mobilejones » Scamtones

Sam Sethi Shuts Down Blognation

mojo — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:37:35 +0000

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.

Sam Sethi – ScamtonesTM

mojo — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:45:40 +0000

A triple pack of Scamtones^TM for the final day of LeWeb. If you are enjoying these, please toss $1, 1 euro, 1 pound sterling per Scamtone^TM into the donation account for Marc Orchant. Of course, more is always welcomed. Thank you.

I removed the donate button because it wasn’t working as coded. Please go to this post and click the donate button there. Sorry for the extra step and we’ll sort this out over the next day.

Download audio file (Scamtone5.mp3)

Download Pay Each Other Scamtone^TM

Download audio file (Scamtone6.mp3)

Download Really Big Noise Scamtone^TM

Download audio file (Blognation_ringtone1.mp3)

Download Bloggers Make No Money Scamtone^TM

Sam Sethi, Triumphant Return to LeWeb

mojo — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:04:45 +0000

Scam Sethi might be dodging the queries of concerned bloggers at LeWeb3, but his badge made an appearance this year. Not the triumphant return that Sethi dreamed of, I’m sure.

I’m already a fan of Pat Phelan after meeting him and interviewing him at TechCrunch 40. But now, he’s helped me find another Irishman to love. Paul Walsh Segala’s CEO – love the badge – love you for thinking to do it. Trust the Irish, indeed!

Today’s Bonus Scamtone^TM.

Download audio file (Sam_sethi_ringtone4.mp3)

Sam Sethi – Blognation Funding Web of Lies

mojo — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:47:28 +0000

One would need a secret agent decoder ring to untangle the web of lies Scam Sethi has spun across the blogosphere this week. I suppose the most pervasive lie he continues to perpetrate is Blognation’s funding status and what he told his editors. According to his update on Blognation, Sethi falsely claims the following.

I explained we were in the process of raising funding and that we were already in discussions with several Angel and VC’s as far back as July. Each editor was aware they would be paid in full, back dated from when they joined upon closure of the funding. I also said I expected to have closed it at the end September if not sooner.

In addition, a commenter pointed out that the About page at Blognation in FAQs clearly states that, “Blognation is backed by undisclosed venture capital by vendor advertising and through affiliate advertising.”

Also compare his statements this week with those in his own words to a prospective Blognation editor.

So what we’re offering everybody is a base salary, a percentage of the ad revenue based on how much traffic…. So the way the ad revenue works, the more people generate page impressions the more ad revenue we generate and you get a percentage of that revenue.

Pretty simple model really. And then we offer stock options. And we do that for everybody. And that just makes life useful. Because as we said, there’s no point – bloggers make no money and if they make no money their not interested.

Download audio file (Sethi_ringtone3.mp3)

Sam compounds his twisted accounts of Blognation’s funding status by assuring Jemima Kiss of The Guardian that funding is imminent.

He gave me the name of the investor and said money is due to come through on December 10th.

“Anyone raising money knows that it takes time, and it can be a horrible business. It has taken four months to grow this idea to a brand. Every editor has a contract and has the right to sue me, but there are nine editors on the backchannel that are aware of what is happening with the funding.

Let me state the obvious and point out that today is December 11th and there’s been no word from Sethi on the checks he’s written or electronic transfers completed to his beleaguered editors.

Sethi does get one part of his quote to Jemima correct. All of those who joined Blognation have contracts and have the right to sue him.

Download the Scamtone^TM.