Sxsw 2012 lisa williams the hyperlocal hoax

placeblogger  

Screenshot  of  Placeblogger  

placeblogger  

placeblogger  Cambridge, MA

Placeblogger World HQ

Now with free coffee!

placeblogger  

Legos

Robotic cats

Liquid nitrogen

placeblogger  

Lisa  on  Twitter:    @lisawilliams  Lisa  on  tumblr:  

lifeandcode.tumblr.com  

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

When we began looking in 2007 1 in 8 Americans lived in a city or town with a placeblog

placeblogger  

Now that number is 1 in 2

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

A Brief

History of

placeblogger  

4100

1422  

800  

Independent local news sites dramatically outnumber both traditional dailies and VC/foundation backed news startups such as Patch or Bay Citizen

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

4100

1422  

800  

Independent local news sites dramatically outnumber both traditional dailies and VC/foundation backed news startups such as Patch or Bay Citizen

placeblogger  

1422  

800  

But only 4% of independent local news & community sites have a rate card

164  

placeblogger  

Churn  stats  Churn!

placeblogger  

“Of  some  1,200  sites  in  J-­‐Lab’s  database  of  community  news  sites,  about  half  are  inactive.”  

J-­‐Lab.org  

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

No,  not  really  

Churn  has  always  been  >%50  And  that’s  normal  for  startups  

placeblogger  

An  even  briefer  history  of  private  equity  skullduggery  

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

IPO,  woo  hoo!  

placeblogger  

placeblogger  

Not  so  much.    

placeblogger  

The  resulting  company  is  $1.9  billion  in  debt  and  trading  at  

under  $1.  

placeblogger  

5  liquidity  events  

placeblogger  

You  know  what’s  really  depressing?  

placeblogger  

And  that  story  played  out  again  and  again  across  the  United  States.    

placeblogger  

The  Shape  of  Capital    Shapes  Our  Media  

“Traditional”  media  companies  get  pumped  and  dumped  by  

private  equity  While  independents  have  no  

source  of  startup  capital  

placeblogger  

Downton  Abbey  

placeblogger  

Downton  Abbey  

placeblogger  

A  short    list  of  pikers  who  didn’t  get  paid  

placeblogger  

Isaac  Newton  

placeblogger  

Thomas  Jefferson  

placeblogger  

Sometimes  things  are  worth  doing  because  they’re  worth  

doing  

placeblogger  

But  that’s  not  enough  

placeblogger  

Thanks!

Lisa  on  Twitter:    @lisawilliams  

placeblogger  github.com/lisawilliams  

placeblogger  

A  learn-­‐to-­‐program  blog  written  with  journalists  in  mind  

 http://lifeandcode.tumblr.com  

placeblogger  

Get  Excited  &  Make  Things