Gawker
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twitterati
Celebrity Deaths Ruin Chef's Precious Chicken-Making Opportunity
The deaths of Michael Jackson, Farah Fawcett and Ed McMahon were catastropic... to Tyler Florence's publicity efforts. Also apparently tragic: having to ride to a resort town on a private jet, and the incessant printing of the New York Times. More »
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By Ryan TateComment by snugbug: I know this has been said before, and better, but how come Twitter has the magic capability to make even... 2 Responses | Other threads
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morbid things
Would You Like to Listen to the Michael Jackson 911 Call?
Of course you would! It's been two hours since TMZ got ahold of the call to 911 reporting Michael Jackson's heart attack and we haven't posted it. Dereliction of duty! Anyway, the link is here. More »
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Comment by misslinda: I ain't gonna listen to it cause I've still never fully recovered from the Joaquin Phoenix 911 call. 3 Responses | Other threads
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twitterati
New York Times Editor Joins Ranks of the Twitterati
Everyone's joining Twitter, did you know? Even New York Times editor Bill Keller has gotten on board, we hear — and he's just as self-promotional as the rest! Today's other Twitter trivia. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by stanhalen: What? no one wants to weigh in on this silliness?.. @douchebag i had a hard booger today. it hurt. more » | Other threads
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blowhards
Jason Calacanis Nominates Himself MySpace's Captain Obvious
The most amusing thing about fameballs is when they don't realize their balls have stopped rolling. Such is bulldog entrepreneur Jason Calacanis's lot, as he desperately tries to pose as MySpace's next CEO. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by stanhalen: Guy looks like a classic doofus...If you squint he looks just like Corky from life goes on.. Not that any of... 3 Responses | Other threads
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hires
Should MySpace Hire the Hero or the Zero?
Former Facebook COO Owen Van Natta is the frontrunner to replace Chris DeWolfe as MySpace CEO. Blog lordling Jason Calacanis has been jokingly nominated for the News Corp. gig. Here's who should get it. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by nirreskeya: Obviously it's possible, but is it common for execs to live in the Bay Area and commute to L.A.? 3 Responses | Other threads
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the rich
How Celebrity Tech Guru 'Stimulates' Waitresses
Join Jason Calacanis' internet guide Mahalo and you can expect to work to exhaustion in a poorly-lit strip mall for barely more than San Francisco minimum wage. You'd be better off as Calacanis' waitress. More »
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By Ryan TateComment by Jason McCabe Calacanis: 1. You work for Nick Denton... that makes me Santa Claus by comparison. 2. I've made many more people millionaires than... 17 Responses | Other threads
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anniversaries
The Web at 20: Not Quite Old Enough to Drink, Yet Drives Us to It
Dear important scientist Tim Berners-Lee: Thank you for inventing the World Wide Web 20 years ago. It's really great and stuff! But were you aware of the crimes committed in your name? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by tetragami: Oh Christ, someday I will be explaining to kids that I am older than the internet. 11 Responses | Other threads
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feuds
Blogfather Accuses Twitter of Payola Scheme He Pioneered
Dave Winer, the old guy who takes credit for blogging, podcasting, and other tech trends, is mad at Twitter CEO Ev Williams. Why? Because Williams is making people — people who are not Dave Winer — famous. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by i38warhawk: The "Suggested Users", who at the same time built Twitter, are ruining any real world functionality. Tweets from people I... 1 Responses | Other threads
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crime
Jason Calacanis's Felony-Friendly Hiring Practices
Jason Calacanis, the CEO of Mahalo, the world's largest compendium of rewritten Google search results, claims he hired a computer hacker because he never bothered to Google him. Now his employee is headed to jail. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by RodericaMockingbird: Id hire a felon. I dont like the idea that you only get one chance in the US unless... 2 Responses | Other threads
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celebrity science
Ashton Kutcher Savaged By Buddy For Attacking Poors
Internet hustler Jason Calacanis might be Twitter friends with Ashton Kutcher and Kutcher's wife Demi Moore, but the Brooklyn native will still slam the celebrities for harassing two homebuilders. More »
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By Ryan TateComment by Jack Offman: What exactly does Kutcher do besides escort Moore to award shoes these days? McConaughey appears to have a monoploy on... 12 Responses | Other threads
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sundance
The Film Festival Time Forgot
Gawker operative Stephen Kosloff has sent us another batch of photos from the frozen film wonderland that is the Sundance Film Festival. Now with product-placing bunnies. More »
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By Stephen KosloffComment by Pope John Peeps II: Thomas, aka "the coolest bartender in New York," I writhe when I ask this - but who exactly said it that... 4 Responses | Other threads
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mahalo
Jason Calacanis makes Disneyland the saddest place on earth
After laying off most of his staff, how is Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis watching his pennies? By spending some of the Web directory's $21 million in funding to take nine remaining employees to Disneyland.
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By Owen ThomasComment by JasonCalacanis: That's the worst photoshop you guys have done of me to date--did the Valleywag's cuts include the illustration team?! I... 11 Responses | Other threads
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censorship
A question you can't ask on Mahalo Answers
Jason Calacanis, the voluble CEO of Web directory Mahalo, is a fan of free speech. As long as the words are his own.
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By Owen ThomasComment by JasonCalacanis: Mahalo Answers is designed to be a place where intelligent people can exchange knowledge, not as a place to trash... 2 Responses | Other threads
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Mahalo Dollars
Jason Calacanis's funny money
With Mahalo Answers, the latest Web project from Brooklyn-born blog blowhard Jason Calacanis, you can pay people to Google for you with fictional bucks. Genius! More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Scott Stephan: I have a great e-currency. It is called "Dollars" and you get them from work and you can use them... 2 Responses | Other threads
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jason calacanis
Internet blowhard's bailout plan worst economic idea ever
Many people ask us if Jason Calacanis, the Internet entrepreneur, is stupid. No, but he says stupid things. While he's an expert at timing the market, his plan to fix the economy is all backwards.
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By Owen ThomasComment by TMonster: I'm really tired of people like Calcanis who think they know everything because they have been successful in tech or... 1 Responses | Other threads
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web 2.0
The bubble that wasn't
Jason Calacanis, the mop-haired founder of Mahalo, an overfunded Web directory, is musing on Twitter about "tickers and rallies past" — a Proustian substitution of stock markets for madeleines. But what, exactly, does he have to be nostalgic for?
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By Owen ThomasComment by JasonCalacanis: JCAL still in the game 4.87m uniques last month & Knicks got $40m in cap space 2010 LeBron coming December 15th Project A threads the... 4 Responses | Other threads
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jason calacanis
Mahalo motormouth to launch mystery product in December
I'm taking guesses now. What's "Project A," the seekrit product being talked up by Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis on his private mailing list? A recap of recent events: He launched a human-powered news feed at a time most companies were planning layoffs. After that, he performed a layoff, then trolled for new engineers to hire. Why do I like the often-blustery Calacanis? Because when I briefly worked for him as an Engadget stringer, I saw his approach to running a startup: Operate the business on a shoestring, but splurge on little things to make employees feel spoiled — a second monitor, a killer espresso machine, free dinners at places the staff can't afford. Don't hate him because he's rich. He always picks up the check. Anyway, here's his vague product pre-announcement:
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By Paul BoutinComment by seanpercival: Paul anyone you havn't blogged for? Perks are nice but I'd rather buy my own dinners. Less requirement to "put out"... 1 Responses | Other threads
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caption contest
"Hey Jason! What's going on with your valuation?"
Tough times, frivolous junkets: That's the modus operandi of Jason Calacanis, the grandiloquent emailer-in-chief of Mahalo, the Internet's most overfunded Web directory. He and butler/assistant/videographer Tyler Crowley posed for a picture while on a trip to Japan taken shortly after he promised to curtail his travel schedule while laying off Mahalo staff. Can you think of a better caption? Leave it in the comments. The best one will become the post's new headline. Friday's winner: m0nty.au, for "Eric Schmidt's 20 percent time project." More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by colonelpanic: I know it's late, but: "The Braves" were a lot less successful after the departure of Katrina. 1 Responses | Other threads
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tesla roadster
Jason Calacanis to media: Please cover my sports-car purchase
Tough times, tough decisions: Which media outlet will cover the delivery of Jason Calacanis's $109,000 all-electric Tesla Roadster? Calacanis, the braggadocio-burdened CEO of Mahalo, an overgrown website directory, has called for camera crews from CNN, MSNBC, CBS, Fox, and, for good measure, the New York Times. He's also registered the domain name Tesla16.com. "16" is either the production number of his Roadster, or the number of employees he could have avoided laying off with the money he's spending on it. We're not sure which. Either way, we're looking forward to photos of Calacanis's bulldogs, Taurus and Fondue, with their tongues hanging out the window.
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By Owen ThomasComment by abaweja: By not purchasing Tesla, he couldn't have saved 16 employees. He is just another employee of a VC funded company... 4 Responses | Other threads
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brian alvey
Weblogs Inc. cofounder to check out Jason Calacanis's package
Jason Calacanis, the professional email sender and part-time CEO of Mahalo, is a busy man. Fresh from executing layoffs at his fewer-humans-than-before-powered search engine, he's jetting off to Japan. This, mind you, despite promising to cut down on travel as an austerity measure. Brian Alvey, Calacanis's cofounder at Weblogs Inc., the blog network they sold to AOL for $25 million, is keeping house for him. "Heading to L.A. so I can house sit for @jasoncalacanis and help with any packages that arrive while he's in Japan," he writes on Facebook, according to a screenshot sent in by a tipster. Alvey later admits the "package" that's arriving: Calacanis's $109,000 all-electric Tesla Roadster. Here's the Facebook discussion this prompted: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by SeattleBuzzKill: feh. Tesla's are the Acura NSX of 2008. 1 Responses | Other threads
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great moments in journalism
The Economist reduced to reblogging Wired
My Wired essay "Kill Your Blog" has spawned a charmingly identical piece in The Economist's print edition this week. Same theme, same Jason Calacanis quote from July. But read this part out loud: "A decade ago, PDAs were the preserve of digerati who liked using electronic address books and calendars. Now they are gone, but they are also ubiquitous, as features of almost every mobile phone." I'd love to meet The Economist's anonymous author, if only to confirm that anyone on Earth actually talks that way.
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By Paul BoutinComment by Spy from the Land of Rainpeople: Having met some of them, I can attest that they not only talk using such a stuffy grammar, but they... 3 Responses | Other threads
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new york times
Desperate About.com Sale Denied
Officially, the New York Times Company isn't commenting on tech executive Jason Calacanis' claim that it is shopping reference site About.com in an effort to shore up its financial position and perhaps go private. But two anonymous sources poured cold water on his statements, according to Peter Kafka of All Things Digital, denying that the profitable property is on the block. Perhaps a rogue banker is trying to drum up interest in a (hypothetical) deal before taking it to the Times, hoping to score some business. Or maybe Calacanis just got his wires crossed. But lack of any dealmaking will hardly tamp down speculation over how the Times Company will pay down its junk-rated debt. If anything, it makes the situation an even more tricky puzzle.
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By Ryan TateComment by TroisFilles: Anyone can become a "guide" and skew the info wherever the hell they want. It's bizarre. Good riddance. 3 Responses | Other threads
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new york times
Times Said Shopping About.com
The troubled New York Times Company is running out of options. It owes more than $1 billion, close to half of it coming due in the next two years. But it just ruled out layoffs for the foreseeable future and will probably try to avoid cutting the $132 million annual dividend, since doing so could spark a boardroom revolt by high-living Sulzberger family members. So it would make sense if the company has been trying to sell About.com, as Jason Calacanis, CEO of search engine company Mahalo, said on the This Week In Tech podcast last week. (Audio of his remarks lies after the jump.) More »
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By Ryan TateComment by belltolls: Call me a stupid but who uses about.com or for that matter Mahalo? 3 Responses | Other threads
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meltdowns
Valley blowhards gush forth advice
Professional annoyance Kara Swisher, the BoomTown blogger, went to a how-to-survive-the-downturn gabfest, and all she got was this lousy video. Captured on her Flip camera: Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis, who didn't predict the downturn; Nirav Tolia, the Epinions cofounder — an entrepreneur — who hasn't laid anyone off since the last bubble burst and is surely rusty; Google investor Ram Shriram, who has way too much money to care about such mundane affairs as a recession; and Fast Company videoblogger Robert Scoble, who is cheerfully clueless as ever. The bright side: If Scoble is saying companies need to conserve cash, perhaps we've hit a market bottom.
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By Owen ThomasComment by FiveStarEggRoll: First Ashton Kutcher and now that "Fez" guy. Sheesh, up next will be Topher with something techy. Harry "wishes he played... 2 Responses | Other threads
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meltdowns
Your new business plan
As a startup, you are now, officially, on your own. You can't count on your VCs saving you or some magical offer from Yahoo or Google showing up to bail you out. Taurus has laid off Fondue. You need to rewrite — no, not your business model. Your business plan. Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis, in his latest private email, offers this advice: More »
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By Paul BoutinComment by RomanaCurio: I submitted an excellent webpage article to Mahalo and it was rejected for frivolous reasons. Many people with doctorates... more » | Other threads
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mysteries
Mahalo is hiring
"Do you know that you're amongst the very best, but can't find a company that appreciates you or gives you the opportunity you deserve?" So begins Mahalo's come-on to developers. The bulldog-powered search engine just laid off a large chunk of its staff, including some developers. Why is it hiring more? We're sure Jason Calacanis, Mahalo's voluble CEO, has some entertaining spin, which we'll let him add it in the comments. But since his HR department didn't stamp the Craigslist posting with "DO NOT REPRINT," as Calacanis is known to do with his emails, we're republishing it below. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by irrational-exuberance: "as Calacanis is wont to do with his emails" im in ur artikl, pointn @ ur grammr 2 Responses | Other threads
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caption contest
How many more rounds of layoffs are planned at Mahalo?
What was Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis doing in the weeks running up to this company's layoffs? Traveling around the world, to destinations like the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul, Korea. In his how-to-lay-people-off memo, Calacanis also promised to cut back on his travel budget — which struck me as an admission that his trips to speak at conferences, often on subjects unrelated to his work at his Sequoia-funded Web directory, were being paid for by his investors. Can you think of a better caption? Leave it in the comments. The best one will become the post's new headline. Yesterday's winner: Ted Dziuba, for "Traffic is the new profit." (Photo by JoopDorresteijn)
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By Owen ThomasComment by kgbeat: Hey Jason, how many more rounds of layoffs are planned at Mahalo? 1 Responses | Other threads
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mahalo
Is Microsoft ripping off Jason Calacanis's ailing startup?
Talk about adding insult to injury. As Jason Calacanis was sucking his thumb about the coming startup depression, Microsoft quietly launched a competitor to his intern-edited search engine, which has just gone through the layoffs Calacanis predicted for everyone else. Redmond's experimental entry into the market is called U Rank, an experiment in collaborative editing of search results. The sites aren't that similar in their approach to helping users find websites — but they are eerily similar in their flowery logos and pastel color schemes.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Shadowlayer: Oh snap! calacanis is going to release his bulldogs of war now! :P more » | Other threads
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great moments in journalism
How to have your layoff spin published verbatim
Got layoffs? Don't spend hours crafting the perfect "Hard Times, Hard Choices" blog post for your leader. Here's how to hack the media to deliver your message: More » -
weblogs inc.
AOL makes Jason Calacanis makes AOL look like geniuses
AOL has released numbers detailing the success of Weblogs Inc., its blog network for a reported $25 million. Since taking the company off of Jason Calacanis's and Brian Alvey's hands in 2005, AOL has seen visitor traffic climb 122 percent a year on average, from 1.4 million visitors to 13 million. Revenue went from $6 million to $30 million off of 13 million visitors. You'd think AOL could afford to pay their bloggers to blog.
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Comment by colonelpanic: That's pretty good validation of the first-mover advantage in the content market, for sure... more » | Other threads
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jason calacanis
America's fun new way to lay off everybody
Jason Calacanis is a master storyteller. Like most writers, he needs an editor. Here's a summary remix of Calacanis's secret insider mail, sent a few hours after Mahalo's layoffs were expertly leaked to everyone but me, thanks pal. More »
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By Paul BoutinComment by workingstiff: For the love of all things good, how does Jason have the time to write these massively long emails and... 1 Responses | Other threads
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commenter of the day
sggrf
Jason Calacanis took time out from his mailing list to blog about firing a baker's dozen of his Mahalo staff. The very same brilliant, hard-working, antifamily people he said he'd never compromise on. Today's featured commenter is sggrf, who wonders out loud on whether Calacanis might turn the episode into conference fodder: More » -
layoffs
Jason Calacanis lays off 13 at Mahalo
Bulldog aficionado Jason Calacanis recently predicted that a large number of Web 2.0 startups will end up on "life support." Could Mahalo, his so-called "human-powered search engine," be one of them? He has laid off 13 of the humans who power Mahalo, with plans to rehire some of them offshore in the Philippines. It's not clear how many staff members that leaves Mahalo with. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by WagCurious: I still can't get over that he hires guys to type out web pages about other web pages. They have... 1 Responses | Other threads
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Employee of the Month
Jason Calacanis, Valleywag's new Apple analyst
"Valleywag’s Jason Calacanis believes that Apple is working on a networked HDTV," writes Adrian Kingsley-Hughes at ZDNet. Adrian, if your editor tries to make you go back and erase what you wrote, because his drinking buddies from Columbia Journalism Review think it's fatal to publish a huge factual fuckup in the first three words of an article, call me. I'll come over and slap J. Jonah Jameson with a printout of exactly how many people have already seen it. Tell him, "It's not the crime, it's the coverup." Has-been journalists love a Watergate reference. More »
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By Paul BoutinComment by WagCurious: Apple likes margins greater than 0. They won't be making a TV anytime soon. Nor will they invest in disposal... more » | Other threads
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recap
Two bulldogs for EVERYONE
Yeah, I know: The world is ending. You can flip through Sequoia Capital's 56-slide preso on it. Still, in the middle of what he dubbed the Startup Depression, Mahalo chatterbox-in-chief Jason Calacanis has added more staff-generated content. What Calacanis knows that Sequoia won't tell you: Up or down, a lot has to do with your ability to sell a story. Too bad your boss the wannabe general won't have to sell you on that "painful but necessary adjustments" story in the works. Keep those lame layoff memos coming. -
great moments in journalism
Calacanis attempts to liveblog entire world
"We're liveblogging the world," funtrepreneur Jason Calacanis tweeted about Mahalo's new human-powered news feed on the search site's front door. Jason, help me out here: A couple weeks ago you bragged about forecasting the Startup Depression of 2008. Now you've added a powered-by-humans news feed to your product that looks like CNN crossed with Fark. How did you justify this to your investors in the face of a startup depression? Because from my experience, all English-language content looks the same to a VC. I'm not sure if I should ask when your funders will finally pull the plug on your two-bulldogs lifestyle, or if I'm just playing on the wrong team.
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By Paul BoutinComment by Shadowlayer: I've yet to meet someone IRL that knows WTF mahalo is. more » | Other threads
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wantrepreneurs
Calley Nye wants you to be her angel
Young Southlander Calley Nye has done the flack thing as a social media marketer, has done the hack thing in a brief stint at TechCrunch is now doing the cofounder thing with Dashbuzz, which promises to make it easier for you to promote yourself or your products online. In other words, she's had an "entrepreneurial spirit" revelation. She and fellow wantrepreneur Scott Sullivan are offering favors in return for donating toward their goal of $25,000 to get to prototype. And by "favor" they don't mean "equity." Which, frankly, shows a promisingly cagey business sense. Which lends credence to my theory that if you spend enough time anywhere near Jason Calacanis — even just the same county — you'll grow shrewder through a mysterious form of osmosis. Her emailed plea for your support after the jump. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by Keymaster: 35 word version: I could admit that I have neither the connections nor the business model to attract investors but instead... 2 Responses | Other threads
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meltdowns
Buy food and guns — but not the crisis hype
Jeremy Philips, News Corp.'s Internet-savvy executive wunderkind, has been going around telling anyone who will listen, "Buy food and guns." Some people can't tell if Philips (shown here, right), is kidding; those who take him seriously interpret it as a wry shorthand for hunkering down and bracing for a long economic downturn. It's naive to think that the meltdown of the investment-banking sector won't have an effect on Silicon Valley. But not in the way most people think. More »
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By Owen Thomas
Comment by JesseDatsun: On Mahalo - it is a dumb idea that is over funded. Companies like Mahalo, SearchMe, Cuil, etc... offer... more » | Other threads
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details, details
Correct out-of-touch New York style rag's Internet gossip!
It's complicated. God, is it ever. The same October Details story that follows around New York's "Internet playboys" and their bicoastal hangers-on runs with this chart of who dated, funded, or hated in this overdocumented side of the Web scene. So sweet to know we're not the only ones keeping a scorecard, but one of its subjects, Caroline McCarthy, claims there's inaccuracies! Let's do Details and the kids recently fanning their fameballs from the coverage a favor and fix it up then. Ready? Let loose in the comments with your errata.
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Comment by Duncan: Arrington dated Julia Allison? really? since when did a casual fuck count as dating? 2 Responses | Other threads
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nerdfight
Henry Blodget's family feud
Why did disgraced stock analyst Henry Blodget post a long email by Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis to Silicon Alley Insider, and then take it down? There's the obvious reason: Calacanis hadn't given permission for it to be republished. But Silicon Alley Insider has reprinted Calacanis's emails before. We think it more has to do with the fight that broke out in the comments between Calacanis and Howard Lindzon, a Phoenix, Ariz. hedge-fund manager who owns a piece of Blodget's blog. Could it be that Calacanis's copyright gave Blodget a convenient excuse to unpublish the piece — an item that was generating ill will between one of his investors and a startup CEO whom Blodget thought it expedient to suck up to? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by emnem: Howard Lindzon writes and processes information very poorly. He's loosened his trap on SAI before in response to many posts... 2 Responses | Other threads
jason calacanis
New York, 3:42 PM
Mon Jul 6
28 posts in the last 24 hours
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
