OK, we Photoshopped it, but only because we could not get our head around what the official Yahoo/Microsoft post-merger picture might look like.

Read More »

After its AOL division paid out an insane $850 million for social networking site Bebo yesterday, one had to wonder if the true digital legacy of Time Warner will be as the perpetual gravy train for legions of Web players.

It certainly seems that way from the original AOL execs who “merged” their company with Time Warner in 2000 and cashed out at the peak right after the deal to the series of ad networking startup entrepreneurs who got acquired, took their payouts and skidaddled right on through to the two founders of Bebo–Michael and Xochi Birch–who didn’t even stay long enough for a latte after grabbing their chunk of the payday Time Warner was handing out in crisp bank notes for the social networking site they founded.

Read More »

What’s AOL getting for its $850 million in cash to purchase of social networking site, Bebo?

A very attractive social networking service and a very experienced exec who has been running it.

But, perhaps more importantly for those who focus on pesky numbers, not a whole lot of revenue and negligible profits, judging financial information I got a gander at, courtesy of sources at several companies that looked at funding or buying Bebo.

Read More »

If Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is serious about finding a true No. 2 to replace outgoing exec Owen Van Natta and more, then BoomTown has certainly at least two cents to add.
So here is our list of ideas, which include a number of women execs, since a list that Facebook has made apparently includes a [...]

Read More »

Here’s a video I did about the first day of DLD–Digital, Life, Design–put on my Hubert Burda Media in Munich this week.
The three-day conference focuses on digital innovation, science and culture. It is chaired by publisher Hubert Burda and serial Israeli investor Joseph Vardi and hosted by Stephanie Czerny and Marcel Reichart.
I was here to [...]

Read More »

I know new Yahoo Eurohead Toby Coppel thinks I am too mean to his overlords in Sunnyvale and even emails me about it (I can take it!).
But I am going to surprise him by telling him that I think he is so very clever today.

Why? He signed the obvious deal with social network Bebo [...]

Read More »

One of the most hot and hyped areas on the Web is in the social-networking arena. And while Facebook and MySpace suck up all the oxygen in this heady room, there are others, including the No. 3 company in the space, Bebo.

While its technical and Web creation offices are in San Francisco, a lot of [...]

Read More »