Did you ever want to share a secret but didn't want people to know that you were the one who shared it? That's when you use Secret to share!
The anonymous messaging startup came to power in the Silicon Valley in 2014. However, Secret CEO David Byttow announced in a blog post on Wednesday that after a year of operation, the company is shutting down.
"Secret does not represent the vision I had when starting the company," Byttow wrote. "I'm extremely proud of our team, which has built a product that was used by over 15 million people and pushed the boundaries of traditional social media."
Secret is one of a number of apps that let people post messages anonymously, with others including Whisper and Yikyak. One downside is that just like YikYak and Whisper, "a significant portion of posts were 'defamatory, offensive, or mean-spirited,' as Secret itself described them last year when attempting to quash the trash talk," reports NBC News.
Byttow says that he will spend the next few weeks winding down Secret as gracefully as possible. He hopes to find all of his core employees their next jobs, as well as return the money to the investors.
"Secret was a hot commodity a year ago, raising $25 million in funding last July and $35 million in total. Worth noting, given Byttow's decision to return investor money, is that Byttow and fellow co-founder Chrys Bader each pocketed $3 million after the July round. The exact reason why is still unclear," Re/Code reported.
