GigaOm has the details on Six Apart acquiring RSS feed reader Rojo.com, as well some views on the RSS reader market. This is just a hunch but I think we're going to see lots of these kind of deals in the coming months as struggling/weak/under-financed Web 2.0 start-ups scramble into the arms of thriving/strong/well-financed Web 2.0 players. The Six Apart-Rojo deal (and the Tucows purchase of Kiko on eBay, or FeedBurner's acquisition of Blogbeat) are perhaps signs that the funding frenzy (FF) could be losing some of its steam as a growing number of start-ups run out of money and have nowhere to go. This Web 2.0 "consolidation" could be sold as a win-win scenario. The stronger players acquire cool technology at low prices, which could make them more viable and sustainable entities. Meanwhile, the weaker players find a way for their technology to live on, a place for some of their employees to keep working, and maybe some cash and/or shares for investors. These deals should be seen as a healthy development because it suggests investors aren't willing to pour good money after bad to sustain companies that would be better off gone. Maybe there's a job out there for a Web 2.0 middleman. Perhaps TechCrunch could morph itself into a wheeler-dealer? Update: Kevin Burton, who co-founded Rojo, has some personal views on Rojo as well as a re-cap of other blogosphere thoughts.
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Time to Eat Your (Web 2.0) Own
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Re: Time to Eat Your (Web 2.0) Own
hi, Mark. I've been unwaivering on this topic from Day 1. Most W20 companies don't have viable business models. The blogosphere could hype all it wanted but it never changed the fact that most of these "businesses" were nothing more than cool ideas being used for free.
This latest trend serves as a strong indication that VC's feel the same way and are no longe willing to throw more money at a service so that a bunch of kids can surf and have fun. We need to use this opportunity to change our reporting emphasis from what is cool to what is valuable. Digg, YouTube and others are getting far too much coverage, while real companies are being ignored. We should be emphasizing real companies in order to help them get coverage, build a bigger business and become beacons of Web 2.0. In turn, that would spur development of more real companies. As it stands now, too many coders are focusing on cool and free applications that don't do anybody any good - as evidenced by this latest trend. Best, George Trackbacks
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