I'll be the first to admit having our site design look similar to BuyVM's when we started was not a great choice on my part.


No doubt, bluevm is a solid operation.


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## Aldryic C'boas (Oct 14, 2013)

Magiobiwan said:


> "ie - you pulling a bluevm and straight up jacking our website"
> 
> 
> Hmm? BlueVM's site isn't stolen from you guys. Unless this was from before my time?


Right, this was _a while_ back.  We went through a fairly amusing couple of months where a bunch of new companies would spring up, have a slightly modified version of Fran's hand-made theme, and claim that "it was a downloaded template".

Actually, the hilarious one was Boxsrv.  Where he not only blatantly stole the theme, but then tried to accuse us of stealing it from him.  Absolutely absurd - I'll have to track down the WHT thread it all went down in later.  It's good for a laugh.  Leaning later on that Ashely was behind it is pretty much what cemented my opinion of the kid.


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## Lee (Oct 14, 2013)

Scary to think people would want to rip of the Buyvm design, it's hardly, well, worth it.  No offence..


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## Amitz (Oct 14, 2013)

At least Ashley's customers are in way better hands now.


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## Aldryic C'boas (Oct 14, 2013)

W1H-Lee said:


> Scary to think people would want to rip of the Buyvm design, it's hardly, well, worth it.  No offence..


None taken - and indeed, that was what we originally thought.  _Eh, not that pretty;  but functional and we shouldnt have issues with people trying to rip it off_.  Guess we were wrong there >_<

I get a bigger kick when people try to steal content, though.. Ive seen some kids rip our entire TOS/AUP, _including_ the *tl;dr* sections I put at the top - and then try to play innocent or claim they came up with it all themselves.


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## texteditor (Oct 14, 2013)

W1H-Lee said:


> Scary to think people would want to rip of the Buyvm design, it's hardly, well, worth it.  No offence..


I believe the name for such...simple design is "Programmer Art"

Some people don't have the eye for design (like me) so they pretty much much go for the first functional thing that works

see: every open-source project ever


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