Browster in DeadPool
Michael Arrington
39 comments »
San Francisco based Browster definitely appears to be dead, as GigaOm reported earlier this week. I have been unable to get a confirmation (or any response) from emails sent to CEO Scott Milener and one of the investors in the company, and the site has been up and down (mostly down) for the last few days.
Browster’s browser plugin let uses preview sites on search results and some other sites without clicking through to them. Our previous coverage is here. We’ve also covered competitor Cooliris.
The fact that everyone connected with the company is being so quiet about this is a little odd, given that the site is down. Based on his LinkedIn profile, Milener is on to his next company, Vieweo. Browser is not mentioned at all.
Browster raised $5.8 million in a Series A round of funding just a year ago, and had closed at least one previous angel round with a number of individuals and funds.
Browster is now in the TechCrunch DeadPool.
It is sad that GOOD technology has to die - whether or not something is marketed effectively, is different from the actual Technology (1s & 0s)
What happens to the technology? ?????
Even if a company goes into bankrupcy, the concern over patents and copyrights could just allow good tech to atrophy.
Perhaps, there could be some solution so that the technology is preserverd and allowed to be built upon.
It is incomprehensible, why Google, AOL, Netscape or one of its partners using its SERPs could not integrate this software to make their sites more sticky
I predict 2007 will be the year of the deadpool.
I don’t understand why all these sites get “funding” in the first place. Individuals come up with great technologies and web apps all the time, without any funding, and they gain users and make a profit off just a couple dozen subscriptions. When you throw a couple million dollars at a browser toolbar or “web 2.0 slideshow” site, you turn what could’ve been a profitable venture into what’s 99% going to be a huge loss of funds when it doesn’t turn out popular.
VCs know that the majority of their investments will be flat out, 100% losses. That’s just the nature of their business. As long as they are just playing with their own money, and the public market aren’t involved, I’m ok with it.
many bad products succeed in market many good ones bomb, I on’t know in which category you put this dead pool one, put the proof of the pudding is in marketing.
http://www.tekno-world.blogspot.com
I agree with Laurent, there will be many more of these this year. As far as browster goes, it was never really going to be more than a widget was it? At least something like Snap offers fulls search functionality, irritating though they both may be.
Awesome. At UTR I ripped apart their presentation saying that not only was it a stupid idea but that their product would DoS websites.
Seems the market agrees with me.
I honestly wouldn’t have the nerve to field a business to a potential investor without a very strong business model backing it up.
The project I am presenting to investors atm should be cashflow positive 1 month after launch.
They don’t need a strong business model. Just a good team with the ability to talk the investor into believing they know what they’re doing.
Hey Michael, do you know of any site which is keeping track of how much VC money has been spent on companies/products/services which end up in a deadpool?
Scrolling through the first page of this one, I see about 12 million.
I can’t really understand why in the hekk is good to see a preview instead of clicking on the link.
I need to see at least one or two more pages from a website besides the front page to decide if I’m interested in.
I am in no way defending Browster, however, their claim was that it would save browsing time to quickly mouse over results and get them without loading the page. Same thing with Snap…
Unfortunately, it didnt work. Plus, its annoying (like Snap). I installed it…had many bugs and uninstalling it took days because their code was sticky…awful experience. I emailed Browster about my experience and never heard back. One would think with all that money they would have decent customer service.
I agree! the Deadpool will grow but so will real VC investments. The product can’t just be an add-on. It has to have depth and functionality. Alot of these 2.0 products people can live without. Community is still a good concept as to the fact that the Web needs to be regionalized somehow to make for better use. But community with a purpose. Students for example are just starting to scratch the surface of the Web for use in school and the classroom. Open access info is the deal. Publishers will figure that out. Right now schools are paying between $2 and $3 dollars a download for research content. That number needs to be amortized down to cents in order for it to make sense. Checkout our site and see what I mean. http://www.theCampusCenter.com
$5.8 M ??? holy moly — Do the VC’s have the slightest idea what they are getting into ? $5.8 M into a company that previews websites ? you’ve gotta be f’ing kidding me.
Why do they keep bringing the site back up if they are done?
2007 will not be a year for the deadpool. If your product sucks, your results will reflect it.
Patrick,
Well, with 4 disturbing flashy ads on your page, I only spent 8 seconds there, so I’m not sure how that is going to help the students out.
Funny, i just un-installed browster the other day.
Thought is was kind of cool for about a week, then never used it.
I noticed ATV Capital quickly removed these guys from their portfolio this weekend…very interesting.
Maybe some VCs are still interested in technology. Slide looks cool, so I used it when I knew it. But soon I found it’s not something I could get addicted. And I didn’t use it for a long time now.
Tech Tutorials: http://www.hotcoding.com
I have to say this was the first Sunday morning I’ve started with the lyrics of a Queen tune in my head … “Another one bites the dust …” More sad, though, is the demise of a company whose leader, Scott Milener, is such a solid citizen. Say what you will about the company, but as someone who focuses on entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley, I view Scott as one who falls into the category of someone who the Valley will see again. Just posted a rather interesting interview with him too (http://www.guidewireconnection.com)
2007 the year of the dead pool? I’d agree with that, and I’d add that I’m not sorry about it … The entrepreneurs who are more than failed one-trick ponies will be back, and hopefully will have learned from their failures.
“I predict 2007 will be the year of the deadpool.”
I agree with the first comment.
Why does it require a 5.8 million funding for showing a Ajax based page by hovering a link? I have done something similar to this at http://www.saarr.com with a web-page mining algorithm. Hope I too had applied to some
looks like he has two profiles. He mentions Browster in this one: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/467/149
this ass clown has blown thru $51MM and another $5.8MM yet he still lands a job somewhere? Is Marion Barry on the board of directors? Art Shell perhaps?
I love america. You can get paid a lot of $$ and produce exactly jack squat.
For the record, I called this one:
http://www.calacanis.com/2005/.....ey-raised/
oh yeah… more here:
http://www.bloggingdemo.com/20.....n-at-demo/
The year 2007 will be the year of proving your Web 2.0 business model. If your not making any revenue for your investors, then you will be closed done. The days of VC’s providing money for the “living dead” are long gone.
Jason - you are the smartest guy!
I liked Browster a lot but it kept locking up IE7. When I enabled the add-on I could watch IE7 memory and handles climb in task manager until it locked up.
Just checked the site and it seems very much alive!