Jason Calacanis. the rambunctious publishing entrepreneur who threw away a potential fortune on Silicon Alley Reporter and then struck home with a weblog network sold to AOL, is beginning his third act. The demo conference, which he announced yesterday with Michael Arrington of Techcrunch in a slap to Chris Shipley's event, is an attention-grabbing sideshow. A better indicator:
the big-mouthed entrepreneur's offer to take over some smaller weblog titles which AOL, having acquired them with Engadget and Joystiq, is now closing. What's Calacanis,
an entrepreneur in residence at Sequoia Capital since he left Time Warner's internet unit, really up to?
Q. So, a rollup fund. Why would Sequoia back another fund?
A. This isn't a fund, this is a network. Adbrite is a network. Admob is a network. Glam is a network. So, thats three of the last 10 consumer-side investments.
Q. So, poor Henry Copeland [of Blogads]. You're finally coming after him.
A. That's like Michael Jordan going after a 12-year old in a game of 1-on-1.
Q. Why talk about it?
A. I'm not worried about the idea being out there since i've talked about it for two years on my blog.
Q. Which vertical?
A. Frankly, the vertical is things that can make money from advertising. Finance, autos, tech, women, shopping, parenting, etc. I like to think I know all of top 20 right now. Just because i haven't done celeb stuff doesn't mean it's rocket science.
Q. But you'll be seeking full ownership, I presume — you don't want a loose FM network.
A. Yeah, that is the idea... to own the IP in X number of companies and rise and fall together, with the concept that X+X+X=5x.
Q. Earn-outs?
A. I think you would want to sit down with the founders and see what their goals are. Maybe they want to dump a product... like you and i did with some blogs, and we could pick them up for just the IP. Maybe someone wants to start something and we believe in them.
Valleywag
