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.
December 14th, 2007 at 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.
December 13th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Presume you’ve all now seen
http://updates.blognation.com/2007/12/13/heres-to-you-mrs-arrington-goodbye-and-good-luck-startups/
December 13th, 2007 at 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.
December 13th, 2007 at 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/).
December 13th, 2007 at 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”.
December 12th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
I guess we will see if Sam really DID put his house up as a guarantee.
December 12th, 2007 at 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.
December 12th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Seconded, I can’t find a source either, and there’s nothing about it on the Blognation site.
December 12th, 2007 at 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
December 12th, 2007 at 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.