Sam Sethi Shuts Down Blognation

Sam Sethi has thrown in the towel. There’s no place to take Blognation given the reality of zero funding and mounting debt. No bills were paid and the train wreck has run over Sethi. He announced today that he will not continue and steps down from Blognation.

The tally of debt is daunting. The developers of the site are owed $60K USD. The debt to, at least, 3 bloggers tops $20K with one owed $35K USD not including travel expenses. These figures are just the beginning.

Tristan Louis who owns the Blognation domain name may try to relaunch the site under a different corporation that will be free from all debts incurred by Blognation, Ltd.

Turn out the lights; the party’s over.

The irony of timing must be pointed out. Dennis Howlett observed that LeWeb and Sam Sethi controversy must be intertwined. For the Blognation Staff, LeWeb was to be our first team gathering - a chance to meet, a brainstorming session and a face-to-face social event - all courtesy of Blognation Ltd. As LeWeb shuts down today, so does Blognation.

20 comments so far

  1. Triona Carey December 12, 2007 8:21 pm

    The scut as they say in Cork - does this mean he gets to keep his house and his fine wines and his private clubs? I hope not.

  2. Ben Metcalfe December 12, 2007 8:23 pm

    Do you have a source for this?

    It’s important news, and I’m just trying to fact check and confirm before reporting wider

    Thanks
    Ben

  3. Thayer Driver December 12, 2007 9:29 pm

    Seconded, I can’t find a source either, and there’s nothing about it on the Blognation site.

  4. mojo December 12, 2007 11:34 pm

    Ben,

    I was in a Skype chat with the rest of Blognation’s current and previous staff, making me the source. There are plenty of people in that list you can contact for corroboration. Please feel free to do so.

  5. Segala December 12, 2007 11:43 pm

    Sam Sethi gives up on Blognation…

    According to Debi Jones, Sam Sethi has given up on Blognation. This is sad as I thought there was still hope for what I think is a great brand. Well, it has (had?) great potential anyway.
    It’s always sad to see a business go bust but hey, so what…

  6. Paul Fabretti December 12, 2007 11:50 pm

    I guess we will see if Sam really DID put his house up as a guarantee.

  7. Michael Pick December 13, 2007 12:32 am

    The most disturbing thing here for the people owed money are the words “Blognation Ltd.” Ltd. as in limited liability company under UK law. As in ‘write the debts off when you declare the company insolvent’.

    Quick quotes: “Limited companies exist in their own right. This means the company’s finances are distinct from the personal finances of their owners” and “Shareholders are not personally responsible for the company’s debts”.

  8. […] Sam Sethi Shuts Down Blognation Well, that was so unexpected (NOT). What a scam artist. (tags: samsethi blognation scam) Posted inLinksDecember 13th, 2007 […]

  9. Blogcosm December 13, 2007 5:23 am

    Blognation network in turmoil; what traffic and revenue is at stake?…

    The Blognation network is in turmoil, with controversial founder Sam Sethi accused of various misdeeds which seem to be documented in some detail. There’s an unconfirmed report from Debi Jones (who i…

  10. Dario Salvelli December 13, 2007 10:11 am

    This is a bad news. I read that Scoble would to video interview Sethi in London (http://scobleizer.com/2007/12/05/blognation-imploding/).

  11. jeremy wright December 13, 2007 9:23 pm

    Too bad :-( if he’d shown up at leweb and been honest that there was no funding, we could have worked something out.

  12. Darren December 13, 2007 9:31 pm
  13. […] imploded with bloggers unpaid and feelings hurt. Assets will be auctioned off […]

  14. Robert Scoble December 14, 2007 2:13 am

    Sorry, Sam Sethi didn’t show up for the blogger/geek dinner in London. Good thing, probably, since there were quite a few journalists waiting to talk with him.

  15. […] kunne en af de utilfredse blog-redakt?rer meddele at blognation er f?rdig, og i g?r kastede grundl?ggeren Sam Sethi s? h?ndkl?det i ringen. Der bliver igen skudt til h?jre […]

  16. […] über die lokale Startupszene berichtende Netzwerk also zum Verkauf. Angesichts der nicht gerade geringen mittlerweile angehäuften Schulden dürfte das nicht leicht werden. Da Blognation eine Ltd. ist/war, ist auch nicht sicher, ob die […]

  17. […] Sam Sethi Shuts Down Blognation […]

  18. Probleme December 17, 2007 11:45 pm

    Blognation s-a stins….

    Will the last one out please turn off the light. {lol} Who’s next ?

    Surse:
    {Techcrunch} {Mobilejones.com} {Nowpublic.com}
    Dac? ?i-a pl?cut aceast? însemnare, aboneaz?-te la RSS feed…….

  19. […] between BN operator Sam Sethi and Mike Arrington of TechCrunch. Even more has been made of the way Sam reportedly treated the people who came on board to help build the dream. I don’t plan on revisiting that stuff because like […]

  20. […] Blognation spent $60k developing there app, or at least that’s what the developers are apparently […]

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