neoganda
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Damn it Heckman! Now, because I dropped out of high school, I'm going to have to shut down my 2 companies, divorce my wife, and get addicted to drugs.
She's going in the right direction. I have faith.
I'm going to follow on...
The argument that generations share characteristic traits is just a feel-good exercise in pattern recognition that tickles that special place in our ego. Defending or attacking, it doesn't matter, it's ultimately a pointless waste of time.
I could have caved in to every smug Baby Boomer telling me that as a Gen Xer I'd be the first generation to not do better than my parents. Both of my parents had masters degrees while I didn't even make it out of high school with a piece of paper. I should have just crawled under a rock because all the facts lined up. According to the media reports from the 80's and 90's right now I should be the night manager at Sizzler moping the Malibu Chicken off floors. However, in my 40's, today I run a company that's created jobs for a dozen people. I own a home. I'm in the top tax bracket.
If you're in your 20's don't listen to any of this shit. You create everything in this world. You create your own destiny. The choice is yours and yours alone. Don't let research from Time magazine or countless articles on this topic try to box you in. The universe is limitless. You can change anything and everything.
After 600 words I still really don't get what they do short of “big data”. I get that they raised, the market is huge, and they have customers but how are business analytics specifically used? Who'd pay for a data visualization of Crunchbase and how much is that worth? What's the use case and ROI for Pandora or Netflix as an example? What information are they seeing that's helping them make better business decisions. I hope this doesn't sound like a snarky internet comment. I was just hoping to learn more as this space is clearly a big deal now.
Looks like a fun thing to have. Looking forward to hearing about the rest new LPLA companies.
@coreycrossfield I remember 18 months ago when we were trying to get a mote of exposure down here and no one would write a single word about the scene that was developing. We pulled together a substantial private group on Facebook and started reaching out to the writers at the LA Times Tech Blog. Unfortunately, they were too busy writing stories about Microsoft and Oracle. Suster evangelized L.A., and I think deserves credit for creating the spark, but the journalistic coverage didn't start until Carney was assigned by Pando.
Yeah, maybe a detail here or there was incorrect if you really want to get pedantic about it but ultimately the articles keep coming with regulatory and depth. I'll go so far as to say that some of them might be debatable because they aren't the soulless press release type of stories that you read on TechCrunch. Many posts actually have a point of view that invites a discussion or even a heated debate. I much prefer that to another predictable quip by Max Woolf in the comments. By the way, do you even have to read the stories on TC anymore? They might as well turn that blog into a Twitter feed. Pando has skin in the game and their heart in the right place so I'd hate to kick off this opportunity with dismissive cynicism. If you have a specific point by all means shoot but I'm not sure who those insiders are that you're speaking for.
I'm not trying to get all ass-kissy here but dang, they put the work in—daily. Are you really going to knock someone for swinging at the ball?
@StartupBook That may be true but what they've actually done is turn $8.5MM in funding into a business that grosses no more than $1MM in gross revenue. That's gross not EBITA. Not sure if the brand is really worth anything yet. I much prefer touting something like NastyGal as an L.A. success story. If the CMPs don't rise on YouTube content then I think it's fair to say that the whole model for the entire YT channel ecosystem won't be sustainable for higher quality content like this.
It's my understanding that YouTube charges an $8 to $12 dollar CPM for preroll. Hulu is in the $25 dollar range. It would appear that there's room for growth but I don't think we should get ahead of ourselves. Building a business on top of a platform can be volatile. I think Tweetdeck is a good example of a "Wow this is future!" period to being completely shut down. I don't mean to be skeptical, but I do want to be sober.
@mcarney @neoganda Well that's quite the multiple then (+30x) but I definitely see the upside as the whole entertainment business gets turned upside down. It'll be interesting to see of these channels are able to establish a brand that lasts. So far the only brands that matter in the streaming world are the platforms: YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu. Channels feel somewhat ephemeral but I think one success story would be Leo Leporte's TWIT. I think a TWIT for tweens would be pretty massive. Gonna be fun to watch it all go down. Thanks for the insight Mike.
I wish I knew more about the business behind these channels. How do they make money? I've heard that a million views is about a $1,000 bucks in revenue from the ads that Google runs against your video. Is that it or are there more ways to make money than just views? Maybe you spin these shows into larger properties if they are a hit online. A million a year in revenue doesn't seem enough. I know I'm missing something but I'm interested to learn more if anyone wants to chime in.
You know what's even more awesome than, “I know I’m not the long-term CEO for this business.”? It's when a VC tells you, “You're may not be the long-term CEO for this business.” I'm like, "Thank you! Do you validate parking?".
"...native video ads delivered “higher brand lift” than pre-roll ads."
You pointed this out in your other article but just for clarity on this post the Sharethrough funded study tested interruptive pre-roll against user-initiated video. The placement (native) was irrelevant yet highly touted—a sketchy conclusion at best. What they found was that people who _elected_ to watch a video remembered more about that video over the people who's intention it was to watch a youtube video but were forced to watch a commercial first, then recall that commercials content. Seems pretty obvious that people who want to watch a video will enjoy it more and recall the content.
The headline above has been blasted all over the adtech blogosphere like it's some kind of revelation. However, just like native ads, these "studies" blur the lines between fact and fiction.
@eringriffith @neoganda Don't get me wrong. This was a fun article to read and I know that the WP algorithm pulls the related stories—just pointing out the irony. I should have worded that differently.
As a person who's worked in multiple kitchens and owns a set of Henckels knives I just feel like the whole idea is off. Shopping for me is part of the cooking experience. You want to see what's fresh and you want to take your time strolling the isles for that perfect bottle of wine. Cooking is also about left-overs. If I'm gonna put that time in I'm definitely throwing that extra bit of protein in the saute pan for tomorrow morning's omelet. This idea is also not suitable if you have kids—I admit this is obvious but I feel this point pulls this idea our of the main stream market. I'm not even sure there's an existing market so they'll have to create one. Lastly, the idea of have individually wrapped pieces of garlic or whatever just seems silly and not particularly "green".
If you don't have to time to stop off at the store on the way home I'm not sure you have the time to cook and wash dishes. I'm sure there's a few people who'll be interested in the novelty of receiving "four tiny, two-inch potatoes" and so on all wrapped up in a box at their door step but is this really a problem for enough people to establish a new market? Also I think it's relevant to point out that one of the related articles is, "Pop-Up Pantry Partners with MasterChef to Deliver Reality Show-Winning Meals" not "Pop-Up Pantry closes its doors amid greater than anticipated costs".
Anyone know how many *active* users are on Foursquare?
This article has something that's not really your style: a little anger. But, at the bottom of anger is hurt and I can, after the 18 months (?) of reporting you've done, that this felt like a punch in the gut. Clearly you're spoken with so many other companies seemingly more deserving of recognition that it must be confusing at best.
The tight knit group if Los Angeles VC's and groups like Lava have clearly become pathologically myopic if they're going to applaud the achievements Viddy. Like you pointed out a $30MM round is quite the hollow victory if there's nothing behind the curtain. Before LAVA hands out their next award I would think something as fundamental as a business model should be in place.
While an award seems inappropriate I do want to wish the best to the Viddy team as I know they have a lot of work in front of them and probably didn't ask to be put in the spotlight.
@darrylwright @neoganda understood, and I don't have a bone to pick with you. You just happened to be the last comment. It is entertaining to read but in this case it's at the expense of other people who, even though they are unnamed, I'm sure have read this article and comments.
@darrylwright I don't mean to single you out specifically but I was there (invited by the moderator) and what Francisco doesn't mention is that the guy next to him that was irritating him was ASKED to share this specific type of story. I don't think it's fair to hold it against him. He was just there helping out the moderator. He wasn't on an ego trip or as self-involved as this article makes him out to be. The guy was literally 2 weeks away from a life changing exit and the entire deal fell through and his company went out of business. He had to sell his car and home and reinvent his life to continue being and entrepreneur. That was the story and I'm not sure why that was so irritating.
I'd really like to see Francisco jump up on stage at the next Pando Monthly event and ask, "Why did you people come here tonight?" There's a double standard going on here. You can't monetize a blog with events and tout those but mock others as pointless "real talk." It's duplicitous and nihilistic.
He's a good writer, and I understand and don't knock your comment, but the negativity of this article and misrepresentation of what really happened just bums me out as it's hurtful and unproductive.
I think it's important to note that the impetus for this panel (group therapy session?) was the death of Jody Sherman. The tense energy, the lack of focus, the awkward flow of the conversation between the panelist and moderator all stemmed from the that fact that Jody's suicide caused a profound ripple affect throughout the community. The moderator was raising questions but I'm not sure the panelists were on the same page. The audience, who was put on defense by your very direct questioning, I think was attending for the same reason that anyone attends one of these events: pattern recognition. People just want to make sure they're following the same methods and process as the people who've been down the same road. If you're trying to learn the secret of raising money or simply trying to cope with the stress and isolation of being a founder ultimately you're just trying to match your behavior to patters that have succeeded in the past.
The guy next to you who shared his story was asked to share his story so he did. The females on the panel just did their best to pull the nose up on the entire evening by reminding people to not get wrapped up in the negativity of life. It was a small glimmer of light but wasn't enough the equalize the room.
Jody's death has left some people soul searching. This event was a physical manifestation of those emotions. I don't think you can read anymore into than that.
Well, at least you're not bitter.
@DavidSpinks @neoganda I saw "delivered in a cold pack" and assumed it was pretty much the same thing. I'm not sure if I would take a chance on a chicken breast that was mailed to me as being safe to eat. The risk reward ratio is off—but that's just my paranoia. Also, I think about WebVan. That was a million years ago but I wonder if people really want to "shop" this way. I'll definitely keep an eye out and hope they succeed.