Comments on: Digg Nabs Federated Media’s Chief Revenue Officer, Chas Edwards

By: Chris Rodde

Chris Rodde — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:11:20 +0000

This is a big win for Digg–Chas is a talented guy.

I know that Federated has some good traction as Chas notes above, but clearly the many rumored departures are not good news. My wife worked at the Industry Standard for it’s last 2 years of life and watched the walls come crumbling down–hopefully the same isn’t happening here.

By: Jack

Jack — Sun, 31 May 2009 04:28:17 +0000

Forget where I work. Seriously, talk to digg about buying

By: Rupert

Rupert — Sat, 30 May 2009 16:14:03 +0000

A few more changes made at FM reported here including Justin Nesci, SVP Sales leaving and Pete Spande taking over the same role:

http://www.exec....com/c/r/87/84/

By: Digg、Federated Mediaで要職を担うChas Edwardsを引き抜き

Digg、Federated Mediaで要職を担うChas Edwardsを引き抜き — Sat, 30 May 2009 02:37:35 +0000

[...] ［原文へ］ [...]

By: PigSpigot

PigSpigot — Sat, 30 May 2009 01:28:57 +0000

Am I the only one who finds DIGGing to be a little less than easy? verifying it’s not a duplicate, typing in the captcha, etc. I hope DIGG does well because it’s a great product but I want DIGGing to be easier.

By: sucka

sucka — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:39:44 +0000

Battelle took $20M off the table already in FM..he has done very well, personally!!!

By: Zach Coelius

Fri, 29 May 2009 21:07:52 +0000

Best of luck Chas, I am excited to see what you do with such a great platform.

By: courtney benson

courtney benson — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:17:52 +0000

Rhet -

More traditional title would be VP Sales, Senior VP Sales. Other non-traditional: Chief Rainmaker, Chief Revenue Generator or Master Revgen

By: Ivan Lazarte

Fri, 29 May 2009 18:13:01 +0000

Her point is valid though. When I think of Digg these days I’m reminded of Yahoo links. Great for when it started, but drowning in stagnation….

By: Plaid Thermos

Plaid Thermos — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:04:06 +0000

SPAMM

By: Ad_Server_Expert

Ad_Server_Expert — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:15:49 +0000

Battelle screwed this one up big time. First off they are a rep firm so they actually own nothing. Secondly with the decline in ad $ in the last 9 months their revenue must have dropped 50% if not more.

How Battelle could have thought that his ad sales company without any proprietary technology or other IP would have been worth more than the 100m they were offered is beyond me. And makes him the fool

First he misses selling the Industry Standard during the first bubble and then he misses selling FM during the second bubble.

Note to John,

Next time take the F*^king money.

Note to VC’s:

Are you guys all sheep? WTF were you thinking investing in a company that is nothing more than a glorified rep firm. 52m!!!!!! WOW good work Oak, you guys are brilliant

By: sal cangeloso

sal cangeloso — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:11:44 +0000

Congrats on the move Chas. Best of luck with Digg- seems like a nice place to land!

You had a few (is it 4 already?) very productive years at FM so it will be great to see what you can do at Digg.

By: Chas Edwards

Chas Edwards — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:07:47 +0000

I’m betting Digg and FM both have exciting futures in store. Keep your eyes on FM for some big announcements that are about to make it a big player in the food, cooking and home categories, in addition to its current positions in tech, business and men’s lifestyle. And for all the chatter regarding FM’s failure, it’s a business that’s gone from a whiteboard to a $50MM run rate in 4 years. Not bad. That a nice foundation from which to build a $200MM/year business. And as for Digg, obviously, I have lots of confidence regarding that one.:)

By: Sasha Pave

Sasha Pave — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:28:18 +0000

Congratulations Digg!

By: john

john — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:20:18 +0000

Where can we bet on whether Digg goes down or not? I know there are sites out there – this would be a good one. I vote Digg is Dunn.

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:20:27 +0000

The problem is that FM NEVER really was anything. That is why these investors have always been fools, and that is why taking big money off the table during finance rounds is absurd. Good for Chas, and good for Digg. I hope they find some interesting routes to profitability. FM FTL

By: Matthew DiPietro

Matthew DiPietro — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:16:26 +0000

Hey thanks Chas. We’ll miss you man!

And Mike – I know everyone loves the dirt on stuff like this, but there’s just not much here. We’re all pals. More to come via FM blog. Give me a call if you’re interested to chat.

“Things change, people change, hairstyles change… interest rates fluctuate…”

By: sucka

sucka — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:06:35 +0000

Federated IS finished. I hear its a complete black hole.

By: Chas Edwards

Chas Edwards — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:47:13 +0000

Thanks for the kind words, Mike! I’m excited to be joining up with the Digg crew. I wouldn’t worry too much about FM, though. Whether or not I like to admit this, I hired some superstars over there — and they don’t need me anymore!

By: jerky

jerky — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:40:45 +0000

FM is a sinking ship!

By: Digg snatches top advertising sales executive Chas Edwards » VentureBeat

Digg snatches top advertising sales executive Chas Edwards » VentureBeat — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:46:36 +0000

[...] TechCrunch first reported Edwards’ departure, and Federated sent out a brief statement confirming it, but it was not immediately clear what prompted the departure. From the outside, the move appears to be a lateral move, because Edwards maintains the same title, and Digg has worked hard for several years now to expand into a significant company, just as Federated has. Digg continues to work to become profitable. It has had its bumps (even before the recent downturn), but these recent executive hires a sign it is getting serious. Mike Maser, currently Digg’s chief revenue and strategy officer, will change his title to chief strategy officer. Thomas Shin, who Digg hired away from Yahoo earlier this year, will report to Edwards. [...]

By: Richard Jalichandra

Richard Jalichandra — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:34:47 +0000

Very interesting development for the social media ad biz

By: Steven Finch

Steven Finch — Fri, 29 May 2009 09:56:23 +0000

This is now a very interesting situation Federated Media is in. I have spoken to Chase a few time and he seems like a very switched on guy. It will now be very interesting if he can increase the advertising deal they have with Digg, make sure direct advertising sales are up to scratch and implement new revenue streams which will actually make digg profitable.

John Battelle now has a lot to think about. They are a profitable company, but have lost some major clients recently and now he has no right hand man, plus also he wants to move out himself. I think they really need some more innovation quickly or they will be in average land forever.

By: JOE JOHNSON

JOE JOHNSON — Fri, 29 May 2009 09:11:29 +0000

Just trying this out to see how it works.

By: cease

cease — Fri, 29 May 2009 08:24:39 +0000

i think digg has already past its point of being big, and is on the down end of the slope. If the best ideas they have are the digg bar, voting on ads, and cloning twitter.. even the best cro can’t save them