Media Matchmaker: autopsy of a failed startup
Show #123 Listen (54:46) Download 
They were funded in 2005, but the raise was small. Their concept had great potential to disrupt huge markets, the buying and selling of TV and film ads and product placement. The team had great charm and pedigree, one was a lawyer with great connections to Hollywood, and the other had the first hand experience of selling ads in the hurly burly of the Fox Television empire. Today the company is for sale at a liquidation price, few interested parties watch from the sidelines.
In this autopsy of a failed startup I speak to both partners, separately because they're not speaking to each other, the chairman of the board and several investors, including myself. Did the market change just as their product came online? Everyone knew there'd be some resistance to change with the major players, but wasn't the technological allure strong enough to capture some market share? Did the company ever learn how to monetize their referral service or were they just selling phone numbers while the real deal was consummated off-line? Did Bessemer funded nextmedium eat their lunch? Or did the company just starve to death, unable to raise the funds they needed to build the system and take it to market; did they succumb because they only raised minimal funding from a small group of angel investors?
We'll find out together...
Show #121 
