Red Herring's agony

Red Herring, the title that chronicled the 1990s tech boom, is on its last legs, according to former staffers. The storied magazine, which could make or break startups during the last cycle, is struggling despite a $1m bailout in December. A former employee, one of several who quit after the company failed to meet payroll, reports. The gory details, after the jump.

1. Apparently, funding was coming in to the magazine... that million dollar deal, or so Alex Vieux told editor in chief Joel Dreyfuss. That was found to be a complete and total lie, after staffers' paychecks arrived late and/or the magazine didn't print. Whoops! No idea what the status of the funding is now; I suppose it's *anyone's* guess.

2. The magazine not printing — it's not just one issue that has failed to go to press due to lack of funds. It's been a few, and RH's only solution has been to offer a downloadable PDF of the issue online. That's a great business model.

3. Caulfield's out. Managing Editor Eric Wahlgren is rumored to be heading out too (going to something science-related), which would leave quite a hole at the top of the masthead. Of course, the cash-starved RH keeps hiring new Editorial Assistants and promoting them to Journalists — the perfect solution to fill the dying ranks from the bottom, i suppose. Journalist Jennifer Kho is likely heading out too, if I'm correct. There goes the energy reporter! The HR director (Kevin Lee) quit a few weeks ago too. I think that, at this point, virtually everyone is shopping their resume out... at least, I should hope they are. Even I've had a few inquiries from RH staffers looking to get out.

4. Apparently, when RH goes out, it's going to be a silent death. According to company higher-ups, reporters will simply come to work and find the place locked up — no prior warning. Nothing. Just a closed office. When that happens, I hope Valleywag's there with a camera...

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