6 posts and columns on Kool-Aid

Pretty Flipboard Fundraising at an Even Prettier $200 Million Valuation

in News on March 23, 2011 at 7:15 am PT

Flipboard, the high-profile and highly designed social media reading app for the Apple iPad, is out raising another round of funding at an eye-popping $200 million valuation, according to numerous sources close to the situation. The Palo Alto, CA, company declined to comment on its new funding efforts, which sources said had recently accelerated.

Kool-Aid Guy Too Harsh? Then How About These Visual Metaphors for Twitter's $1 Billion Valuation!

in News on September 28, 2009 at 3:13 pm PT

Earlier today, BoomTown wrote a tongue-in-cheek post to depict what I thought of the $1 billion valuation that Twitter recently got from investors. It was meant all in fun, as poking holes in the frothy atmosphere around the microblogging hottie is kind of an easy layup. But someone on Twitter called my use of an image of the Kool-Aid pitcher man as “harsh,” and I got several other emails from those who think bubble-investing is dandy! So, in the interest of fairness, here are some other visual choices for a metaphorical depiction of the amazing valuation.
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How to Kill the Rest of Your Friday

in Media on July 10, 2009 at 12:25 pm PT

Let’s be honest. You’re not getting anything productive done with the rest of the day. Why not sit back and watch a couple of interesting ads before the weekend starts?
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Palm Investor: Your Next iPhone Will Be a Pre

in News on March 6, 2009 at 7:08 am PT

Palm investor Roger McNamee isn’t drinking his own Kool-Aid, he’s drowning in it. In an interview with Bloomberg, McNamee–co-founder of Elevation Partners, which owns 39 percent of Palm–claimed iPhone owners will switch en masse to the Palm Pre when their contracts expire.
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There's No Biz Like No Biz at Twitter! (And Will Google Swoop In Before It All Comes Crashing Down?)

in News on February 13, 2009 at 2:41 pm PT

Since BoomTown constantly called the $15 billion valuation of Facebook “insane” when Microsoft forked over $240 million in 2007, and gave Slide’s Max Levchin a very hard time when his widget company got a $550 million valuation a year ago, it’s only fair that I say something equally appropriate about Twitter. The hot microblogging service just got its very own $250 million valuation, but without a dime of revenue in sight. (I know, Bijan, it’s coming, it’s coming!) After all, Facebook and Slide got their funding in boom times and here we are hurtling toward a possible Depression: The Sequel. But I am torn.

Time to Poach a Few More Googlers, Eh, Mark?

in News on October 6, 2008 at 2:11 pm PT

Facebook manager Justin Rosenstein once described the social network as “the Google of yesterday, the Microsoft of long ago.” Today, Rosenstein perhaps views it as the Facebook of So Totally Last Week, because he’s leaving the company, along with departing Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz.