I was just saying to a fellow blogger the other day that it will only be time before a bit blog network sells out to a bigger web entity for some massive amounts of cash. Well today seems to be that day with Threadwatch reporting that AOL is about to by Weblogs Inc!
Paid Content writes of the deal by saying:
“This is a very quick exit: the company was founded about two years ago, and took some money from Mark Cuban a year down the line. For Calacanis, this is his second company being sold in a space of about two years…his original company Rising Tide Studios was first sold to Wicks Business Information, which in itself was bought out by Dow Jones.”
How much will they get? I guess this will depend upon what the deal includes and how involved the Weblogs Inc team stays involved with the project. Estimates of what the deal is worth at Paid Content range from $20,000,000 to $35,000,000.
The deal is expected to be announced officially this week.
Update: Get the official word from AOL and Jason.
Update: Interesting commentary on the sale at Wealth Junkie.
Just read that on threadwatch as well. I knew you’d have something posted here as well :P I expected them to get bought out, but I expected it to be a year or two down the road. Craziness
Wow, I’d be happy to sell out for $20M-$35M!!!
Im Selling a blog for $20mil to $35mil ono
email me for details.
(haha)
[…] Die Gerüchte wurden bisher nicht bestätigt, Darren (ProBlogger) geht jedoch davon aus dass der Deal diese Woche noch bekannt gemacht wird. […]
Mines only 2 weeks old so I’ll take 500k Bargain!
Andrew
I kind of wish they’d been bought by a company I like, but oh well. It will be interesting to see the direction they take it.
very good
I dont think I have seen an unsubstantiated story spread through the blogosphere so quickly…
although if scoble says its true (and reuters)
http://radio.weblogs.com/0001011/2005/10/05.html#a11377
I wonder what Jason’s role in the company will be, if any?
The guy’s a serial entrepreneur and with the extra funds I expect him to come up with something brilliant (and possibly blogosphere related) ;-)
I imagine he’ll at least be contracted to stay on for a year or 2. I imagine he’ll also have a pretty strict non-compete clause.
[…] Update: Looks like Duncan has his blog up and running again and the rumor is that News Corp is interested in the gossip blogs at Gawker more so than their others. It is certainly an interesting time for established blog network owners with this news, the rumored sale of Weblogs Inc and other networks being approached by VC investors. Filed under Blog Networks | Get the Free ProBlogger Newsletter […]
Wow.. that is awesome!
Not bad for two years worth of work.
Recipe for success – build a content network with lots of readers. Easier said then done? Perhaps, but riding the blog wave of popularity is certainly still possible, especially with many people willing to write for pay. Bring them together under a theme and in two years time you might make a million or two yourself.
Actually if it was me right now going to start a blog network I’d pick a solid untapped niche of which there are certainly many available. The blogosphere is soo untapped…
Think an Oprah style blog network – nothing but topics interesting to stay at home moms – fashion, self development, cooking, gossip. Get a good handful of blogs up on those topics, say start with 10 and aim to get to 50 after a year. Keep it growing, monetize with advertisements etc and then someone will come knocking and offer you a big cheque.
Talk about a time of opportunity!
Of course looking at this at a macro level makes it seem easy, the path is a lot more complicated and labor intensive then the “big picture” view might make it seem. Commitment is required, maybe some venture capital to hire the bloggers and keep them well paid while advertising revenue grows so you start off professionally and with good staff. Afterall the bloggers will be the make or break variable because you require great content, good writing and someone that cares enough about their blog to get out there and market it.
Anyway, this post is long enough…back to work Yaro!
It’s amazing!
What will AOL add to the Weblogs inc brand?
What a stupid stupid purchase. This is not good for AOL, they live in the Mom and Pop land of psuedo internet, although as customers they do spend spend spend. I see Time Warner being a better fit, or Dennis Publishing or Emap, but not AOL.
This is good for competitors of Weblogs inc, as it means it is going into corporate hell. It’s brand is its ceo, when it loses that it loses its soul.
Do you think this is a good deal?