Fake Steve Jobs aka Daniel Lyons has written that he’s heard that PodTech will be closing up shop with an announcement imminent.
We can’t confirm the rumor although I have pinged Robert Scoble asking him to comment. If we get a response we’ll publish it.
PodTech has taken $7.5 million over two rounds led by US Venture Partners and Venrock Associates.
Rumors of major problems at PodTech surfaced in July and were followed by founder and CEO John Furrier departing the company in August. PodTech is best known for its production and hosting of videoes by Robert Scoble, and for corporate work. The dry nature of PodTech productions was described by Michael Arrington so eloquently when he said “90% of Podtech content is just slightly more entertaining than watching paint dry.”
Update: Robert Scoble is denying the rumors on Twitter claiming that it’s a “hatchet job” by PodTech’s competitors, although has yet to issue a formal denial aside from commenting on this post suggesting that it’s all bullsh*t.
Update 2: Scoble writes on Twitter that PodTech is “restructuring its business and refocusing its resources”…some big changes on the way, but no deadpool for PodTech yet.
TOO BAD. ANOTHER ONE BITS THE DUST!
not surprising… frankly I would rather watch paint dry.
This is why you shouldn’t ask for VC.
20 million rating hits is hard to get….
I don’t know about them closing up shop, they just finished building a studio. But I guess anything is possible.
BTW, you’d probably get a quicker response if you contacted him on twitter.
I am not surprised by this. After the earlier post on the company it looked like it was just a matter of time.
JT
true, but I haven’t seen him on there tonight (PST) which leads me to think there might be legs in what FSJ is saying. It’s certainly very odd for Scoble to be this quiet, both on Twitter and his blog (last twitter post was 11 hours ago as I type this)
I wouldn’t doubt it. I stopped reading his posts that made it to TechMeme, I always came away disappointed. When I saw that video he made waving his hands around like a crazy person about how Facebook was going to take over Google with socially-weighted search results, that confirmed it for me, he’s clueless.
Sad indeed, but no one who is a keen observer of PodTech would be surprised. PodTech made one bad move after another in a crowded race where margin of error is very slim. From the start, PodTech is a 2-men show of the said CEO and Robert Scoble, whose blog I read on a daily basis, and here is a prime example of a great text blogger having difficulty transitioning into an online video maker (he might get a job with PBS, who knows?).
It was amusing to read Robert Scoble defiantly advocate his unique (yet bizarre) “the longer the videos, the more the depth” philosophy when many of his fans were literally begging him to edit his videos down to more digestible length.
What Robert Fails to understand (and those who are responsible for making him understand) is that he has been violating the most fundamental filmmaking (and video-making) rule that any first-year film school student could tell you: thou shall not fall in love with thine raw footages, which were the main ingredients of Robert’s “drying paint” we were asked to watch.
I don’t expect them to go bankrupt any time soon – they’ve just closed a 7-million-round.
They’re working on a new studio, too.
I expect them to change their business model. They’ll stop most of their shows. (I guess the ScobleShow is the only successful show there, primarily through the deal with Seagate.)
They’ll start a few high-quality shows rather than throwing out content like they did before. I think that Robert himself will do less interviews, but in this new studio, better produced, etc. (And hopefully they launch a new website, because the current one is horrible.)
In the end, PodTech will look a lot like Revision3. And if they end up failing, Robert will probably find a home there.
#10, you’d be surprised how quickly a ‘measly’ $7.5 million gets spend in a start-up with grand visions of a hockey stick growth just around the corner.
Sebastian
$7.5m is a small sum when you’re talking high cost stuff like professional video studios and video hosting (bandwidth is getting cheaper, but video eats a lot of bandwidth.)
It’s total bull####. I was out this evening at a dinner with friends. My phone number is on my blog for a reason. 425-205-1921. It’s amazing that competitors are reporting this crap and don’t even TRY to get ahold of me to verify it.
Scoble
that’s one very, very long dinner. No Twitters or posts for the better part of the day. I hope it was a good meal
As I said in the post, we only have FSJ to go on. Happy to print any response you have.
I was in meetings all afternoon planning out our CES BlogHaus which we’re contracted to run in January. Then I went to dinner. I’ve been offline. Sorry you can’t conceive of being offline for any length of time.
My response is here: http://scobleiz...emise-are-bull/
Please call next time you report about PodTech. This is total bull. Maybe I should make something up about TechCrunch since it seems that the blogosphere is plenty willing to just make total shit up about a business.
And don’t make it about me. There are more than 30 hard-working people at PodTech. What you write can destroy businesses and HURT people.
Robert
Again, as per my Twitter: we’re not making this stuff up, Daniel Lyons is. If you’ve got issues with the story go to the source. I made it as clear as I could where it came from and even wrote that we can’t confirm it. As for conceiving people being offline you Twittered the birth of your son: trust me when I say the rest of us understand when it’s appropriate to be offline, where as you never seem to be offline at all.
So if someone makes shit up about TechCrunch I’ll can just pass it along without calling Mike, right?
Do you think that will go over well with Mike? I don’t think so.
I am offline at least eight hours every day. I do sleep.
I think they should revive their module since podcasting is at the dead zone.
If it comes from a serious source and you’re saying that this is an unconfirmed rumor but you’ve asked for comment, waited for a response and not got one: yes.
On the flip side I’d be working to disprove it with hard facts if it was my company, not just running around having a go at anyone who dared mention it.
We didn’t run it first or second or even third, I sat on it for a couple of hours. Problem was (and is) if we didn’t run it and it turned out to be true later we would have missed covering it. The internal troubles at PodTech this year gave credence that the rumor perhaps having some measure of truth, and certainly I would never had run it if the history wasn’t there…it was tangible evidence of issues that could apply to a closure.
@Duncan
PodTech survived for quite a long time with $ 5,5m VC money. Now they get 2m more and they should be bancrupt within four months? I’m sorry but this really sounds made up.
Everybody who WANTS to know could have found out that they have several sponsor, work for corporations, are contracted to do conferences, etc.
They likely aren’t profitable, but they sure haven’t got a such high burn rate.
And why should they build a new studio if they are about to bancrupt anyway?
So to sum up, it’s a unrealistic rumor, reported by a fake blogger who heard it somewhere, supported by nobody else and you reprint it, without asking for a statement from Scoble? And now you ask PodTech to open up their finances so that you are happy?! You really can’t be serious about that.
I don’t think this is a conspiracy. It’s simply very, very bad journalism and takes a lot of credibility from TechCrunch, at least for me.
I expect to read things like that from Fake Steve Jobs, not from the biggest tech blog out there. Honestly. This sucks. Just admit that you were VERY wrong.
@duncanriley: next time you report something on PodTech please call me. I’ll be happy to give you a comment and make your story stronger. If PodTech WERE going out of business, wouldn’t you like to get my comment? So do some freaking reporting! My phone number is on my blog for a reason! Don’t assume I’ll see your email.
Sebastian
I’m not suggesting Podtech open up their finances (although that could be an option): I’m simply suggesting that the way to debunk a rumor is not to attack anyone who dared mention it. As for issues at Podtech the problems over the past six months (see the links in the story) gave credence to the possibility that the rumor may have truth in it, and as I note in a comment above if it wasn’t for this history I would never have written the post. As it is it was clearly labeled for its source and said to be unconfirmed, again I’m not sure how much clearer I could have made it.
Robert
).
deal. I’ll pick up the phone next time (or Skype out…a lot cheaper from Australia
Since when has FSJ ever been above taking pot-shots, founded or not?
Why are people surprised? It’s incredibly obvious that the post was designed to trigger reaction. As are virtually all of his comments.
Since then FSJ has ragged on the $100 (and counting) laptop, facebook and the usual anti-Microsoft smart-assery.
It’s always going to be funnier when some ELSE is in the firing line.
A report from a “fake” blog was wrong. Techcrunch picked it up. Oh the humanity.
Duncan has clearly and rightly pointed out the Techcrunch position.
So far all I’ve read is venom from Scoble and claims of anti-competitive conspiracies.
FSJ has always been about getting a reaction, and boy has he got a live one here.
Duncan: Valleywag has been reporting that PodTech is going out of business since February.
The best defense against the “you’re going out of business” rumor?
Stay in.
Brendan: exactly. The venom comes because I expect TechCrunch to do more reporting than just passing along a Fake Steve Jobs blog post.
Anyway, you’re right. As long as they keep talking about you it all comes out in the wash.
> The venom comes because I expect TechCrunch to do more reporting than just passing along a Fake Steve Jobs blog post.
Hey, I get that you want to protect-your-baby so to speak. But to come out swinging if anything gave the story more credence, not less.
A little bit of calm comment when a storm rages typically gets people’s attention more than simply adding to the volume.
And you’re getting extra publicity right now – so it’s not all bad really, is it?
You’re on FSJ’s radar now. Right or wrong that’s a lot more attention.
Brendan: thanks.
Actually, here’s a post about my “long and boring” videos: http://scobleiz...-boring-videos/
If there’s only one interview you watch of mine this is the one you’ll want to watch.
The BIG question here is this: why is Fake Steve Jobs taking time off of taking pot-shots at Google and Microsoft and Oracle (and Apple!) to take a pot-shot at PODTECH of all companies?
The very thought makes PodTech seem twice as legitimate to me as it did before…
Note to PodTech folks: Next time respond to rumors like this professionally, on your site. Don’t leave it to an angry Scoble to deal with all of this on his own.
Scoble, you can come work at BeerCo. I’ll give you 50k per year Canadian, which is like billions of US dollars, and you can have an office with a window. Oh, your family will learn to speak French Canadian for free also, and there’s free health care here.
It’s better than what I offered Rory Blyth, the dumbest man in the world (that’s it isn’t it?)
50k and an empty chair sitting right here waiting to be filled.
You will of course have to be a code monkey and stay wired on energy drinks 24/7.
This offer is good for exactly 1 month, then it’s gone. If you’re really going to be out of a job, it’s better than nothing. Look at what happened to Rory.
scoble you expected journalism from duncan? the guy does no research, posts JIHAD on every post – talks about war with china over search engines – are you seriously kidding me?
let’s not even get into mike’s “ill post anything for a dollar” or erick “i write really long posts to cover up my inability to research”
yet even after that, you are still willing to give them the news?
ChrisR: you made me laugh. $50,000? I could make that working at Kinkos. In fact a friend of mine makes more than $100,000 a year working at Kinkos. So, no thanks.
A journalist can’t hide behind ‘i don’t say it, he said it’. It’s your responsibility tot dig and get stories, but not based on one hearsay source. Bad journalism.
I just checked and PodTech has a pagerank of 8.
PodTech had a great business going… People said that they were making one good move after the other – establishing podcasting, hiring Scoble, Vloggies, Bloghaus, and a strong list of bluechip clients deploying social media solutions through PodTech. ..then it just went south since around March. It all crashed because didn’t do anything on the editorial side. I hear that Steve Gillmor was the leader of their editorial and it failed bad.
I hear PodTech is doing great in the corporate space but never made it in blogging or tech news videos.
please add Powerset while you’re at it, will ya?
Shelley: if we’re going to play that game most people in the world live on less than $2 a day. Yes, I know that. But sorry for sneering at a job offer to work with a weird company (BeerCo, seriously?) for a wage that would have my family living in the poverty zone (Silicon Valley is a LOT more expensive than where you live).
Chris: sorry, but I’ve turned down jobs for a lot more than you’re offering me and for now PodTech has all those benefits and a much better financial package.
Wow – I guess everyone here is on notice: don’t report anything about PodTech without first checking with Robert Scoble. Robert, your ego and your videos are getting old. You and Podtech will both be going the way of the dodo bird very soon.
You really pinged him eh? I have a hard time believing that, and while it may be only me in this world that it bothers, it’s an inaccurate use of a real word, for a real action. And all it did was extend what should have been something like:
“I have asked Robert Scoble to comment.”
or at worst
“I have contacted Robert Scoble asking him to comment.”
into the more-techy-to someone-out-there sounding
“I have pinged Robert Scoble asking him to comment.”
Not every action in the tech world requires a new word or destroying the meaning of an existing word.
Chris: why don’t you put your real name up here so we can all make things up about you without being fair and getting YOUR side of it? Got it. You want to throw rocks without having any thrown back at you.
Fine, don’t call me. Call our CEO. TechCrunch has his phone number too.
I guess you don’t mind a press that just prints rumors and doesn’t try to be fair.
Cool. Please don’t read my blog or watch my videos cause that’s not how I play the game.
Sorry, I’ve disagreed with Scoble before, but I’m on his side here. This is terrible reporting and TechCrunch should be better than that. Who emails asking for a comment when Scoble makes his phone number really obvious and picks it up as much as he can? I don’t care if FSJ “reported” this first — that’s not a credible source (neither is Valleywag.) But TechCrunch has real credence in the industry — for better or for worse. I take a page from the 4-hour workweek and only answer email twice a day. If Scoble is similar (and I’m guessing he is since he’s pretty busy), you won’t get an email response right away. This post should be deleted. Ridiculous.
Wild accusations, innuendo, recriminations etc etc… its all part and parcel of the blogosphere.
Be sure to have your ounce of salt ready, or in Duncan’s case, a pound of salt.
‘fair and accurate reporting’…since when has that been a virtue of media in the US? Everything, is twisted in some way for personal gain or by deeply instilled view points.
This is a blog folks. quit expecting it to be like a ‘Frontline..’ for startups.
From a former PodTech content producer:
I’m a veteran, trained journalist, who started my own company about two years ago. One of my first business relationships was with PodTech. I produced serious homeland and cyber security issues — not for your typical blog crowd, but for security professionals throughout the corporate and government sectors.
Whatever the current truth is about PodTech, here’s the deal from where I sit (now a former PodTech producer):
PodTech and other sites like it will ultimately fail because they have no editorial leadership. Steve Gillmor wants to make silly videos that he and another 5 people in the universe think are funny. Who has time for that crap?
When I was hired by PodTech in Sept. 2006, it took me three and half months to get Gillmor on the telephone to ask him what his editorial vision for PodTech’s security coverage was so that I could produce toward that vision. His response was “just go do it.” I was completely stunned when I had waited so long to get this guy on a teleconference and he had nothing to offer in terms of being the “editorial director” of a video podcasting outfit that companies are actually PAYING to produce professional content.
I came to PodTech after having worked as a senior journalist for Computerworld, one of the oldest, most respected IT publications in the U.S. I totally expected to encounter a serious editor-in-chief in Gillmor. But I immediately realized that he was only interested in producing his own videos and not leading the editorial department at PodTech.
Scoble is probably a very nice guy, but his videos and interviews lack production value and get annoying. I rarely feel engaged enough to watch the entire video. PodTech would do well to get serious about production value.
Video journalism takes more than owning a handycam and being able to make posts to a blog. You have to know a little something about journalism – like sourcing, vetting, editing, your audience, ethics, standards, etc… none of which exist in any significant quantity in the “blogosphere” and certainly do not exist at PodTech under the “leadership” of Steve Gillmor.
@robert
Chris is my real name. Why should I call Podtech’s CEO when you’re making yourself the company PR boy?
Thanks for banning me from your blog and videos – I haven’t been there in ages so who cares? Man, you need to pull your head out of your ass and stop posting stupid comments on Tehcrunch. You look like a moron.
@robert
I wrote you an email about a week ago & that access of communication did not work. Ironically it was about Techcrunch & how they started censoring posts in the name of “awaiting moderation”. I think it’s about time you write about this…
Your thoughts?
Is this TechCrunch or ValleyWag?
Do’nt you have to be alive before you can be declared dead?
http://fakestev...er.blogspot.com
@duncan: “It was clearly labeled for its source” — you can’t call FSJ a source; that’s irresponsible journalism from a publication for which I had a lot of respect. You owe Scoble and your readers an apology, but you’ve responded with nothing but saltiness. Speaking of salt . . . now I have to take everything I read on TechCrunch with a grain of it.