Rocketboom's Value Should Spark Recounciliation
(Update: Huffington Post is reporting that Rocketboom has hired Europe MTV VJ Joanna Colan to replace Amanda Congdon. Now you know - enjoy the rest of your weekend!)
Who knows, maybe Amanda Congdon's departure from Rocketboom could be a good thing now that the New York Times is covering the story. Nothing like some great, free publicity to generate interest in the show from people who have likely never seen Amanda in action. It all depends on how Andrew Baron manages the “situation”. If done properly, the Amanda Riftâ„¢ could be corporate hiccup. But if things keep spinning in the same direction, Rocketboom's moment in the spotlight could be over. What has surprised me is how Baron and Congdon both seem oblivious to the fact their equity stakes (51% vs. 49%) are being eroded the nastier things become.
If Rocketboom was pulling in $40K a week before the Amanda Riftâ„¢, the company could have been worth let's say $10-million to $20-million. (Given I'm not a financial guru, I'm simply giving Rocketboom a 5X revenue multiple to come up with a back-of-the-napkin valuation). This would mean Baron and Congdon would both be worth about $10-million on paper. That's a big enough number, I think, to encourage them to kiss and make up.
By the way, Baron will be in Toronto today for CaseCamp, an unconference marketing and communications event. It's nice to see Baron fulfill his commitment to the organizers but wouldn't he be better off putting out the Rocketboom fire in NYC rather than spending the weekend in T.O.?
Update: BusinessWeek's Heather Green has some insight into what happened between Baron and Congdon, and what their next moves may be.
Update II: ZDNet has a story looking at Rocketboom's business and whether its popularity translates into lots of revenue.
July 8th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
That 40k/week is just as bogus as the $85k/week number they tossed out a month ago.
The show costs $20 to produce and she is living at home because she can't afford to go elsewhere? And Baron can't afford to go elsewhere etc etc? It makes no sense.