A less than 500k exit for PodTech
Video blogging outfit PodTech has been acquired by LA based ViewPartner for “less than half a million dollars” according to Eric Eldon over at VentureBeat.
PodTech has been struggling for some time, lurching from a tech video blog network when it launched (competing head on with Podshow and others) into some sort of business video production company.
I first started hearing of problems with PodTech last year, and finally reported on them when Fake Steve Jobs wrote about it. Former PodTech blogger Robert Scoble accused me (among other things) of indulging in the worst form of tabloid journalism by reporting on it, despite the weight of the rumors. I understand that employees like to be loyal to their employer, so I leave Robert alone on this, despite the rumors of major issues turning out to be correct.
The sadder thing is the amount of VC they’ve burned through: $7.5 million.
There are a couple of lessons out of the PodTech story. First: keep your costs low. HD, best in market editing and production values, and top talent might look slick, but it doesn’t help your bottom line. Second: pick a business model and stick to it. PodTech never offered enough depth as a tech video blogging destination as they signed a few top performers, then subsequently suffered from a lack of variety. They never mastered their first business model, and instead of focusing on refining and fixing what was wrong, they simply changed business models, becoming the master of none.
