One of my favorite recent blog posts is Seth Godin’s “Getting funded is not the same as succeeding.” Whether or not we’re in a bubble, it’s a sign of the times that this post has to be written in the first place. As Josh Elman tweets, we’ve gone from RIP Good Times to funding a grilled cheese company in less than three years (Sequoia was involved in both interestingly). Instead of focusing on the companies that are creating the most value for their customers, we’re talking about who raised the largest round or who’s part of the billion dollar valuation club.
And this is dangerous. It’s dangerous because we’re celebrating the “success” of fund raisings rather than the success of building truly valuable businesses. → Read More
This is a New York real-estate story and one of marketing excess. It’s about Amp’d Mobile, the too-hip-for-its-own-good virtual mobile carrier that filed for bankruptcy last June after burning through $360 million in capital. A lot of that money was spent on things like MTV ads to attract 175,000 young, urban customers. The problem was that nearly half of them turned out to be unable to pay their bills. Today, a company called VoodooVox, which I wrote about last week, occupies Amp’d Mobile’s former posh offices on Union Square in Manhattan, complete with a massive terrace overlooking the city. VoodooVox CEO Scott Hamilton was able to acquire the space and it’s custom-built contents “by feeding on the corpse of Amp’d,” as he so delicately puts it. For $16,000 at bankruptcy court, he was able to to get a couple hundred thousand dollars worth (his estimate) of furniture and other surplus. As Hamilton was cleaning out the desks and filing cabinets, he came across some of those excesses in the form of marketing schwag—like condoms stamped with the unfortunate tagline, “Try not to die.” Little did the Amp’d marketing genius who came up with that line know that the expiration dates on the condoms would outlast the company. Hamilton also found a closet full of Amp’d fleece jackets. Maybe he should send those to all the investors who pumped money into Amp’d and themselves got fleeced in the process. → Read More
It is almost a done deal. Prexar Mobile will buy Amp’d Mobile, and in exchange the bankrupt MVNO will get a 25 percent stake in Prexar. A Delaware judge has approved United Systems Access (serving under PrexarMobile brand name) purchase of the Amp’d Mobile customers. As part of the cash and stock return Amp’d will be paid based on many of its many of its customers make the switch. [Via mocoNews] → Read More
Yesterday Prexar Mobile, a provider of wireless voice, messaging and data services, announced it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire the strategic wireless assets of Amp’d Mobile. Customes will continue to get uninterrupted wireless service. “Amp’d Mobile worked diligently on an agreement that would guarantee continuity of service for their former customers and a way to seamlessly transition to a compelling offering with the same rewarding user experience they have always enjoyed,” said Bill Fogg, CEO of USA Telephone. “We have a proven track record in delivering reliable phone service to customers nationwide, and believe we can, going forward, offer a full-featured, content-rich mobile service built around each user’s unique and demanding communications lifestyle.” Amp’d Mobile customers will be able to use existing handsets, and can choose from a suite of calling and text plans. How Prexar plans to turn around the Amp’d business, which was aimed at younger mobile users, is yet to be seen. Prexar Mobile → Read More
Amp’d Mobile is most likely shutting down today, July 31, and a list of assets for sale shows where the $360 million in VC went that caused the MVNO to file for Chapter 11. Of course, there’s the additional $100 million Amp’d owes Verizon, but that’s beside the point. It seems a big chunk of change went towards the production of porn, which is prevalent when zooming through the Amp’d catalog. It’s soft-core at best, but you don’t exactly see other carriers offering such risqué content now do you? UPDATE – We’re getting word that it may or may not have been porn. TC writes: A correction printed at Venture Beat notes that these might not have been DVD’s, but some sort of X rated content Amp’d produced, they look like DVD’s and certainly we are unwilling to repeat the names of them here to prove the point. Aside from the still very valid questions about how Amp’d blew $360million in funding and ran up $100million in debt, there are now some interesting questions as to why a company primarily marketing to teens was producing X-Rated content. It’s also been reported that the Amp’d CEO was gallivanting around in a black helicopter at the company’s expense as well as being extremely lax on credit checks for customers just to boost numbers. Pretty sure Adderton is screwed out of any upcoming jobs. Asset List (PDF) [Venture Beat] → Read More
Amp’d Mobile customers had gotten a reprieve yesterday, and the company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 1, said service will continue until at least July 31. As of Tuesday the youth-oriented service, which leases its network from Verizon Wireless to which it owes more than $30 million, posted on its Web site that will potentially suspend service in the U.S. on July 31. An auction is currently scheduled for July 31 and it is possible that another carrier could step up to take over the service, which was first launched in December of 2005. It is possible… but anything is possible. Amp’d Mobile → Read More
Welcome to July 24, everyone. I guess Amp’d didn’t get the memo and forgot to shut off services. I fired up my Moto Q this morning and everything still worked. So I started downloading some more Club Jenna Mobile content. It was awesome. July 31 looks to be the new shut off date, but CS was still kiboshed yesterday. Q&A → Read More
We’ll be watching the Amp’d Mobile site very closely today. The MVNO has posted an FAQ page detailing its closure and offering some options for its current customers. What we do know is that the site might be shutting down tomorrow (July 24), and customer service will likely be hanging up later today. Amp’d Mobile FAQ → Read More
According to Amp’d’s Q&A section, “Amp’d is potentially suspending US operations on July 24th.” All customer support will cease and desist after July 23. I guess the good news is that you can take your phone to any other CDMA network, but you’re losing your status as the cool guy/gal. Oh well. → Read More
Will Qualcomm step up and be the knight in shining armor for Amp’d Mobile? Our sister site Crunchgear doesn’t think Qualcomm is eyeing Amp’d, even if In-Stat analyst Allen Nogee thinks it could happn. OK, so Qualcomm already offers MediaFlo mobile TV service to carriers, and it also is the developer of many mobile applications. So Amp’d could prove to be a good testing ground for those services, but is the big Q about to compete offer a competing service that could upset its core customers? Probably not, but as we reported earlier some of Amp’d woes are that its young clientele hasn’t been so good about paying for their service. Big companies like Qualcomm won’t stand for that! [Via BusinessWeek] → Read More
With Amp’d Mobile filing for Chapter 11 protection and owing Verizon a lot of cash, things in the future could not get any worse for the dying MVNO. But I suppose Verizon threatening to shut off your network, effectively slowing your business to a grinding halt, is a bit worse. Verizon recently asked Amp’d to cough up $4.5 million within 10 days or face a shut off. When your company doesn’t have $4.5 million to pay off a debt with, you know it’s months away from shutting down. Verizon seems to be sick of playing the role of debt collector, so in the next few days, Amp’d customers could see a possible shut off. What got Amp’d into this mess in the first place? A lot of the trouble is attributed to non-paying, delinquent customers who signed up for 18-month contracts. A true shame. Maybe Amp’d just wasn’t cut out for the MVNO world. Verizon Threatens To Shut Off Amp’d [Phone Scoop] → Read More
Late Friday night the hippest MVNO next to Helio filed for Chapter 11 due to rapid growth and a back-end infrastructure that was unable to handle its 200K subscriber base. Amp’d claims they just need to restructure, but maybe it’s because they owe Verizon $33 million and a total debt of around $100 million. I’m no finance guy, oh wait, yes I am, but that’s probably why Amp’d is filing for bankruptcy protection. → Read More
Are things really over for Amp’d Mobile? As our sister site at TechCrunch is reporting the word is that the company has burned through $360 million in the last two years, and is now in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Amp’d had attempted to market mobile phones to the youth market, a sector that has plenty of options. Since in many cases it is the parents footing the bill, maybe the company should have tried to appeal to them instead. The company hopes to restructure its debts, but getting customers to sign up for a mobile plan could require a seriously amp’d pitch! [via Valleywag] → Read More
Amp’d has been a naughty, naughty MVNO! The FCC is about to lay the smackdown on Amp’d for not protecting customer data securely enough. Turns out HP hired a bunch of private detectives to call up Amp’d impersonating customers and fished data out of the mobile provider. Amp’d hasn’t been cooperating greatly with the FCC on the investigation and has 30 days to rectify the situation or face a $100,000 fine. Amp’d Mobile faces $100,000 fine [Yahoo! News] → Read More
Our hockey-playing, pot-growing neighbors to the north have got a new MVNO in town and the content it’s packing is looking pretty tight. Amp’d Mobile will be leeching off TELUS’ EVDO network to launch in Canada with plenty of content in store. Some of the features Canadian Amp’d customers will receive include streaming TV, 20 Amp’d video channels, Amp’d radio, partnerships with MuchMusic and the NHL for exclusive content, user content, and a hockey puck to the face. Now take a minute and digest that. Done? Good, because there’s more. Like the US, Amp’d Canada will offer users packages featuring unlimited calls and texting — one of the bigger turn-ons of Amp’d Mobile. Other partnerships include Adult Swim, UFC, Break.com, Fox Sports, MTV Canada, and a bunch of other Canadian-based channels. The initial phone selection hasn’t been revealed, but it’s probably no different than the US lineup of Helio phones. Oh and did we mention $.99 music downloads until September? Rockage, but Amp’d has yet to say if the classic 1980s hit “Don’t Forget Me” by Canadian act Glass Tiger will be available. Our lipstick and eyeliner are praying. Amp’d Mobile launches in Canada [Slashphone] Update: Johnathan let us know that Amp’d Canada is selling a custom RAZR V3M with a black and red paint scheme and 256MB microSD card included. It costs $300 CAN with no contract. Thanks! → Read More
Facing tough competition from MVNOs like Amp’d Mobile and Helio, both of which offer unlimited calling/data plans, Sprint will be testing out unlimited access plans in the San Francisco Bay area. One plan will offer unlimited voice calling, messaging, and phone-based Web browsing for $120 a month, while another plan will consist of the aforementioned plus unlimited PC data access for $150 a month. Not bad Sprint, not bad. I really like what I’m hearing. Currently the plan is only in a trial phase but hopefully that’ll change when Sprint realizes people would love an unlimited plan for a reasonable price. Sprint Faces Off Against Hip MVNOs [Phone Scoop] → Read More
