Michael Robertson made $115M when Universal acquired MP3.com. But most importantly, the acquiring party paid $14M extra. That’s something that got lost in the shuffle of the $372M deal, and it’s something, Robertson is betting, that will make entrepreneurs, analysts, members of the media and investors take an interest in his new site, Dealipedia, which is essentially a wiki-based, wisdom of the crowds community on deals.
The site launched and is sure to raise eyebrows.
It’s a sign of the times, following in the footsteps of Wikipedia (in the sense that it allows anyone to edit the content) and TheFunded.com (in the sense that it adds transparency to business deals).
Of course, Robertson’s pet project takes deals a step further than financings alone, by adding data on mergers and acquisitions as well as IPOs.
You want crazy? Check out Who Made the Money, which, as the name implies, tells who you made how much in deals. What I don’t get, however, is why you don’t see how much VCs made in deals (you only get how much VCs invested in deals).
Make no mistake about it, there is a business here, albeit a niche one. Dun and Bradstreet, Thomson et al. generate millions charging for such information. Dealipedia has the potential to be a typical shrinking business that sucks out revenue from those services with the upside potential to scale quickly.
I’ve sent in an email requesting an interview with Robertson. I’ll follow up with the Q&A soon, provided he grants us one.
Anyway, read my interview with Venture Hacks here, and Ted of The Funded here.
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