Skiff: a Notion acquisition still meant a product shutdown

What it is

Skiff offered encrypted Mail, Pages, Calendar and Drive. Its own migration notice now records the end of those services, making this a product-continuity case rather than a current product recommendation (Migration notice).

Timeline

• April 2020: Andrew Milich said Skiff became official on April Fool’s Day, alongside co-founder Jason Ginsberg (Notion interview).
• 9 February 2024: Notion announced Skiff was joining, emphasizing shared product vision and attention to detail (Notion announcement).
• 9 August 2024: Skiff says all its services were sunset. Accounts and data were not converted into Notion accounts (Migration notice).
• 9 February 2025: the stated end date for automatic email forwarding, which had to be activated before the service sunset (Migration notice).

Why it worked

Here “worked” refers to attracting an acquirer, not preserving the standalone service. Notion’s co-founder praised the products’ detail and described following Skiff since its early Docs work. That is the buyer’s account, not proof of sustainable standalone revenue (Notion interview).

The founders described a clear mission around control, communication and privacy. The acquisition story shows strategic alignment; it does not provide acquisition price, profit or customer-retention evidence (Notion interview).

What to learn

1. Ask what survives an acquisition: the team, the code, the accounts or the whole service.
2. Build export and migration paths before users need them under deadline pressure.
3. Evaluate continuity promises separately from privacy promises. Compare Ghost’s nonprofit model and Airplane’s shutdown.

Risks and what didn't work

• The core service ended despite the positive acquisition announcement. Email forwarding was limited and did not mean the workspace remained available (Migration notice).
• The migration notice said accounts would not convert to Notion. Buyers could not assume the acquirer provided a seamless replacement (Migration notice).
• These sources do not establish why the standalone business could not or would not continue. We do not invent a cash-burn or product-market-fit explanation.