Atlassian’s acquisition of The Browser Company (maker of Dia and Arc) raised a lot of questions. Here are five reasons why this may have been a great strategic move.
Pretty good take. Seems like OpenAI and Microsoft could both be developing agentic browsers though. Many laptops come with an AI mode, with a specific keyboard key dedicated to Copilot.
Where would Atlassian land then?
I use a Mac and a Windows laptop, both. Like having both to test out things.
Arc is helpful on the Mac but not as much on Windows since Microsoft has already built out those features (and some more). Loom is helpful on Mac, but not as much on Windows for the same reason. So, I get it if Atlassian could compete with Safari since Apple's unlikely to enter into the space. But Microsoft will compete.
Definitely. It will be a competitive space with multiple new entrants. OpenAI will likely go more after the consumer play. So Atlassian's differentiation here would be to build something specific to knowledge workers.
As a long-time Arc user, I can say it delivers a browsing experience like no other. It only took me a day or two to adjust to how everything works, but once you get it, it’s hard to go back to Chrome or Safari. The shortcuts, seamless space switching, mini player, and all those small but mighty details make it outstanding.
Interesting take - from product strategy perspective The Browser Company acquisition is a much more ambitious move than adding Loom to the portfolio.
Why: When acquired Loom already had a strong user base among „young” B2B start ups - it was an easy play to keep the foot in the door on Atlassian’s side.
With TBC’s Arc and Dia it’s quite different. Mainly because the big bet was supposedly on Dia that hasn’t gained traction just yet in B2B as they targeted students as their beachhead. Arc got early adopters’ love but then got deprioritized for the sake of Dia’s focus - those 2 dots (Arc’s innovative UX and Dia’s agentic DNA) haven’t been connected yet.
That’s why (as opposed to Loom) majority of product work will happen under Atlassian’s umbrella. Definitely more challenging than with Loom, but I guess it’ll be easier to monetize the browsers by blending it in the Atlassian’s suite (something TBC never figured out).
Pretty good take. Seems like OpenAI and Microsoft could both be developing agentic browsers though. Many laptops come with an AI mode, with a specific keyboard key dedicated to Copilot.
Where would Atlassian land then?
I use a Mac and a Windows laptop, both. Like having both to test out things.
Arc is helpful on the Mac but not as much on Windows since Microsoft has already built out those features (and some more). Loom is helpful on Mac, but not as much on Windows for the same reason. So, I get it if Atlassian could compete with Safari since Apple's unlikely to enter into the space. But Microsoft will compete.
Definitely. It will be a competitive space with multiple new entrants. OpenAI will likely go more after the consumer play. So Atlassian's differentiation here would be to build something specific to knowledge workers.
Thanks for featuring my post!
https://afewthoughts.substack.com/p/atlassian-bought-vibes-not-a-browser
As a long-time Arc user, I can say it delivers a browsing experience like no other. It only took me a day or two to adjust to how everything works, but once you get it, it’s hard to go back to Chrome or Safari. The shortcuts, seamless space switching, mini player, and all those small but mighty details make it outstanding.
Two days after your post, Atlassian made the DX acquisition. Thoughts there? is this an answer to Linear? Or similar reasons to this post?
Interesting take - from product strategy perspective The Browser Company acquisition is a much more ambitious move than adding Loom to the portfolio.
Why: When acquired Loom already had a strong user base among „young” B2B start ups - it was an easy play to keep the foot in the door on Atlassian’s side.
With TBC’s Arc and Dia it’s quite different. Mainly because the big bet was supposedly on Dia that hasn’t gained traction just yet in B2B as they targeted students as their beachhead. Arc got early adopters’ love but then got deprioritized for the sake of Dia’s focus - those 2 dots (Arc’s innovative UX and Dia’s agentic DNA) haven’t been connected yet.
That’s why (as opposed to Loom) majority of product work will happen under Atlassian’s umbrella. Definitely more challenging than with Loom, but I guess it’ll be easier to monetize the browsers by blending it in the Atlassian’s suite (something TBC never figured out).