Bambi orphaned

Bambi Francisco, one of the gentlest journalists in Silicon Valley, has been cast out of her job at Marketwatch. She'd been under pressure to resign when it became obvious that she'd been touting companies on the Dow Jones subsidiary's financial news site, when she was also promoting them through a side-venture, Vator.tv. Francisco presented Vator, a video showcase for new ventures is backed by the ubiquitous Peter Thiel, as no more than an investment; but she was the founder, and had remained at Marketwatch while she incubated the new venture. It wasn't going to last. The moral of the story: these conflicts of interest aren't, whatever people say, intrinsic to the internet; they are, however, a function of a boom, during which journalists, even those as meek as Bambi Francisco, dream of independence and fortune, but don't have the confidence to quit cleanly.

4:26 PM on Fri Apr 6 2007
By Nick Denton
1,937 views
6 comments

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ashkan at 04:24 PM on 04/06/07
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gentle or not, this has disaster written all over it, i am surprised this took so long.

bambi thinking this was kosher is akin to amanda 'jugs' congdon thinking that it's cool for her to prostitue herself for dupont and it not being a problem. it is.

all to say, bambi is web 2.0's lou dobbs, hopefully she won't crash and burn, wrote about this some more:
http://www.watchmojo.com/web/blog/?p=1423

enjoy.
pillsandpez at 04:31 PM on 04/06/07
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Bambi is notorious in tech for being a huge bitch. Thank God she's finally been beheaded a bit.
trevo at 12:56 AM on 04/07/07
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@pillsandpez: I had a chat with Bambi at a STIRR event and she seemed really down to earth and friendly. Well that's my impression anyways.
pillsandpez at 08:13 AM on 04/07/07
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@trevo, I've never heard anybody say she acted nice. duly noted.
OMMS at 09:24 AM on 04/07/07
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How many years did she "work" for Marketwatch and that's the best idea she came up with????

I imagine that if she were a fat, sandle wearing, long haired..etc she would have gottne the same reposnse from Thiel? Sure she would have.....

I'm just amazed that for all of her "connections" that is the best idea she came up with...

She gets canned and Bartiromo still has a job...??

I guess there's justice there....somewhere..

M
laurab at 05:15 PM on 04/07/07
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Two issues, which no matter which way you cut it, really casts a shadow on her role as a journalist and the unfolding of this incident ultimately undermines Marketwatch as an news organization.

1) When you are an entrepreneur, at some point you need to raise money -- so how can you ask critical, tough questions about someone or a company when you may be hitting up that very person to fund your startup?

2) Look at her interviews with Peter Thiel on Vator tv. If the video did not have sound attached to it, you'd think it was a dating service. When have you ever seen true, professional journalists (even attractive ones like Maria Bartiromo) dress the way she has on Vator tv (and on those B-rated Marketwatch videos)?

Most entrepreneurs I've talked to eat Subway, live with multiple roommates and dress in crappy clothes for many months, if not years, to see their idea come to life. "Sweat equity" my ass. By collecting a paycheck at Marketwatch and taking money from Thiel, she was trying to have her cake and eat it too.

If I was a VC, I'd be leary of funding a startup whose own founder is unwilling to sacrifice comfortable living in order to launch a business.