NewsToScreen Files For Bankruptcy
NewsToScreen, the service by Finnish marketing men that aimed to charge consumers for watching ads, has filed for bankruptcy according to Kauppalehti. We covered the company just little over a year ago in March. Later last year I talked to the CEO Marko Parkkinen back then and he quoted them having 80 000 users. Apparently not everyone was paying the 29€ annual fee as it would have brought in revenue of over 2 million euros.
The company had a very respectable board including Marko Parkkinen a reknown marketing man in Finland, Seppo Sairanen known for making his wealth from the private banking corporation FIM (and having invested into Fruugo). Other members of the board include Lauri Hulkko and Ilkka Seppälä. One thing that does surprise me is the resignation of Parkkinen as the CEO just 15 days before filing for bankruptcy. He had resigned the position on the 15th of June 2009 and the company had filed for bankruptcy on the 30th of June, 2009.
While it is never good to see startups going belly up, you have to admit and give it to people for trying. However, despite encouraging entrepreneurs - this is one idea that I never saw taking off, even in my wildest dreams. I remember talking to Parkkinen about the future of NewsToScreen and he was optimistic about the new course they had been taking with licensing the service to large corporations as a tool for communication. Needless to say, marketing without understanding the fundamentals of business does not work very well.
The Amazing Story Of Morten Lund
Morten Lund, one of the most famous Danish venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, was declared bankrupt last week by a Danish court. Morten Lund gave one of the most touching presentations in LeWeb last year and also telling how everything went wrong with his newspaper in Denmark.
Mr. Lund lost more about 105 million Danish crowns in the project that he had personally loaned against his personal assets. 105 million Danish crowns equal about 14 million euros. Despite being declared bankrupt and having his house being taken away (as he writes in his personal blog), he is extremely positive about the opportunities that lay before him. He has received tons of e-mail and messages in support of his struggle and one investor even told him through SMS; "Hey Morten - let me know if you need cash for kids and their schools. We don’t leave soldiers behind".
Morten Lund has invested in 80 or so startups in the last decade, including Skype in which it is believed he has made most of his money. He is believed to have invested 50,000 USD into the startup very early on and made some 15 to 25 million USD in the sell off to eBay.
Many people online have questioned the interests of Morten Lund in his ventures, being so dedicated and ready to lose his personal assets in what he does. You don't see many people doing that, especially when you have so much to lose. It will be interesting to see how he will bounce back, I'm sure he will. His 80 or so investments will also be sold off until he has paid his debt to his creditors. In this economic downturn he won't be getting the best price for his investments.
