Comments on: Former Joost CEO Gets New Gig as VC

By: Volpi No Longer Chairman of Joost

Volpi No Longer Chairman of Joost — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:53:25 +0000

[...] has confirmed. In June, Volpi resigned his position as CEO of the failed web TV startup and became a venture partner at Index Ventures, an investor in [...]

By: HardyHar

HardyHar — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:17:46 +0000

Volpi you’re an utter failure. You failed to lead the company like a good CEO should. You Don’t know how to run a startup period. It had nothing to do with the content. Pandora doesn’t have every music title out there but that company is still doing well so what’s you’re problem? you’re a manager who should stay in management.
INDEX ventures a VC I will never ever ever touch and when my startup hommies talk to me I will say to stay away.
Volpi go read a book on marketing you lamer.

By: GoPeter

GoPeter — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:34:19 +0000

LIz/Chris: thanks for an open and frank response. Whether Joost, Hulu or any other startup, it's important to recognize that these are long, iterative plays and the freedom to practice trial and error is important. I fear that the tech blog community is so black and white in their commentary (hate "fail!") that it stifles that freedom and reduces innovation. As an entrepreneur, you feel like a) someone is crowning a world series champ after every pitch of the regular season and b) you are forced to focus on intensely PR. Blogs like NewTeeVee provide a great service to the startup community, but also risk playing a negative role in the same community it serves. Joost is an extreme example perhaps, but as you say a good learning opportunity nonetheless. Thank you.

By: Chris Albrecht

Chris Albrecht — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:34:54 +0000

Hey Peter,

I'm glad you commented. Like Liz, I think Joost provides an excellent opportunity to reflect about our role not just with Joost but with any trend/story we cover. You could say the opposite was true for Hulu. Lots of people (myself included) were perhaps overly skeptical of it before it launched and the company proved us wrong (so far) and opinions evolved with it. Ultimately, I just want to be fair and honest.

By: Liz Gannes

Liz Gannes — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:36:56 +0000

@ GoPeter -- I too have been thinking about the press' role as things have played out. I do think Joost had a particularly bad ride on the hype cycle. At the core it comes back to the fame and track record of its founders -- there just seemed to be so much potential. And nothing they did was all that bad of an idea; clearly, the original concept has found a home in other companies.

But I do think it's a good lesson to be conscious of our own roles, and I'm glad you pointed it out.

By: GoPeter

GoPeter — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:39:22 +0000

Chris, Peter has a point. Doubt you're filled with hate, but the tech blog community contributed both to driving Joost's hype and then once they inevitably stumbled ate them alive for it and made them a toxic asset, basically making a come back very difficult. There's been plenty of commentary on where Joost went wrong, but not peep one from bloggers on how they contributed. Not saying it's the presses fault, Joost has to take responsibility, but am saying the press contributed. Would be interesting to get your take on that.

By: Andreas

Andreas — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:11:20 +0000

If the report is true, he is to become a VENTURE partner, which normally means that he will get carried interest only for the deals that HE brings to the VC firm.

By: Chris Albrecht

Chris Albrecht — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:44:45 +0000

Hey Peter,

I don't think I'm filled with hate. Failure isn't always bad. I do question the move into white label since there are so many players in that space. But I sincerely hope Volpi can take what he's learned and pass it on.

By: Peter Larson

Peter Larson — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:31:10 +0000

I wonder where all the anger towards Joost comes from? They tried something and got beaten by companies that either have all the content in the world or all the distribution. (besides endless amount of cash). So they didnt change the world or become a new skype - but at least they tried. Probably helped change an industry too. So Chris, stop being such a hater - its really makes you look like a bitter blogger and not a serious journalist.

Peter

By: Former Joost CEO Mike Volpi Jumps to Index Ventures

Former Joost CEO Mike Volpi Jumps to Index Ventures — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:27:54 +0000

[...] Former Joost CEO Mike Volpi won’t be waiting in line at the unemployment office. He’s landed at Index Ventures — which invested in Joost two years ago. It seems they still believe in Volpi, even if his [...]

By: What to read on the GigaOM network

What to read on the GigaOM network — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:34:27 +0000

[...] | 0 comments 8 ways to avoid overwhelming your followers’ Twitter stream (WebWorkerDaily) Former Joost CEO gets new gig as VC (NewTeeVee) Microsoft seeks user feedback for Hohm (Earth2Tech) Get your iPhone screen repaired at [...]