Skeptical of Facebook, Until the Checkbook Came Out

A year ago, Josh Miller said that Facebook “may have an irreversibly bad brand.” Soon after, Mr. Miller, a co-founder of a start-up called Branch Media, was giving Facebook some unsolicited advice, suggesting that it “turn to Nike for strategic inspiration.”

But on Monday, Mr. Miller announced that he had accepted a buyout offer from the onetime target of his skepticism. Facebook is buying Branch and a related mobile app, Potluck, two services that allow groups of people to hold discussions and share links.

The price was not disclosed, but, according to The Verge, it is about $15 million. An email to the Facebook media office was not immediately returned.

“After two years building Branch and Potluck, I am thrilled to announce that we will be continuing our mission at Facebook!” Mr. Miller wrote in a post on Facebook on Monday.

He said he would be forming a group within Facebook called Conversations, based in New York, “with the goal of helping people connect with others around their interests.” Branch and Potluck, he added, “will live on outside of Facebook.”

So has Mr. Miller changed his assessment of Facebook? He was fairly skeptical of the company last January, when he described a conversation with his 15-year-old sister. “She mentioned that she tries to visit Facebook as infrequently as possible,” Mr. Miller wrote in an essay on the website Medium.

“Facebook is clearly doing a good job delivering relevant content, yet its users (at least this one) feel poorly when they use the service,” he continued.

When Mr. Miller said on Monday that he would join Facebook, bloggers latched on to his past statements.

“You can’t really blame Miller for changing his tune,” Kevin Roose wrote at New York magazine. “Still, awkward first day at the office!”

Though the deal is on the small side, it comes less than a week after Facebook bought an Indian mobile analytics start-up, Little Eye Labs, for a reported price of $10 million to $15 million. That acquisition was intended to help drive Facebook’s mobile strategy.

Branch is backed by some prominent technology investors, including Evan Williams and Biz Stone, two co-founders of Twitter. Jonah Peretti, the chief executive of BuzzFeed, and Lerer Ventures â€" a firm that was profiled in New York magazine this week â€" are also backing the company.

“CONGRATS!!!! SO COOL!” Mr. Peretti wrote in response to Mr. Miller’s Facebook post. “Love Branch and love Facebook so this will be very fun to watch!”