TheFunded Founder Institute tries to tempt investors with a new financing model
Everyone knows it’s a tough time for startups raising money — for one thing, the first three months of the year saw the lowest number of venture investment since the late 90s. In response, Adeo Ressi, founding member of the controversial VC-rating site TheFunded, has… Continue Reading
Roundup: Apple gets busted, original Rickroller feels played and more
Here’s the latest action:
Apple slapped with touchscreen suit — Taiwanese touchscreen maker Elan Microelectronics has filed suit against Apple for violating patents to produce its beloved multi-touch iPhone and iPod Touch.
TheFunded strikes again with Founders Institute — Adeo Ressi, the controversial founder of TheFunded, is offering four-month… Continue Reading
April Fools flood begins: TheFunded’s shutdown the first prank of many?
There was some head-scratching over the weekend about rumors that TheFunded, the controversial site where entrepreneurs can rate and review venture capitalists, had been shut down due to threats of a lawsuit. But it was all just a prank by site founder Adeo Ressi.
Basically, Ressi… Continue Reading
Roundup: Facebook nears 200M users and seeks loans, Disney joins Hulu, and more
updated
Here’s the latest action:
GamesBeat videos — Check out our videos from last week’s game conference.
Facebook nears 200 million users — The New York Times has a profile of Facebook as it struggles with users angry about its redesign. And it looks like Facebook is looking to raise… Continue Reading
TheFunded reveals blacklisted VCs
TheFunded, the site that allows entrepreneurs to anonymously review and rate venture capitalists, has released a list of venture firms that are banned from the site’s leaderboards.
What did these firms do to get on TheFunded’s blacklist? Founder Adeo Ressi says there are three possible reasons:… Continue Reading
Make decisions with TheFunded’s new Topicki tool
TheFunded, the sometimes controversial site where entrepreneurs can rate and share information about venture capitalists, is beta testing a new tool. It’s called Topicki, and it’s a site for simple decision-making and management.
There are, of course, a lot of other project management tools out there,… Continue Reading
A VC sneaks into TheFunded, but the world doesn’t end
Someone claiming to be a venture capitalist managed to snag a membership with TheFunded, the site where entrepreneurs rate venture firms and gossip about fundraising, and posted an open letter to entrepreneurs. (TheFunded has a business relationship with VentureBeat.) VCs are explicitly forbidden from becoming… Continue Reading
TheFunded delivers subpoenaed documents
TheFunded, the VC-review site that was recently subponaed by EDF Ventures, says it has handed over the requested documents — and, amusingly, site owner Adeo Ressi decided to videotape himself as he delivered the documents to the Oakland offices of EDF’s attorneys.
During the video, Ressi… Continue Reading
Analysts: EDF Ventures’ deal terms aren’t that harsh
Updated
In the wake of EDF Ventures‘ subpoena demanding information about one of its critics on controversial VC-rating site TheFunded, more scathing commentary about the Ann Arbor, Michigan firm has come to light. For example, the commenter targeted by EDF says the firm has “very harsh… Continue Reading
Subpoenaed documents at TheFunded reveal more negative commentary about EDF Ventures
updated
Venture capital firm EDF Ventures last week subpoenaed the Web site TheFunded, demanding information about a person who left negative comments about EDF.
This evening, VentureBeat has exclusively obtained documents requested by the subpoena. TheFunded’s owner, Adeo Ressi, will likely hand over these documents to the… Continue Reading
Venture firm EDF moves to silence entrepreneur at TheFunded
TheFunded, a site that lets entrepreneurs rate venture capitalists, continues to stir things up.
EDF Ventures, a mid-sized venture capital fund in Ann Arbor, Michigan which has been reviewed negatively by several people at the site, has subpoenaed some records from TheFunded in a court action… Continue Reading
TheFunded now lets members refer companies to VCs
Updated
TheFunded, the controversial website that lets entrepreneurs rate venture capitalists, has rolled out a new feature that lets entrepreneurs pitch venture capitalists with help from their friends.
Called TheFunded Connect, the new feature, to be unveiled tomorrow, lets entrepreneurs solicit help from their fellow entrepreneurs to… Continue Reading
Are VCs threatening lawsuits to stay spotless at TheFunded?
TheFunded, a site that lets entrepreneurs rate and comment about venture capitalists, has drawn a lot of attention from folks eager to learn salacious gossip about bad VCs.
Over recent months, though, there’s been an odd development: Certain posts by entrepreneurs critical of VCs are being… Continue Reading
TheFunded penalizes venture capital firms that “game” it
TheFunded, the site that lets entrepreneurs rate venture capitalists, often with aggressively snarky commentary, has released a new feature to reduce criticism the site is being gamed.
It has created an algorithm that looks for signs VCs are trying to manipulate their rankings to be more… Continue Reading
TheFunded exposes deal terms, including dreaded liquidation preference
updated
TheFunded, the site that lets entrepreneurs rate venture capitalists, has just unveiled a new feature that could bring a whole new level of transparency to the cloaked world of financing deals.
It now lets entrepreneurs submit the terms (subscription required) of their funding deals to the… Continue Reading
The Funded, a site of contradictions
updated
Last night, the founder of the TheFunded, the controversial VC-rating site, held a coming-out-of-the-closet event at Stanford University.
We pointed to a Wired story last night, which first revealed the founder is Adeo Ressi. That article recounts how and why Ressi launched the site. But only… Continue Reading
TheFunded further embraces VCs, but Sequoia still hazed
TheFunded.com, a forum that lets entrepreneurs dish dirt publicly about venture capitalists, has taken another step toward accommodating the VCs.
The site now lets VCs provide feedback on any public comment made about their firm. Initially, TheFunded had banned VCs from commenting. Recently, it relaxed that… Continue Reading
Thefunded continues to divide and conquer VC firms
Updated again: To clarify paid membership vs. free access.
Updated: To clarify confusion about certification process at Thefunded, and to include Ignite’s response.
TheFunded, the controversial Web site designed to let entrepreneurs rate venture capitalists, says it is finally winning over cooperation from many VC firms.
It says… Continue Reading
TheFunded capitulates, lets VCs post comments
TheFunded, a site where entrepreneurs can rate VCs, has capitulated and is allowing venture capitalists to participate.
Until late yesterday, the site had prohibited venture capitalists from responding. However our post a few days ago about the unfairness of that policy – in light of the… Continue Reading
TheFunded, the site for VC hatchet jobs
(See update here: TheFunded has capitulated, and allowed VCs to respond to these attacks)
The Funded, the Web site that lets people anonymously rate venture capitalists, is causing some concern in venture capital circles about the hatchet jobs on VC firms.
Rejected entrepreneurs are flaming VCs with… Continue Reading