AllThingsD » Steve Case

JOBS Act Got Boost From AOL Co-Founder

Andrew Ackerman and Michael Rapoport — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:04:14 +0000

The bill signed Thursday by President Barack Obama that loosens accounting rules for start-up companies owes much to billionaire Steve Case — whose own company was one of the highfliers of the ’90s dot-com boom but later suffered accounting scandals.

Mr. Case, an AOL Inc. co-founder and venture capitalist, was among the biggest behind-the-scenes supporters of so-called JOBS Act, personally appealing to top-ranking officials of both parties in the House and the Senate to pass it, according to several lobbyists and lawmakers.

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Welcome to Colorado, Where the Start-Ups -- And the Snow -- Are Plentiful

Arik Hesseldahl — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:09:56 +0000

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, but for some reason never had the occasion or opportunity to visit Colorado. I also never learned to ski. The second fact is ridiculous, because for many years I lived a short drive from one of the great skiing spots in Oregon. I simply never took up the sport. I guess I saw a few too many kids in school come back from ski outings wearing casts on legs and arms, and generally preferred my bones unbroken.

Consider, then, the irony that I find myself at the Venture Capital in the Rockies conference at the Beaver Creek ski lodge near Avon, Colo., something of a skiing mecca, where pretty much everyone lives to glide down the mountain, and many people seem to take jobs that happen to include lift tickets as a fringe benefit. The conference is really only a day long, but is scheduled for two. Today is the “ski day,” where everyone disappears to take to the slopes. Except me.

I’m here because I was invited to speak on a media panel with reporters from a few other organizations. We talked for an hour or more about the changing nature of journalism and all that that entails, where before a crowd of start-up entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, we wondered aloud about such things as whether venture capitalist and Zynga director Brad Feld counts as a journalist because he also writes a widely read blog. Answer: No. The start-ups, most seeking some kind of investment, gave short presentations on their companies.

Here are a few of the companies that caught my attention, either because I saw their presentations or because I met their executives:

Flixmaster: How many times have you stopped watching a Web video that was going on too long, or because you couldn’t easily navigate to a particular highlight you wanted to see? What if Web videos were as readily navigation-friendly as a Web page? Flixmaster has a software-as-service video technology that makes Web video a lot more interactive than it generally is today. If you hope to engage potential customers with video, it helps to increase viewing time. And adding interactivity to a video nudges viewers to stick with a video longer. Many stop watching after less than a minute, CEO Erika Trautman said in her presentation. The videos are in HTML5, which means they’re already iPad- and Android tablet- and smartphone-friendly. You can get an idea of the result from this holiday-themed video on the company’s blog.

Mocavo: In the Web genealogy business there is as yet really no serious competition to the dominant player, Ancestry.com. Mocavo aims to bring it by challenging Ancestry’s walled-garden approach. In six months, it claims to have added six billion genealogical names to its index. Compare that to the nine billion records that Ancestry amassed over 15 years. Mocavo books $60 per new subscriber versus $20 per month for Ancestry. It aims to make people’s genealogical information a lot more easy to share on social media sites, and to publish.

Dizzion: This enterprise-focused start-up aims to help CIOs tackle the big trend you constantly hear about these days, the consumerization of IT: That’s where employees bring their personal devices to work and expect to have them supported. Its product is a “virtual desktop,” or desktop as a service, that provides an operating system, software, files and other stuff you need to get through the workday, all from the data center running as a managed service. Users can access it all from a desktop machine or a tablet or smartphone.

CMDirect: This company got my attention mainly because it was so unlike all of the others in attendance. It’s basically an electronic trading platform that specializes in commodities like sugar, which at the moment is the only commodity that is currently traded on it, but plans are in the works to expand into coffee and soybeans. It’s not about trading futures, but in the actual commodities, and includes a lot of tools for managing risk. The CEO, Julie Lerner, is a veteran commodity trader with Cargill, and has a lot of specialized knowledge in how that world works. The company has a bunch of patents pending around its processes and tools.

Sestus: This is a security and authentication company that caught my attention in part because during its presentation, CEO Taun E. Willis said that the firm is taking business away from RSA, the security unit of IT giant EMC. In a world where passwords are just not good enough at keeping intruders out, you need to authenticate using two factors, a password and something else. RSA hardware tokens are popular and widely used, as are the “soft” tokens that simulate the hardware tokens in software running on smartphones. Instead, Sestus offers virtual tokens that are less costly to deploy and to support than hardware and software tokens. It’s a small outfit, but punches above its weight, sporting 260,000 U.S. consumers who use its virtual tokens to access online accounts. One big customer is the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where Willis said Sestus supplanted RSA.

NextGreatPlace and Inspirato: If there was a rivalry to be found among any of the presenting companies, it was between these two. NextGreatPlace is a play on the vacation club theme. Members join for an annual fee, said to be in the sub-$1,000 range, for access to a network of vacation homes. It combines an online and offline travel planning process that’s been described as “Zappos for travel.” Inspirato, on the other hand, aims to do something similar, but with an emphasis on luxury and higher-net-worth travelers. I sat next to its CEO, Brent Handler, at dinner Tuesday night, and he told me that its members pay a one-time fee of $15,000 and an annual membership fee of $2,500 for access to a network of high-end vacation homes in your typical luxury destinations like Colorado, Hawaii and the Caribbean.

So those are but a few of the companies that presented here. The snow has been falling all day, and everyone around me is going on about how it’s a perfect day for skiing. So I’m off to go take my first downhill skiing lesson ever. I’ll let you know how that turns out.

Update: I originally said that AOL founder Steve Case was an investor in NextGreatPlace. I got mixed up. It turns out that he had backed NextGreatPlace founder in founder Tom Filippini’s prior company, Exclusive Resorts. Sorry about that.

Resonate Raises $22 Million for "Values" Ads

Peter Kafka — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:00:15 +0000

The Web ad industry has gotten crazily complicated. But advertisers’ goals remain as simple as ever: Put their messages in front of people who will care about them.

Ad tech firm Resonate has a simple pitch along those lines: It says it can figure out what different groups of Internet users care about, and where to find them on the Web.

The Reston, Va.-based start-up has been at it for four years, and just raised a big series B round led by Revolution Growth, the new fund led by former AOLers Steve Case, Ted Leonsis and Donn Davis. Resonate won’t announce the total amount of the raise, but a person familiar with the company says it’s $22 million. Earlier investors like Greycroft Partners, LLC and iNovia Capital put another $7 million into the company, and some of them have reupped, as well.

Lots of ad tech companies promise to target Web surfers based on their online behavior, and some are now saying they can tie in offline behavior, like voting records (!), as well.

For now, at least, Resonate is avoiding that kind of targeting. Instead, it recruits panels of Internet users, asks them to complete comprehensive surveys on their likes, values, etc., and tracks their surfing patterns. Then it uses that data to figure out where to find people who will be most receptive to particular pitches.

The idea: While marketers might want to advertise a new light salad dressing on a food site that caters to women, Resonate might figure out that a sports site with a big male audience would be a better bet.

Resonate started out selling itself to political advertisers, and CEO Bryan Gernert says he’ll be doing a bunch of that this year. But he says the company is primarily focused on brand advertising, and counts McDonald’s, Verizon and Toyota as clients. Last year, Resonate did “north of $10 million” in revenue, he says.

What Cash Crunch? Revolution Growth Raises $450M for Its First Fund.

Kara Swisher — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:30:09 +0000

Revolution Growth, a new investment vehicle led by former AOLers Steve Case, Ted Leonsis and Donn Davis, has raised $450 million in their first investment fund.

Originally, as I reported in March, the growth fund was going to be $400 million, but more was added due to investor interest.

The figure is a large one for a new venture and includes two dozen limited partners.

According to a letter to its partners, which I posted below in its entirety, Revolution said it will make 10 to 12 investments over five years in the consumer space of about $25 million to $50 million and mostly on the East coast, where its principals live and work.

The fund will focus on the “speed-up” stage — which is apparently just past venture stage and not yet in growth.

While both Leonsis and Case have done a lot of investing in the Web 2.0 space both together (Revolution Money) and apart (the Groupon and LivingSocial social buying sites, respectively), this is the first time the pair of well-known Web pioneers are creating a more formal investment partnership.

The pair are also investing $75 million of their own money in total in the Revolution Growth fund.

Revolution’s three partners said they will also be deeply involved with entrepreneurs at its companies.

“We are not just investors, but former CEOs and business builders who have the expertise and passion to be actively involved with the companies we back,” said the letter. “By making only a few investments each year, we will have the time to really help the entrepreneurs with whom we partner.”

Well, you can read about the Revolution Growth fund yourself here:

letter

Tech and Media Titans Pay Tribute to Steve Jobs

Liz Gannes — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 01:08:24 +0000

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’s death today at the age of 56 has given many of his peers reason for pause. Here are their tributes.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin paid tribute to Jobs’s “passion for excellence,” while co-founder and CEO Larry Page said he appreciated Jobs’s advice past and present.

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt said in an emailed statement:

Today is very sad for all of us. Steve defined a generation of style and technology that’s unlikely to be matched again. Steve was so charismatically brilliant that he inspired people to do the impossible, and he will be remembered as the greatest computer innovator in history.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg thanked Jobs for being “a mentor and a friend.”

Here’s his status message:

Pixar’s John Lasseter and Ed Catmull said:

Steve Jobs was an extraordinary visionary, our very dear friend and the guiding light of the Pixar family. He saw the potential of what Pixar could be before the rest of us, and beyond what anyone ever imagined. Steve took a chance on us and believed in our crazy dream of making computer animated films; the one thing he always said was to simply ‘make it great.’ He is why Pixar turned out the way we did and his strength, integrity and love of life has made us all better people. He will forever be a part of Pixar’s DNA. Our hearts go out to his wife Laurene and their children during this incredibly difficult time.

Here’s Disney CEO Bob Iger’s statement:

Steve Jobs was a great friend as well as a trusted advisor. His legacy will extend far beyond the products he created or the businesses he built. It will be the millions of people he inspired, the lives he changed, and the culture he defined. Steve was such an “original,” with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started. With his passing the world has lost a rare original, Disney has lost a member of our family, and I have lost a great friend. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Laurene and his children during this difficult time.

In a tweet, AOL co-founder Steve Case called Jobs “the most innovative entrepreneur of our generation.”

I feel honored to have known Steve Jobs. He was the most innovative entrepreneur of our generation. His legacy will live on for the ages.

October 5, 2011 5:36 pm via Twitter for iPhone ReplyRetweetFavorite

@SteveCase

Steve Case

Bill Gates said: “I will miss Steve immensely.”

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo tweeted that Jobs had gone beyond raising the bar.

Once in a rare while, somebody comes along who doesnt just raise the bar, they create an entirely new standard of measurement. #RIPSteveJobs

October 5, 2011 5:58 pm via webReply RetweetFavorite

@dickc

dick costolo

Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen said in an emailed statement, “Steve was the shining light of our industry — he showed us what was possible … He set the bar.”

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said:

The entire Time Warner family mourns the loss of Steve Jobs. The world is a better place because of Steve, and the stories our company tells have been made richer by the products he created. He was a dynamic and fearless competitor, collaborator, and friend. In a society that has seen incredible technological innovation during our lifetimes, Steve may be the one true icon whose legacy will be remembered for a thousand years.

RIAA CEO Cary Sherman said:

Like all music fans, we are saddened to hear of the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve was a larger-than-life personality — passionate about music and one of its biggest fans and advocates. He was a true visionary who forever transformed how fans access and enjoy music. With the introduction of the iTunes software and other platforms, Steve and Apple made it once again easy and accepted to pay for music. His legacy will live on, long past his all-too-short time on earth.

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg said:

Tonight, America lost a genius who will be remembered with Edison and Einstein, and whose ideas will shape the world for generations to come. Again and again over the last four decades, Steve Jobs saw the future and brought it to life long before most people could even see the horizon. And Steve’s passionate belief in the power of technology to transform the way we live brought us more than smart phones and iPads: it brought knowledge and power that is reshaping the face of civilization. In New York City’s government, everyone from street construction inspectors to NYPD detectives have harnessed Apple’s products to do their jobs more efficiently and intuitively. Tonight our City — a city that has always had such respect and admiration for creative genius — joins with people around the planet in remembering a great man and keeping Laurene and the rest of the Jobs family in our thoughts and prayers.

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello said:

Steve was one of a kind. For many of us working in technology and entertainment, Steve was a new kind of hero that lead with big, bold moves and would not settle for less than perfection. He is the best role model for a leader that aspires to be great.

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch:

Today, we lost one of the most influential thinkers, creators and entrepreneurs of all time. Steve Jobs was simply the greatest CEO of his generation. While I am deeply saddened by his passing, I’m reminded of the stunning impact he had in revolutionizing the way people consume media and entertainment. My heart goes out to his family and to everyone who had the opportunity to work beside him in bringing his many visions to life.

Warren Buffett said: “He was one of the most remarkable business managers and innovators in american business history.”

Former Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz (full interview at the Wall Street Journal):

It’s the ultimate sadness … He was a very special person, and he didn’t get to where he was by having people like him all the time. He got to where he was because he had a vision and a purpose. It’s easy to try and please everyone, but he kept to his principles.

AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson:

We are saddened by the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve was an iconic inventor, visionary, and entrepreneur, and we had the privilege to know him as partner and friend. All of us at AT&T offer our thoughts and prayers to Steve’s wife, family, and his Apple family.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer:

I want to express my deepest condolences at the passing of Steve Jobs, one of the founders of our industry and a true visionary. My heart goes out to his family, everyone at Apple and everyone who has been touched by his work.

Google has posted a Jobs memorial on its homepage:

Conde Nast President Bob Sauerberg:

Steve was a great visionary and innovator. He invented paid digital content and we are grateful for that. His products over the years have been key in the development of high quality Conde Nast content. Our companies have always be aligned on unique design and high quality. Conde Nast sends sincere sympathy to his family and our friends at Apple.

Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, co-chiefs of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, said:

“Steve Jobs was a great visionary and a respected competitor. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and to all of the employees of Apple.”

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman said:

“Steve Jobs was an iconic entrepreneur and businessman whose impact on technology was felt beyond Silicon Valley. He will be remembered for the innovation he brought to market and the inspiration he brought to the world.”

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said:

“Steve was a teacher to anyone paying attention, and today is a very sad day for everyone who cares about innovation and high standards.”

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American Express Launches All-New Digital Payments Platform to Attack PayPal's Bread and Butter

Tricia Duryee — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:00:21 +0000

American Express, which is better known for its briefcase-toting corporate users, is unveiling a new business today that addresses a much wider market while also competing head-on with PayPal and other emerging payment platforms.

The service, called Serve, will let consumers make purchases, take cash withdrawals from ATMs and make person-to-person payments from their computer or their phone.

The card will be funded by a user’s bank account or credit or debit card–even from one of the company’s major competitors, like Visa or MasterCard.

In the beginning, Serve will be fairly traditional and be accepted anywhere that American Express is accepted, but eventually it could give way to a mobile payments solution on the phone, using such technologies as near-field communication (NFC).

“What we are trying to do is put into place a platform–not a card, or an e-wallet–that enables digital payments and commerce that allows consumers and merchants to seamlessly move between online and offline,” said Dan Schulman, Group President, Enterprise Growth at American Express.

What Schulman said he wasn’t interested in experimenting with yet was NFC, which allows users to waive their phone at the register to pay. The technology is still in its infancy.

“That’s incredibly uninteresting…That’s a form factor shift, not a value proposition change,” he said. “The distinction between online and offline is going to blur and become moot as you go out three to five years from now.”

Schulman has been thinking about these problems since joining American Express in August 2010.

Previously, he was the president of Sprint’s prepaid division, having joined the third-largest carrier when Sprint acquired prepaid provider Virgin Mobile USA, where he served as CEO.

The Serve platform evolved from American Express’s $300 million acquisition of an Internet-based payments network that was part of America Online Inc. called Revolution Money, co-founder Steve Case’s investment firm.

To be sure, the launch provides new ways for the $54 billion company to diversify its user base.

“This will enable us to break into a younger demographic for sure, or under-served demographics, and people who’ve used debit, checking or cash. It enhances our ability to address different demographics in the U.S., but also the rest of the world,” he said.

On day one, Serve will be accessible online and from applications on both Apple and Android devices, with support for BlackBerry coming soon. Initially it will be in the U.S., but will shortly expand internationally. It will also downplay its associations with the large card company.

“We are really excited about the launch, it’s really different than what people might think about American Express. It’s not AmEx-branded, it’s cross-platform and completely open,” Schulman said.

He expects the platform to be very flexible and adapt to the market in future iterations.

To help promote the platform, the company is creating a number of partnerships that are all over the map.

One is with Ticketmaster, which will let users buy tickets to an event and then get reimbursed by their friends via Serve. Others include Concur and Flipswap. The service will also be available through a Facebook widget. To promote the widget, Serve will be letting users donate to certain causes. Serve will match contributions up to $100,000 for each charity.

While these are new areas that American Express does not currently serve, Schulman believes its experience makes the company a potential leader in digital payments.

He said it helps that they have 90 million card members and have partnerships with thousands of merchants worldwide. Also, he said, there are three crucial pieces of the puzzle that a company entering the space must have: trust, security and good customer service.

Of course, eBay-owned PayPal, Visa, MasterCard and a variety of other startups–including Boku, Zong, BilltoMobile and Square–are all vying for a position in the emerging digital and physical payments market.

Schulman admits there’s a lot of overlap with what it is doing and PayPal. “Yes, there are obviously things that are similar to PayPal. In fact, there are quite a number of people thinking about this as we are making a transition from a physical plastic world to a digitally-oriented payments world.”

For instance, PayPal will be conducting several pilot programs over the next year to test how consumers will use their PayPal accounts at the register.

Visa recently purchased PlaySpan for about $190 million to enter the digital payments world. Google also is planning its next move.

With all this talk about payments, American Express indeed expects to get paid as well.

To start, most consumer fees will be waived for at least the first six months, including fees for adding money to the account and transferring funds between Serve users. The first ATM withdrawal each month is free, but after that consumers will be charged $2. After the introductory period, consumers will be charged 2.9 percent plus 30 cents each time they load money (that drops to 0 percent for cash, debit and ACH).

Merchants will also pay, but will be charged a discounted rate for transactions made in stores and online since Serve is considered a prepaid card. Typically, prepaid discount rates are less expensive than credit rates, according to a spokeswoman.

But its not just the fees that American Express wants to collect. It also wants to collect consumer data to be able to offer well-targeted offers.

“We’ll probably make the equivalent once we are at scale, depending on funding and merchant mix through payments alone. We think that’s a great business. We also think that the data we can collect with consumers, assuming they give permission, will add a number of value-added services in connection with partners.”

Exclusive: Former AOLers Steve Case and Ted Leonsis Raising $400 Million Growth Equity Fund

Kara Swisher — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 19:58:38 +0000

Steve Case and Ted Leonsis are bringing their old AOL band back together once again, this time by raising a $400 million growth equity fund.

The pair, the legendary top execs who rocketed AOL to the top of the Internet business in the 1990s, are now making the rounds in New York and elsewhere to pitch their new investment vehicle, sources said.

The money raised will be part of an entity called Revolution Growth, which already exists within Case’s larger Washington, D.C.-based company called Revolution.

While both Leonsis and Case have done a lot of investing in the Web 2.0 space both together (Revolution Money) and apart (the Groupon and LivingSocial social buying sites, respectively), this is the first time they are creating a more formal investment partnership.

Another former AOL exec, Donn Davis is the third partner in Revolution Growth.

Sources said its focus will be on companies just beyond the venture stage to bring them to scale.

Bill Gross's UberMedia Raises $17.5 Million From Accel, Index and Steve Case

Kara Swisher — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:04:37 +0000

UberMedia, which just bought TweetDeck for $30 million in equity last week, has raised $17.5 million, in a round led by Accel Partners.

The valuation for the Pasadena, Calif., start-up founded by well-known entrepreneur Bill Gross (pictured here)–which was actually struck some month ago–is $40 million.

Accel’s Jim Breyer will join the board of UberMedia, maker of social media reading and posting tools, which is currently largely aimed at the Twitter ecosystem.

“We are hoping to work very closely with Twitter, which is certainly our goal, as well as other social media platforms like Facebook,” said Breyer in an interview with BoomTown this morning, answering a question about previous tensions between Twitter and UberMedia. “There will be a lot of efforts to monetize Twitter and there is no silver bullet.”

Index Ventures and Steve Case’s Revolution Ventures also participated in the round.

The company did not reveal the amount raised, nor the valuation for UberMedia.

But many like him are trying to find a way to monetize the huge microblogging platform–including Twitter–and take advantage of its enormous scale.

Gross founded the start-up last spring.

Armed with $3.5 million in venture funding from a group of leading investors, including Index, Revolution, betaworks, First Round Capital and angel investors such as Mahalo’s Jason Calacanis and BuzzMachine’s Jeff Jarvis.

Started in Gross’s Idealab start-up incubator and called TweetUp (and then PostUp), it was initially cast as a keyword-based bidding marketplace akin to Overture/Goto.com, the first paid search system he created a decade ago.

TweetUp also offered an organic search service to surface the best tweets. This put it at odds on several fronts with Twitter, which began to aggressively move to take over key parts of its business that had largely been left to third-party developers.

That still remains UberMedia’s essential goal, and Breyer hopes that the new investment will show Twitter that UberMedia hopes to work in harmony with it, as other developers have done successfully with Facebook. (Accel and Breyer himself are big investors in the social networking giant, so he should know.)

“Like Twitter, we want to drive the customer experience,” he said, pointing out successes such as the Zynga gaming service. “This is a lot like Facebook several years ago and cooperation worked out well for everyone.”

Here’s the official press release:

Accel Partners Leads Investment Round in UberMedia, Jim Breyer Joins Board of Directors

PASADENA, Calif.–February 14, 2011–UberMedia, the leading independent provider of applications for reading and posting to Twitter and other social media platforms, today announced that it completed a financing round led by Jim Breyer of Accel Ventures. Existing investors Steve Case of Revolution Ventures and Danny Rimer of Index Ventures also participated.

“At UberMedia, our goal is to enhance the Twitter experience with functionality in our clients and to be the best partner with Twitter in growing and enhancing their ecosystem,” said Bill Gross, Founder and CEO. “In particular, the addition of Jim Breyer to our board will really enable us to succeed at this mission. His experience on the boards of Wal-Mart, Facebook, Marvel Entertainment, Dell and so many other high-profile consumer brands will be particularly helpful.”

“We’ve been watching closely Bill’s efforts at UberMedia to build upon the ground-breaking communications platform created by Twitter,” said Jim Breyer of Accel Partners. “We see a tremendous business in the kinds of innovations in user experience being developed at UberMedia. The result of these efforts will be an expansion in the number and variety of people engaged with Twitter as well as a method for advertisers to reach consumers in highly targeted and relevant ways.”

And here are two video interview I did with Gross last April when the company was founded:

[ See post to watch video ]

Exclusive: SnagFilms Snags $10 Million in Funding at $50 Million Valuation

Kara Swisher — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 00:15:38 +0000

SnagFilms, the online video distribution site for professional documentaries, has nabbed $10 million in funding from Comcast’s investment arm and New Enterprise Associates, and will also now be distributing fictional independent film releases.

That and the new investment giving SnagFilms a valuation of $50 million should be big news at the 11th Sundance Film Festival, the famous independent film gathering opening in Park City, Utah, on Thursday.

And SnagFilms also announced that well-known industry exec Bingham Ray is joining the start-up to spearhead its distribution of fictional narrative and foreign-produced independent films.

The service, unlike the subscription-based video giant Netflix, currently distributes free non-fiction documentary films with advertising, as well as offers rental streaming and purchase options.

And it is profitable, said Ted Leonsis, the former AOL exec who is the founder and has been the driving investor in SnagFilms.

“It was always my personal frustration as a backer of documentaries that you could not get distribution far and wide,” he said in an interview earlier today.

He noted that while Netflix is really now focused on big studio fare, “what we’ve discovered is a big supply of independent video that has never seen light of day, but that has a big audience.”

SnagFilms’ strategy is to give broader reach to these films, which often don’t even have a theatrical opening–or, if they do, are very small.

Along with its site, which digitizes the films and adds advertising to them, SnagFilms also encourages Web sites and others to grab films and create a “virtual movie theater.” (You can see my effort below.)

It also has video-on-demand deals with Comcast, Verizon and more, as well as purchase options with Apple’s iTunes and others.

Earlier this month, SnagFilms also launched an impressive and free iPad full-movie-watching app.

SnagFilms also owns a popular news site called indieWIRE, which covers the independent film market, and the new funding will also be used to expand it.

That market has been in need of a boost of some kind, since it has been struggling as financing has dried up for the production of quality documentaries and outside-the-Hollywood-machine movies.

It has long been hoped that the Internet would perhaps save and strengthen the genre, with its supposed long-tail magic.

But the going has been slow. Currently, SnagFilms has 2,000 films in its online library, although Leonsis said the aim is to use the new funds to get 10,000 films on the service as soon as possible.

“We’re trying to build a beachhead in the independent film world,” he said of SnagFilms, which currently has about 40 employees in Washington, D.C., and New York. “We think we have a niche and video is the killer app on Web now.”

Leonsis, who has backed such notable documentaries as “The Rape of Nanking,” said NEA’s Peter Barris will join the board, along with existing investor Steve Case.

Case and Leonsis, of course, were the dynamic duo of AOL’s glory days.

So, I am rooting for another win in an arena that needs it.

Thus, here’s my own movie palace online and also the official press release from SnagFilms:

Watch more free documentaries

Industry Powerhouses NEA and Comcast Invest in SnagFilms

$10 million in new funding to distribute documentaries and fictional independent films on all digital platforms and devices, globally

Washington D.C.–January 17, 2011 – SnagFilms announced today it has received $10 million in growth capital from new investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Comcast Interactive Capital (CIC). Existing investors, including Ted Leonsis (SnagFilms’ Founder) and Steve Case, also participated. The financing will be used to expand its distribution of independent films–including, for the first time, fictional independent releases–across all digital platforms and devices, and on a global basis.

SnagFilms is a leader in distributing free, ad-supported titles from a library of over 2,000 non-fiction films. Last year, SnagFilms entered the transactional world with launches of video on demand channels on Comcast and Verizon FiOS, as well as titles for sale through the Apple’s iTunes store. Earlier this month, SnagFilms debuted its iPad application with the largest collection of award-winning U.S. films offered free to iPad users.

“As a profitable company with substantial private investors, SnagFilms didn’t need to raise outside capital,” said company founder Ted Leonsis. “However, we saw overwhelming strategic value in involving NEA, a pioneer and leading venture capital firm, and CIC, the investment arm of Comcast. SnagFilms is very well-financed and uniquely positioned now to bring the full array of independent films–fiction and non-fiction, U.S. and foreign–to global audiences on all platforms and devices. We’ve amassed a library of 2,000 documentaries since our launch, and we’re now building distribution opportunities for tens of thousands of independent films in both categories. That’s great news for film fans and for filmmakers.”

“SnagFilms is perfectly positioned to fuse technology and content in a manner that has marked many of the transformational industry leaders we have helped build in the past,” said NEA Managing General Partner Peter Barris, who joins the Company’s Board of Directors. “New devices and digital platforms will allow consumers unprecedented access to quality content, and SnagFilms will be there to delight them. We are pleased to be able to invest in SnagFilms at this time, and to help them add fictional indie films to their expertise with documentaries–and to take both genres to the full swath of digital platforms and devices.” Among many other investments, Barris serves on the board of Groupon as its first VC investor.

“We are excited about the new opportunities SnagFilms creates, especially for independent filmmakers who historically could not get distribution,” said David Horowitz, Managing Director of Comcast Interactive Capital. “This investment reflects our view that consumers are demanding a diverse selection of high-quality content that can be watched on any platform or device.”

SnagFilms also announced that industry veteran Bingham Ray will join the Company to help guide its entry into distribution of fictional narrative and foreign-produced independent films. Ray, former President of United Artists, October Films and Kimmel Entertainment, and honored for Lifetime Achievement by the Gotham Awards, has deep experience in the acquisition, marketing and distribution of motion pictures, including “Hotel Rwanda,” “Bowling for Columbine,” “Secrets & Lies,” “War Room,” “High Art,” “Last Days” and “Breaking the Waves.”

“Bingham has been an advocate for filmmakers throughout his career,” noted Rick Allen, SnagFilms CEO. “His record of successful distribution on traditional platforms provides a strategic sense and depth of relationships that will be invaluable as we extend our model into a broader array of films. Bingham will be a key member of our large presence at the Sundance Film Festival this week and beyond.”

“I’ve been a big fan of SnagFilms from their earliest days, and am truly thrilled to be part of the team as they expand the service, bringing more filmmakers to bigger audiences on a wider array of platforms,” said Ray. “This is the future of our business.”

“SnagFilms plus Bingham Ray is a great combination,” said Tom Bernard, co-president and co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics. “Bingham knows the indie world as well as anyone alive and is admired for his experience and for always delivering for filmmakers. He’ll be a big asset to SnagFilms’ expansion.”

In addition, SnagFilms intends to use its new growth capital to expand its indieWIRE unit, now in its 15th year as the leading web source of news, reviews and analysis of independent film.

“indieWIRE’s traffic is now ten times what it was when we purchased it two and a half years ago,” Allen said. “Before the Academy Awards are announced later this month, you’ll see new editor-in-chief Dana Harris add ongoing features to our coverage of the indie world, and exciting new blogs to our Network, like the recently-added blog The Playlist.”

About SnagFilms

SnagFilms features free ad-supported viewing of more than 2,000 award-winning titles from some of the greatest names in documentary film. All films are shareable across the web. Since its launch in July 2008, SnagFilms’ library has been featured on over 2 billion web pageviews, with more than 325 million minutes of SnagFilms titles streamed across over more than 100,000 affiliated sites and webpages, including through partners such as Aol, Comcast, Hulu, the Starbucks Digital Network, IMDb, the Miami Herald, hundreds of non-profits, special interest sites and blogs. SnagFilms also offers selected titles via VOD (with Comcast and FiOS), on iTunes and through a new free application for the iPad.

OVGuide has twice named SnagFilms a Top Site and MovieMaker Magazine named SnagFilms to its annual list of “50 Best Websites for Moviemakers.”

16 Tycoons Agree to Give Away Fortunes

Robert A. Guth and Geoffrey A. Fowler — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 13:00:38 +0000

The billionaire founder of social network Facebook Inc. has agreed to give the majority of his wealth to charity, part of a broader group of rich entrepreneurs committing to philanthropy earlier in their lives.

Mark Zuckerberg has signed onto the “Giving Pledge,” which asks its signatories to commit publicly to give away the majority of their wealth.

The 26-year-old is one of 16 billionaires new to the pledge, which now totals more than 50 donors. New names include AOL co-founder Steve Case, investor Carl Icahn and former junk-bond king Michael Milken.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

LivingSocial Gets $175 Million Amazon Investment (Like BoomTown Said)

Kara Swisher — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 22:59:09 +0000

Amazon will invest $175 million in LivingSocial, the No. 2 player in the fast-growing social buying space.

(The press release is below.)

BoomTown reported yesterday that the massive investment was in the works.

The online retail giant’s big bet on the Washington, D.C.-based start-up comes in the wake of ongoing acquisition talks between Google and Groupon, the category leader in the local deals business.

While it appears to be a reaction to those discussions, sources said Amazon and LivingSocial have been talking for some time about a variety of deals between them.

Sources said the Amazon investment put a very hefty valuation of over one billion dollars on LivingSocial.

Interest in LivingSocial has heightened of late, given the $6 billion in cash, stock and earnouts that BoomTown has reported Google is considering ponying up to purchase Chicago-based Groupon, and grab ahold of its 12 million users across the globe and $500 million in annual revenue.

But LivingSocial–which has been thriving even in Groupon’s flashier shadow–has 10 million subscribers worldwide in more than 120 markets and five countries, including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland and Australia.

And, as LivingSocial noted when it announced its acquisition of Australia’s Jump On It recently, it is currently booking an average of more than $1 million a day and is projected to book well more than $500 million in revenue in 2011.

And that is what has attracted Amazon, which has almost no profile in this lucrative local space, despite some attempts at its own solution. It bought a small and quirky daily deals site, Woot, for $110 million in June.

But sources said that, rather than sell, LivingSocial management wanted to keep the company independent, and thinks a sale of Groupon will give it a huge opportunity for growth.

Why? Well, even though Groupoogle or Goopon are fun to say, the inevitable regulatory review could drag on, resulting in a slowing down of innovation in the bigger Google culture and the distinct possibility of newly rich Groupon execs flying the coop (in private planes).

More investment money should help LivingSocial move ahead faster. Sources also said there is likely to be deep integration between its and Amazon’s services.

LivingSocial announced in April that it had raised $14 million in a Series C round, after grabbing $25 million in a Series B venture funding only a month before. And it has raised $10 million on top of that since 2008.

Sources estimated at the time that the valuation for LivingSocial was several hundred million dollars.

The newest round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners; earlier investors include U.S. Venture Partners, Grotech Ventures and former AOL head Steve Case.

Lightspeed also invested $8 million more on top of Amazon’s funding.

Here is the official press release:

LivingSocial Announces $175 Million Investment by Amazon.com

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire/–LivingSocial (www.livingsocial.com) has secured a $175 million investment from Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN). LivingSocial has also secured an additional $8 million investment from Lightspeed Venture Partners. LivingSocial will use this investment to maintain a steady drumbeat of worldwide launches and overall business growth while continuing to serve more than 10 million subscribers across the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland and Australia in more than 120 locations. Because of LivingSocial’s rapid expansion, the company is currently booking revenues of more than $1 million a day on average and is projected to book well over $500 million in revenue in 2011.

“To be the biggest player in the local commerce space there is no one better to work with than Amazon,” said Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO of LivingSocial. “As the social shopping space continues to heat up, LivingSocial is committed to staying focused on providing the high level of quality that consumers and merchants have come to expect when working with us.”

As the online source to find amazing experiences at an unbeatable value, LivingSocial lets anyone experience the hottest restaurants, shops, activities and services in their area. The company has dedicated area experts on the ground in every location working directly with business owners, and constantly researching the best in local adventures to bring a savings of 50% to 70% for consumers.

Recently, LivingSocial expanded its business by acquiring adventure company Urban Escapes, and launching three new verticals including LivingSocial Family Edition, Campus Deals and LivingSocial Escapes, a travel site that offers unbeatable savings on curated adventures. In addition, the company continues a regular flow of launches–on average one per day–and has expanded its reach in Australia with a controlling stake in Jump On It, making it live in five countries.

Amazon Poised to Make a Major Strategic Investment in LivingSocial to Counter Groupoogle (or Goopon?) Threat

Kara Swisher — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 21:15:57 +0000

With the red-hot acquisition dance between Google and Groupon sucking up all the attention, it’s easy once again to ignore the No. 2 player in the fast-growing social buying space–LivingSocial.

But not everyone is–according to sources close to the situation, the Washington, D.C.-based company that also focuses on local deals is in advanced talks for a major strategic investment–as high as $150 million–by online retail giant Amazon, at a very hefty valuation of over one billion dollars.

Sources said there will also be a deep operating partnership between the pair, as part of the deal.

Sources said the investment negotiations with Amazon is not complete yet, of course, and could fall apart.

But interest in LivingSocial has heightened of late, given the $6 billion in cash, stock and earnouts that BoomTown has reported that Google is considering ponying up to purchase the category leader, Chicago-based Groupon, and grab ahold of its 12 million users across the globe and $500 million in annual revenue.

And, as the start-up noted when LivingSocial announced its acquisition of Jump On It recently, it is currently booking an average of more than $1 million a day and is projected to book well more than $500 million in revenue in 2011.

That is what is apparently attracting Amazon, which has almost no profile in this lucrative local space, despite some attempts at its own solution. It bought a small and quirky daily deals site Woot, for $110 million in June.

But, rather than sell, sources said LivingSocial management wants to keep the company independent, and thinks a sale of Groupon will give it a huge opportunity for growth.

More investment money should help.

LivingSocial announced in April that it had raised $14 million in a Series C round, after grabbing $25 million in a Series B venture financing only a month before. And it raised $10 million on top of that since 2008.

Sources estimated at the time that the valuation for LivingSocial was several hundred million dollars.

The newest round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners; Earlier investors U.S. Venture Partners, Grotech Ventures and former AOL head Steve Case.

A report of the Amazon interest in LivingSocial was first posted several weeks ago in a in VentureBeat, a day before BoomTown first broke the news of the Groupon and Google discussions.

Both Amazon and LivingSocial declined to comment.

But here is an October video interview I did with LivingSocial CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy on a recent visit to Silicon Valley.

The entrepreneur has worked at AOL, as well as at Case’s Revolution Health in Washington, before moving on to the local deals start-up.

Enjoy:

[ See post to watch video ]

LivingSocial's Tim O'Shaughnessy About Local Deals and Not Being Groupon!

Kara Swisher — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:09:51 +0000

Yesterday, before LivingSocial announced the acquisition of the social adventure company Urban Escapes, BoomTown sat down to talk with its CEO and co-founder Tim O’Shaughnessy.

The entrepreneur has worked at AOL, as well as at Steve Case’s Revolution Health in Washington, D.C., before moving on to the local deals start-up. Case was an early investor.

LivingSocial now has about 10 million subscribers to its social discount offers online, where it competes head-to-head with Groupon, which has garnered much of the attention in the hot arena.

Both companies have been garnering huge fundings, which are being used in a race for dominance in the space.

O’Shaughnessy talked about all this and more in the video interview below, which we did in Palo Alto, Calif.:

[ See post to watch video ]

Would That the Real Mark Zuckerberg Talked as Much as the Facebook Movie Mark Zuckerberg

Kara Swisher — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 23:01:37 +0000

Mark Pincus can sure talk a blue streak. Mark Cuban can easily be classified as a chatterbox, both online and off. And Marc Andreessen certainly knows how to keep up his end of the conversation.

In other words, the pantheon of famous digital entrepreneurs is full of blabby Marks.

But Mark Zuckerberg, not so much.

So, when watching “The Social Network”–the movie about the rocky origins of Facebook–a person who has known the co-founder and CEO of the social networking powerhouse even longer than BoomTown has leaned over and said, “The Mark in this movie has said more in 15 minutes than I have heard the real Mark say in the first few years I knew him.”

And how.

If you want to know, although critics are raving over it, it’s like a very talky, very geeky version of “The West Wing.”

The Mark Zuckerberg in the movie, as penned by master wordsmith Aaron Sorkin, is able to parry with top-notch lawyers and deliver perfectly crafted rejoinders one after the next to friend and foe alike.

He can conduct several conversation streams at once–so much so that a soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend remarks that talking to him was like “being on a StairMaster.”

I’d agree with that statement about the real Mark, except that the effort is quite the opposite of being dazzled by wild verbal gymnastics.

In fact, unlike a lot of Internet moguls, it has often been a struggle to get him to be fully articulate about the company, due mostly to a more taciturn, awkward and incredibly precise way of speaking.

When Zuckerberg famously asked Leslie Stahl of “60 Minutes” in a television interview–”Was that a question?”–right after she asked a question, I shuddered in recognition at the exchange.

In that way, he is a lot like the original leader of AOL (AOL), Steve Case, a person who created the first major social explosion online while also being incredibly shy and terse in real life.

Actor Jesse Eisenberg (pictured here) playing Zuckerberg in “The Social Network” certainly has the clipped delivery and often furrowed brow down–but the rest is a dude I certainly would love a chance to interview.

That said, he also plays Zuckerberg as a dour and wary person, also nothing like the real thing.

While I am in no way a personal friend of Zuckerberg’s, I have spent enough time with him to say that he strikes me as someone who generally tries to get along with people and makes a big effort to seem like a regular Joe, despite his fame and, well, billions of dollars worth of stock.

That does not mean he can’t be a bit robotic in tone or that he is not very much in charge at Facebook–indeed, one thing the movie does show is how very much the company is a creation of his single-minded devotion, restless innovation and intense forcefulness.

What I found perhaps most interesting about the movie was that it seems to, in fact, make the very case it is not trying to make.

Which is that, as the movie Zuckerberg says to the trio suing him for stealing the basic idea for Facebook: “If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you’d have invented Facebook.”

Exactly. Because even if Zuckerberg did swipe the kernel of an idea about making a social network about friends from the Winklevoss twins at Harvard University–which seems obvious that he did indeed do– they were still incapable of creating what he created, even if they had gotten bigger head start.

Though hysterically played by actor Armie Hammer (pictured here, who does both of the Winklevii), these two seem more like rich kids with good chins, great bods and not much else.

So too Eduardo Saverin, Zuckerberg’s original partner in Facebook, who got left behind and then diluted out of his stake in the start-up.

While that move by Zuckerberg and his new investors was probably too cute by a half–and they had to pay up later for it–the movie makes clear that Saverin did almost nothing to make Facebook what it was, except write an early check.

In fact, in one scene, it’s clear he does not even know how to use it enough to change his relationship status. This, I believe.

(Also, incredibly, that Justin Timberlake–who plays the devilish Sean Parker–can actually act.)

Finally, there is the part about the impetus for Zuckerberg to make Facebook–which opens the movie–over a bad breakup with a girlfriend.

Again, it would be great for the origins of Facebook to be that interesting, but that trick is only there to provide a good ending shot of Zuckerberg hitting the refresh button.

And, of course, to lay out the big question of whether or not Zuckerberg is an “asshole” or not.

That’s from “The Social Network” and not me, which at the end twists that grand theme again.

Instead, it posits via a woman lawyer–the only truly positive portrayal of a woman in the entire film, by the way–to the Zuckerberg character that: “You are not an asshole, Mark. You’re just trying so hard to be one.”

I am afraid that is not really true either, at least in my experience.

Sure, Zuckerberg has been diffident, has treated some friends shabbily (even recently) and has even been borderline disingenuous once or twice with me.

But that’s not that different from a lot of people I cover in tech and that does not make him that proverbial “asshole” of the movie.

Oh, I sure have known a few of those in my time covering Silicon Valley, but that’s a list I’ll keep for my movie.

Kidding. Sort of. (You know who you are.)

Revolution CEO Steve Case at D8: The Full, Uncut Video

Kara Swisher — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 21:33:19 +0000

Today, please enjoy this interview I did with former AOL (AOL) kingpin Steve Case, who is still an active investor in the digital space, especially in the healthcare arena.

Of course, he is most famous for building the Internet’s first mega-company and for merging it with Time Warner (TWX), which became the worst corporate marriage in recent history.

Case did not shy away from talking about AOL–which had its 25th anniversary this year–and much more in this interview at D8.

Here’s the full video of the session:

[ See post to watch video ]

Want to see it bigger? Click here.

Full D8 Interview Video: Former AOL CEO and Investor Steve Case

Kara Swisher — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:35:53 +0000

As promised, All Things Digital is posting the full videos from our eighth D: All Things Digital conference, held in early June.

Today, please enjoy this interview I did with former AOL (AOL) kingpin Steve Case, who is still an active investor in the digital space, especially in the healthcare arena.

Of course, he is most famous for building the Internet’s first mega-company and for merging it with Time Warner (TWX), which became the worst corporate marriage in recent history.

Case did not shy away from talking about AOL–which had its 25th anniversary this year–and much more in this interview at D8.

Here’s the full video of the session:

[ See post to watch video ]

Want to see it bigger? Click here.

Note: We’ll be posting full D8 videos on Mondays and Thursdays. Next up: Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski.

AOL's Longtime PR Head, Primrose, Steps Down

Kara Swisher — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:45:35 +0000

Tricia Primrose (pictured here), AOL’s long-serving communications head, is stepping down from her job, according to a memo sent out by CEO Tim Armstrong to staff.

The move is personal, related to her family, according to the memo (which you can see below).

Except for BoomTown’s record run, Primrose is unusual in the length of her tenure and number of AOL (AOL) exec administrations she has survived, including Steve Case and Bob Pittman, Jon Miller, Randy Falco and Ron Grant and now, Armstrong.

To say nothing of the myriad of changes and controversies at the long-suffering Internet icon, such as its disastrous merger with Time Warner (TWX).

And those have recently included its spinoff from the media giant and its 25th anniversary celebration.

That deserves some kind of medal!

And I, for one, will miss her and her consummate professionalism throughout some decidedly dicey times. Being both loyal to AOL and honest about tough situations is no easy task, but Primrose always managed to do it unflappably and with class.

Since Armstrong took over, though, most of the company’s most recent senior management team has turned over, with Primrose being one of the last to go.

Primrose will be staying until a replacement is found and will be part of the selection process, according to the staff email.

Here is Armstrong’s internal memo:

AOLers–

As we discussed in our all hands meeting two weeks ago, our Company is about people and our brands are a reflection of the people who work on them. There is one person that has worked tirelessly toward communicating both internally and externally about the progress and challenges we have faced as a business and a team–Trish Primrose. Trish has been with AOL for over 13 years and has been at the eye of the storm of one of the most well-known brands, in one of the most well-known industries.

I wanted to let you know that Trish will be stepping down as the Head of Corporate Communications for AOL and transitioning into an advisory role at the Company which will allow her to spend more time with her family. Trish has been an exemplary executive in her role and she has become a good friend in the process which is why I understand this change makes total sense for her. As many of you know, since returning home to Virginia in December last year Trish has been commuting, spending part of every week in the NY office–a schedule that has required her to sacrifice a lot of time away from her husband, Doug and daughter, Callie. People who know Trish well know that while she is the ultimate perfectionist at work, the thing she is proudest of is her family.

Trish will leave the role having completed one of the most important events and stepping stones in the history of the Company–AOL’s re-emergence as a stand-alone public company. Trish played one of the key positions in that transition and she has built a team that has bridged the past with the future. Trish’s most recent efforts culminated in AOL’s 25th Anniversary celebration which was a success that won’t be forgotten and is a highlight for all of us. Trish and her team will continue to be instrumental in our success. We will be opening an external and internal search for a successor.

We’re grateful that we’ll be able to tap Trish’s experience in ensuring that the Company doesn’t miss a beat during this period. And while we’re thrilled she will be continuing with us in an advisory role, please join me in thanking Trish for her efforts on behalf of AOL. –TA

D8 Video: Steve Case's Secret Plan to Buy Apple and Have Steve Jobs Run AOL-Time Warner

Peter Kafka — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 23:38:03 +0000

Here’s a fun alternative history exercise: What would have happened if AOL-Time Warner had bought Apple (AAPL) and put Steve Jobs in charge of the giant mess?

I can’t imagine that Jobs would have ever gone for it. And it doesn’t seem to have gotten past the spitballing stage. But former AOL CEO Steve Case says he did indeed float the idea to his board back in 2002.

He explained the logic to Kara Swisher onstage at D8. Putting AOL (AOL) and Time Warner (TWX) together wasn’t a terrible idea, he insists–they simply never had the management team to make it work.

But add Jobs, plus a hardware company to marry content and Internet businesses, and…well, it probably wouldn’t have worked anyway. But fun to fantasize about.

[ See post to watch video ]

Revolution CEO Steve Case at D8: AOL Could Come Back–Look What Happened to Apple

Peter Kafka — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:56:16 +0000

Steve Case is most famous for building America Online, which became the Internet’s first mega-company, and for merging it with Time Warner (TWX), which became the worst corporate marriage in recent history.

But AOL (AOL) is 25 years old, and the AOL-Time Warner deal is a decade old. What has Steve Case been doing since then?

Investing, in a lot of different stuff. His Revolution holding company has stakes in everything from Revolution Health, a wellness/fitness/medical advice Web site, to Cacique, a Costa Rican resort, to Clearspring, a Web widget company. Late last year, Case sold Revolution Money to American Express (AXP) for $300 million. And Zipcar, another portfolio company, has just filed for a $75 million IPO.

Liveblog

“We meet again,” sighs Kara. “I just can’t quit you.” “We’re off to a good start,” says Steve.

1:58 pm: Kara–Let’s go back 25 years. Talk about the beginning of AOL.

1:59 pm: Case–Well, Zuckerberg was one year old.

I got into this when I was in college, reading Alvin Toffler’s “The Third Wave.” It was riveting.

We started in 1985, in partnership with Commodore. It was a total bet on community. We believed the killer app was community. Chat rooms, bulletin boards, etc.

On the road show, no one believed us. Which was fair, because we didn’t have many customers seven, eight years into it. Needed lots of technology to catch up a bit. And needed people to catch up, too.

2:01 pm: Kara–What put you over the top? All of those discs?

2:02 pm: Case–It wasn’t the discs. It was the content. By 1992, ’93, many more people had computers in their homes, connectivity was better. The Internet was evolving–it wasn’t legal for us to connect to the Internet until 1991.

It took a while before we were considered an Internet company. Even when we went public, we were an interactive company, or online services. Had to morph as market evolved.

2:04 pm: And at some point News Corp. (NWS) sued you?

2:04 pm: Yeah, in 1998. they were upset about an online game they thought we were excluding. There was a lot of antitrust chatter then. Those were the good old days.

Kara: Well, you proved them wrong, the idea that you were too powerful.

Case: “I’m not going to comment on that.”

2:05 pm: On the Time Warner deal: Made sense for us and our shareholders at the time. It made strategic sense. But as Thomas Edison said, vision without execution is hallucination.

I’m recalling, by the way, that one of our strategies was to buy Apple (AAPL), hire Steve Jobs and put him in charge. It was an idea that was floated.

Big point is that with the right leadership, which my group, including me, couldn’t provide, we were set up to succeed. Look at stuff like iTunes, YouTube, etc.–all of that could have come from that company.

2:07 pm: I stepped down after the merger. After a couple of years, I started making one-off investments. Then created Revolution as a holding company. Runs through portfolio, which you can see on his site.

2:09 pm: Kara–You were early on a lot of important trends. Oh, and tell me about your favorite device that isn’t the iPad (thanks, Kara!).

2:10 pm: I’m interested in the social media side, and there’s some stuff bubbling there that reminds me of the early days. Also, mobile and location-based stuff, really. But really, how the Internet can be a platform to change the world. Even companies like Zipcar and our resorts properties only work because of the Internet.

Kara: What’s the relevance of the Internet to a company that helps rich people travel?

Case: Booking tickets on the Web [hmm]. Health care is the one that can really benefit from the Web. Runs through Revolution Health portfolio.

2:13 pm: Case–Turns out I’m much more interested in businesses that touch consumers. Like Steve Jobs said, I like that better than enterprise.

And health care is really a wellness push. Because health care as we define it is really sick care.

2:14 pm: Kara–Talk about Twitter and Sarah Silverman.

Case starts to answer, but Kara interrupts and steers him somewhere else.

Case: I really didn’t want to do a blog in the last 10 years, because that seemed like work. But Twitter made sense. I signed up early, like three years ago, but like a lot of people, it didn’t make sense to me. About a year and a half ago it made sense. Less about what you’re doing than what you’re interested in.

2:15 pm: I’ve always liked that interaction part. I wish we’d thought of Twitter–we were headed in that direction with buddy lists, etc.

2:16 pm: Kara–Tease out the different big Web businesses: Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare.

Case: Facebook’s obviously a real company with real revenue. Twitter and Foursquare are much earlier, but they could be on the cusp of a real business with real revenue.

Kara: If you were a 19-year-old college student, what would you be looking at?

Case: I’m hoping that the Internet just becomes everyday life. You don’t call it email, it’s just mail. Etc.

2:18 pm: Big opportunity for Web integration in health: Wi-Fi pedometers, Internet-connected scales, etc. In most cases, remote diagnostics would be able to help you solve and correct problems.

And I think letting people know about healthier choices can solve a lot of problems, and the Web can help with that.

2:19 pm: Kara–Make some predictions. You’re a visionary!

On Yahoo (YHOO): Case pauses. “I don’t know.” This industry changes a lot. I don’t feel like I’m in a good place to make a judgment. Do remember that iconic brands, with large audiences: You should never give up for dead. Remember what happened to Apple.

On AOL: Obviously it’s not what it was 10 years ago, which is disappointing to see. But still a lot of revenue, cash flow, visitors. A lot of assets for somebody to take forward.

On Apple: Nobody would have imagined this 13 years ago, when Steve came back. Remember that it was worth $1 billion and left for dead. By the way, I’ve told Steve this–I’d love to see Apple focus on health care.

2:22 pm: On Facebook, social networking: Really big. Not going away. That kind of communicating is fundamental to human behavior.

On Hollywood: I do think it’s puzzling. We had a hard time getting VC money into the Internet, but Time Warner would spend $1 billion a year betting on movies. They were very comfortable with that, and so many fail.

2:24 pm: Kara–How do you want to be remembered?

Case: “That sounds kind of like a gravestone question.”

Kara: “Okay.”

Case: I want to be remembered, and my team to be remembered, as mostly a force for good, able to get tens of millions of people to take the Internet seriously and integrate it into their everyday lives. We helped get America online.

2:26 pm: A question from analyst Mary Meeker: Please remind us of the market value of AOL when you went public. And please talk about challenges you had when you were growing (“America offline,” etc.)

Case: We raised $10 million or $15 million, had about $30 million in revenue and were valued at $70 million.

As to the challenges–all of them were double-edged swords. For instance, regarding downtime, it took a better part of a decade to get people to take us seriously, and we let them down. Then again, the fact that people cared about our service problems made it clear that they took what we offered them seriously. It took us a year or so to work through that.

2:29 pm: We had a lot of ups and down. Mostly downs. It was a decade of building. One of my worries now, is that there are so many companies that are built to flip. I wish people took a longer view, and I wish VCs did as well.

2:30 pm: Case: I went to school in Hawaii with Obama.

Kara: How was he?

Case: I don’t know. I was a senior and he was a freshman.

A note about our coverage: This liveblog is not an official transcript of the conversation that occurred onstage. Rather, it is a compilation of quotes, paraphrased statements and ad-lib observations written and posted to the Web as quickly as possible. It is not intended as a transcript and should not be interpreted as one.

Happy 25th Birthday AOL–Love, Snarky BoomTown

Kara Swisher — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:15:16 +0000

Here’s a video BoomTown did in honor of the 25th anniversary of the founding of AOL.

I had to miss the party back East yesterday, as I am prepping for the eighth D: All Things Digital conference–where, in fact, both AOL’s first CEO, Steve Case, and its current one, Tim Armstrong, will be interviewed onstage.

Instead, I did this video, which is inspired from an email Case sent to me recently calling me “Miss Snarky.”

While that’s completely accurate, I decided to have a little fun, all with the goal of feting AOL–which really does deserve much praise for its pioneering and innovative efforts to introduce the Internet to mainstream consumers without the snobbery so typical of Silicon Valley techies toward regular people.

The video aired yesterday during the events on the Dulles, Va., campus of AOL. Original execs Steve Case, Jim Kimsey and Ted Leonsis were there, along with about 500 AOL alumni.

AOL also dedicated three campus buildings: Dulles Main is now known as the Steve Case Center; CC2 is now known as the James Kimsey Center; and CC1 is now known as the Ted Leonsis Center.

Birthday events for AOL continue this week in New York.

So, here’s my video, as well as another video of an odd gathering of musical artists wishing AOL (AOL) happy birthday:

[ See post to watch video ]

Social E-Commerce Goes Into Overdrive: LivingSocial Raises Another $14 Million

Kara Swisher — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 11:30:29 +0000

Could the social group-buying space get any frothier?

Well, yes, it could.

After the recent $135 million funding of Groupon that valued the Chicago start-up at upwards of an eye-popping $1 billion, rival LivingSocial announced to today that it had raised a more modest $14 million in a Series C round.

The Washington, D.C. start-up had raised $25 million in a Series B venture financing only a month ago. And it raised $10 million on top of that since 2008.

Sources estimated the valuation for LivingSocial is several hundred million dollars now.

The newest round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners; Earlier investors U.S. Venture Partners, Grotech Ventures and Steve Case’s Revolution are also participating.

Ironically, Case’s former No. 2 at AOL (AOL), Ted Leonsis has been an early investor in Groupon.

LivingSocial said it will use the new pile of cash to expand to dozens of new markets, adding it was launching four new cities now: Portland, Orange County, Charlotte and Philadelphia.

It now operates in 18 cities across the country.

For those in Silicon Valley who do not consider these prices for all these social e-commerce sites high at all, BoomTown is here to tell you that in the real world the figure is not actually modest, except in comparison.

But LivingSocial will need every penny if it is to compete with Groupon and a growing spate of competitors in the local space, much as is also happening in the social status update arena.

The local outcome for most will inevitably be a sale to a big Internet company like Amazon (AMZN).

Or oblivion, especially since so many similar offerings makes the whole market confusing for both local businesses and customers

In general, most offer a daily deal with a huge discount on a wide range of products and services–from spas to skydiving–in dozens of U.S. cities, for large groups of potential buyers on the Web, through email or via social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Using social tools, the idea is use collective buying power to get low prices and push customers to local businesses.

If a deal reaches the number of buyers it needs, which can be in the thousands, these services sell vouchers to the consumers and collect a hefty fee for the sale from the businesses it sends customers to.

The plus for many small businesses is to get a crack at a lot of new consumers–think of it as social networking lead-generation.

This kind of thing has been tried before, of course, centering on consumers who group together to get discounts on items by purchasing in bulk.

In Web 1.0, there were many group-buying sites, most of which failed badly. One of the more high-profile ones, Mercata, received $90 million in funding from investors, including Paul Allen’s Vulcan Ventures.

No matter in 2010!

That’s due to the VC frenzy going on, spurred by winner-take-all theories–Groupon, for example, got most of its recent mountain of cash from champion Russian overspenders, Digital Sky Technologies.

However it turns out, here is LivingSocial’s official press release:

LivingSocial Raises $14 Million Series C Round Led by Lightspeed Venture Partners; Launches in Portland, Orange County, Charlotte and Philadelphia

Company Also Begins Offering Hyperlocal Deals in Seattle Area–Users Can Now Get Deals Even Closer to their Homes

$14 Million Round Comes on Heels of $25 Million Series B Announcement Last Month

Washington D.C., April 29, 2010–LivingSocial, the social commerce leader behind LivingSocial Deals and top Facebook applications Visual Bookshelf and Pick Your Five, today announced that it has completed a $14 million Series C round of venture funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with U.S. Venture Partners, Grotech Ventures and Steve Case’s Revolution, LLC participating. Because of the rapid growth, and high user demand, LivingSocial will use the capital infusion to expand into additional markets–bringing Deals to dozens more cities throughout the U.S. in 2010. This additional funding comes on the heels of the company’s recent $25 million Series B round announced last month.

“We’ve known and admired the LivingSocial team for a long time, and I have bought many of their terrific local offers. They’ve done an excellent job of growing their user base through smart media buying and excellent knowledge of social channels and virality,” said Jeremy Liew, managing director of Lightspeed Venture Partners. “With this financing round, LivingSocial is very well positioned to bring their great offers to even more people.”

LivingSocial is also launching its Deals program in four new markets: Portland, Orange County, Charlotte and Philadelphia. This brings LivingSocial live in 18 cities across the country with major plans to expand to dozens of markets throughout the year.

“We’re constantly receiving requests from our users to expand and launch in their markets, and this recent funding round will allow us to do just that,” said Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO and co-founder of LivingSocial. “We’re really excited to introduce LivingSocial to Portland, Orange County, Charlotte and Philadelphia to continue generating huge savings for our users and even bigger returns for our merchants.”

LivingSocial users throughout the country saved an average of more than $32 each in March, and have saved tens of millions of dollars since the launch of Deals in 2009. By signing up for LivingSocial’s free daily online service, people are saving an average of 50-70% at their favorite places, such as the hottest local restaurants, spas, sporting events, hotels, and other local attractions.

Because LivingSocial wants to give consumers more availability to the program, the company is launching hyperlocal deals for the Seattle area. Now consumers in areas like Tacoma and Bellevue will start getting deals targeted to their location, in addition to Seattle proper. Hyperlocal deals not only help more consumers explore new things in their city, but these deals also provide merchants with a greater opportunity to reach local audiences on the LivingSocial Deals platform.

LivingSocial is now live in 18 markets including: Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston, Atlanta, Austin, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, the Twin Cities, Chicago, Raleigh Durham, Denver, San Diego, the San Fernando Valley, Portland, Orange County, Charlotte and Philadelphia. Dozens of additional cities are expected to roll out in the coming months. For more information or to sign up your city, go to http://livingsocial.com.

Welcome Back, Steve: Apple CEO Jobs to Appear Onstage at D8

Kara Swisher — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:01:30 +0000

Apple (AAPL) CEO and Co-founder Steve Jobs will appear at the eighth D: All Things Digital, in an interview on the opening night, kicking off our tech and media conference that will also include famed Hollywood director James Cameron, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, among others.

(Jobs is pictured above at D5 in 2007.)

Jobs has been onstage many times at D, including in a famous joint session with Microsoft (MSFT) Co-founder Bill Gates. In the interview, which was conducted by Walt Mossberg and me, the pair of tech legends talked about their long history in the industry (you can see the video of that interview below).

There is much to talk to Jobs about, obviously, including the new iPad, the mobile market and the iPhone, its tense relationship with Google (GOOG) and the next innovations from the Silicon Valley computer icon.

It should be a news-filled year at D. Also onstage: Ballmer, who is appearing with the software giant’s chief software architect Ray Ozzie. In addition, Cameron will discuss the impact of tech on the film industry and his mega-hit movie “Avatar.”

Also onstage: Steve Burke, COO of Comcast (CMCSK), which recently purchased NBC Universal; Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski; former AOL (AOL) leaders Steve Case and Ted Leonsis; Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, which is embroiled in an ugly legal fight with Apple; John Donahoe, president and CEO of eBay (EBAY); former Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) CEO Carly Fiorina, who is now a candidate for U.S. Senate in California; Paul Jacobs, CEO of Qualcomm (QCOM); Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation SKG; Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford (F); Richard Rosenblatt, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Demand Media, in a session with Editor-in-Chief, President and CEO Paul Steiger of ProPublica; Vivian Schiller, president and CEO of National Public Radio; and, last but hardly least, Zuckerberg of Facebook (yes, Mark, there will be a question about competition you’ll need to answer–and not via a question about the question either–be prepared!).

We also have a few more speakers to announce, so stay tuned.

Here is the Jobs-Gates video from 2007:

[ See post to watch video ]

And here’s our official press release:

STEVE JOBS, JAMES CAMERON AND STEVE BALLMER TO SPEAK AT THE EIGHTH ANNUAL “D: ALL THINGS DIGITAL” CONFERENCE

NEW YORK (April 27, 2010)–All Things Digital today announced the speaker lineup for the eighth D: All Things Digital, The Wall Street Journal executive conference that will be held from June 1-3, 2010 near Los Angeles, Calif.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs will be this year’s opening-night speaker, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will make his fourth appearance and “Avatar” director James Cameron will appear onstage at D for the first time on the annual event’s second night.

Founded by co-producers Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher in 2003, the D conference is a gathering of the most influential figures in media and technology. Each year, Mossberg and Swisher put these top players to the test onstage during unrehearsed, unscripted conversations. The results are candid, entertaining sessions that provide glimpses into the strategies of the industry’s most creative thinkers.

D8 will also showcase leading executives from the mobile, digital, media, automotive and political arenas including:

• Steve Burke, COO of Comcast
• Steve Case, Chairman and CEO of Revolution
• Peter Chou, CEO of HTC
• John Donahoe, President and CEO of eBay
• Carly Fiorina, Candidate for U.S. Senate, California
• Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the FCC
• Paul Jacobs, CEO of Qualcomm
• Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation SKG
• Ted Leonsis, Vice Chairman Emeritus of AOL, Chairman of Revolution Money and Owner of Washington Capitals
• Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford
• Ray Ozzie, Chief Software Architect of Microsoft
• Richard Rosenblatt, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Demand Media
• Vivian Schiller, President and CEO of National Public Radio
• Paul Steiger, Editor-in-Chief, President and CEO of ProPublica
• Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook

Live blogs and photos from each session will be available on AllThingsD.com during each interview, with video highlights posted shortly afterwards.

The D conference has been sold out since January. For more information, full D coverage and video of past conferences including the historic joint appearance by Steve Jobs and Bill Gates at D5, see http://allthingsd.com/d/.

D8 is sponsored by AMD, Houlihan Lokey, Juniper Networks, Microsoft, NYSE Euronext, Qualcomm and Thomson Reuters.

A Sneak Peek at Ted Leonsis's New Book: "The Business of Happiness"

Kara Swisher — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:24:25 +0000

This weekend, BoomTown got hold of a new book by former AOL exec and longtime entrepreneur Ted Leonsis, which it set to be released on Feb. 8 by Regnery Publishing.

Titled “The Business of Happiness: 6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Life and Work,” Leonsis penned the book with former AOL PR head John Buckley.

And like the ebullient Leonsis, its entertaining fulcrum is a list he often talks about, one he made after a scary plane experience 25 years ago of the 101 things he wanted to achieve before he died.

“At the time, I thought that ticking items off my list would make me happy,” he writes in the book’s introduction.

It seems to have worked, he notes. “I’ve found that actively pursuing happiness seems to be a driver of success.”

In the second part of the book, Leonsis offers advice to others on how to get to happiness and success the Ted way.

But I especially enjoyed the first part, in which Leonsis tells his story–from humbling beginnings to college at Georgetown University to his start in the tech industry at Wang to his first successful forays into entrepreneurship.

Eventually, one of his start-ups–Redgate Communications–was bought by Steve Case of AOL.

Leonsis writes about this roller-coaster ride at AOL, which had as many downs as ups–with one of its down-est downs being its moment of glory: The merger with Time Warner (TWX).

“Let me state for the record: I was passionately opposed to the merger with Time Warner,” he writes. And he was.

For the most part in the book, Leonsis is probably kinder to the principals on all sides than is warranted.

But–for those who know him well–this is due more his glass-full nature than trying to be willfully opaque about what is now widely considered the worst U.S. business alliance in history.

And Leonsis does correctly point out one of the merger’s main screw-ups–the inability, due to internal politics, to sell AOL broadband over Time Warner’s powerful cable system.

It is also no surprise that Leonsis takes the AOL side, painting a picture of obstructive Time Warner execs more obsessed with Wall Street than creating great products.

Writes Leonsis:

“It was no longer, ‘What great product did we release this week?’ Everything–everything–was about whether we were going to send enough money to New York to help our new corporate parent meet its $11 billion EBITDA number and generate cash flow to pay off Time Warner’s debts. I remember coming out of meetings and saying to people, ‘We could be making nuclear power plants, for all you could tell from that meeting.’”

In the end, the Time Warner forces won out over those from AOL and Leonsis found that he was the last man standing, this time with new CEO Jon Miller.

With Miller, Leonsis slogged on at AOL, trying to move its prospects forward, but that also ended in tears.

Miller–who is now digital head at News Corp. (NWS)–got unfairly canned by Time Warner.

Unhappy with the new exec team–which was later tossed out too–Leonsis left in 2007.

AOL (AOL) has recently been spun out of Time Warner, with former Google (GOOG) exec Tim Armstrong at the helm.

And Leonsis has also moved on–becoming even more involved with his sports teams, forays into filmmaking and investing in new start-ups (sometimes with Case)–and carving out what seems to be a pretty happy life.

At the end of his book, Leonsis publishes his list and shows what he has checked off and what he has not.

He seems to have made a big dent in it, although he still needs to win a world championship and go into outer space. Also get a hole-in-one.

Not that I am keeping track, Ted, but you better get cracking.

And, to get a taste of Ted’s infectious style, here’s an interview with him I did in Silicon Valley in 2008, in which he mentions happiness a lot:

[ See post to watch video ]

Steve Case and Jerry Levin: Look on Our Works, Ye Mighty and Despair (About the AOL-Time Warner Merger, That Is, a Decade Later)

Kara Swisher — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:49:23 +0000

Since both former AOL CEO Steve Case and former Time Warner CEO Jerry Levin played such conflicting roles in my 2003 book–“There Must Be a Pony in Here Somewhere: The AOL-Time Warner Debacle and the Quest for a Digital Future”–it was odd to see the pair together on the same television set yesterday morning on CNBC.

But there they were–both looking very fit, I might add–with Case as a guest co-host and Levin as his more peaceful self.

They were on the cable network to jawbone about the disaster that was the AOL-Time Warner merger on the occasion of the deal’s 10th anniversary, since CNBC is airing a piece tomorrow night called “Marriage from Hell: The Breakup of AOL Time Warner.”

Actually, that purple title underplays just how bad it got for the doomed union.

In fact, except for the first crazy hug when the megadeal was announced in January 2000, the time they served as the combined company’s chairman (Case) and CEO (Levin) was pretty much fraught and the tensions between the pair intense.

Today, though, it is apparently sweetness and light between them, especially according to Levin, who has moved far away from his cerebral, New York, slick corporate-shark mode–which was very much in evidence when I first met him–to a man who now helps troubled high achievers find their inner happiness in Southern California at a holistic clinic called Moonview Sanctuary.

(I saw that unusual transformation up close too, spurred by the delayed impact of the tragic murder of his son, which came just as Levin was ousted.)

In fact, the now more heartfelt Levin even called the merger “some kind of transcendent concept,” although he quickly acknowledged that “I presided over the worst deal of the century, apparently.”

Levin did, and so quickly apologized for the whole mess. “I’m really very sorry about the pain and suffering and loss that was caused,” he said, although there are some at both companies who don’t believe him to this day.

Levin used that feel-good terminology to describe the merger’s failure: “Even though the stock was up at the time, there was a lot of tension, and I didn’t deal with the psychology with enough compassion. It’s a little hard to exercise compassion, connection, and love when the market is very unforgiving as it was at that time.”

And without even a raised eyebrow, Case–who has not changed his calm, aloof mode since I first met him in the early 1990s in the Washington, D.C. area–backed Levin up about the lack of execution in the deal.

Now, of course, AOL (AOL) has been spun out from Time Warner (TWX), and what the pair wrought is almost completely gone.

Or, as Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote about the “Look on my works, ye mighty and despair” statue of the great ruler Ozymandias: “Nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Well, at least Case and Levin are still standing, and this interview with them, lasting just over 22 minutes, is very worthwhile.

What’s perhaps most interesting is that the now-bearded Levin, for all the hippyish bromides–such as “Management is a humanist art”–is still as sharp as a tack in many ways, with some pretty decent observations about the Web and its players, for all his supposed beachy abandonment of it.

Check out the video:

Fred Davis to Join CBS's Quincy Smith at New Silicon Valley Boutique Bank Venture

Kara Swisher — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:26:02 +0000

Fred Davis, the well-known entertainment lawyer, will join CBS Interactive head Quincy Smith at a new banking and advisory firm in Silicon Valley, according to several sources.

Davis (pictured here) is a senior partner at Davis, Shapiro, Lewit & Hayes. The entertainment law firm–which is based in both New York and Los Angeles–has an emphasis in music, digital rights, and branded entertainment, and works with a wide range of digital media companies, including YouTube.

After a BoomTown post in late October on Smith’s plans, CBS (CBS) confirmed the move, which will take place in January, noting that his new firm would remain an adviser to the media giant under a multiyear contract.

Davis is an interesting choice for the firm, which Smith hopes will emulate Hambrecht & Quist, one of the more influential among Silicon Valley investment banks during the first Web boom.

Along with Davis, Smith has been joined by CBS’s Mike Marquez.

Smit has also been collecting a high-profile group of advisers to the still-unnamed firm, including Danny Rimer of Index Ventures, former Netscape Communications CFO Peter Currie, and David Golden, EVP of former AOL CEO Steve Case’s Revolution LLC.