WeWin Wins! Gofish Casts the Net

Phil Butler,

on February 21, 2007,

More news from video sharing services - this time about money. Today I got a scoop from a credible source in the financial industry that gofish.com has hired JMP Securities of San Francisco effectively to attempt to buy WeWin - the incentive based video sharing community. The source told me that WeWin's rewards program fills a void that exists in gofish's current platform. Details of the deal are sketchy, but the deal is reported to be between $15 to $25 million dollars. My source was not at liberty to discuss any further details at this time.

I have been having discussions with a number of key startup people of late, and it seems that buyouts and mergers are really what is hot for these Web 2.0 innovative companies. Just the other day gofish acquired bolt.com and it appears they are serious about any acquisition that enhances their independent leadership in the video community sector.

An acquisition on this order will obviously allow gofish to compete with metacafe and revver in the video sharing community sector. Ultimately, I believe that the smart contenders to compete with YouTube will essentially buy the traffic, as this is the simplest and most economical method in any industry unless you are talking about reinventing the wheel.

On hearing the news “scoop” I immediately contacted Brian Carrozzi, WeWin's CEO. Brian is always a nice guy and quick to respond, but he would neither confirm nor deny the rumors. I would not expect him to in any event because of the sensitivity of such deals. To be honest, if he asked me not to report it, I probably would not have. We are not here to bust any deals, just to let everyone know what is happening with Web 2.0.

It goes without saying that any of these new dot com companies have a formula for grabbing a market share in the new web environment. If gofish.com can buy innovative communities like WeWin, and at least one more I know of, this would propel them into direct competition with YouTube. All that is missing are a few more elements to really put a hurting on Google if you think about it. I am sure, given my latest plundering in CEO world that someone is.

My opinion for you guys is; expect something to break on this in a few hours or days. News can be an interesting business, just think: WeWin/Yahoo! Video, gofish.com, bolt.com and who knows what else. I will let you all do the market share math on this one!

Mashup Of Possibilities!

screen gofish 2007

WeWin Partners with Yahoo!

WeWin - You Decide

Uvouch Beta - A Home For Your Video

Acquisitionomics

16 Comments (Subscribe to rss)

jason - February 21, 2007 at 08:47 am PDT

Hi,

You mentioned yahoo video with gofish.com. Do you think yahoo takes out gofish one day??
Phil Butler - February 21, 2007 at 09:52 am PDT

Thanks for the comment Jason. These mergers and acquisitions can be complicated. Gofish is evidently going to attempt to buy up more market share and WeWin already has a loose affiliation with Yahoo! Video. It seems to me that Yahoo! would want to retain it’s brand name while attracting traffic via these types of affiliations. You see, it is not quite the same scenario as the Google/YouTube acquisition.
There are other players involved as well, I just don’t have enough information to relate everything to you guys yet. If I had to put my money on it I would look for a little more merging and then watch Yahoo! figure out a really good business platform to incorporate these entities. Also consider people out of the picture, as there are so many out there wanting in on the video sharing game.
Thanks Again,
Phil
Mark C. - February 21, 2007 at 10:02 am PDT

These America’s Home Videos-type sites are a laughing stock demoing the bankruptcy of American culture . . . “Hey, watch my cat flush the toilet that I just barfed in!” I can remember PLAYHOUSE 90, CLIMAX, VICTORY AT SEA, SHOWCASE PRODUCTIONS, and all of the culturally and educational uplifting television programming of the 1950s that would tax the mind of today’s brainless 18 to 34 targeted demo who have an attention deficit disorder only satisfied by short form JACKASS self degradation. The inmates have surely taken over the asylum, helped by the greedy sycophant venture capitalists who would be happy to be trafficking in human skin lampshades to make a $buck if it were the 1940s!

Time to trash these FREE web sites into the dot com bombs they deserve to be, by REFUSING to advertise on them!
Bill Wood - February 21, 2007 at 10:48 am PDT

This is big for gofish, It goes without saying that direct competition with YouTube nice move.
Kool - February 21, 2007 at 11:23 am PDT

My opinion Yahoo will be very interested in Gofish and the outcome will be a win win citation for Gofish!
Phil Butler - February 21, 2007 at 11:46 am PDT

Thanks guys,
I agree that no matter which way this goes it will be a win for gofish and WeWin. Yahoo! will obviously not suffer either. I have always like Yahoo! and have stuck with it even when everyone else seemed to migrate to Google. If Yahoo! had a really spiffy search engine and an updated community aspect, they would really rock in many respects.

Mark, I can only say that I appreciate your opinion and agree with some of it in principle. There are many in the younger generation who could use stand to be off the sugar and weed for sure. However, I cannot condemn the whole age group because of a few misguided turnips. Many of my colleagues and even my boss are in this age category. They are some of the most intelligent, kind and honorable people I have ever known.

I understand your relative disgust at some of the things you see, as I often wonder at some of the un-funny stuff I see. I constantly attempt to encourage my readers and other contacts to address larger issues.

I guess my point is, our generation did not exactly perfect the human realm of existence either. Our politicians paved the way for this crop of yes men we now have serving us. The world is on the verge of cataclysm at every turn, and I think young people are really just like older people in that they just want to escape a little.

It is not the “I Love Lucy Show”, but the cat in the toilet would definitely be on “The Honeymooners”. I can see Norton showing Cramden the toilet fl using car right now. Smile, and think about the 40000 TV shows that you hated, and start looking for some video you like!
J. Edwards - February 21, 2007 at 10:40 pm PDT

Phil, do you think Gofish just might grow so fast that a buyout point by the big boys, just might pass them by? With Gofish buying Bolt.com, a potential buy of Wewin.com, plus maybe another acquisition, it seems possible that Gofish could grow so fast it would be difficult for Yahoo, or anyone else to afford a purchase of Gofish.
Phil Butler - February 22, 2007 at 06:56 am PDT

I think that all these business entities are basically riding a fence. I other words they are being dynamic in their business plan for potential profit. In some cases this is a strategy and in others it is a function of being carried by the current.

In the case of gofish, I think this might be investor driven to a large extent. Some of the CEO’s I talk to are very self confident, with a good investor foundation and a clear vision of their goal. In other cases, these companies are like budding movie stars, hoping to be picked up by a studio.

The break point you are asking about is at the point where say a billion dollars today is worth a lot more in 5 years. Point of diminishing returns for lack of a better term. You may be right, in that buying gofish at some point is a bad idea. Perhaps now is the very best time for anyone with their sights on tomorrow.
jason - February 23, 2007 at 05:52 am PDT

i guess no we win news yet?????????
Bill Wood - February 23, 2007 at 08:37 am PDT

jason, My source tells me Gofish is about to make a very exciting announcement in the video community sector stay tune!
jason - February 23, 2007 at 11:38 am PDT

bill wood, do you have any timeframe for this?? what would it entail if you can give any hints??
Bill Wood - February 24, 2007 at 12:06 am PDT

MARCH!
jason - February 24, 2007 at 06:41 pm PDT

anything else besides the month of march
John - February 26, 2007 at 12:38 pm PDT

Wewin are certainly not being purchased by GoFish. I would highly suggest updating your blog, as this is just misinformation.
Phil Butler - February 26, 2007 at 04:06 pm PDT

Thanks for being patient guys. I have very little concrete news, but I have been contacted by Jason Gould - President of Bolt. He told me that Gofish has no intent on buying WeWin, but then this could just be his knowledge. Another source is asking for some leeway in regard to the sensitivity of the issue. From a reporting perspective, it is our intent to let you know what we hear and attempt to validate sources. I will keep you posted on events as they come to me.
I realize some of you are investors probably, and this is important to you. With the information I have, you would certainly have posted this information. It will become clear one way or the other as I have all correspondence at hand. Don’t dump the baby out with the dishwater yet. Also, consider that any blog or newspaper is only a piece of the puzzle of what investors and companies intentions are.
Svetlana Gladkova - February 27, 2007 at 12:32 am PDT

John, we are not updating this post until we have official request from Gofish on that. Not Bolt claiming this is misinformation. Actually Gofish telling we are absolutely wrong and should correct the mistake.

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