BackFence closes its gates
Updated
An online site for small communities, BackFence, appears to have shut its doors.
The company, which offered news, blogs, photos, and forums for a handful of medium-sized towns, had been struggling. In early Janaury, BackFence laid off many of its employees and replaced its co-founder and chief executive, Susan DeFife. We wrote about it back then and speculation grew that its days were numbered.
When reached for comment, co-founder and chief executive Mark Potts said the… Continue Reading
Will Outside.in nail the community Web site? Maybe
Updated with full list of names of angel investors
How do you build the perfect local community Web site — with news, events, comments and more?
If you manage to, it will be a grand slam. It becomes the talk of the town, people spend more time going there, and local advertisers spend money there.
A wave of companies have tried, but failed. But Outside.in, a new Brooklyn, NY start-up is looking very good — as good, if… Continue Reading
Tech shakeout continued: Friendster, Backfence, Insider Pages, Orb updates
Despite fallout at social networking and other Web 2.0 companies lately, its clear that the problem isn’t lack of opportunity. Many companies still see strong growth ahead.
Check out social networking veteran Friendster.
The company lost $410,000 in December, according to documents a source just slipped to VentureBeat. Revenue was a decent at $700,000, but overhead was $900,000, and other depreciation costs made up another $200,000 or so. The company’s books project monthly losses until July of… Continue Reading
InterActiveCorp strives for local holy grail, with “Ask City”
InterActiveCorp is about to unload a local information and entertainment service, apparently named “Ask City,” and it’s about time.
IAC is an Internet media conglomerate headed by Barry Diller, and it plans to introduce the local site next week, combining Web search, city guides, maps and event listings and tickets, a move that appears to finally combine the company’s assets in a logical way.The new Web-based city guides, scheduled to start Dec. 4, will be… Continue Reading
Smalltown, the hyperlocal Web site, worth a look
Updated
New start-up Smalltown is going after the local business listings market with an ambitious, focused social network model. It has a charming “smalltown” feel, and seeks to build a community of users around those listings. This company will be one to watch.
It launches today (Tuesday). It has received $3 million in venture capital from Formative Ventures.
Founder and chief exec Hal Rucker gave us a demo of the site. It aims for comprehensive listings of businesses,… Continue Reading
PicksPal, an “American Idol” for sports fans, raises $6 million (and Yardbarker mention)
PicksPal.com, a Mountain View start-up that lets sports fans show their prowess at calling sport event outcomes, has raised $6 million from two Silicon Valley venture capital firms.
PicksPal wants to be the “American Idol” of sports games. It is just the lastest online sports site to offer fans a way to compete against each other — or against themselves — in a powerful online medium where thousands, potentially millions, of fans oogle at each other’s… Continue Reading