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Posts Tagged “

Ashton Kutcher

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venture capital

SaysMe latest startup to flirt with the curse of Ashton Kutcher

Startup SaysMe, which will produce generic, re-brandable commercial video spots for local businesses and small-town politicians, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from a group of venture firms, including Katalyst Films, home of male model-turned-VC Ashton Kutcher, as well as Intel and Prime Capital's funds. SaysMe's most direct competitor is Spot Runner, another production house which makes stock ads, customized to feature small businesses and placed on network and cable television. It can't possibly have a worse business plan than VOIP hardware maker Ooma, another startup anointed by Kutcher, can it?

10:40 AM on Mon Apr 28 2008
By Jackson West
728 views, Comment

deathwatch

Ashton Kutcher-backed startup Ooma is falling apart

Hold the phone: Voice-over-Internet startup Ooma is flailing, despite — or perhaps because of — a viral-video marketing campaign directed by Hollywood star Ashton Kutcher. Ooma launched its product, a $400 device which offers unlimited phone calls, last year, with a splash of press. Starstruck tech bloggers like TechCrunch's Michael Arrington gave away Ooma gadgets to readers in exchange for some facetime with Kutcher — and asked few questions about its nonsensical business model, which had it charging high upfront prices for hardware and giving away phone service. Now, we're told, its high-school-dropout CEO, Andrew Frame, has seen a host of executives leave. More »

12:20 PM on Wed Apr 9 2008
By Owen Thomas
8,310 views, 17 comments

Latest by n/a: First of all, the reference that the phonegnome is identical in functionality isn't true. Ooma can completely replace your existing phone service, so you can eliminate the monthly billing. Feature for feature, phonegnome doesn't compare. I know, more »

geeks gone wild

New England geeks get best chance to score

Ashton Kutcher's greatest contribution to geek culture — and no, we aren't referring to Internet telephone startup Ooma — is coming to Boston. Fulfilling every nerd's wildest fantasies, the guilty-pleasure reality show Beauty and the Geek is coming to Beantown on Saturday . Producers are searching for dweebs and bimbos willing to provide the CW network's viewing audience with endless entertainment at their personal expense. And the specifics of the casting call? More »

12:53 PM on Fri Nov 2 2007
By Tim Faulkner
575 views, 2 comments

clips

Ooma gets creepier


So, you thought that yesterday's video from telecom startup Ooma was bad? Oh, it gets weirder. More »

11:32 AM on Thu Sep 20 2007
By Megan McCarthy
936 views, 7 comments

voip

Say hello -- and goodbye -- to Ooma


Ooma, the voice-over-Internet gadget maker founded by entrepreneur and celebrity doppelganger Andrew Frame, finally makes its official debut. Starting today, the $399 box, which routes calls from regular phones over the Internet, goes on sale to the general public. Now you won't have to rely on blog giveaways to get your hands on the device. Assuming you want to. More »

1:03 PM on Wed Sep 19 2007
By Megan McCarthy
1,915 views, 5 comments

deathwatch

Why Ooma is dooma'd

At first I was loath to even join in what Uncov calls the "A-list rub and tug" on Ooma, the telecom startup launched by Andrew Frame, the entrepreneur who looks like a model, and Ashton Kutcher, the Hollywood star who actually was a model. Like its founders, Ooma is all looks, no substance. Launched late, Ooma's product, a piece of hardware that lets you place free phone calls over the Internet, looks set to flop, as insiders predicted, because its creators fundamentally misunderstand both consumers and technology. But at least the box, like Frame and Kutcher, is pretty. Read on to learn why looks don't matter in telecom — and why we're putting Ooma on immediate deathwatch. More »

8:53 AM on Thu Jul 19 2007
By Owen Thomas
5,029 views, 15 comments

Latest by ajoele: Insane Dead on ArrivalVonage has proven that even being first to market and with good service. Excllent management great pricing . There is no money to be made in VOIP unless you are already in a monopolly position like the more »