Christos Cotsakos has the opposite of the Midas touch. Everything he touches seems only to implode. This happened to E-Trade back in 2000-2002 when he was the CEO. Cotsakos was famously replaced after enriching himself with a $78 million pay package during a year the stock tanked 53 percent (see chart detail at left). He had to give back some of that money, but kept enough to live lavishly in Florida and pour millions of dollars into an ill-conceived social network for international swingers called Moli.

Never heard of Moli? Don’t worry. It also just imploded. Moli was a me-three social network that was founded in 2006 way after that train had left the station, and didn’t launch publicly until January 2008 at DEMO. The main differentiating factor, if you can call it that, was the ability to show different profiles to different sets of contacts (personal, business, family). The site never got above 2.5 million visitors a month, according to Compete (see chart above). And we have learned from several former employees that most of its staff has been laid off, from a peak employment of about 55.

There was a big round of layoffs last September, when all but 15 or so people were let go. Last week, most of the remaining employees were cut loose. The site is still up, but it seems like there are only a handful of people left keeping the lights on hoping for a sale. That is unlikely to happen. We are placing Moli in the deadpool. (And something tells me many more social networks are headed there as well).

Although the company (officially called Mainstream Holdings) reportedly raised a total of $56 million, including $30 million just last January, one source tells us that most of that money was never actually disbursed to the company. And in fact investors from the $30 million round, which included Wall Street billionaire Kenneth Langone and Home Depot founder Bernard Marcus, refused to release the second tranche of funds after the stock market started to go south. That led to the September firings.

Really, anyone could have seen this coming a mile away: A no-name social network run out of Florida, backed by a guy known primarily for his greed—what did the investors think was going to happen? Oh wait, I forgot, Kenneth Langone is a big believer in greed. The business model, apparently, was to sell deep profile and targeting information to advertisers. The problem was that Moli needed users before it could sell their personal information. The company also sold e-commerce tools to subscribers so that users could try to sell things to their friends. Hmm, I wonder why nobody wanted to hang out there.

Today, nobody picks up the phone at the West Palm Beach headquarters. And e-mails to company executives, including to president Judy Balint, go unanswered. The site seems to be sponsored by SECFilings.com.

Here are some screen shots for posterity:

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MOLI

MOLI is out to crack the problem of mixing one’s private social network with professional life. Users can create and manage diverse personal profiles via one user identity and a single, customized home page. Users can decide which of their profiles are shared and to whom. But this is not just a Facebook / LinkedIn mashup. MOLI is a social network aimed at “enterprising individuals above the age of 18 and small business owners”, who, for $3.99 will also get a web store, with billing by Google Checkout, or PayPal. Mainstream will also license the MOLI platform and is planning a version of the site aimed at kids.

However, MOLI may need to tweak its privacy settings. Ireland-based blogger Sabrina Dent has highlighted a concern about being spammed by users as soon as she joined, since the site doesn’t currently cloak new joins. But for now, let us hope that MOLI can address these issues soon. [There is a more detailed review of MOLI on TechCrunch UK & Ireland].

UPDATE: Judy Balint, MOLI’s President and COO, contacts us to clarify that MOLI’s office in Dublin is its European Regional headquarters “with only a few people at this point in time” and its global headquarters are in southern Florida where the majority of its 55 associates are based. She also sent an “apology to all your readers for our associate not identifying themselves appropriately as being from our company when they responded to a post on an Irish blog [Sabrina Dent.com] that unintentionally mis-represented how privacy works on MOLI. As a result, we have issued a policy to all of our associates worldwide to ensure that they include their name and title in all posts about company information going forward to ensure absolute transparency.”

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BitGravity

Content delivery network BitGravity is launching its streaming video offering, BG LiveBroadcast. The company aims to make streaming video online as instantaneous and high-quality as streaming video on TV, while adding an extra layer of interactivity and customization.

BitGravity already provides on-demand (i.e. recorded) video delivery for fifty clients, including Revision3 and Tom Green. Its streaming video service promises to bring the same robust scalability to live events, allowing thousands if not millions of viewers to watch the same shows simultaneously.

If you want to stream live events using BitGravity, you can request a machine from them that will come preloaded with all the requisite software. Costs will then accrue depending on how much bandwidth you consume.

Blist

Blist, a web-based application that promises to make database management as easy as using Excel, is launching in private beta this Tuesday. A number of improvements have been made to the product’s design since we covered it this past November.

Of particular note is a new “visual query builder” that makes the construction of complex queries easy with a drag-n-drop interface. Blist’s approach to relational data is also notable; relationships are established primarily in the “design” phase of database construction, obviating the need to explicitly extract relational data during query time.

If you become Blist beta tester, head over to InviteShare to share your five invites with others.

Eyealike

Eyealike is announcing a service called Eyealike Copyright that will hunt down copyrighted material found in videos posted across the web. Eyealike purportedly has a knack for finding copyright material mixed in with user generated content on sites like YouTube.

The company claims that its technology can “process hundreds of images and video clips per minute by still objects, object movement, and facial recognition” with 95% accuracy and a “near zero false positive rate.” Its web interface, pictured left, features a prominent “Send Notification” button that will allow companies like Viacom to speed up the process by which they send out take-down requests.

GoldMail

With GoldMail, you can send slideshows accompanied by audio messages to friends, family, and business contacts. The goal is to enrich communication over the net by providing a way to send not only your voice but visual materials, such as photos and diagrams, that reinforce your message as well.

While GoldMail soft launched a little while ago for consumers, it’s rolling out a business offering at DEMO with which companies can brand the service to their liking. For two examples of how organizations have used the branded service, see messages by the Mia Hamm Foundation and the Oakland Raiders.

Enterprise pricing will start off at $5,000 per year, or $500 per month, for 10 seats. GoldMail will perform all of the customization work for their clients.

good2gether

good2gether seeks to help non-profit organizations broaden their reach by connecting them with media partners, sponsors, and volunteers. It’s described as part search engine, part social network.

The main benefit to non-profits seems to be derived from the partnerships good2gether makes with media companies, a list of which will be announced at DEMO. Apparently these partners will include “major newspapers from six of the top 10 media markets”. Just how these media partners will benefit the non-profits is unclear.

MOLI

MOLI is a social network with the mantra “control your privacy”. Members, whether individuals or businesses, can manage multiple profiles, each of which can be made public, private, or hidden. For individuals, the value proposition seems to lie in the ability to create different personas for different contacts (friends, family, colleagues, etc.). I’m not sure just how this functionality will benefit companies who want to establish online presences.

The company says its target audience is “25 to 55 year old knowledge workers (art and fashion designers, technologists, musicians, etc.) and the under served small businesses community”.

SceneCaster

SceneCaster is a virtual world offering that launched at DEMO in the fall and was well-received.

The company will use DEMO 2008 to promote its “SceneWeaver” technology, which allows users to access 3D environments through any XHTML compliant browser. The idea in a nutshell is to bring Second Life-like experiences to the browser, and it even works on the iPhone (no Flash or other plugins are needed).

Online retailers can integrate SceneCaster with their websites to create 3D storefronts, and others can use the technology to create their own 3D webpages.

StandoutJobs

StandoutJobs wants to help companies recruit more effectively by providing them with Netvibes-like pages that contain information for prospective employees. Companies can customize their StandoutJobs sites to include components that inform visitors about company culture, job opportunities, current employees, and more. Other, livelier features such as Flickr photos and quirky corporate videos can be added, too. While companies using StandoutJobs may risk looking like they’re trying too hard, these portals may also add a more personalized touch to the recruitment process.

Voyant

Voyant is launching a web-based financial software offering called Voyant @Home intended for individuals who want to gain “direct control over their financial health”. The software has been billed as particularly useful for generating “what if” scenarios and forecasts stemming from your current financial situation. Users can also use the service to track their financial goals.

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