(2009-04-23) Geocities Closing

Yahoo is shutting down GeoCities.

Ethan Zuckerman, who co-founded Tripod, reminisces about their rivalry.

Fred Wilson (an investor), gives his bits. I've always felt that syndicating a deal to other VCs who can be helpful is a good idea. In the case of Geocities, we cut ourselves back by $3.5mm, which ultimately became worth $500mm, and I'd do it all over again. Intel wasn't particularly helpful as investors, but their brand was helpful to the company who used it actively. But Harry was a big help. Less than six months after we made our investment, the company was burning through cash and there were no financial controls in place. Harry showed up with his team and got things under control, fixed the financial management, and bought enough time to get another round raised.