Rafat Ali’s alter ego at MocoNews is reporting that Amp’d is filing bankruptcy after burning through $360M in funding. All right so the story is that it has not burnt through every penny it raised, but that between the money it owes Verizon, MTV and a plethora of others, its assets don’t quite add up, so it’s filing Chapter 11 to restructure and you know, the usual PR-ese: “we’ve grown too quickly, so filing for bankruptcy makes us come out stronger,” according to President Bill Stone.
Suddenly my post about “wireless executives lack clarity” is becoming less crazy, right?
How does anyone go through $360M in financing?
Here’s a little confession: I sat through the wireless panel at EconSM and stopped writing because in my humble opinion, none of the wireless gurus on the panel knew what the others were saying. Each one was talking a lot but no one seemed to listen to another and if they did, I don’t think they had a clue what the others were actually talking about.
Wait, it gets better.
I’m not trying to pass off as a know-it-all, I’ve worked online since 2000 and been online since 1996 and I don’t think I really ever had a clue what Amp’d did. I mean, by the time you start to wrap your arms around it, poof, like magic, it changes.
I’m sure Amp’d will come out just fine after Chapter 11, or maybe they’ll go totally belly up like so many other VC-backed flops. Either way, maybe I should spend a weekend trying to find out the firm’s strategy and how it makes money. I guess making money ain’t the problem, but spending more than bringing in was.
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:: Disney’s Wireless Chinese Adventure
:: Lifestyle video content provider WatchMojo.com moves into wireless with partnership with Sprint.
:: Size and market of wireless entertainment and mobile advertising.
:: Mobile Entertainment’s Problem: Lack of Clarity