From Russia, with love: Livejournal lays off a dozen
Livejournal, one of the earliest blogging services, is letting go of 12 employees, a little under 20 percent of its staff. Yahoo product manager Matthew Berardo, who was hired as Livejournal’s general manager in the U.S., was also laid off.
The company, known for the quirky-interest communities formed by its loyal users, is moving all product development and design to Moscow, where Livejournal’s owner, Russian software company SUP, is based. A company spokesperson says the move… Continue Reading
Roundup: Quattrone is back and banking, LiveJournal rebellion and more
Frank Quattrone is back as a banker — Quattrone and associates are starting a new boutique investment banking firm, called Qatalyst Group. During the (last) bubble in the ’90s, Quattrone was a top deal-maker, helping many promising (and unpromising) startups of the era go public. Some of his more illustrious clients included Amazon, Cisco Systems, and Netscape. After that bubble burst, he spent years fighting legal charges that he had somehow misled consumers about his clients’… Continue Reading
Russian media company buys online community LiveJournal
SUP, a Russian media company, has bought online blog community site LiveJournal from San Francisco blog company Six Apart.
LiveJournal claims to have more than 18 million unique visitors per month, worldwide, with 28 percent coming from Russia. Six Apart previously cut a deal with SUP in 2006, where SUP was allowed to manage LiveJournal in Russia.
The links between Russia and Silicon Valley are growing, along with Russia’s economy. We’ve recently covered the increasing number of… Continue Reading