Former AOL, MySpace chiefs switch VC teams
Jonathan Miller, the man who was ungracefully booted as AOL CEO, and Ross Levinsohn, the former Fox Interactive Media chief who was never quite as in charge of MySpace as he would have liked, will form a new group at VC firm ComVentures, SAI reports. They're callng it Velocity Interactive Group. The pair plan to invest $20 million to $30 million in digital media startups in 2008 and already, they plan to close as many four deals in February. Wait, doesn't this sound familiar?
That's because Miller and Levinsohn had announced in August a similarly named vehicle, Velocity Investment Group, for investing in startups, in conjunction with General Atlantic Partners, a buyout fund. That Velocity never lived up to its moniker, apparently.
No matter. The real question is, do you want to sell your startup to these guys? Ross Levinsohn may have access to $1 billion in funding now, but he's still the guy "bullying around little startups, demanding special deals because he's a famous CEO," as a source once told us, explaining why legendary angel investor Ron Conway can't stand the guy. As for ex-AOLer Jon Miller, well, he's not exactly a king of Pessinus.