Skype on Monday didn't just loose its cofounder and chief executive; the firm also shed about half of its book value. Niklas Zennström, the wonder child behind Skype, KaZaA and now Joost, was forced to step down.

Ebay bean counters valued the firm to better reflect its real market potential, even though one could argue that a $1.2bn valuation (down from $2.6bn) very high for a firm that last quarter sold $90m in Skype-out minutes and other premium services.

The changes were met by a collective "What kept you so long?" by the collective world of armchair pundits posing as the blogosphere.

But Zennström himself won't go down without a fight. In an interview with blogger/journalist Thomas Crampton, he stressed that a 4-year-old company should be allowed to focus on growing its user base, not be forced to make money.

03 Oct 2007

While we tend to agree in general, this bird won't sing in Ebay's cage. The auction giant has a great track record in acquiring to grow its market share internationally (as well as their 25 per cent stake in Craigslist.org). There is has learned to leave its new companies alone.

But Ebay has done a horrible job acquiring and integrating firms outside the online trading space. While we agree with Zennström that the jury is still out on Skype, there is a definite verdict on the failure of the Paypal purchase.

Paypal had the potential to wake up the US' outdated banking industry. Contrary to Europe, US banking clients can't just transfer funds to other bank accounts. Instead they have to write a check which is then processed by some insecure fulfilment firm – it's insecure, expensive and slow.

Paypal uses your email address as your bank account number, allowing for transfers at the speed of light. But instead of delivering on that promise, Paypal has been reduced to a payment service for handling Ebay transactions and squeezing their clients for transfer fees.

No wonder that Ebay fumbled the Skype acquisition. The firm is a – be it extremely profitable - one trick pony that knows how to do auctions, and nothing else. For Skype to succeed, it needs to find a home outside Ebay.