Monday, March 1, 2010

The Latest from TechCrunch

The Latest from TechCrunch

Link to TechCrunch

BuzzAware. Yup, Now There’s An App Directory For Google Buzz

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 09:00 AM PST

Google Buzz might have been pushed out too soon, but there are already at least a dozen apps for Google Buzz, most of them unoffical. That’s not a lot, but it’s enough to start BuzzAware, a Google Buzz app directory. BuzzAware is started by the same folks behind Twitdom, a Twitter app directory with more than 1,500 apps.

Some of the apps in BuzzAware include:

If Buzz grows, so will this list of apps.

CrunchBase Information
Google Buzz
Information provided by CrunchBase

Social Mapping Startup Platial Finds Its Way To The Deadpool

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 08:08 AM PST

As Google Maps extends its dominance in the social mapping world, mapping startups are having trouble competing. Platial, a Kleiner Perkins-backed social mapping startup, is heading to the deadpool.

Platial, "the people's atlas," allowed users to make and share their own maps. Using Google Maps API, Platial let anyone put locations markers over any point on the map they've visited and then annotate it with pictures and comments. You could easily embed and share your maps on other sites. In 2007, Platial acquired a competitor in the social mapping space, Frappr. In the blog post announcing Platial’s demise, it wasn’t clear what the exact reason was for the site to close its doors but the startup said it would be updating its blog with details about the shutdown in the near future.

Platial received backing from many notable investors and venture funds. They took $800,000 in angel funding in October 2005 from Kleiner Perkins; Byers, Omidyar Network, Ram Shriram, Georges Harik, Jack Dangermon, and Ron Conway. In February 2007, they raised an additional $2.6 million from Keynote Ventures, with participation from most of the previous investors. We’ve added the startup the deadpool.


CrunchBase Information
Platial
Information provided by CrunchBase

Dropcam Gets an iPhone App

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 07:53 AM PST

I like a secure household. I like to back up my seismics with a perimeter of screamers and I like to keep a webcam trained on my front door. One problem, however, has been viewing my perimeter remotely with my iPhone. It is a problem no more. Dropcam, makers of $199 wireless webcams, have released an updated iPhone app that let's you add cameras to your system with a minimum of fuss and muss. Each camera pops up on the app as its started and you can view images over Wi-Fi and 3G anywhere in the world.


Analyst: iPad Could Be Delayed Until April

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 07:45 AM PST

It begins: Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek is harshing on all our buzzes by announcing that according to an unidentified source at Hon Hai Precision, a CE manufacturer, the iPad could be delated until April. The source said that there were only 300K units available for a March launch, which may put a damper on what we're calling iPad Awareness Month. He expects Apple to sell about 1.2 million units in 2010 and 3.5 million in 2011.


Announcing: TechCrunch Disrupt, May 24-26 in New York

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 06:00 AM PST

New York, the city that never sleeps, may finally meet its match. TechCrunch is coming, and we’re bringing three days of non-stop conference and startup-competition energy, May 24-26.

We call it TechCrunch Disrupt because we want to debate what’s really changing in media and technology right now, what’s causing disruption and what we need to do about it to survive and thrive in real time.

Each morning, we’ll explore media and technology disruption themes through hosted panel discussions, keynotes, roundtable conversations and select product demonstrations. We’ll bring the experts, thought leaders, top entrepreneurs and business leaders and others together to talk about what’s next. And why. With lots of audience participation.


Each afternoon, we take our morning debate into the field. New startups and products will be unveiled and will compete for recognition and a top prize in the Startup Battlefield.

This is a tournament-style launch platform where startups demo their products and impress the audience and panel of experts over multiple rounds of competition. Everyone gets stage time to show their stuff, and plenty of direct feedback. But then they'll jump into head to head competition with the other startups.

Experts and seasoned veterans will be brought in to mentor and judge startups on product, business models, team, design and usability and more. And the final round will put startups in the hot seat where some of the most successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and business executives will grill them in front of the audience and see how they perform. It’ll be a little bit like pitching a top VC, except it will be done live on stage in front of thousands. Audience voting as well as expert feedback will factor into final competition scores.

One startup will emerge the overall winner and take home a $50,000 cash prize. But all of the startups get an incredible launch event for their product, and priceless feedback from people who can really help. And, best of all, it’s free for startups to launch at TechCrunch Disrupt. Save those dollars for your product.

Applications open today (March 1) and will be reviewed on a rolling basis through midnight pst, Friday, March 26. There are no fees to apply or compete in the Startup Battlefield, and startups from around the world are welcome to submit for consideration. In fact, we go out of our way to help non-U.S. startups get the support they need during the application process to maximize their chances.

Where can you fit a battlefield in New York City, you ask? We found 100,000 square feet of space in the Soho-West Village neighborhood. We promise you haven't been to a conference venue like this before. It’s actually an ex-Merrill Lynch office that’s available on short-term lease. It’s a perfect metaphor for disruption. And it gives us almost unlimited room for creativity, exhibits, lounges and demos. In typical TechCrunch style, save room for the after parties each night too.

Tickets to TechCrunch Disrupt are on sale now. Best rates are available through March 31.

Better to disrupt than be disrupted. Hope to see you there. More details will be coming on the Disrupt Blog.

In Wake Of Fabulis Debacle, Citibank Makes Changes To Internet Business Policy

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 05:59 AM PST

Last week, Citibank found itself in the eye of an Internet storm after it was revealed that the bank had blocked the business account of Web startup fabulis over (non-existing) ‘objectionable content’ on the company’s blog.

The topic was all the more sensitive because fabulis operates a social network / lifestyle website targeting gay men.

A Citi representative was quick to apologize to fabulis founder Jason Goldberg (see updates to our previous story), but has now taken its official response a step further by reviewing and effectively making changes to its policies around Internet business account customers.

Here’s the note, straight from Citibank’s online discussion forum (emphasis ours):

Citibank Message About Internet Business Accounts

At Citibank, we have learned a great deal from recent customer issues related to Internet business accounts. Mistakes were made in some instances, in which we apologized and corrected the problem. These issues made it clear to us that the language in our branch procedures was not specific enough and left too much room for interpretation from one account to the next.

We recognized that we needed clearer and less subjective guidelines with regard to opening Internet business accounts. And there were clearly gaps in training and communications around these specific branch procedures. Based on all these learnings, we’ve taken action and this week we updated and clarified our procedures for opening all Internet business accounts.

Banks are required by law to conduct due diligence and understand the nature of business accounts. For Internet business accounts, we have made it clearer to our bankers what the due diligence process entails. For example, we will continue to reserve the right to decline or suspend an account if we find illegal or discriminatory content, or if the site involves gambling or pornography. Beyond that specific due diligence, however, we do not monitor or evaluate our customers’ web content.

We are providing additional training in this area to ensure the procedures are uniformly and correctly followed. Also, our bankers are now required to have additional consultation with senior level banking executives when questions arise about these accounts before making any final decisions. This will help to avoid misunderstanding and subjective decisions, and promote greater consistency throughout the process. And we remain committed to working with our customers to try to resolve any issues.

As a global organization, we also recognize the power and promise of diversity. In that spirit, we reiterate Citi’s commitment to serving customers, hiring talent and supporting a broad array of organizations that promote diversity. To learn more about our diversity efforts, please visit: http://www.citigroup.com/citi/citizen/diversity/index.htm.

These recent customer issues have been a useful learning experience for us. We again apologize for any misunderstandings that may have occurred. We are committed to improving every day and we’re working to better serve our customers.

I pinged Goldberg about the changes, which have also been communicated to him in an individual e-mail. He says he’s amazed that while the Obama administration can’t seem to get banks to change their ways, “we the people of social media” can. He adds:

How anyone at Citibank could have reviewed fabulis and classified it as “porn” is beyond us, and it speaks to how backwards and antiquated its policies were.

Amen to that.

Still, Citibank is being quite transparent about the whole ordeal and seems to be moving to make amends quickly.

What do you think about the whole situation?

CrunchBase Information
Fabulis
Jason Goldberg
Information provided by CrunchBase

20 European Startups That Need To Woo Us At Plugg 2010

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 05:58 AM PST

Plugg, the annual conference organised by my TechCrunch colleague Robin Wauters, is due for next week on Thursday (11 March). I’ll be there along with other European tech industry pundits, bloggers, venture capitalists and many entrepreneurs, to listen to a slew of presentations by executives from Nokia, Opera Software, Index Ventures, Duval Guillaume, eBuddy and many more (full program can be seen here).

If you’d like to come too, TechCrunch Europe is pleased to offer a 25% reduction on the ticket fee for our readers – simply use promotion code plugg-25percent upon registration and you’re all set.

And if for whatever reason you’re a European startup that couldn’t make this deadline, then check out how to apply for Geek’n Rolla in London on April 20th.

Meanwhile, at Plugg, I’m most looking forward to the yearly Start-Ups Rally, an on-stage pitching competition between European startups.

Guest Post: UK Startup Rules Aren’t Perfect, But Watch This Space

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 05:57 AM PST

Alex van Someren is a “Dealmaker” with the Global Entrepreneur Programme at the department of UK Trade and Investment. A serial entrepreneur specialising in IT software and hardware product development businesses, he’s had two exits through IPOs and is now Entrepreneur in Residence at Judge Business School. Below, he answers our recent guest post which attacked the way UK business regulation authorities treat small but fast-moving startup businesses in the same way as regular, slow-moving ones.

Azeem Azhar's article about UK small business bureaucracy doesn't tally with my own experience running businesses in the UK. In fact, from what other entrepreneurs are telling me it's a lot easier here than in most developed countries.

Author Solutions To Distribute Indie E-Books Through B&N Website, Nook

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 05:24 AM PST

Fresh off the heels of a distribution agreement that brought many of e-books in its catalog to Scribd, indie book publisher Author Solutions (ASI) has inked a similar deal with bookseller Barnes & Noble.

Under terms of the agreement, e-book formats of all new ASI titles published through the AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford Publishing, and Xlibris imprints will be made available for purchase through the B&N website on its nook reader.

Much like the agreement with Scribd, a default price of $9.99 will be set for every title, but each author will have the opportunity to set his or her own price.

E-book distribution through bn.com and nook will be included as a free service for all new black-and-white ASI titles.

CrunchBase Information
Barnes & Noble
nook
Information provided by CrunchBase

Shout’em Adds Location To Its White Label Mobile SocNets

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 04:50 AM PST

Shout’em today adds a major new feature to its service which could well super-charge it into a whole different place: location. The white label service lets you build a Twitter-like social network, but it now leverages Foursquare’s API and Twitter’s GeoAPI.

The mobile-optimised social networks can be private, location-based and used by any niche group. So far Shout’em has apps for java phones, the iPhone, android. They are now adding a Blackberry app to that roster. All will be leveraging the location feature. In addition Shout’em is throwing in some augmented reality magic into its iPhone app. The Android app is still in progress.

Language Learning Community Busuu Secures First Round

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 04:47 AM PST

Last week busuu.com closed their first funding round from an undisclosed Austrian serial angel investor. The total sum is also not clear, but appears to be just below €500,000.

Busuu.com is a two year old, online community based language learning startup, launched out of Spain, founded by non-Spaniards, Bernhard Niesner (Austria) and Adrian Hilti (Switzerland).

Location-based Virtual Goods Up Next From Little World Gifts

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 04:42 AM PST

Little World Gifts, the mobile virtual goods startup, has signed WWF as its first major brand partner. That’s WWF-UK, the world-renowned conservation charity, not the wrestling federation with the same initials.

More interesting, however, is where Little World Gifts is headed next: Location-based gifting. In a future update, users of the company’s iPhone app (iTunes link) will be prompted to purchase and receive virtual gifts based on their current location, moving the service a little towards the rewards element of the likes of Foursquare and Gowalla.

New York Times Content May Be Coming To A Screen Near You

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 04:36 AM PST

The New York Times Company has teamed up with RMG Networks to have some of its digital content displayed on part of the latter’s network of out-of-home screens. The partnership is said to bring NYTimes content to some 850 screens, located in district cafés and eateries in the New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco markets.

The new initiative, dubbed “NYTimes.com Today”, will feature the latest news headlines, photos, and a selection of videos exclusively from NYTimes.com – along with advertising units – on the digital location-based network operated by RMG Networks.

There’s also a mobile aspect to the story, as viewers can head to NYT2day.com on their phones to receive a direct link to the NYTimes.com Today mobile site, featuring the full articles displayed on the – smaller -screens.

Let’s take a closer look at the NYT’s newest distribution partner.

RMG Networks is headquartered in San Francisco but has local offices in New York, Chicago and Beijing. The company was founded in 2006 under the name Danoo and boasts an undisclosed amount of funding from National CineMedia, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and DAG Ventures – all investors also have one or more representatives on its board.

The company says it’s capable of delivering digital content and advertising to over 60,000 video screens nationwide, enabling it to reach up to nearly 25 million viewers every month.

RMG Networks’ management team is comprised of Garry McGuire (CEO), previously Chairman of Icon Internet Ventures, and former executives from companies such as Yahoo, LevelVision, Screenvision and McKinsey & Co.

Back in July 2009, when the company was still named Danoo, it acquired IdeaCast and rebranded the combined entity RMG Networks.

(Image via Venturebeat)

CrunchBase Information
New York Times
Danoo
Information provided by CrunchBase

Two Years Later AOL Offloads Buy.at To Digital Window

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 04:27 AM PST

In something of a surprise move AOL has sold Buy.at, the affiliate marketing network it bought in early 2008, to UK network Digital Window. AOL acquired Buy.at for a rumoured $150 million but although sale terms have again not been disclosed this time round it’s fair to say the price will be substantially less that that.

Universal Music Group Reports 8.4% Growth In Digital Sales For 2009

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 03:30 AM PST

French media conglomerate Vivendi this morning reported financial results, posting a decline in full-year profit but beating estimates because the net loss was much narrower than expected. You can read more analysis of the media and entertainment giant’s performance elsewhere, but there was a particular passage in the press release regarding Vivendi’s music subsidiary, Universal Music Group, that caught my eye.

UMG, the world’s largest music company with artists like U2, Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna, Eminem, Lil Wayne under contract, as expected finds its revenue from physical product sales (CDs) in a seemingly unstoppable decline. Last year, the company’s revenues were €4,363 million, a 6.2% decrease compared to 2008.

Still, Universal Music Group’s digital sales grew 8.4% in 2009, which the company attributed to strong growth in online sales yet “tempered by softening demand for mobile products in the United States and Japan”.

UMG says it will “continue to encourage and support innovation”, citing Spotify’s iPhone application and MusicStation’s presence on the Android Market as examples. Universal is also a major shareholder of VEVO, a service launched in December, 2009 that quickly rose to become the number 1 music property in the United States.

We should note that UMG is also largely responsible for the demise of video sharing site Veoh, and has sued or threatened to sue companies like YouTube, MySpace, Bolt, Grouper and many more to date.

Universal Music Group recently appointed Lucian Grainge as Chief Executive Officer of the company, succeeding Doug Morris who remained as Chairman. When the promotion was announced, Jean-Bernard Levy, chairman of the Vivendi Management Board, said:

"I am delighted that Lucian Grainge has agreed to move to New York to take on the Chief Executive role. His track record speaks for itself, finding stars, growing revenues and building new business models. He has the right combination of experience and innovation to take UMG forward as the migration into the digital era accelerates."

Do you think Universal Music Group can offset the decline in revenue from physical product sales with a continued increase in digital sales revenue in the foreseeable future?

CrunchBase Information
Universal Music Group
Information provided by CrunchBase

Why Google Pushed Buzz Out The Door Before It Was Ready

Posted: 28 Feb 2010 08:55 PM PST

When Google Buzz launched three weeks ago, the product wasn’t ready. There were basic privacy issues that still needed to be hammered out (and were quickly addressed by Google), but beyond that Google Buzz simply did not work smoothly enough to force feed it to 175 million Gmail users without any warning. (MG covered some of the usability issues last week).

So why was Google Buzz pushed out the door too soon? I have three interrelated theories:

  1. Google still wants to buy Twitter, and putting Buzz into Gmail might be enough of a threat to bring Twitter back to the table.  Buzz did not launch in some Google Labs backwater.  It is placed front and center in Gmail.  Buzz is Google’s strongest effort yet to enter the stream.  If Buzz can gain traction it would certainly help Google’s negotiating position with Twitter.
  2. Independent of any pressure it may place on Twitter, Google needs to have its own realtime micro-messaging communications system.  The micro-message bus is just a more efficient way to communicate than email for many types of messages so it makes sense to add it as a layer to Gmail: broadcast your public messages via Buzz, and keep private ones on email or chat, all from the same place.
  3. The other reason Google needed to establish its own social stream pronto is that links passed through social sharing are beginning to rival search as a primary driver of traffic for many sites.  Part of Google’s prowess stems from the fact that it is the largest referrer of traffic to many other Websites. It doesn’t want to lose that status to social sharing streams such as Facebook or Twitter.  Already, Buzz is helping to boost sharing through Google Reader.  While Google doesn’t benefit directly from that traffic (yet), simply knowing what links people are sharing and clicking on is valuable data which can help it improve its search results.

Google needed to get into this game as fast as it could, even if there were bumps along the way.  The question now is whether Buzz can keep building.

Photo credit: Flickr/ Chelseagirl

CrunchBase Information
Google Buzz
Twitter
Information provided by CrunchBase

Google CEO Eric Schmidt Circa 1986

Posted: 28 Feb 2010 08:50 PM PST

This isn’t new, but it’s new for us. A 1986 TV clip of a then thirtyish year old Eric Schmidt that is just amazing. The awkward smiles and huge glasses say a lot about the era as well as the nerd cred of Google’s CEO. Today’s too cool for school hipster engineers living in lofts in San Francisco and spending more time grooming than coding should be ashamed of themselves.

Just two years later, though, Schmidt had his act together, and looked significantly more like an exec than a nerd. That’s too bad – 1986 Eric was cool.

CrunchBase Information
Eric Schmidt
Information provided by CrunchBase

The Ten Most Likely M&A Deals In Online Video

Posted: 28 Feb 2010 11:55 AM PST

Editor's note: Guest author Ashkan Karbasfrooshan is the founder and CEO of video site WatchMojo. Below are his picks for the ten most likely M&A deals in online video. Previously, he wrote a series if posts about the state of online video (Part I, II, III, and IV).

Which online video companies will get bought in 2010?   Venture capitalists are desperately looking for exits while the usual suspects are sitting on more than $80 billion in cash: Microsoft ($20B), Apple ($40B), Google ($15B), Amazon ($3B), and Yahoo! ($3B) just to name the cash positions of a few potential acquirers.  Theoretically, it should be a match made in heaven, but the sheer number of venture-backed video startups is staggering so when the music stops, not everyone will find a dancing partner.

Once you assess what drives companies to merge or acquire one another, however, it seems like we're about to enter a period of mergers between video competitors and see a series of acquisitions by larger companies looking to accelerate their video strategies, with a common theme being increasing both monetization and margins.

Right now, as the chart above shows (click to enlarge), there are two types of online video companies: those with sky-high ad rates but fairly limited inventory (company A) and those with huge inventory but woeful monetization (company B). Companies can extend profitability through technology, ad solutions or content.

With that in mind, let's look at those 10 potential deals.

1. Demand Media will acquire Tremor Media

Demand Media has raised $355 million but to this day still generates the bulk of its revenue from its domain registrar unit, eNom. However, it is trying to move into the content business, with its "Content Farm" strategy getting a lot of attention.

Demand Media's existing content lends itself better to an arbitrage strategy built around Google marketing and monetization, but over time it will want to do a better job entering both display and video advertising and it will do that by buying one of the many, many video ad networks out there. Brightroll, which is focused on brands, is one option.  Tremor is another, focusing on reach.  That strategy should fit well with Demand Media's modus operandi.  Tremor Media’s ads reach 177.6 million uniques, or 85% of internet users.

2. Lagardere Groupe will acquire Dailymotion

At first glance, French media conglomerate Lagardere seemingly sees no value in communities as a marketing platform: “There is no clear business model because you have a huge, massive audience, but it is not a marketing community,” says to Lagardere’s Chief Financial Officer Dominique D’Hinnin.

Monsieur D'Hinnin might be right, but never underestimate France's sense of nationalism. Dailymotion is France's answer to YouTube and it has taken steps to reduce its share of user-generated and pirated content in favor of professional videos. (Disclosure: Dailymotion is also one of WatchMojo’s distribution partners).

With $68.5M in funding—including a tidy sum from Le Fonds Strategique d'investissement, which is an investing arm of the French State—you can imagine that one of the pillars of the French media landscape, Lagardere Groupe could eventually step in and acquire Dailymotion despite its admitted monetization problems: "At the moment, we are poor at monetising our audience," admits Dailymotion CEO Cedric Tournay. Lagardere could help with that provided Dailymotion can continue to de-emphasize its less advertiser-friendly content.

Additionally, Lagardere will be able to leverage Dailymotion's audience to promote its own content: the company owns Hachette along with numerous other media entities.

3. Scripps will acquire 5Min

When 5Min (another one of our distribution partners) launched, it focused on user-generated how-to content. Thankfully for them, they have since moved away from that and currently mesh

a) aggregated premium and super premium content with

b) their monetization engine, a strategy which has propelled 5Min to become a Top 10 comScore video company.

Scripps is a producer of super premium content, and like Discovery Holdings, it might prefer to distribute its programming through TV and cable. But, with consumers viewing more and more videos on the Web, it will need more content for its sites and will look for more inventory online.

The two companies already have a strategic deal in place, so they have some familiarity with each other.

4. Google will acquire Ooyala

Last year it was rumored that Google was going to acquire Brightcove for $500-700M. That was always unlikely because many of Brightcove's financial backers are the very same media companies that view Google as the bane of their existence.  Moreover, Google makes a lot of acquisitions but rarely are they large (YouTube, DoubleClick and AdMob being the exceptions).

A more logical fit to expand its video foothold would be Ooyala, which competes with Brightcove and includes Glam Media and others as clients… and was founded by a former Google executive.

Google has the consumer video market cornered with YouTube.  Iit could leverage Ooyala to go after the corporate market by undercutting Brightcove.

5. Microsoft will acquire Brightcove

The consolidation in ad services peaked with Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick and Microsoft's $6B acquisition of aQuantive. After selling ad agency unit Razorfish, today aQuantive is Microsoft Advertising, and as advertising continues to move into video, MSFT will probably want to offer a video content management to go along with the Atlas ad serving platform.  That is where Brightcove fits in.

If you think about it, Google owns video search by way of its YouTube acquisition. Microsoft wants to push into cloud computing and at least conceptually, owning Brightcove would give it a legitimate cloud computing foothold in professional video content with no real threat to any of its core businesses. It could also better integrate Brightcove (which increasingly powers media companies' videos) into Bing's video search, helping it kill many birds with one (albeit expensive) stone.

6. Yahoo! will acquire Freewheel

After acquiring Blue Lithium and Right Media, Yahoo! got a shot in the arm and grew its advertising reach across the Web, outside of the Yahoo.com property.

Freewheel is founded by former DoubleClick employees but Google (which bought DoubleClick) might have less interest than one would think in augmenting its video advertising reach across the Web considering it owns YouTube which accounts for 40% of online video consumption. YouTube only monetizes a small share of the billions of videos on the site.

Freewheel, which allows marketers and publishers to manage campaigns across a variety of distribution sites, would be a nice fit with Yahoo!, which might want to extend its Audience Network in video offerings.

7. Gannett will acquire Livestream

Gannett already invested $10 million in Livestream (then known as Mogulus).

The fit is a natural: print media will want to bolster its video offerings (be it content or technology). The main challenge here is that media companies have grown wary of buying technology firms, but news organizations will have a natural predisposition for all things live and the investment sets the stage up for an all-out acquisition.

8. Nielsen will acquire TubeMogul

TubeMogulprovides analytics to countless marketers and publishers (we use them at WatchMojo). Nielsen and comScore are both looking at adding video capabilities and TubeMogul has done a good job of getting wide adoption, providing Nielsen with a quick entry into the burgeoning video space.

Also, David Toth, former president, CEO, and co-founder of the NetRatings service joined TubeMogul's board.

9. AOL acquires Howcast

AOL's recent acquisition of StudioNow is a sign of things to come: When AOL was spun off from Time Warner, it was shackled with restrictions on its use of cash and thus the size of the deals it could complete.

But AOL wants to create content, lots of it. AOL's Tim Armstrong is an investor in Howcast; he was also an investor in Patch, a local startup Armstrong acquired after joining AOL (to his credit, he simply recouped his initial investment and did not participate in the capital gain).

Howcast creates videos themselves, lets users create and upload videos and aggregates other professional content (Howcast is one of our distribution partners as well). While Howcast might have proven redundant with the StudioNow acquisition, AOL has a history of doubling up when it focuses on a space (think ad services: Tacoda, Advertising.com, and Third Screen Media) and Howcast is more focussed on how-to videos.

10. News Corp. acquires Break Media from Lionsgate, spins off NewCo

News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch is in the process of divesting from the Web: first selling Photobucket, then chucking Rotten Tomatoes to Flixster while retaining a stake in the new venture.  I see something similar happening with Acquisition #10.

Break Media is one of the so-called YouTube clones who has managed to differentiate itself by focusing on the men's 18-34 market and creating content, be it videos and now video games.  Back in 2007, Lionsgate invested $21 million in stock for a 42% stake in Break.com. At the time, it also got a call option (basically, the right to buy) which is "exercisable at any time from June 29, 2007 until the earlier of 30 months after June 29, 2007 or a year after a change of control, to purchase all of the remaining 58% equity interests (excluding any subsequent dilutive events), including in-the-money stock options, warrants and other rights, of Break.com for $58 million in cash or common stock, at the company's option."

The 30 month window expired on December 29, 2009, and despite Break's momentum, I don't see any major incentive for Lionsgate to exercise its call option. I do, however, see the following happening (well, maybe…).

Lionsgate might be more willing to trade its 42% stake in Break Media for a smaller share in a NewCo. that houses both Break Media and News Corp.'s IGN Entertainment, another leader in the men's 18-34 space. (again, bothh Break and IGN are distribution partners).  This NewCo. would then be a more likely candidate for an IPO and would allow both Lionsgate and News Corp. to focus on their core businesses and cash out their investment over time.

Needless to say, all of the above deals are idle, if informed, speculation on my part.  What do you think are the most likely video exits this year?

CrunchBase Information
Ashkan Karbasfrooshan
Information provided by CrunchBase

Mobile Fundraising Campaigns Begin For Chile

Posted: 28 Feb 2010 11:30 AM PST

Following the earthquake in Haiti, mobile fundraising via texting exploded; with over $40 million raised via text messaging alone. With the massive success of the Haiti campaign, mobile donations are now being used to raise funds for the victims of the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that shook Chile over the past weekend.

Mobile giving is fairly simple; you text a keyword to a code on your phone and a micro-donation is made to a given charity. The donation is billed via your carrier. Similar to the Haiti campaign, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile are waiving text-messaging fees for the donations. According to the Mobile Giving Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, The Salvation Army, The American Red Cross and World Vision are all accepting SMS donations for the Chile earthquake.

Mobile Accord, which ran Haiti mobile fundraising efforts for the Red Cross, is also coordinating SMS fundraising on behalf of several philanthropic foundations raising money for Chile. Via the company’s mGive program, you can make $10 donations to Friends of the World Food Program, Operation USA, and Convoy of Hope.

It’s unclear whether the fundraising campaign for the Chile earthquake will see the impressive results of the Haiti initiative, but the model did prove to be successful.

Photo Credit/Flickr/curiouslee

CrunchBase Information
Mobile Accord
Information provided by CrunchBase

Jimdo Makes Running Your Own Online Store A Breeze, Loses Investor

Posted: 28 Feb 2010 10:14 AM PST

People who use Jimdo to create and publish their own basic website know how versatile yet easy-to-use the tool really is – I know because I used the service myself to set up and manage a site for my wedding last year. And if these users now want to start selling something online through their websites, it wouldn’t involve as much hassle as it would have a week ago.

This is because the German startup behind Jimdo has added a ‘Store’ feature to their website building service, enabling users to add a full-fledged ecommerce element to their sites.

Jimdo users who want to set up an online business can use Store to start organizing and publishing a catalog of products, which can be presented in various ways: multiple pictures with detailed-view zoom functionality, videos, text, PDFs and more. Products can have multiple variations (e.g. shirt colors, sizes, etc.) and can be featured as ‘bestsellers’ or within a given specific product category.

A shopping cart feature is built right into the new product extension, complete with PayPal integration and the ability to include a custom check-out process (i.e. by invoice). The startup has also considered the challenges of conducting online business on a global level, making it possible for sellers to switch between U.S. Sales Tax and VAT (Europe) and customize shipping costs accordingly.

Here’s a reference site, fully powered by Jimdo (more can be found here). For pricing and current promotions, check this page.

In other, rather unexpected news, Jimdo investor United Internet has withdrawn from the company’s board. In May 2009, the international ISP had acquired 30% of the startup and also inked a license deal with the young company that allowed it to have its hosting provider subsidiary 1&1 enable their customers to build Jimdo sites as a white-labeled service.

Jimdo co-founder Matthias Henze had this to say about the whole ordeal:

“United Internet has left the board of shareholders. As you know, they mainly invested because of the partnership we had with 1&1. Since 1&1 had different views concerning the roadmap we changed the agreement with 1&1 which now has a license to develop the white-labeled version on its own. I’m really sorry, but due to signed NDAs I can’t share any more details on the deal.”

It’s a bit of a strange development, but Jimdo doesn’t seem to be all too worried about the ties getting cut – the company also tells me they’ve reached profitability with team of 30 full-time employees. We’ll see how they fare now that they’re on their own again.

CrunchBase Information
Jimdo
Information provided by CrunchBase

No response to “The Latest from TechCrunch”

Leave a Reply