Valleywag: Valleywag Hotties

Web 2.Ooh: Scandal, robots, and your new king and queen

Nick Douglas — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 21:06:11 PDT

First off, let's congratulate the Web 2.Ooh winners, Om "Giggity" Malik and Joey "Boomer" Wan!

This fall, Om will star in a biopic of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, playing both actors at the same time. Joey will save the human race from the Cylons in a very special "Battlestar Galactica," before starring in a remake of "My Pal Joey."

As for the tourney itself, who knew the race to find the hottest boy and girl of Web 2.0 would end in such fierce competition?

Stirr's Joey Wan was clearly winning in the last poll of the ladies' edition, until a supporter of Socialtext's Julia French went and botted it up with eight thousand fake votes. Like an Olympian on cold medicine, it's not French's fault we have to disqualify her — it's the fault of those javascripting bastards.

Meanwhile, the men's edition quietly progressed all weekend, netting a mere 332 votes, with GigaOM founder Om Malik ahead of Rubyred Labs founder Jon Grubb by a healthy handful.

Finale of Web 2.Ooh Ladies' Round and Men's Round [Valleywag]
Photos by Laughing Squid's Scott Beale and Joey Wan [Flickr]

Web 2.Ooh: Get ready for the finals!

Nick Douglas — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 18:45:49 PDT

All right, waggers, it's time for the final round of Web 2.Ooh, the tournament of face-offs between the Valley's community-participatory-Ajax-new-media-wossname hotshots! Our semifinals brought the contenders down to Joey Wan, Julia French, Jonathan Grubb, and Om Malik!

Remember, for the final round, cheating with voting scripts will make you more of a loser than a startup that can't get a positive review on TechCrunch! If you want to cheat, cheat using humans, not robots!

Part of Web 2.Ooh: Men's edition and Ladies' edition [Valleywag]

Web 2.Ooh: Four ladies up

Nick Douglas — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:38:27 PDT

We're closing the polls, and only four ladies are left in Web 2.Ooh, the tourney of webhead hotties. Well, five, actually — since at least two of the polls were rigged (damn you geeks and your voting scripts), we're moving both members of the most egregiously cheated-on face-off up to the next round. (At Valleywag, cheaters prosper!)

So give a big hand to Rachel, Joanne, Valerie, Micki, and Julia! See the grisly details below — especially the race won by one vote.

Part of Web 2.Ooh, all the lovely ladies edition [Valleywag]

Web 2.Ooh: Four boys down

Nick Douglas — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 17:05:40 PDT

Time to close the polls for the first stage of the Web 2.Ooh Valleywag Hotties Tourney! Meet the four surviving men: Matt, Jon, Om, and Chris!

Matt Mullenweg whumped Will Pate with over two-thirds the vote.
Jonthan Grubb trounced Auren Hoffman — one social butterfly goes back in the cocoon today. (Someone was running scripts, but since when has Valleywag cared about fairness? Just DON'T DO IT AGAIN. Or...or else.)
Om Malik scoops Mike Arrington to advance to stage 2.
Finally, a close contest! Chris MacAskill outcharms Philip Rosedale — which is fortunate, 'cause you've got to see this photo of Chris in the next round.

Voting for the ladies continues until tomorrow. After the break, check out the vote results in detail.

The only reason I run this tourney is for the pretty red and blue bars.

Web Two Point Ooh: Ladies' round

Nick Douglas — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 19:11:24 PDT

Everyone's been just fantastic today, voting for hotties in the men's round of Web 2.Ooh, the latest Valleywag hotties tournament. We're shutting down the men's polls in the morning, but meanwhile we're starting the votes for the ladies of Web 2.0. From left to right, they are:

Top row: Vlogger Amanda Congdon, 88SLIDE's Rachel ~~Smith~~ Rhodes, Stirr's Joanne Wan, Citizen Agency's Tara Hunt

Bottom row: Ning's Gina Bianchini, PodTech's Valerie Cunningham, Revver's Micki Krimmel, Socialtext's Julia French

Give them a hand, then give them your votes when these hotties face off in Round 2 of the Web 2.Ooh Tourney.

Photos by Will Pate, 88SLIDE, Joanne Wan, Tara Hunt, Yoz Grahame, Tantek Celik, Kris Krug, and Alexander Haislip.

Earlier: Web Two Point Ooh: Men's round [Valleywag]
Vote on the men: Posts tagged Web2Ooh [Valleywag]

Web Two Point Ooh: Men's round

Nick Douglas — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 18:26:43 PDT

Say hello to the contestants for this week's Valleywag hotties tourney, Web Two Point Ooh, nominated by their peers, then hand-picked for a face-off of the sexiest boys and girls of Web 2.0. Above, the male half, which we'll be voting on tonight. From left to right, they are:

Top row: Flock's Will Pate, WordPress's Matt Mullenweg, RapLeaf's Auren Hoffman, Rubyred Labs' Jonathan Grubb

Bottom row: GigaOM's Om Malik, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington, SmugMug's Chris MacAskill, Second Life's Philip Rosedale

To follow the contest and vote for these fine gentlemen and eight lovely ladies, watch posts tagged "web2ooh" throughout the week. Click through for photo credits and tourney brackets.

Photos by Kris Krug, Matt Mullenweg, Auren Hoffman, Scott Beale, Scott Beale, Scott Beale, Toni MacAskill, and Esther Dyson

Nominate your favorite Web 2.0 hottie

Nick Douglas — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 20:11:14 PDT

Valleywag's non-readers have grumbled lately that the site is shallow, flighty, and obsessed with "pretty people." Damn right.

That's why next week, we're holding the Will Pate Memorial Web 2.0 Hotties Showdown, a single-elimination tournament of the cutest guys and girls running the New Shiny Internet. Send your nominations to tips@valleywag.com with the subject "Web 2.0 Hottie" — and include a photo that you own the rights to (or a Creative-Commons-licensed photo). All nominees must be core team members of a Web 2.0 startup.

By next Friday, we'll all know who cleans up good with Ajax and who looks hot in a pastel gradient.

Pictured: Will Pate, Flockstar [Elea Chang on Flickr]
Earlier hotties contests:
Snacky or Flacky
Gorgeous Google Gals
Valleywag Hotties (Beefcake edition)

Snacky or Flacky: The first three nominees

ndouglas — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 17:20:03 PDT

They're charming so we don't have to be — Valley PR folks will win your heart over in the Snacky or Flacky tournament. The first batch of reader-nominated flacks is served fresh and piping hot.

The flack: Susan MacTavish Best
The firm: Best PR, founder
The pic: Susan and Jim [SmugMug]
The big client: Craigslist
The juice: Best has been lovey-dovey with Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster (pictured).

The flack: Paula Gould
The firm: TagWorld, PR director
The pic: TagWorld [Flickr]
The juice: The only PR person you can hook up with on a social site and not feel creepy

The flack: Miles Perkins
The firm: Industrial Light and Magic, senior publicist
The pic: Miles Perkins [Enigmaterial]
The juice: Perkins plays bass for the swingingest of jazz bands, Mingus Amungus.

Keep sending in the noms — e-mail tips@valleywag.com (subject: Snacky or Flacky), IM HeyValleywag, or comment below. (For instance, where are a certain male Google flack's rabid fans?) Next week, the best noms battle for your hearts.

Part of: Valleywag hotties: Snacky or Flacky? [Valleywag]

PR Valleywag hotties: Snacky or flacky?

ndouglas — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 09:02:32 PDT

Is it just me, or is the news full of ugly people this week? It's time to bring out the pretty folks in public relations — those kids in PR may not be the brightest, but they bring the beauty.

So by Friday, send photos your favorite flacks (guys and girls) to tips@valleywag.com. Next week the prettiest in PR will battle in Valleywag Hotties: Snacky or Flacky.

Bonus points for adding a bio, because we care about personality. Hokey "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE" jokes are allowed and in fact encouraged. Do let Valleywag know if we can finger you as the nominator, and use "Snacky or Flacky" in the subject line.

Shai Agassi: Valleywag hottie?

ndouglas — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 10:15:44 PDT

Is Shai Agassi hot? The SF Chron's Technology Chronicles blog isn't sure if the SAP board member is enough eye candy to draw crowds to a boring press event. But the Chron's "hot or not?" link only goes to Hot or Not's main page. So I did it up right for you: go to Hot or Not and rate Shai Agassi on a scale of 1 to super-steamy.

Too sexy for his software? [Technology Chronicles]
Shai Agassi: Hot or Not? [Hot or Not]

Who's that Googler: the Google Romancers

ndouglas — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 12:37:10 PDT

How'd we miss this Google gal? The Google Romance model was the perfect poster girl (with such a cute poster boy!) for the seductive power of contextual ads. Says a reader:

i'm assuming she's an employee...how did we miss her in the contest? i beg you, use your awesome powers of persusaion to find the answer to this riddle.
gracias.

—anonymous grad student

Good question! And who's her boy, too? Google insiders, fire up your anonymous Hotmail accounts and tip off tips@valleywag.com. Meanwhile, I'll pump my contacts. But Google's a big and scary place, and we'll need some Distributed Stalking to uncover the Google Romance lady's identity.

Google Romance [Google]
Earlier: Google Romance [Valleywag]

Gorgeous Google Gals: Jen Ingalls vs. Jen Bradburn

ndouglas — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 06:55:58 PST

Time for the second Valleywag Hotties tournament to really get underway — it's the first Google Gals face-off. Voting ends tonight for this pair of lovely Google sales members. Remember, engineers may be brilliant, but salespeople won't stay up building Lego towers at 3 AM.

Part of: Gorgeous Google Gals [Valleywag]

Gorgeous Google Gals: The tournament begins

ndouglas — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 18:20:57 PST

The Google Gals competitors have been chosen. No second-guessing, no arguing — unless you want to bribe me with a bundle of Google stock. (Or a portfolio shorting that stock — I'm all confused.)

From left to right, row one: Jen Ingalls, Jen Bradburn, Laura Granka, Niniane Wang

Row two: Gabriela Valdes, Kimbalina (anyone got a last name?), Trisha Weir, and Elizabeth Windram.

For your printing-and-obsessively-filling-out needs, the tourney bracket is after the jump.

The nominees: page 1, page 2, page 3 [Valleywag]
Earlier Valleywag hotties tourney: Valleywag hotties: Vote for the sexiest man in tech [Valleywag]

Google gals: four more dears

ndouglas — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 10:15:18 PST

Another round of nominated Google hotties! From left to right:

Krista Bruen from finance is yet another ungoogleable.

Ginger Franke would describe herself as "action-centered." She's a serious snowboarder who's been seen headed for black-diamond routes.

Jen Bradburn is a hottie from sales who graduated from St. Mary's.

Laura Granka "looks really hot in spandex, incredible passion for life, and is an expert in eye-movement monitoring. What's hotter than that?"

There are dozens more out there. Don't hide the hotties! You have one weekend to nominate Google gals before Valleywag runs its tourney. Send names, photos, and character notes to tips@valleywag.com.

Earlier: Google girls: the first nominees [Valleywag]
And: Gorgeous girls of Google: a call for nominations [Valleywag]

George Zachary: not gay, just Greek

ndouglas — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 13:28:55 PST

George Zachary's Valleywag Hotties sunbathing photo inspired a Sand Hill Slave post and this eavesdrop from a tipster:

Internet girlfriend: Have you seen the George Zachary photo? That guy is *so* gay.
Internet mogul: He's not gay. He's just Greek.

George Zachary Makes Sand Hill Slave Eat Crow. Thanks George! [Sand Hill Slave]

Nathan Tyler, the hottest man in Google

ndouglas — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 23:04:04 PST

The Gorgeous girls of Google post has attracted some great Google-girl nominees. A couple of tips: Send us photos if you have 'em, and tell as much as you can about your picks. Gotta make this fun for the people outside the Plex, right?

And if all this hasn't enough to make Valleywag an official Silicon Valley dating site, here's one more plug for a male Google hottie:

Nathan Tyler is totally hot.
Nathan Tyler is to sexy as Chuck Norris is to lethal.

Your commentsers are on the right track, but I think all Valleywag readers deserve an opportunity to judge for themselves.

Here's evidence.

Signed,

— NATHAN TYLER DESERVES HIS OWN GOOGLE HOTTIE THREAD

I'm told these photos still don't do him justice. By the way, he's totally straight — since it makes such a difference to your chances, I'm sure.

Another shot of the Nathan Tyler Hotness Machine after the jump.

Gorgeous girls of Google: a call for nominations

ndouglas — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 06:18:34 PST

Rejoice, straight men of the Valley. Next week will feature a new edition of Valleywag Hotties, featuring the most gorgeous Google girls.

Some contestants are obvious — search VP Marissa Mayer, international VP Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, and deputy general counsel Miriam Rivera. But contestants don't have to be VP-level execs. Any engineer or ad saleswoman is eligible. Send nominations to tips@valleywag.com with "Google girls" in the subject.

Valleywag Hotties champion: Ben Trott, so hott

ndouglas — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 17:09:47 PST

The final face-off is over. Ben Trott trounced Jim Buckmaster (76.3% to 23.7%) to claim the Valleywag Hotties championship. The Six Apart co-founder was swept to victory by an adoring army of Livejournal users (and by being hot as hell). Craigslist CEO Buckmaster has gracefully conceded. I, for one, welcome our new Trott overlord.

That's all for the Valleywag Hotties, Men's Edition. Next up are the Google Gals. Send your nominations — all ladies of Google are eligible — to tips@valleywag.com.

Jim, crushed by defeat, nearly drops the cat. [Source]

Valleywag Hotties final round: Jim Buckmaster vs. Ben Trott

ndouglas — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:53:45 PST

And now, the fight to end all fights.

Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist CEO and Jeff Goldblum lookalike, beat Jonathan Ive, Steve Jobs, and George Zachary.

Ben Trott, dashing Six Apart co-founder, whipped Kevin Rose, Max Levchin, and Jeff Weiner.

There can be only one. Polling ends at 5 PM Pacific.

Valleywag Hotties: Semifinals results

ndouglas — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 08:16:23 PST

Only two Valleywag Hotties left, after...

Jim Buckmaster (52.2%) stared down George Zachary (47.8%).
Ben Trott (58.4%) gunned down Jeff Weiner (41.6%).

I'm sorry, Zachary fans. And I'm even more sorry to post this e-mail from "Charlie Schmidt":

In that latest picture of George Zachary- "Caught in a rare resting moment" should read something more like - "On his way to breakfast hungover, George has to stop and lean against the wall to prevent from falling over." At least that is my recollection of how that picture was taken.

But hey, he looked great doing it.

So, next up, the final face-off. The grisly semifinals record after the jump.

Valleywag Hotties remainders

ndouglas — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 14:12:24 PST

Some troubling news of Hotties corruption:

Mena Trott and Anil Dash considered heavy Photoshopping for Ben Trott's face-off with Jeff Weiner. "We'll make him have a big package," said Anil. "Like a tripod."
Craig Newmark is campaigning for his CEO Jim Buckmaster. Craigslisters have joined the fray.
That photo you see? Yet another Buckmaster pic. Apparently there's a big stack of sexy Jim photos sitting somewhere.
George Zachary got a new pic in, and friends of his friends are pushing for him on the Junto Boyz blog.

The international Hotties juding panel has been contacted, possible frauds are being investigated, and several contestants will be tested for 'roids. Do your part to fight corruption: vote for Hotties fairly. (Then vote again at work.)

Current face-offs: George Zachary vs. Jim Buckmaster and Jeff Weiner vs. Ben Trott.

Valleywag Hotties semi-finals: George Zachary vs. Jim Buckmaster

ndouglas — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 13:20:12 PST

Competition's getting FIERCE. George Zachary's loved ones shipped in a new, hotter photo of the VC. Meanwhile, Jim Buckmaster's PR wrangler special-delivered a new shot of the Craigslist CEO in the wild. In this round, hearts will be broken.

For those poor souls waiting for an end to the hotties, sit tight. Valleywag will soon return to its regular, ambiguously oriented coverage.

Valleywag Hotties semi-finals: Jeff Weiner vs. Ben Trott

ndouglas — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 11:22:42 PST

We've been too easy on Jeff Weiner. Some readers didn't realize we'd had him Photoshopped onto an underwear model. One guy said, "Geez, looks like I should go to the Yahoo gym."

So let's put the real Yahoo exec up against the real Ben Trott, co-founder of Six Apart. (Thanks to wife and co-founder Mena Trott for his new pic.)

Valleywag Hotties: Quarterfinals results

ndouglas — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 08:33:35 PST

In a round of clear winners, one race went turtleneck-and-turtleneck. Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster managed to topple the Master of Cool, Steve Jobs, thanks to a fierce campaign by Craigslist customer service rep (and founder) Craig Newmark.

The results:

George Zachary (67.9%) buys more love with his money than George Boutros (31.9%).
Jim Buckmaster (51.3%) de-lists Steve Jobs (48.7%).
Ben Trott (67.5%) blogs circles around Max Levchin (32.5%).
Jeff Weiner (55.4%) rocks the Photoshop to out-bare-chest Sergey Brin (44.6%).

Stat porn after the jump.

Part of: Valleywag Hotties [Valleywag]

Valleywag hotties: George Zachary vs. George Boutros

ndouglas — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 16:44:49 PST

It's the last Valleywag hotties quarterfinal.

George Zachary was bright enough to invest in Odeo and Shutterfly (okay, so not bright enough to invest in Pandora and Flickr). George Boutros is mean enough to scare other investment bankers — and that's not exactly an industry of warm and friendly guys.

One of them goes home tonight.

Valleywag hotties: Steve Jobs vs. Jim Buckmaster

ndouglas — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 16:28:56 PST

You picked Pope Steve over His Holy Larryness, Listmaster Jim over Shiny Czar Jon. Now the Apple CEO and Craigslist CEO go head-to-head, black-turtleneck-to-black-turtleneck. Who's earned your love (or your unbridled lust)?

Valleywag hotties: SOMA startup edition

ndouglas — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 12:18:37 PST

Two adorable San Fran dot-commers duke it out. Will Slide's Max Levchin pound Six Apart's Ben Trott into submission? Or will Ben win with that grin?

Valleywag hotties: Bare-chested edition

ndouglas — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 11:44:18 PST

Time for round two of the Valleywag Hotties. This round's first face-off is more of a chest-off, as Google co-founder Sergey Brin battles Yahoo VP Jeff Weiner.

Valleywag hotties: Four more victors, four more losers

ndouglas — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 10:49:40 PST

Round one's over, and four more men will go home crying. The breakdown:

George Boutros (59.2%) out-wickeds Stratton Sclavos (40.8%).
George Zachary (78.6%) is the boom to Jeff Brody (21.4%)'s bust.
Jim Buckmaster (53.0%) makes Jonathan Ive (47.0%) rant and rave.
Steve Jobs (83.5%) is a sweeter sugar daddy than Larry Ellison (16.5%).

These four will face off later today in round 2 of Valleywag Hotties. Craig Newmark, keep rooting for your man. Faces, bar charts, and brackets after the jump.

Valleyntine

ndouglas — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 00:23:26 PST

Okay, okay. Valleywag's a little gay today. And "valleyntine" is a pain to the soul. But what are Valentines for, if not sickening puns?

(Rose image ruined forever for Flickr user 3amfromkyoto.)

Valleywag hotties: The bad boys

ndouglas — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 23:56:21 PST

They're mean. They're nasty. They're the bad men momma warned you about.

Stratton Sclavos is President, CEO, and board chairman of Verisign. So blame all those customer-service screw-ups and domain abuse cases on this rock-and-roller.

George Boutros's Wired Magazine profile is titled "Shut Up and Deal." 'Nuf said. Shut up and vote, and make momma cry.

Valleywag hotties: Seeded capital

ndouglas — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 20:08:31 PST

You date an entrepreneur; you marry a VC. And Steve Jurvetson isn't the only startup-funding heartthrob. Jeff Brody from RedPoint and George Zachary from Charles River Ventures are old-fashioned class acts who made it through the first boom and bust — and both have a little boom left in 'em.

Valleywag hotties: black turtleneck round

ndouglas — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 14:59:55 PST

Jonathan Ive is Jobs' style guy. The industrial designer keeps it beautiful by keeping it simple. So does Jim Buckmaster, the Craigslist CEO who keeps the classifieds unadorned.

Valleywag hotties: Is the yachter hotter?

ndouglas — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 14:01:04 PST

Larry Ellison thinks he's God. Steve Jobs rules the Cult of Mac. The mogul pals spend millions to build shiny white toys — Larry his giant boat, Jobs his tiny pods. Which of these bears has the fiercer growl?

Valleywag hotties: Skins beat shirts

ndouglas — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 12:34:12 PST

Votes are in! We're wrapping up the first four hotties contests and moving on to more Valley men. A reminder: After the ladies (and the gents of a certain persuasion) have their fun, we'll start "Hotties: Ladies of the Valley."

So the results:

Ben Trott (55.4%) vs. Kevin Rose (44.6%)
Max Levchin (53.3%) vs. James Hong (46.7%)
Jeff Weiner (59.1%) vs. Jerry Yang (40.9%)
Sergey Brin (73.2%) vs. Larry Page (26.8%)

The winners will face off after another bout of round-one competitors. To the losers: sorry, guys, the Valley's a tough place. You all win Mr. Congeniality.

Earlier: Ben vs. Kevin
Max vs. James
Jeff vs. Jerry
Sergey vs. Larry

After the jump, the results in full graphical glory.

Valleywag hotties: The young and the blogging

ndouglas — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 07:13:35 PST

Can you digg it? Yes I can. Digg genius Kevin Rose and Six Apart baron Ben Trott may not have sold for millions (yet), but who needs money when you've got a cute boy?

Valleywag hotties: Hot-or-not that there's anything wrong with that

ndouglas — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 14:33:45 PST

Ladies: Lemme talk to the gentlemen for a minute. Some of them are dealing with tough feelin's right now.

Guys, voting for a Valleywag hottie does not make you gay. "Hotties: Ladies edition" is coming up any day now.

In the meantime, clench those teeth and pick the next hottie — Max Levchin, former PayPal bouncer and current Slide-rider, or James Hong, Hot or Not founder and nearly-naked posterboy. Bonus: they're buds, so either way, this is almost a twofer.

Valleywag hotties: Top Yahoos

ndouglas — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 12:21:48 PST

Yahoo's so full of hotties that it will surely need its own tourney down the road. For now, feast your eyes on Jerry Yang and Jeff Weiner, just two of the smokin' execs who put the ! in Yahoo! It's utterly unfair to Jerry, putting Jeff into an underwear model 'shop job, but how far from the real thing could that bod be?

Part of: Valleywag Hotties [Valleywag]

Valleywag hotties: The Google guys

ndouglas — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 09:54:01 PST

Our first two hotties are the billionaire boys of Google, last seen on the cover of TIME. Love them for their bodies, love them for their brains, but mostly for the billions. Voting's open to everyone, so decide which mogul's rocking the pagerank harder.

Part of: Valleywag Hotties [Valleywag]

Valleywag hotties: Vote for the sexiest man in tech

ndouglas — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 09:28:54 PST

Thanks to mountain biking, in-office weight rooms, and billionaire Gen Xers, "Hot for Silicon Valley" is no insult. This week, you get to choose the sexiest man in tech. Valleywag Hotties puts sixteen Valley moguls and up-and-comers head-to-head in a single elimination tourney. So fill out your brackets and get ready to vote for the ultimate man of the Valley — and remember, beauty fades, but a 400-foot yacht lasts forever.

Photos of the hotties are, of course, upcoming.