Teens in Tech, a blogging network founded by 16 year old Daniel Brusilovsky, has acquired the Youth Bloggers Network (YBN). YBN consists of a network of over 100 young bloggers, and was founded by Patrick DeVivo, who is also a young entrepreneur. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but given how similar the networks are I suspect that if there was any monetary exchange it was very small – it sounds like the two networks are banding together to help establish traction.
Teens in Tech is meant to offer teenagers a simple way to blog their thoughts in an atmosphere that is both safe and receptive to their ideas. The site launched back in August in a private alpha, and has yet to open signups up to the public (Brusilovsky says that the gates will temporally open this weekend, but that it will become private once more after that). While the company had initially planned to open to the public last winter, it is currently exploring building its own CMS, and is also working to establish an advertising program for its publishers.
As I wrote when the site first launched, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of unique technology behind Teens in Tech – the site is essentially a multiuser WordPress install, with some custom tweaks like an RSS feed that pulls from all of the network blogs. That said, there is clearly a dedicated community of teens keen on blogging. I’m just not sure how Teens in Tech is going to build a viable business out of them – given how many free publishing platforms are available elsewhere, it’s going to be hard to get teens (who aren’t exactly swimming in cash) to pay to blog. And at scale it’s going to be hard for Teens in Tech to ensure that its safe community of teenagers stays a community of teenagers.
Never came to knew about this site. But hope the acquisition went perfectly. I will chk both the 2 sites now.
http://www.smartbloggerz.com
wow, why is this news on TechCrunch? I’m sure of all the other companies beating down your door to get on TC, surely you could find something more interesting to bore me with…
Well because when one teenager makes a simple action like this one, it’s regarded more important than the one that we hear all-day-every-day.
You can read this blog post on YBN for more details:
http://youthblo...n-tech-network/
Another Wordpress MU entrepreneur… this will tank, no doubt about it.
i can’t believe jason has the balls to post about this company again, it got bad comments last time.
I am curious regarding how many gummy bears TIT paid for YBN.
Come on Jason. With Schonfeld reporting completely made-up news (http://www.tech...ta-to-the-riaa/) and Waters nursing his raging hard on for twitter (http://www.tech...r-google-juice/), we expected more from a reporter of substance.
Quit this kiddy bullshit.
OK, I hate the arseholes who criticise in comments. But come on, I can’t believe you’re covering this again. Lots of teens run websites, some far better than this.
One website has “134 members” and Teens in Tech has.. 3 members in their forums? Not exactly a news worthy “acquisition”.
Very Very good Point. Thanks for saving me the time to check the sites out.
And thank goodness I have a habit of reading comments first when I don’t find the article too appealing to read.
*Kisses*
Glad to be of service. ;)
My friend Flint who is an enthusiastic guy has developed a site called http://money-ma....synthasite.com which has information about sites where you could make money and you could get his advise on them.
Wait a minute. What’s going on here? How can such a young person acquire a company?
from what the old comments said, it isn’t even a company
daddy money
Let’s not judge them the same way the other startups should be judged. This is young people doing productive projects rather than sitting on their ass and watching Ricki Lake!
Don’t discourage. Rock on young folks!
I came to know about YBN only when I was featured there under Featured Bloggers. Really great site. Great to know that I was featured there among other like Michael Dunlop, Rajaie Alkorani etc..
OK let me get this straight. One website with no traffic, is ‘bought’ by another website with no traffic. Probably in exchange for a Power Ranger.
Is there *NO* other more interesting news you could report? I mean come on.
wtf is this bullshit story
Oh I remember TIT Tech :)
I think that idea is not that good, to wide … Maybe better to start blogging network ” Twilight Teen Bloggers ” heh
Anyway, move on, no money there. Teens are blogging on Facebook, this one is to tech savvy
teens in tech looks dead, YBN has very little activity… who knows, everything has to start somewhere so maybe this thing will grow but my guess is that YBN may have paid TechCrunch to put this up to get some press
YBN didn’t pay TechCrunch
TC is not for sale.
They didn’t pay TechCrunch, Jason just has a thing for teenage boys. He really needs to realize that absolutely no one cares and that this isn’t news.
Yeah, paid, from where lol
I think that Jason knows Daniel Brusilovsky personally really well
From YBN by Michael Dunlop: “I am 20 years old and am living the Internet Lifestyle which means I make money while I sleep and get to do what I want, when I want! I work with the end in mind and every day I work towards it, I expect to be sitting on a beach in a couple years time doing a maximum of 30 minutes work a day!”
Kids these days…
A blog network it is very interesting and a good source of blog readers, also. Good idea :)
Nice move, these kids are gonna be big
Can you provide specifics, please?
Sure Shane,
these are merely some of the first youth blog networks. the fact that they had the vision to set up a blog network for their niche means they are definitely with the times old chap :)
and there are several other reasons, but i dont have the time to elaborate now
Marc, I don’t see how “creating a blog network for a niche” means they are with the times at all.
Look at the blog networks that are left nowadays. They’re all laying off writers, closing sites, consolidating blogs, lowering payments, and in general, not doing exceptionally well. A few years ago there was a boom in blog networks but now that the business model has had time to run its course, many are seeing them as not such a very good business move.
(Disclosure: I’m a co-founder of 9rules.)
The next Google!
I applaud these kids for doing something a ton of people try very hard at and fail: getting on TechCrunch. Other than that, their products are pretty terrible.
Your age alone is what is getting you publicity, take advantage of it and make something decent. It doesn’t have to be overly complex or intricate, just something creative.
Very cool, seems like an “undergrad” version to http://tcbn.org
İt is a good point. Thank you.
Despite the fact that it may not be “TechCrunch worthy” i’m glad this post made it to TC because I wouldn’t have heard about the site otherwise. A highlight on young visionaries is a big deal and may be the boost they need to get things going.
Daniel is also the kid who did the Teens in Tech Conference. I was there and nearly 250 kids were in attendance for a day of learning from a good set of speakers. The price was like $15 and they included meals and an after-party. Rock on Daniel. This is a very good thing!
This is not a god damn company. Why does this kid get any press? Does he come to the TechCrunch office and mop the floors so he gets an article once every sixth months? Such a joke Kincaid.
That’s always seemed to be the odd thing to me about this. When I was a teenager and had an entrepreneurial spirit, I had all sorts of ideas for things I wanted to start, but I wouldn’t have thought of doing “[Blank] for Teenagers”. If anything I would have wanted to avoid it because I wouldn’t have wanted to draw attention to the fact I was a teenager myself. It seems like this is the opposite though…… this is a teenager who wants the attention because he’s a teenager, and also emphasizes it by making a “company” aimed at teenagers too.
Jason, next time, say no. You reject hundreds of startups a week. Then you put stories out about two WEBSITES that have NO REVENUE and are NOT SPECIAL AT ALL.
WordPress mu is one of the easiest systems to set up. You literally unzip it and run the install script. I set up a copy of Teens in Tech in 10 minutes. Not exaggerating.
As a writer of the top tech startup journal, you should know the difference between a WEBSITE and a STARTUP. Running these types of stories is a serious detriment to your reputation.
@john @jason
I couldnt agree with john anymore! Also I dont care to hear about a blogging website here on techcrunch.
Yeah, somebody with TIT must have connections with TechCrunch. This is definitely not worth reporting.
Perhaps I’m jealous? Maybe a little, but WTF? TeensInTech is lame!
I’m a teen for hell’s sake!
Sounds like I’m hearing lotsa sour grapes over here… If you’re a teen and you criticize, come on and prove that you can do a level higher. If you’re an adult and criticizing, think about what you were actually doing at 17. The problem is that it’s really too easy to criticize and in the first place, if you think the article is lame, don’t read it!! I don’t understand why you would bother to click on the permalink and then spend time to write a bad comment about it. Anyway, how long do you think it takes Jason to write this article… 5min?
I’m just bowled over by the fact that M&As (even if there’s no monetary exchange) are happening among teens. Just keep on going guys and you’re gonna be being one day!
This is such a fucking joke. Teens in Tech, a site that had no active bloggers and no unique technology behind it, acquired a site with 100 active users, and gets press on TechCrunch. In other words, if I can find another site in my niche that has just 100 active users, and I acquire it for next-to-nothing, then can I get on TechCrunch too?
Honestly, I can appreciate that Daniel and his peers are trying their hardest at installing WordPress Mu and acting over-professional for their age, but still: I come to TechCrunch to read newsworthy stories, not encouragement stories.
Hi everyone,
I’ve posted a blog post on our company blog explaining in detail why Teens in Tech decided to acquire YBN here.
Thanks for the feedback,
Daniel Brusilovsky
Founder, Teens in Tech
So no money was involved ?
For legal reasons I can’t disclose at this time.
Ah, so the website was exchanged for a 3-litre plastic bottle of White Lightning (or whatever American teens use as universal currency) and the Fifth Amendment is serving as a confidentality clause.
@Sam – No, I believe it was exchanged for a red power ranger (apparently its the coolest).
I still cannot believe that this would be posted on a website with such reputability as TechCrunch.
I have followed this kid for over a year, and have not seen one BIT of substance come out of any of his work besides the Teens in Tech conference which I have a hard time believing he did much of the work on.
All this coverage and all his “accomplishments” are blown way out of proportion and screamed about by the community simply because, as many have said, he lives in Silicon Valley. There are kids out there who have done FAR more and work FAR harder for FAR less coverage (ex. Dave Moyer – http://davemoyer.org and Chris Thomson – http://chris24.com though Chris has a lower level of activity than before). Is this fair? Absolutely not. Is this covering the REAL work that teens are doing? It doesn’t do that in the slightest, either.
As others have pointed out, Teens in Tech is nothing more than a WPMU site with buzz-word spin put on it simply to generate exactly that: buzz. However, what makes my head spin is that, despite the fact that people are not buying it (check the comments for Jason’s last pointless plug for TIT in addition to this one), it STILL gets covered by pundits who just so happen to be wonderful friends of Daniel.
JASON- I DON’T KNOW HOW LONG YOU’VE BEEN BLOGGING BUT YOUR BLOG READERS AND THEIR NEED FOR ACTUAL CONTENT SHOULD COME OVER YOUR WUNDERKID FRIENDS SOMETIMES.
Wake me up when you’re covering something that we can care about.
COMMENTERS AND TECH MEDIA EVERYWHERE: If you REALLY want to support teens involved in technology, THEN FEATURE THE PEOPLE DOING SOMETHING. This is nothing but insulting to the concept as it shows that work is not necessary but just schmoozing of Silicon Valley sluts like TC as it has proven itself to be.
COME ON, PEOPLE. WAKE UP AND GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT IS DESERVED. Thanks.
I want to find good pop music. Help me please.