Mike at Techdirt calls today’s AOL/Weblogs Inc. deal (see my earlier post) “The Real Blog Bubble”, which sounds about right to me. And he has the same suspicions I did:
Also, to be watched, is how this impacts all of Weblogs Inc. authors who are paid relatively little without any equity participation. Some may get upset that the full timers at WIN just made a pretty penny off their labors. AOL may need to prop up the amount paid to keep them, further cutting into the rationale for this deal.
I worked for at least a half-dozen tech companies during the bubble of the late 1990s. In every case, with no exceptions, a handful of insiders at the top got very wealthy, and the people who worked for years building the product that was eventually sold got either nothing or a pittance. In at least two cases, the loyal staff got pink slips.
So pardon me if I don’t join in the orgy of congratulations over this deal.
Update: Rex Hammock says “Show them the money”: “Can something that is created by a ‘community’ of creators be purchased and sold without compensation going directly to those who create the, excuse me for the following word, content?”
TDavid approaches the deal from a writer’s perspective and says: ” I’m worried. Although I haven’t read through every blog post on the acquistion, something I haven’t noticed a single blogger mention yet — I just can’t be the only person to wonder this amidst the flurry of virtual blogger high fives — I sure hope the writers get a raise out of this deal.”
Darren Rowse publishes a private e-mail from a blogger on the network, who says the terms include the following: “Bloggers will need to sign a new contract shortly … The contract will contain other features yet to be announced that are favorable to bloggers … There is no increase in pay mentioned but allusions to more money in the network due to the deal.” I could go back into my 1999 files and drag out similar letters. If I worked for this network, I’d be very disappointed right now. Been there, done that.
Ed Bott 
Boohoo. You’re just jealous cos people are making more money from their blogs in a couple of years than you’ll ever make from your books.
If the individual bloggers on Weblogs Inc wanted equity they should have asked for it. Not to mention they can move away from Weblogs Inc once their contracts expire.
Cry me a river, and grow up.
John, what a wonderful ambassador for your company you are. Do your VCs know you talk like this?
If the individual bloggers who joined that network asked for equity, they wouldn’t have gotten it. There’s always someone willing to work for a pittance and an empty promise. That was the way it worked in 1999, and it’s repeating itself now.
I make a very comfortable living, thank you, and have no desire to sell out.
Boohoo indeed.
Don’t get me wrong, I am more than a fan of blogs and Web 2.0 (do you sense a b-word coming up?) BUT I am concerned about a whole lot of investment without compelling value propositions and business models. The only business model is an exit strategy – not everyone can be like Flickr, Skype, and now Weblogs, Inc.