Gawker: valleywag, rusty rueff

Shawn Fanning leaves his Snocap baby an orphan

Tim Faulkner — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:59:40 EDT

Snocap may have started as Napster creator Shawn Fanning and bad boy Jordan Mendelson's baby, but we've heard both Valley hipsters have washed their hands of their failing creation. A tipster reports that Fanning is long gone and focused on his latest startup, Rupture, a social network for videogamers. Mendelson, too, is working on a new project and is likely to leave Snocap in a few months. As for the cause of the layoffs, a tipster says the CD Baby deal's failure isn't the proximate cause. Instead?

Word is that the CEO Rusty Rueff is responsible for getting snocap into this ****ed up situation. It didn't help that the former CTO Dave Rowley made a mess of engineering before he was fired a few months ago (and given time to find a new position so that he could make it look like he "left for better opportunities" but he was fired).

Whether or not it's the company's creators or current management, there's no need for finger-pointing. Snocap's vision has failed, and the digital-music industry — like Snocap's founders — has moved on.

Shawn Fanning's baby killed by CD Baby

Tim Faulkner — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:26:03 EDT

What led to yesterday's layoffs at Snocap, the digital-music startup founded by Napster creator Shawn Fanning? The breakdown of a deal last week with online retailer CD Baby, if not the proximate cause, was surely a signal of the startup's incipient meltdown. CD Baby is a music store that allows independent artists to sell their music at their own price, and Snocap's most significant partner besides MySpace. But, judging by the comments of CD Baby artists whose songs were being sold through Snocap's MySpace stores, that partnership has had little value.

When the relationship broke down, Snocap began sending emails to CD Baby customers, trying to sign them up directly and cut CD Baby out. Other musicians began reporting Snocap stores appearing in their MySpace profiles without approval. Others yet were complaining that Snocap wasn't providing its artists with any payout after five months. Things only got stranger with official statements from the companies.

When the deal fell apart, Snocap acted as if it was at its behest. Said Snocap CEO Rusty Rueff:

These experiences have shown us that Snocap works best when used directly by artists without the extra support of CD Baby. To use or continue using the Snocap MyStore to sell your music on MySpace, you must create a direct account with Snocap.

But a few days later CD Baby founder Derek Sivers rebutted that claim:

I'll give a public and detailed account soon. For now, just know that the ending of the relationship between CD Baby and Snocap was our idea, and done for your benefit (as well as our sanity).

Benefit of our sanity? We can't wait for the detailed account, but is it any surprise, really, that Snocap is laying off the majority of its staff?

Silicon Valley's golden men

Chris Mohney — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 19:00:07 EST

This weekend's must-see movie isn't anything out of Hollywood — it's "Living Pictures/Men in Gold" at SFMOMA, a 40-minute video homage to seven Silicon Valley rich dudes. Created by French artist Sylvie Blocher, the video includes interview-montages with Snocap's Rusty Rueff, former Apple exec and "recovering assoholic" Jean-Louis Gassée, Eventbrite's Kevin Hartz, McDougall Creative's Eric McDougall, Eight Inc.'s Wilhelm Oehl, and Mayfield Fund's Chamath Palihapitiya (pictured). Yep, that's only six — no idea who the seventh is, though Kathy Levinson, formerly of E-Trade, had her footage rendered unusable due to "technical problems." Mmmm-hmmm. Read the Chronicle story for several good sexmoney quotes from the stars, and let us know your opinion if you see the exhibit.