MyKinda heads for the deadpool

 

 

I just got word from MyKinda founder Lee Wilkins that he plans to shutdown the Eastern European blog network later today.

The network launched just last September and was being bootstrapped. 

Wilkins says the shutdown is temporary to ensure that money due to writers doesn’t continue to add up. The sites will remain down until, he says, “we redefine a more profitable sustainable business model.” The company had total expenses of about €319,000, with no advertising revenue to offset it. Wilkins capitalized the company with €175,000, leaving €144,000 or so in unpaid debts.

MyKinda joins the DeadPool for now. Hopefully we’ll see them relaunch down the road, and continue to cover tech and other news in Eastern Europe.

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MyKinda heads for the deadpool

 

 

I just got word from MyKinda founder Lee Wilkins that he plans to shutdown the Eastern European blog network later today.

The network launched just last September and was being bootstrapped. 

Wilkins says the shutdown is temporary to ensure that money due to writers doesn’t continue to add up. The sites will remain down until, he says, “we redefine a more profitable sustainable business model.” The company had total expenses of about €319,000, with no advertising revenue to offset it. Wilkins capitalized the company with €175,000, leaving €144,000 or so in unpaid debts.

MyKinda joins the DeadPool for now. Hopefully we’ll see them relaunch down the road, and continue to cover tech and other news in Eastern Europe.

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TV listings site Couchville has joined the deadpool

 

 

TV listings site Couchville has joined the deadpool.

The service, provided by PVR software maker Snapstream, offered US TV listings via zip code and cable or satellite provider.

 

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Can Revver stay out of the deadpool?

 

 

CNET is reporting that video sharing site Revver is trying to sell itself for $300-500k, a measly price given its total funding of $12.7M.

The company apparently has fallen on hard times, with over half of its staff leaving in the last 18 months and having accrued a debt of $1M. So far the company has had no luck finding a buyer even at such a low offering price. Both LiveUniverse, a “network of entertainment Web sites”, and Microsoft’s Soapbox (i.e. MSN Video) have considered buying Revver but neither has bitten.

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Yahoo Picks heads for the deadpool

 

 

Launched in August 1995, Yahoo Picks highlighted the best of the web in a weekly, then later daily update service in an era prior to blogging. The site eventually evolved to a full blown blog in 2004.

Many new internet users in the mid 90s started on the web in roughly this order: Yahoo’s Front Page, Yahoo’s Directory , then for cool sites they’d head to Yahoo Picks.

Yahoo did not post the reasons for shutting the service, but in an age of mass produced and often automated link swapping and recommendations, the service is by comparison archaic, and probably not seeing an awful lot of traffic.

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3Gruppies heads for the deadpool

 

 

The venture firm behind mobile media startup 3Guppies, VantagePoint, has closed down the company. This is despite still having $8 million of an original $20 million left to burn in the bank. VentureBeat reports that the company’s 40 employees were sent home last week, but will be paid through the end of the month.

3 Guppies was started after VantagePoint spent $20 million acquiring two companies: MoPhone, a mobile social networking company, and 3Guploads, a mobile content company (ringtones). However, the mobile ringtone market has been drying up over the last year as margins tighten and mobile phones become more open. 

3Guppies allowed users to share and store pictures in a free mobile locker as well as create your own MP3 ringtones and download video to any cell phone. The offering is similar to those of Juicecaster and Treemo.

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AGLOCO is heading for the deadpool

 

 

The following email is believed to have been sent to some AGLOCO members:

We would like to update you on the status of AGLOCO’s operations. We continue to believe in the AGLOCO concept, but our revenue is currently not sufficient to give Members a meaningful distribution. And though there are increases in membership, the resulting revenue is not enough to support operating costs. As a development team we are unable to continue to use our savings to fund the operations. If any Member would like to pursue continuing the operations of AGLOCO, you may contact us at agloco1@live.com .

We would like to thank every Member for supporting our effort to bring a piece of the Internet directly to the user. We hope that we can find a way to keep the operations going.

Agloco is the reincarnation of AllAdvantage, a Web 1.0 company that paid users for viewing advertising through a toolbar. When AllAdvantage failed they said this time they would get it right.

 

 

As the graph above shows, traction was never reached at Agloco and the last six months have seen a steady decline.

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Yahoo sends MingleNow to the deadpool

 

 

Social network, MingleNow has been sent to the deadpool by Yahoo. According to a post on the service’s blog, MingleNow will officially close on January 7th. No official explanation has been made for the closure.

We can speculate that Yahoo was not interested in running another social network. When Yahoo acquired BlueLithium, the ad network, MingleNow was also acquired as part of BlueLithium's properties.

 

 

As the graph above shows, based on web traffic it is no surprise Yahoo is closing the website.

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Brightspot.tv heads for the deadpool

 

 

BrightSpot.tv was a new advertising model that provides users with discounted (or free) subscriptions to content providers like Napster, MLB TV and Gamefly. The one stipulation was that they have to watch commercials on their site.

BrightSpot.tv has viewers watch and interact with advertisers so they can build up their ad-watching credit to apply to subscriptions.

For instance, you have to watch $15 worth of commercials to get $15 off on your monthly Napster subscription.

As the graph below shows brightspot failed to get any traction.

 

 

BrightSpot.tv had received funding from MLB and NBA owners Jerry Colangelo (Phoenix Suns, Arizona Diamondbacks) and Jerry Reinsdorf (Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bulls).

 

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NBC´s DotComedy heads for the deadpool

 

 

NBC´s online comedy site DotComedy went live last November with a mix of NBC's late-night programming, snippets of classic comedy from the network's library, viral video and original content.

Mediaweek reports that DotComedy is now heading for the deadpool. Since its launch, DotComedy has struggled to gain any traction. The site's traffic twice fell below Nielsen Online's minimum reporting threshold over the last three months. DotComedy´s US traffic can be seen in the graph below.

 

 

 

Some of the site's original programming, which included original content produced by a team of video bloggers, will likely be redistributed to other sites within the NBCU family.

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Is Podtech heading for the deadpool?

 

 

PodTech is an online video network featuring technology and digital entertainment programming. PodTech’s media platform allows professional content producers to deliver their content to people who can find, share, and interact with it.

That was the idea but if Fake Steve Jobs is to be believed, it’s possible. Fake Steve, aka Forbes senior editor Dan Lyons writes: “No announcement yet but we hear it’s imminent. Word is that Scoble was planning to bail in January anyway but now he won’t have to. Hard to believe PodTech is going under, because they seemed to have such a solid business model.”

Podtech's traffic in the US can be seen above and after a year the site has stopped growing before reaching a 100,000 monthly users.

At the end of last year Scobleizer writes about the difficulties facing video content sites. So the writing is on the wall and the await the demise of PodTech.

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Judy's Book heads for the deadpool

 

 

Judy's Book is set to close its operations. Judy's Book is an online community where smart shoppers find and share the best deals, sales and coupons - both from online and local retailers.

The company raised a total of $10.5 million over two rounds of financing. Judy's Book traffic figures can be seen below.

 

 

Last summer Intuit shut down Zipingo which leaves Yelp on its own to compete with new startups and the likes of Google of Yahoo.

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