SAN FRANCISCO, 5:45 AM, SUN JUL 6 | 1 POSTS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS | tips@valleywag.com | RSS
Posts Tagged “

TheFunded.com

TheFunded hopes the bridges aren't burned Adeo Ressi hates venture capitalists. His disdain has always showed on his site, TheFunded.com, where wantrepreneurs slam VCs with anonymous posts. Now Ressi hopes the sides can make amends on TheFunded's new ad-supported matchmaking service. [San Jose Mercury News]

thefunded.com

Entrepreneur coaxed into fawning VC review strikes back

An anonymous commenter on VC scandal sheet TheFunded.com, with the appropriately frat-boyish screenname "jagrmeister721," has lashed out at Sierra Ventures VC Jeff Loomans. Loomans's portfolio includes Corrigo, Grayboxx, MIOX, Red5 Studios and Zoom Systems. The entrepreneur writes:
Dealing with Jeff Loomans, his dishonesty and malicious behavior for a year and a half has been a headache. In some ways, I am glad to part ways because I have never dealt with someone who seemed to relish petty power-plays and lying on a systematic basis as much as he obviously did.
Sierra had requested that he write a positive review, he says — a common enough practice for VC firms trying to buff their image on TheFunded.com. Be careful what you ask for.

thefunded.com

Sticks and stones may break VCs' bones, but words just bring out lawyers

Turned down by Sand Hill Road investors, only to see them woo your cofounder? Careful there, wantrepreneur. Complaining on rate-the-VC site TheFunded.com might get you sued. VentureBeat reports that in recent week, negative posts about VC firms Dolphin Equity, GreenHills, Matrix, Greycroft and Steamboat Ventures have all come down, quickly replaced by more positive reminiscences of deals well done. TheFunded founder Adeo Ressi blames lawsuits:
TheFunded.com is surprised to learn that venture firms are spending money entrusted to them by their own investors to silence the opinions and constructive criticism of legitimate founders and CEOs.

TheFunded.com, Adeo Ressi's VC database-meets-scandal sheet, is taking steps to avoid being "gamed." Venture capital firms are coaxing entrepreneurs to submit favorable reviews and improve their rankings, much like reporters who browbeat their colleagues to vote for their stories on Digg. [VentureBeat]

your privacy is an illusion

Intelius has your cell phone number -- and is selling it

That mobile-phone barrier you've built between yourself and telemarketers is about to crumble. The nice chaps over at Intelius, who provide services like name, address, and Social Security number searches, are compiling an online mobile-phone directory they'll sell to anyone willing to pay them a measly $14.95 a number. They're operating on the philosophy that if you're willing to give your mobile number to the IRS or Domino's, you've opted in to an early-Saturday-morning game of phone tag with telemarketers. The dastardly sorts have ensured that the only way to get off the list is by faxing in a written request alongside an ID card. A fax machine: So low tech, it may just stop the Web 2.0 crowd in their tracks. More »

TheFunded.com, Adeo Ressi's members-only VC ratings site, now lets users submit details on the terms offered by VCs investing in startups. By publicizing terms, Ressi hopes to get investors to standardize the way they invest, making the process less confusing for entrepreneurs, he told VentureBeat. [TheFunded.com]

100-word version

Fred Wilson to TheFunded's Adeo Ressi: We're not that great

VC blogger Fred Wilson isn't pleased with his firm's position on VC ratings site TheFunded.com. Specifically, Wilson doesn't think Union Square Ventures should be ranked so high. "I am flattered by it to some degree," Wilson writes on his blog. "But it bothers me." Here's 100-word version of how Wilson would fix TheFunded. More »

adeo ressi

Wired on TheFunded -- the 100-word version

If you're like most people, you have no idea what TheFunded.com is. Nor do you care about the secret identity of Ted, the site's founding member. Why should you? Because an anonymous website has turned the tables on the all-powerful, often misbehaved venture capitalists who fund the cool tech innovations you love. The December Wired spells it out, but the tale stretches 45 times the length of this paragraph. I've extracted a PDA version for you. More »

adeo ressi

TheFunded.com founder's Wired fantasy fulfilled

The latest issue of Wired devotes pages and pages to Adeo Ressi, the anonymous "Ted" who runs TheFunded.com. Wired worked with Ressi to coordinate his unveiling with the story's publication at Wired.com on Thursday evening. Ressi's thrilled, right? Wrong. He complained at yesterday's event that Wired still didn't give him enough play. His take: He's a hot tech celebrity. His site is a big story. He expected to be this month's cover. Mr. Ressi, your wish is our Photoshop command. Click the thumbnail for full size. Apologies to Wired creative director Scott Dadich, who we're sure would never, ever use ITC Stone Sans Bold on the cover.

thefunded.com

You just don't understand how important Adeo Ressi is

Adeo Ressi wants you to know that he's not just the pseudonymous "Ted," founding member of TheFunded.com, the venture-capitalist rating site. The 6'5" Ressi, who resembles a David Cross/Mr. Clean hybrid, sincerely believes that being "Ted" is a feat which which should be celebrated by having his likeness emblazoned on the nearest mountain. But how's his site doing as a business? More »

frenemies

Did Total New York's founders have a rift?

We now know the identity of "Ted," the no-longer mysterious force behind VC ratings site TheFunded.com. He's Adeo Ressi, who cofounded Total New York, an early Web city guide, back in 1994. But where did his "Ted" nickname come from? Ressi revealed to Valleywag that his early users, a group which may have included FuckedCompany founder Philip Kaplan, dubbed him "Ted" to annoy him, since that was the name of Ressi's supposed "nemesis." Now that we know who Ressi is, there's one obvious candidate: Total New York cofounder Ted Werth.

mysteries

TheFunded's "Ted" is Adeo Ressi

Why is Adeo Ressi smilling? The serial entrepreneur, now CEO of Game Trust, has pulled one over Sand Hill Road. Through a forwarded Skype phone line, Gmail account, and proxy-registered domain name, he's hidden his secret identity as "Ted," the creator of VC-ratings discussion board TheFunded.com. Now, at a time of his own choosing, staged in sync with a Wired profile, Ressi has outed himself. Which tells us one thing: He's much, much smarter than Fake Steve Jobs blogtard Dan Lyons.

mysteries

A new secret behind TheFunded.com

"Ted," the secretive creator of VC-ratings message board TheFunded.com, isn't hard to reach. I called him on his easy-to-find Skype line: 415 992 8801. He was busy getting ready for the $500-a-seat event tonight, held on the Stanford campus, at which he plans to reveal his identity at 6 p.m. We'll all know his real name soon enough. I asked him, instead, where the pseudonym "Ted" came from. He told me that early members of TheFunded.com picked it for him, apparently to annoy him, since it was the name of his nemesis. So who's the Ted who hates "Ted"? Ted Leonsis, the annoying AOL retiree? Ted Dintersmith of Charles River Ventures? Ted Dziuba of sarcastic tech blog Uncov? None of them fit, so I'm hoping you might have a better guess.

mysteries

Philip Kaplan knows who runs TheFunded.com

The so-far anonymous creator of TheFunded.com, a message board which lets entrepreneurs rate venture capitalists, is going to unveil himself tonight at an event. New rumors continue to bubble up about who "Ted" might be, as the site's founder is known. One tipster suggested Philip "Pud" Kaplan, the founder of FuckedCompany and AdBrite. Nah — that's not Kaplan's style. When he does something, he signs his name to it. He's transparent, much like his shirt in the above picture. But we do hear that Kaplan knows the secretive entrepreneur's true identity.

mysteries

Who's behind TheFunded.com? Not Jason Calacanis

Inc. magazine is digging into the mystery of who's running TheFunded.com, a website which lets entrepreneurs rate venture capitalists. Writer Max Chafkin makes four guesses: Gawker Media publisher and Valleywag emeritus Nick Denton; Digg founder Kevin Rose; Blogger and Twitter founder Evan Williams; and blog blowhard Jason Calacanis. Asked by Chafkin, Calacanis denied being "Ted," the mysterious man behind the site. A curious stance, since until recently, Calacanis was eagerly attempting to take credit for TheFunded.com. Never one for subtlety, he told friends of his plan to leak a rumor to Valleywag that he was behind the site. Alas, no, Jason: You only wish you were clever enough to come up with an idea like TheFunded.com.