Formed three years ago, the comedy video site Funny or Die has already pulled in close to $20 million from Sequoia Capital, HBO, and angel investors like Reid Hoffman and Ron Conway. As of earlier this year, the company, which combines original programming with user-generated content, was looking to raise even more, according to a source close to the company. Contacted yesterday, CEO Dick Glover declined to be interviewed about Funny or Die, emailing instead that the startup "is not looking for more funding.” Instead, he suggested that it’s about to start investing money. According to Glover, Funny or Die is setting up a “separate fund” for “other purposes.”
3 min read · 07 April 2010
A federal appeals court today ruled that the FCC overreached two years ago, when it issued a cease and desist order against Comcast for deliberately slowing the Internet file transfers of BitTorrent users. Comcast ended the practice soon after, but the situation made clear that the FCC believed it had the legal right to mandate "Net neutrality." Today's ruling seemingly moves the debate over to Congress, which would have to grant the FCC the authority to regulate ISPs. A second possibility -- the “nuclear option,” as some are calling it-- would be for the FCC to reclassify broadband as a regulated service, reversing a decision made under the Bush Administration to classify broadband providers as an “information service” that are beyond the scope of the FCC’s power. Given that it already looks to be a grueling election year, the first scenario seems unlikely at this point -- unless something forces the hand of Congress. Understandably, VCs fear that such a “something” could be an ISP's favorable treatment of a strategic partner or other self-interested maneuver. “Imagine if Comcast decided once day that they didn’t want anyone else to allow voice over their network,” says Allan Leinwand, a venture partner at Panorama Capital. “Maybe they claim that Vonage somehow damages its bandwidth, despite that a packet is a packet.”
3 min read · 06 April 2010
2 min read · 06 April 2010
Unvarnished, a new site that invites people to “review” work colleagues, has raised $500,000 in VC funding, according to an email sent out by founder Peter Kazanjy. The San Francisco startup was looking to raise closer to $1 million, according to sources. Judging by the buzz that has surrounded Unvarnished since its debut last week, it may get there soon. While some employment attorneys at Wilson Sonsini seem baffled by the site -- telling the L.A. Times last week that it’s a “litigation nightmare” that begs the question “Who can I sue?” -- some venture capitalists and angel investors appear ready to gamble on the company as a back way into LinkedIn’s market space.
3 min read · 05 April 2010
4 min read · 05 April 2010
5 min read · 01 April 2010
2 min read · 01 April 2010
1 min read · 31 March 2010
2 min read · 30 March 2010
You may not know ThreatMetrix, but plenty of companies are already well-acquainted with what it does and how it can help them, from popular social networks and dating sites to retailers to financial services companies, including peHUB parent Thomson Reuters. Here’s why: Los Gatos, Calif.-based ThreatMetrix stops online fraud by “fingerprinting” the devices used to commit it, and according to some -- including the folks at PayPal and Gartner Group security analyst Avivah Litan -- ThreatMetrix appears to be doing it better than its competitors. The 36-person startup is just getting started, says 55-year-old CEO Reed Tausing, who joined the company the data privacy company Vormetric and was the CEO and fifth employee of now publicly traded Callidus Software. We talked for a bit this morning. Read our conversation after the jump...
7 min read · 30 March 2010
