A quick update on the Mobuzz saga (the Spanish online video entertainment startup turned to asking for user donations to keep its head above water): they’re now officially in the deadpool.
From the website:
It is with deep regret that we inform our friends and fans that MobuzzTV has closed officially today. We need to take some time to see how best to reorganise our project. We have been talking with many interested parties but unfortunately we have not been able to financially sustain our operations until the agreements were closed.
The company has made it clear that all donations will be returned, and that the video archive built up over the last 4 years will remain online. In the latest video update (dating back to 10 November, embedded below), Mobuzz CEO Anil de Mello said they managed to raise 33,000 €, which is about 1/4 of what the startup hoped to achieve a week after starting to panhandle for money. At the time, they were still hopeful about being able to continue producing video shows and attracting enough advertises to execute on their financial plan, but that turned out to be idle hope.
It’s always sad to see a company go, but as Jason already wrote when he covered the company’s final attempt to survive, Mobuzz probably ran out of money for a reason.
Mobuzz Lives! from Anil de Mello on Vimeo.
The one taking the empty space Mobuzz is leaving behind is Telurica. http://www.telurica.com Apparently it runs on a much tighter budget than Mobuzz but has higher traffic than the one Mobuzz ever had.
Classic example of where a website does not equate to a “start-up”. With no real means of generating revenue, this is more of a “website” or “web project” than it is a “start-up”.
An install of MoveableType, a video camera and a Vimeo account are not really the tools of a true entrepreneur.
Calling it “Television2.0″ doesn’t necessarily make it so.
“Built on a mac, managed through textpattern, hosted by mediatemple” doesn’t make a “creative web design agency” either…
Round 1: Flynn vs Martin
Flynn 1, Martin 0
oooffff… pwned (in classic web2.0 parlance)
and I suppose “coming soon!” makes for a blog too?
“creative” is a subjective term, where as a revenue model and being profitable seems pretty definable.
Glad to see there is no moBuzz around. Seriously, how hard would it be to keep alive? It is a low budget Wayne’s World via a YouTube channel.
I used to watch their Daily Buzz video podcast, I thought it brought an interesting European perspective on many tech news items.
For me it went sharply downhill with the latest presenter, he just annoyed the hell out of me. And not just because he wasn’t a hot chick, he just seemed cocky and ignorant, which is not a combination I enjoy watching.
They never had sponsors for their shows that I can remember, which would’ve been a smart way to go. I don’t mind a brief ad between segments of a video podcast, everyone has to eat.
@Martin Ringlein: Moobuzz was/is a bit more than just a blog and a video camera…
My company (medialabs.net) is working on a similar alternative to Moobuzz, we just got government funding here in Chile. Here’s a sneak peak if your interested http://www.revistagamer.com.
I’m very sad Mobuzz is down. They inspired me to take part in the online video space.
I stopped watch mobuzz when Karina had left.
There’s always a major problem for these television2.0:
when the host left ,viewer left too.
yeah thats true sopharine. Without Karina mobuzz was a mess. I tried to watch .. but all other hosts cannot match Karina’s presentation skills
Talking about sites in spanish, there are plenty of startups fluorishing in that market, like notimega.com a digg clone in spanish and mercadolibre.com like ebay but for latin america.
Following the Rocketboom debacle with Amanda every site manager knows to bring a team of talents rather than being dependent on one host even if s/he is very good.
Rocketboom is still going strong, http://www.rocketboom.com/, still using that minimalistic layout of always (although a tiny bit less minimalistic now than a few years ago).
Karina has set the standard so high that it was just hard to watch the show after she left.
But anyway, probably they had quite a big problem selling the advertising, very disperse population watching it.
How does Rocketboom make money? I read once (somewhere) that they had an advertising dept. but I dont (and have never) seen any ads on Rocketboom!
I just watched the video in this post – it suggests that mobuzz is in fact continuing – or is this an old video?
Chris: The above video by Mobuzz CEO Anil de Mello is about 3 weeks old.
Looks like the international talent pool keeps raising. During the last downturn, many companies including Google and PayPal benefited by hiring super talented people. It would be interesting to see who benefits from the latest avaialble talent.
this is very sad and I find the comments here unfair and tough towards an entrepreneur, Anil, who spent 4 years of his life dedicated to building an innovative web TV based in Europe.
It is bad news for any video content on the web, it shows how tough it is to monetize it, unfortunately, and very sad for entrepreneurship when a friend fails.
I will never understand people throwing stones at someone who has genuinely tried really hard.
Because that’s easier than doing it yourself?
I guess that those of you who can read Spanish will find the following article very enlightening:
http://www.alfr...de-la-cancamusa
If you look at the official statements for 2006:
http://victorga...11/mobuzz06.pdf
you will notice they made 32.000€ in revenue, which is about what they got in donations in the panhandle exercise. Not sure what the numbers for 2007 are, but it’s clear that a monthly burn of 50.000€ cannot be justified after four years, against such revenues. I’m not surprised nobody wanted to invest further.
It’s mind-boggling, and that goes for you too Loic, who should know better (you did cut costs, right?), that a company goes out to ask for donations but gives no details about what they will do to cut costs and make the company survive is not giving the best signals. After the weekend they resumed operations as if nothing had happened, with the same schedules, programming, staff, and plush office in one of the most expensive areas of Madrid.
Sad to see them go, for sure, but that’s what happens when you miss-manage a company.
Karina was the best, the rest were a mess