liveuniverse

MySpace foe can't keep it up

Owen Thomas · 10/30/08 05:20PM

Brad Greenspan, the former CEO of Intermix Media, the company which launched MySpace, loves to make trouble for News Corp., the media giant he claims bought Intermix and MySpace for a song. Too bad he pays more attention to his ongoing, one-sided feud than his revenge vehicle, LiveUniverse. Greenspan's startup is having trouble with his uptime; a tipster says his LiveUniverse and LiveVideo sites have been down for two days running. That's not the real problem; the real problem is that it took two days for anyone to notice they've been down.

LiveUniverse struggling to pay employees, clients

Jackson West · 10/02/08 10:40AM

It's only a matter of a few hundred dollars, but after high acquisitive LiveUniverse acquired affiliate movie marketer Peerflix, blogger Eric D. Snider stopped receiving the until-then-regular checks. Which happened around the exact same time that we got a tip — in late August — that LiveUniverse didn't have enough cash to pay employees on payday. And it's just the latest in a string of bad signs.Besides Peerflix, the company started by jilted MySpacer Brad Greenspan has also purchased struggling companies PageFlakes and Revver in the last year, and Greenspan made a personal investment in Flurl, but was turned away by JumpTV. All that wheeling and dealing while not paying attention to basic operations like payroll? Flashy products and technology that may or may not actually exist? "Out of touch" sounds about right. Greenspan and friends will probably just blame the market as management shorts employees, since that's all the rage these days. But this looks a lot like a textbook case of "excess and lack of self-discipline" to me. Who may end up the winner in all this? The Hollywood Hills Cat Burglar, who seems to have gotten away from Greenspan's mess just in time. (Photo by Getty/Alberto E. Rodriguez)

Ex-MySpace boss Brad Greenspan possibly robbed by Hollywood Hills cat burglar

Jackson West · 05/05/08 05:20PM

The Hollywood Hills home of MySpace quasi-cofounder and acquisitive LiveUniverse CEO Brad Greenspan was broken into over the weekend, and authorities think it could be the work of a cat burglar who has preyed on the wealthy, including the likes of Charlize Theron and Faith Hill, and their hillside hideaways. Looks like everybody's MySpace friend, Tom Anderson, made the right move by choosing Santa Monica.

LiveUniverse execs "out of touch," engineers leaving

Jackson West · 03/28/08 10:20AM

LiveUniverse, the often acquisitive company founded by tetchy former MySpacer Brad Greenspan, is bleeding engineers. That's according to one LiveVideo codemonkey who's begun applying for work at the company's competitors. Why? Because executives, like Greenspan, are "out of touch with the employees, the industry, and the company itself." The straying underling was especially concerned about being outed, because apparently said executives are regular readers of Valleywag. Hey guys! How about getting in touch with your employees by reading the lament of one geek for hire who's formulating their own exit strategy.

Video startup Revver sells to unpredictable ex-MySpace boss

Owen Thomas · 02/14/08 08:00PM

Last we heard, Revver, the YouTube wannabe which promised a cut of revenues to video creators, was on the ropes. LiveUniverse, the Internet vehicle of former MySpace boss Brad Greenspan, had walked away from a deal, reports had it. That left Revver grasping for a lifeline and willing to sell itself for as little as $1.5 million. Now, NewTeeVee tells us LiveUniverse has bought Revver for less than $5 million.

Brad Greenspan buying Revver?

Owen Thomas · 01/09/08 06:51PM

If at first you don't succeed, buy someone who hasn't succeeded, either. Such seems to be the motive behind obstreperous entrpreneur Brad Greenspan's rumored purchase of Revver, a second-tier video portal. Greenspan, the former CEO of MySpace parent Intermix Media, who bears a grudge over the social network's sale to News Corp., now runs LiveUniverse. Haven't heard of LiveVideo, LiveUniverse's leading property? Exactly. Revver, notable mostly for being more generous with sharing what little revenue it garners with video creators, would not do much to help Greenspan's lack of renown.