Gawker
-
copyfight
Embedding a YouTube Video May Cost You a Bundle in ASCAP Bills
Fresh off a court victory against Google's YouTube, ASCAP tells us it is setting its sights on users of the video-sharing site. Welcome to the exciting world of copyright licensing, blogger; you may already owe gobs of money! More »
18,375
35
By Ryan TateComment by Ricki-Oh: And so it begins. This time it's not the evil old RIAA or MPAA, it's an organization that actually makes... 11 Responses | Other threads
-
twitterati
New York Times Editor Joins Ranks of the Twitterati
Everyone's joining Twitter, did you know? Even New York Times editor Bill Keller has gotten on board, we hear — and he's just as self-promotional as the rest! Today's other Twitter trivia. More »
1,868
By Owen ThomasComment by stanhalen: What? no one wants to weigh in on this silliness?.. @douchebag i had a hard booger today. it hurt. more » | Other threads
-
blowhards
Jason Calacanis Nominates Himself MySpace's Captain Obvious
The most amusing thing about fameballs is when they don't realize their balls have stopped rolling. Such is bulldog entrepreneur Jason Calacanis's lot, as he desperately tries to pose as MySpace's next CEO. More »
3,988
By Owen ThomasComment by stanhalen: Guy looks like a classic doofus...If you squint he looks just like Corky from life goes on.. Not that any of... 3 Responses | Other threads
-
the rich
How Celebrity Tech Guru 'Stimulates' Waitresses
Join Jason Calacanis' internet guide Mahalo and you can expect to work to exhaustion in a poorly-lit strip mall for barely more than San Francisco minimum wage. You'd be better off as Calacanis' waitress. More »
8,845
By Ryan TateComment by Jason McCabe Calacanis: 1. You work for Nick Denton... that makes me Santa Claus by comparison. 2. I've made many more people millionaires than... 17 Responses | Other threads
-
crime
Jason Calacanis's Felony-Friendly Hiring Practices
Jason Calacanis, the CEO of Mahalo, the world's largest compendium of rewritten Google search results, claims he hired a computer hacker because he never bothered to Google him. Now his employee is headed to jail. More »
5,706
By Owen ThomasComment by RodericaMockingbird: Id hire a felon. I dont like the idea that you only get one chance in the US unless... 2 Responses | Other threads
-
mahalo
Jason Calacanis makes Disneyland the saddest place on earth
After laying off most of his staff, how is Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis watching his pennies? By spending some of the Web directory's $21 million in funding to take nine remaining employees to Disneyland.
9,887
By Owen ThomasComment by JasonCalacanis: That's the worst photoshop you guys have done of me to date--did the Valleywag's cuts include the illustration team?! I... 11 Responses | Other threads
-
censorship
A question you can't ask on Mahalo Answers
Jason Calacanis, the voluble CEO of Web directory Mahalo, is a fan of free speech. As long as the words are his own.
5,460
By Owen ThomasComment by JasonCalacanis: Mahalo Answers is designed to be a place where intelligent people can exchange knowledge, not as a place to trash... 2 Responses | Other threads
-
Mahalo Dollars
Jason Calacanis's funny money
With Mahalo Answers, the latest Web project from Brooklyn-born blog blowhard Jason Calacanis, you can pay people to Google for you with fictional bucks. Genius! More »
2,644
By Owen ThomasComment by Scott Stephan: I have a great e-currency. It is called "Dollars" and you get them from work and you can use them... 2 Responses | Other threads
-
-
web 2.0
The bubble that wasn't
Jason Calacanis, the mop-haired founder of Mahalo, an overfunded Web directory, is musing on Twitter about "tickers and rallies past" — a Proustian substitution of stock markets for madeleines. But what, exactly, does he have to be nostalgic for?
5,807
By Owen ThomasComment by JasonCalacanis: JCAL still in the game 4.87m uniques last month & Knicks got $40m in cap space 2010 LeBron coming December 15th Project A threads the... 4 Responses | Other threads
-
jason calacanis
Mahalo motormouth to launch mystery product in December
I'm taking guesses now. What's "Project A," the seekrit product being talked up by Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis on his private mailing list? A recap of recent events: He launched a human-powered news feed at a time most companies were planning layoffs. After that, he performed a layoff, then trolled for new engineers to hire. Why do I like the often-blustery Calacanis? Because when I briefly worked for him as an Engadget stringer, I saw his approach to running a startup: Operate the business on a shoestring, but splurge on little things to make employees feel spoiled — a second monitor, a killer espresso machine, free dinners at places the staff can't afford. Don't hate him because he's rich. He always picks up the check. Anyway, here's his vague product pre-announcement:
3,604
By Paul BoutinComment by seanpercival: Paul anyone you havn't blogged for? Perks are nice but I'd rather buy my own dinners. Less requirement to "put out"... 1 Responses | Other threads
-
caption contest
"Hey Jason! What's going on with your valuation?"
Tough times, frivolous junkets: That's the modus operandi of Jason Calacanis, the grandiloquent emailer-in-chief of Mahalo, the Internet's most overfunded Web directory. He and butler/assistant/videographer Tyler Crowley posed for a picture while on a trip to Japan taken shortly after he promised to curtail his travel schedule while laying off Mahalo staff. Can you think of a better caption? Leave it in the comments. The best one will become the post's new headline. Friday's winner: m0nty.au, for "Eric Schmidt's 20 percent time project." More »
1,498
By Owen ThomasComment by colonelpanic: I know it's late, but: "The Braves" were a lot less successful after the departure of Katrina. 1 Responses | Other threads
-
new york times
Times Said Shopping About.com
The troubled New York Times Company is running out of options. It owes more than $1 billion, close to half of it coming due in the next two years. But it just ruled out layoffs for the foreseeable future and will probably try to avoid cutting the $132 million annual dividend, since doing so could spark a boardroom revolt by high-living Sulzberger family members. So it would make sense if the company has been trying to sell About.com, as Jason Calacanis, CEO of search engine company Mahalo, said on the This Week In Tech podcast last week. (Audio of his remarks lies after the jump.) More »
4,029
By Ryan TateComment by belltolls: Call me a stupid but who uses about.com or for that matter Mahalo? 3 Responses | Other threads
-
meltdowns
Your new business plan
As a startup, you are now, officially, on your own. You can't count on your VCs saving you or some magical offer from Yahoo or Google showing up to bail you out. Taurus has laid off Fondue. You need to rewrite — no, not your business model. Your business plan. Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis, in his latest private email, offers this advice: More »
2,180
By Paul BoutinComment by RomanaCurio: I submitted an excellent webpage article to Mahalo and it was rejected for frivolous reasons. Many people with doctorates... more » | Other threads
-
mysteries
Mahalo is hiring
"Do you know that you're amongst the very best, but can't find a company that appreciates you or gives you the opportunity you deserve?" So begins Mahalo's come-on to developers. The bulldog-powered search engine just laid off a large chunk of its staff, including some developers. Why is it hiring more? We're sure Jason Calacanis, Mahalo's voluble CEO, has some entertaining spin, which we'll let him add it in the comments. But since his HR department didn't stamp the Craigslist posting with "DO NOT REPRINT," as Calacanis is known to do with his emails, we're republishing it below. More »
2,602
By Owen ThomasComment by irrational-exuberance: "as Calacanis is wont to do with his emails" im in ur artikl, pointn @ ur grammr 2 Responses | Other threads
-
caption contest
How many more rounds of layoffs are planned at Mahalo?
What was Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis doing in the weeks running up to this company's layoffs? Traveling around the world, to destinations like the World Knowledge Forum in Seoul, Korea. In his how-to-lay-people-off memo, Calacanis also promised to cut back on his travel budget — which struck me as an admission that his trips to speak at conferences, often on subjects unrelated to his work at his Sequoia-funded Web directory, were being paid for by his investors. Can you think of a better caption? Leave it in the comments. The best one will become the post's new headline. Yesterday's winner: Ted Dziuba, for "Traffic is the new profit." (Photo by JoopDorresteijn)
1,982
By Owen ThomasComment by kgbeat: Hey Jason, how many more rounds of layoffs are planned at Mahalo? 1 Responses | Other threads
-
mahalo
Is Microsoft ripping off Jason Calacanis's ailing startup?
Talk about adding insult to injury. As Jason Calacanis was sucking his thumb about the coming startup depression, Microsoft quietly launched a competitor to his intern-edited search engine, which has just gone through the layoffs Calacanis predicted for everyone else. Redmond's experimental entry into the market is called U Rank, an experiment in collaborative editing of search results. The sites aren't that similar in their approach to helping users find websites — but they are eerily similar in their flowery logos and pastel color schemes.
693
By Owen ThomasComment by Shadowlayer: Oh snap! calacanis is going to release his bulldogs of war now! :P more » | Other threads
-
jason calacanis
America's fun new way to lay off everybody
Jason Calacanis is a master storyteller. Like most writers, he needs an editor. Here's a summary remix of Calacanis's secret insider mail, sent a few hours after Mahalo's layoffs were expertly leaked to everyone but me, thanks pal. More »
3,272
By Paul BoutinComment by workingstiff: For the love of all things good, how does Jason have the time to write these massively long emails and... 1 Responses | Other threads
-
commenter of the day
sggrf
Jason Calacanis took time out from his mailing list to blog about firing a baker's dozen of his Mahalo staff. The very same brilliant, hard-working, antifamily people he said he'd never compromise on. Today's featured commenter is sggrf, who wonders out loud on whether Calacanis might turn the episode into conference fodder: More » -
Layoff Memos
Tough times, unoriginal blog posts
Mahalo founder: "Tough times, hard decisions." Zillow founder: "Difficult times, difficult decisions." Seesmic founder: "Tough times. Tough decisions." The only thing easy in these times is what to headline your post about the employees you just laid off. Also, make sure to note that you are sad.
1,747
By Owen ThomasComment by giania: Uncomfortably challenging zeitgeist, deductions of an equal or greater magnitude of concern. more » | Other threads
-
layoffs
Jason Calacanis lays off 13 at Mahalo
Bulldog aficionado Jason Calacanis recently predicted that a large number of Web 2.0 startups will end up on "life support." Could Mahalo, his so-called "human-powered search engine," be one of them? He has laid off 13 of the humans who power Mahalo, with plans to rehire some of them offshore in the Philippines. It's not clear how many staff members that leaves Mahalo with. More »
2,949
By Owen ThomasComment by WagCurious: I still can't get over that he hires guys to type out web pages about other web pages. They have... 1 Responses | Other threads
-
great moments in journalism
Calacanis attempts to liveblog entire world
"We're liveblogging the world," funtrepreneur Jason Calacanis tweeted about Mahalo's new human-powered news feed on the search site's front door. Jason, help me out here: A couple weeks ago you bragged about forecasting the Startup Depression of 2008. Now you've added a powered-by-humans news feed to your product that looks like CNN crossed with Fark. How did you justify this to your investors in the face of a startup depression? Because from my experience, all English-language content looks the same to a VC. I'm not sure if I should ask when your funders will finally pull the plug on your two-bulldogs lifestyle, or if I'm just playing on the wrong team.
1,045
By Paul BoutinComment by Shadowlayer: I've yet to meet someone IRL that knows WTF mahalo is. more » | Other threads
-
great moments in journalism
Jason Calacanis missive unpublished by Silicon Alley Insider
It's Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis's world, we just have the misfortune of living in it. The former Silicon Alley Reporter publisher decided to quit blogging, instead opting to send out his verbose fonts of wisdom as emails. Take his latest 2,948-word missive, "(The) Startup Depression" — claiming that anywhere from half to four in five startups will fail thanks to the current economic crisis (or at least, will blame their failure on the economy). Apparently Calacanis asked that the post be taken down. Because of a principled stand for intellectual property? Because SAI's publisher was getting the pageviews and Mahalo wasn't? Or because Calacanis can't take the heat in a public forum? The fight that broke out in the comments between Wallstrip creator Howard Lindzon, Blodget and serial entrepreneur Scott Rafer suggests the latter. More »
1,648
By Jackson WestComment by howwhitemyshirtscanbe: What does lopyud mean? Google does not return any hits, somewhat to my surprise. Some kind of typo? "Loud"? more » | Other threads
-
jason calacanis
(The) Startup Depression
Excerpted from an email Jason Calacanis sent to fans, and later published on his ostensibly shuttered blog: More »
739
By Jackson WestComment by Shadowlayer: TL:DR BTW, he likes getting his ass kicked, so y'all know what to do at the next TC50. more » | Other threads
-
great moments in pr
Jason Calacanis on startup success: Be Jason Calacanis
We know that Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis likes to feed his pinup bulldogs Taurus and Fondue burgers from In-n-Out and Pinkberry froyo (to keep their coats glossy and brains brand-aware, we're assuming). Little did we know that he's also eating his own dog food. In a monstrous essay sent viatelegraphemail titled PR Strategies for Startups, he offers his tips on garnering free publicity by gaming the press. A lot of it is stuff you probably can't get away with unless you're already wealthy, have cute dogs, and are named Jason Calacanis. More »
1,208
By Jackson WestComment by sggrf: I still think Jason should can all this crap and just try to do it the old fashioned way: be... more » | Other threads
-
jason calacanis
PR Strategies for Startups (Part One)
Reprinted from an email, because Jason Calacanis makes it impossible to otherwise link to. More » -
startups
Mechanical Zoo's Aardvark to make Lazyweb as hard as possible
I hope VCs are realistic about any search startup's chances against Google at this stage. Cuil's traffic withered shortly after launch. Another gang of Google graduates at The Mechanical Zoo have revealed scant details of their plans with the announcement of Aardvark. The short version: Rather than asking a search engine questions, you ask your friends instead. Other than that, the social-search-or-something product remains a cryptid. Sounds more like a rival to Yahoo Answers than Google search. "For information you can trust, a person is better than a webpage," promise Aardvark's handlers. Why an Aardvark, the bug-eating African mammal? More »
1,273
By Jackson WestComment by Shadowlayer: 1996 just called, they want they hot app (email) back... more » | Other threads
-
commenter of the day
Robin Wauters
Our featured commenter, Robin Wauters, has one question for you about the latest spat between Mahalo's Jason Calacanis and Rocketboom's Aaron Baron: More » -
we read twitter so you don't have to
Andrew Baron and Jason Calacanis have beef
In this corner, Andrew Baron, cofounder of hot videoblog mess Rocketboom, challenging Mahalo founder and incumbent blowhard champeen Jason Calacanis. Baron lands the first blow, citing Mahalo's "flat" traffic. Calacanis counters with some trash talk and then a body blow to Baron's privileged upbringing. Baron complains to the ref that the "trust-fund baby" charges were below the belt. Meanwhile, Calacanis argues with the judges that Baron shouldn't get the point on the Mahalo traffic jab. After the jump, the action continues. More »
2,047
By Jackson WestComment by emnem: @Dogzilla22: That is fucking hilarious. "mah peeps gonna pimp it 'round, yo. mah peeps dey PIMP dat ho!" Jason, shouldn't you be writing... more » | Other threads
-
jason calacanis
Your only hope is that Google will kill you last
Flaxen-locked funtrepreneur Jason Calacanis says Google has been a content company for a while now. With Knol, the Googlers plan to become the Internet's reference library rather than just its card catalog. I used the editorial equivalent of gzip to compress Calacanis's arguments down to 1/10 size. More »
1,843
By Paul BoutinComment by Dror Poleg: @Dror Poleg: They only way they're (Microsoft AND Google) going to get really hurt is when a disruptive technology/model comes... more » | Other threads
-
gambling
Jason Calacanis takes first step — admitting he has a problem
The road to recovery from gambling addiction is a long one, but the first priority is admitting to yourself that you have a problem, which Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis did in his first email missive since quitting the blogosphere: More »
2,083
By Jackson WestComment by MikeTy: Jason admitted on another interview [tinyurl.com] that he doesn't want people with a "balanced life" so I guess that he's... more » | Other threads
-
party report
Wellington Partners happy to spend our worthless American currency
At the brand new Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco last night, the team at European VC firm Wellington Partners celebrated the addition of an outpost in Palo Alto to their existing offices in London and Munich with a swell mixer. The hors d'oeuvres? Cheese gougères, tiny lamb chops, mushroom napoleons, Kobe beef sliders, croutons with creme fraiche, smoked salmon and caviar and a bite-sized tuna tartar, all washed down with French wine which topped $300 a bottle — which, as the joke went, "Is like, what, 20 euros?" Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis explained that for European private equity investors, the American market offers a double-dip: More »
972
By Jackson WestComment by Shadowlayer: So the french are literally throwing the house through the window... Whos the capitalist pig now? more » | Other threads
-
jimmy wales
Jason Calacanis picks fight in Palo Alto with missing Wikipedia founder
No, we did not head down to sleepy Palo Alto for the Search SIG meeting featuring small-time players like Mahalo, Wikia and Microsoft, but Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis seems to wish we did. But why bother going when we can get juicy quotes about Jimmy Wales, who founded for-profit Wikia after failing to figure out how to milk Wikipedia for cash from our home office? Those who tuned into Calacanis's Ustream live video channel got juicy quotes like "Guy's got an ethics problem" and "It's naive to think encyclopedias have anything to do with search"? while bemused Wikia representativeJeremie MillerNick Sullivan sat on the panel. (Wales didn't even show up) You stay classy, Jason! After the jump, a firsthand report from our tipster, including more of Calacanis's wit and wisdom. More »
1,616
By Jackson WestComment by WagCurious: @searchsig_member: I'm sensing a little valley backlash against tan CEO Calacanis. It's true, he's tan and lives in L.A., but... more » | Other threads
-
America, Fuck Yeah
Mahalo enables Freedom of Speech
We hold these Truths to be self-evident: Wikipedia's Tyranny of the Mob sucks. Every time I run an item about Jimmy Wales, my page gets hacked. So what about Jason Calacanis's pursuit of happiness over at Mahalo? Former Uncov blogger and army of one Ted Dziuba has posted a step-by-step pictorial guide to practicing your First Amendment rights using the search index's new open editorial system. Try this on Wikipedia, and someone from the armed and unregulated Militia of Truth will likely kill your edits on sight. But on Mahalo, only Calacanis's paid mercenaries will bother to fix pages. At $10 an hour, there's no way they'll be able to keep up. Let freedom ring! -
search
Mahalo now 73 percent more like Wikipedia
If, like me, you've been tricked by super-cute bulldogs into trying Jason Calacanis's Mahalo search engine, you've probably been disappointed by some of Mahalo's results pages. Calacanis has a new message for frustrated users: Fix it yourself. Mahalo now allows anonymous users — tracked by their IP addresses, same as Wikipedia — to edit any guide page. If there's no page for a specific keyword yet, you can create one without a member account. Jason, babe, some cheap advice: Your noncompetitors at the nearly forgotten Citizendium are hosting their monthly Write-a-thon today. How about a Mahalo-a-thon? Every Friday? I'm 100 percent sure you can throw a better party.
786
By Paul BoutinComment by WagCurious: Oh my God I just tried that site out for the first time today. What suckitude. It's like Jason saw... more » | Other threads
-
recommendations
Jason Calacanis says ex-AOL CEO Jon Miller is the man for you, Yahoos
Before creating the world's most comprehensive list of videogame cheats, Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis worked at AOL under then-CEO Jon Miller. Calacanis joined AOL only after it bought Weblogs Inc. from him for $25 million and since Miller led that acquisition, eventually invested in Mahalo and now sits on the company's board, Calacanis is naturally a little biased in his feelings toward Miller, whom Calacanis considers a mentor. Still, when we heard talk of Miller as a contender to be Yahoo's next CEO, we figured Calacanis's opinions would at least be entertainingly biased. Our email exchange: More »
1,216
Comment by Joker1118: I'd agree with ethelmccreedy....these two guys would be a huge help, and yang wouldn't be threatened by them, as they... more » | Other threads
-
geek love
Are Michael Arrington and Meghan Asha off again, and will Calacanis pick up the rebound?
Meghan Asha has been tied to notoriously workaholic TechCrunch publisher Michael Arrington over the last few months. But could she be tiring of a beau with no work-life balance? More »
3,818
By Jackson WestComment by debbydeb: Smile M.A., what's the matter? Don't worry! No we can't see right thru u. You really look like you know... more » | Other threads
-
mine is faster
The Jason Calacanis inusufferability index to reach new heights with arrival of Tesla Roadster
Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis is eagerly awaiting Tesla Roadster #16, which he's having painted Tang Orange. Expect lots of updates about how much better a steward of Mother Earth he is than you are. He's also teasing readers with the offer of a Tesla Roadster giveaway, but he needs 30-60 million pageviews to do it. If you could get that much traffic to go Mahalo's way, shouldn't he be offering you the position of CEO? [Calacanis.com] (Photo by wmmarc)
1,166
By Jackson WestComment by G2GdoB2B: I loved the "If you could get that much traffic to go Mahalo's way, shouldn't he be offering you the... more » | Other threads
-
poll
Finding the worst-entry level job in tech: Round Two
We're on to Round Two in our worst-tech-job contest. We've whittled down 10 terrible gigs down to five:- Online sales and operations account manager, Google
- Content acquisition intern, IODA
- Customer support specialist, Fox Interactive, MySpace division
- Windows support professional, Microsoft
- Part-time guide, Mahalo
3,730
Comment by WillVille: Could've just as easily titled this 'Where Dreams Go To Die'. Anyone that works in any of these places belongs... more » | Other threads
-
jason calacanis
Mahalo paying freelance guides only a little better than San Francisco's minimum wage
Search startup Mahalo's maniacal overlord Jason Calacanis may want employees willing to work themselves to exhaustion in order to make his gamble pay off, but he's not paying particularly well for it — and he's certainly not paying wages that would allow someone to live anywhere near the company's Santa Monica headquarters, much less San Francisco or the Valley. Editorial director C.K. Sample III is looking for remote "guides" to edit search-entry pages for a mere $10 an hour, $0.64 more than San Francisco's minimum wage — and less than some day laborers make standing on the street corners of East L.A. But hey, working from home in your bare feet is so great, it's worth it! After the jump, Mahalo's pitch on Mediabistro. More »
2,663
By Jackson WestComment by squidbait: He should just use Mechanical Turk [www.mturk.com] for this mind numbing crap. more » | Other threads
-
poll
Pick your career poison: Part-time Mahalo guide vs. Pete Cashmore's personal assistant
The class of 2008 has already begun to realize the tragedy of actually having to work for a living. Cheer up, kiddos; it could be worse. You could be employed, part-time, cutting and pasting Google search results for Jason Calacanis's Mahalo. Or you could serve as Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore's personal assistant — the entry-level gigs facing off in our third matchup to determine the worst job in tech. Vote below. More »
1,467
Comment by DanLar75: Pete Cashmore's personal assistant every time! If you read this Pete, I am interested in the job! Email me at danlar75@yahoo.com more » | Other threads
valleywag
San Francisco, 5:19 AM
Sat Jul 11
42 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip Your Editors:
tips@valleywag.com
| AIM
Valleywag:
Ryan Tate | Email
Valleywag elsewhere on the Web:
Twitter | Facebook
Valleywags Emeriti:
Nick Denton
Nick Douglas
Owen Thomas
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
