Channel Daily News

The five stupidest startups

Aug. 22, 2007
Google maps and Youtube
Business 2.0
Jon Fortt talks about how Google maps are now embedded just like YouTube videos.

”Google has enabled a feature that allows Google Maps users to easily embed maps in their websites or blogs, a feature that is likely to increase usage of the service.”

What’s your opinion?

The power of joining
The Browser
Oliver Ryan has the scoop on some guy named Bob Pittman and his venture firm.

“Since the beginning of time, and long before there was “user generated content,” viral word-of-mouth marketing, and the rest of this Web 2.0 hokum, clever business people have been obsessed with the economic virtues of niche membership clubs. Bring on the nutty birdwatchers and stamp collectors, what could be easier or higher margin than putting out a magazine packed with targeted ads, offering the members discounts on certain targeted products, hosting the occasional mixer, and maybe even issuing a credit card? No need even to spend money on advertising, as word spreads fast in tight communities. That’s the AmEx-style model in all its souless, financially-engineered beauty, and it’s been the basis for some of the great triumphs and catastrophes of modern media.”

What’s your opinion?

The five stupidest startups
Valleywag
Nick Douglas has the list that will have your laughing.

“Get paid fifty cents to use our social network! Put speech bubbles on photos! The latest dot-coms to raise their ugly heads from the dirt have jankier value propositions than a hooker named Ethel. Thanks to the bloggers’ occupational hazard of unsolicited site invitations, Valleywag has seen the web’s dumbest dot-com startups of the summer.”

What’s your opinion?