Ali Partovi

Dropbox Lands $250 Million Funding Round (And Once Spurned Interest From Steve Jobs)

Arik Hesseldahl in News on October 18, 2011 at 9:53 am PT

Rare is the company that spurns the acquisitive interests of cash-rich Apple. Drew Houston, the founder of file-sharing start-up Dropbox, once did just that.

When Ali Partovi Just Couldn't Get You Out of MySpace: The Video Proof (And Spoof)

Kara Swisher in News on April 20, 2010 at 8:22 pm PT

In all the sturm und drang over the departure of well-known Web entrepreneurs and twin brothers Ali and Hadi Partovi, it’s hard to find much to laugh about. Except for this most excellent video Ali made last fall for a company contest that required new employees to show “how MySpace is YOUR space.” Ali wins hands down, as you will see from this fine effort, in which he tried to find the right song for the News Corp. social networking site.

As BoomTown Said: Partovi Brothers Finally Leave MySpace (Here Are the Internal Memos)

Kara Swisher in News on April 20, 2010 at 5:22 pm PT

Well-known tech entrepreneurs and twin brothers Ali and Hadi Partovi are leaving MySpace, in a high-profile departure for the struggling social networking company. Internal memos were sent around to staff this afternoon about the departure, said sources, which you can see after the jump. The fate of the well-known tech wunderkinds has been one of the more interesting guessing games of late at MySpace. MySpace execs have been keenly interested in avoiding the appearance that the company is in the grip of a talent drain, especially related to such high-profile innovators.

MySpace Musical Chairs: Will the Partovis Stay or Will They Go Now?

Kara Swisher in News on March 11, 2010 at 11:11 pm PT

While there have surely been a lot of departures of talent at MySpace over the last year–including two major shifts in top management–one of the more interesting guessing games of late concerning the social networking company has been over the fate of well-known tech wunderkinds Hadi and Ali Partovi. According to many sources inside and outside MySpace, that’s just the discussion the pair of serial entrepreneurs has been having with the company’s newest leaders. How it turns out, though, is unclear.

MySpace Finishes Its AcqHire of iLike: Don’t Think Music, Think “Socialization of Content.” Plus! The Internal Memo.

Peter Kafka in Media on August 19, 2009 at 1:19 pm PT

Now that MySpace has finished its acquisition of iLike, what is it going to do with it? Don’t think music, MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta stressed in a press conference today, think about “socialization of content.” What does that mean? It means the social network has spent $19.5 million on engineering talent to help overhaul its site.

Sale of iLike to MySpace–$13.5 Million in Cash, $6 Million for Talent Retention–Delayed Over Tax Issues (Really!)…Plus, the List of Other Suitors!

Kara Swisher in News on August 17, 2009 at 11:25 pm PT

The board of iLike planned a meeting earlier tonight to go over a buyout offer by MySpace, several sources close to the situation said. But it was suddenly canceled because of some thorny tax implications related to the talent-retention part of the deal to purchase the social music start-up. This does not mean the pending acquisition is in jeopardy, sources said, and it could be on track to be signed as early as today, barring any more complications. What’s also been unclear is the actual price the social networking giant is paying for iLike, which has been reported as about $20 million. In fact, only $13.5 million will be paid in cash, with $6 million slated for forward payments to retain key talent.

Web 2.0 Music Pioneer iLike Looking for Buyers

Peter Kafka in Media on November 24, 2008 at 3:14 pm PT

iLike, the Web start-up that made a name for itself by becoming Facebook’s de facto music service, is looking for a buyer, according to multiple sources. I’m told that iLike is actively soliciting a list of buyers that include RealNetworks and Ticketmaster, which already owns 25 percent of the company.

Kara Visits iLike in Seattle!

Kara Swisher in News on July 23, 2008 at 2:39 pm PT

On my recent trip to Seattle, I visited the offices of iLike, in the Capitol Hill section of that lovely Pacific Northwest city, to take a video gander at one of the more interesting start ups to emerge from the social networking arena. The music discovery site, unlike a lot of others in its sector, has been plugging away for several years with much less funding (about $16 million from the founding Partovi twin brothers, former AOL wunderkind Bob Pittman and a big slug from Ticket Master), but a lot more impact.