Fake It Till You Make It, Baby
I love, Love, LOVE the following story. File this one under "Only in America". If you weren't yet convinced that today's tech and Web 2.0 space is one giant mass of froth, then this will seal the deal for you. I gave Groupon a hard time for it's ridiculous valuation and questionable accounting, but at least they had a business.
Apparently that's not a requirement to pull in venture capital today.
I'm referring to the recent $1.5 million angel raise completed by Vimeo founder Jake Lodwick for his latest venture Elepath. What does Elepath do? That's an excellent question. Not even Jake knows the answer.
“I just don’t think it makes sense to have a product idea, THEN raise money, THEN build a team,” Mr. Lodwick told Betabeat over Gchat last night. “People need to trust each other and build up momentum as a team and once we have that, we can drop everything and focus on a great product idea.”
Umm...yeah.
Boys and girls, I am telling you to drop everything you're doing right now and go build a VC deck. You don't even have to know what your company does anymore. And that's a beautiful thing. Just give it some lofty hipster Web 2.0 name like ForwardHo or TwitDangle and you're in. Investors are horny to throw cash at you.
To his credit, Lodwick did start Vimeo and Busted Tees, and he was a co-founder of CollegeHumor, so there is a track record there. What it's a track record of I have no idea. All I know is that whomever is in charge of the email campaign at Busted Tees is as relentless as a dog with two dicks. If they could cut the emails down to about five a day that would be great.
All joking aside, if you've got an Internet or mobile idea - no matter how harebrained - you should shop it, like, right fucking now. Shit's ridiculous out there.
A fool and his money are soon partying.







Comments
I'm a team player and have
I'm a team player and have momentum, can I have $1.5MM?
It sounds like he's putting a band together more than a business: "Dude, come smoke with us and jam, and let's see what happens."
YOU JUST GOT TROLLED
http://www.troll.me/images/red-foreman322/dont-you...
VC =/= Angel
VC =/= Angel
How much of a stake do you
How much of a stake do you think this VC would take after investing US$1.5m into the company before the company got off the ground? On another note, for those of you who are more familiar with VC, how big of a stake to VCs usually take in early-stage companies?
buybuybuy wrote: VC =/=
VC =/= Angel
Obviously, but this is essentially an Angel raise from well known VCs.
Potato Po-tah-to.
Eddie, Ever since my buddy
Eddie,
Ever since my buddy sold his Groupon clone a few months back I've been racking my brain trying to come up with ideas, and working hard to put together a technical team; I'm just worried that by the time I'm ready to rock the bubble will have burst.
Anyone on WSO interested in making something happen? I've got a couple of talented programmers and a lawyer on standby.
surferdude867 wrote: Eddie,
Eddie,
Ever since my buddy sold his Groupon clone a few months back I've been racking my brain trying to come up with ideas, and working hard to put together a technical team; I'm just worried that by the time I'm ready to rock the bubble will have burst.
Anyone on WSO interested in making something happen? I've got a couple of talented programmers and a lawyer on standby.
Got any terms, buddy?
“...all truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
- Schopenhauer
seabird wrote: surferdude867
Eddie,
Ever since my buddy sold his Groupon clone a few months back I've been racking my brain trying to come up with ideas, and working hard to put together a technical team; I'm just worried that by the time I'm ready to rock the bubble will have burst.
Anyone on WSO interested in making something happen? I've got a couple of talented programmers and a lawyer on standby.
Got any terms, buddy?
I'm curious too...
YOU JUST GOT TROLLED
http://www.troll.me/images/red-foreman322/dont-you...
You answered the question
You answered the question yourself.
To his credit, Lodwick did start Vimeo and Busted Tees, and he was a co-founder of CollegeHumor, so there is a track record there.
A good team with a prior track record can be worth more than a good idea and the bet is probably that $1.5mm is a cheap call option on the potential that the team will come up with a good idea again.
Looks like Jake also has his
Looks like Jake also has his own seed-stage VC company based in Cambridge and NYC. Might have to stop by HQ and ask for a job.
My name is Nicky, but you can call me Dre.
So funny you made this post
So funny you made this post because honestly, I think the tech-bubble is STUPID and feel the same way. Why does anyone need a business model or make a product that does something, lets just make a site where people sign up and we'll go raise VC/Angel funding!! woot!
95% of these companies don't do ANYTHING or add value and their business model is just ad-clicks it seems with the exception of groupon or whatever. Seriously..
If anyone wants to team up and has an idea or would like to share ideas, don't hesitate to PM me either.
I have no job and i'm not in school at the moment (located in Central NJ)
alpha currency trader wanna-be
Agree with watersign. I'm
Agree with watersign. I'm astonished at some of these "companies." I don't even know how you call them "companies" or "businesses" since so many of them don't actually sell a product or service or even have a legitimate path to making money beyond "advertising." What a fucking joke.
Check out my WSO Blog
Hmm, I get the concept of
Hmm, I get the concept of investing money in a guy with a good track record. I don't understand why that requires a $1.5 million investment. With $60,000 my programmer is about a year away from revolutionizing the mortgage business. Who needs $1.5 million before there is even an idea? Hopefully for the investors the money is just sort of a promise and not actually held in escrow.
I'll also add that I think
I'll also add that I think it's pretty clear we're in a "tech" bubble when investment banking types are trying to start social media businesses.
Check out my WSO Blog
Also, does anyone remember
Also, does anyone remember Color? Color, the app that was supposed to be "revolutionary." The team that paid $350K for the domain name www.color.com and got like $40 million in VC funding before the product even launched?
Guess what, shit was D.O.A. because it was a stupid concept that didn't solve a problem, offer anything of value, or have a path to making money.
Check out my WSO Blog
Does anyone here want to
Does anyone here want to start a college??
alpha currency trader wanna-be
In all seriousness, what if I
"That dude is so haole, he don't even have any breath left."
EB because you like
|| But feeling good and enjoying life are prerequisites to success, not by products of it- Midas Mulligan Magoo ||
watersign wrote: Does anyone
YOU JUST GOT TROLLED
http://www.troll.me/images/red-foreman322/dont-you...
Asia_i_Banker wrote: How much
watersign wrote: Does anyone
The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee
WSO is not your personal search function.
seabird wrote: surferdude867
UFOinsider wrote: seabird
blackfinancier
alpha currency trader wanna-be
watersign wrote: Does anyone
surferdude867 wrote: Eddie,
The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee
WSO is not your personal search function.
Edmundo - I think you're
watersign wrote: Does anyone
RIP WSO Chat.
surferdude867 wrote: Eddie,
"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed."
Theodore Roosevelt
@Minute Man, I actually
Edmundo Braverman
The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee
WSO is not your personal search function.
Virginia Tech 4ever
relinquis... Killing the GMAT this December; Over/Under set at: 725 GMATs.
It's a bubble
watersign wrote: 95% of these
go.with.the.flow wrote: EB
Leadership can be defined in two words: "Follow Me"
This really isn't any
Who wants to get a bunch of
You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist. - Friedrich Nietzsche
This might be giving away a
watersign wrote: Does anyone
watersign wrote: Does anyone
What do you all think of this
Edmundo Braverman wrote: This
evan1482 wrote: watersign
alpha currency trader wanna-be
Virginia Tech 4ever
I had an idea for a site/app
That's a really dumb app
phil009 wrote: I had an idea
The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee
WSO is not your personal search function.
phil009 wrote: I had an idea
relinquis... Killing the GMAT this December; Over/Under set at: 725 GMATs.
Yeah I didn't think there'd
phil009 wrote: Yeah I didn't
The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee
WSO is not your personal search function.
Eddie, I'm going to have to
looking for that pick-me-up to power through an all-nighter?