Entrecard Purchased By Who?
by Frank Jovine on 07/22/2009 in Business, Internet
If you haven’t heard, Entrecard the ‘blogging network’ was acquired by ZipRunner. Who is ZipRunner? I looked up the name in Google and found nothing other than someone else asking the same question.
I was a member of Entrecard, but only for about 6 months when things just seem to go south. My decision for leaving was the owner’s inability to follow through on promises. Entrecard was a great concept if it had enough VC (Venture Capital). Entrecard had the potential to be one of the best blogging communities on the internet. I decided to pack my bags like many other members and move on to the next gig. I must say, I met a lot of wonderful bloggers and I thank Entrecard for that!
There was a lot of negativity around a member who was banned because of a remark he made about the owner Graham. I thought this was hilarious that an owner would voice this publicly, it was a dumb move among many other dumb things that happened. Read it here.
I recall a statement that Graham Langdon once said – I would never sell Entrecard, not even to Google. I am not quoting that statement because the words may not be exactly what he said, but what he meant. I guess ZipRunner has something Google doesn’t, or maybe not.
In my opinion, I think ZipRunner is a new company that probably is the same team at Entrecard.
Many members are concerned about the new acquisition and are still awaiting answers. See the post below taken from the Entrecard forum.
“So Entrecard has been bought off… So now what? Will the site structure be the same? Will ZipRunner change the game? What about our Entrecard credits? A lot of questions and no answers.”
Graham Langdon’s last statement: “Whether you love or hate the decisions I’ve made for Entrecard in the past, I always did the best I could to move the company forward given the resources I had, and I always had the best interest of the members in mind. Now, with new management and ownership stepping in, I urge anyone who has left the service to give it another chance, and I urge those who have been loyal members for days, weeks, months, or years to look forward to a brighter future, a reliable and stable service, and great new features and strategic direction.”
All the best to ZipRunner! Who ever you are.
Update from My Journey Blog
ZipRunner Inc company information:
Company name: ZipRunner Inc
Number: C2322843
Date Filed: 12/12/2000
Status: Active
Jurisdiction: California
Address: 2168 S Atlantic BLVD #232, Monterey Park, CA 91754
Agent for Service of Process: ANDREW H TE, 2168 S Atlantic BLVD #232,
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Read this article about the Entrecard sale called ‘Storms a Brewing’ by My Journey.
ozbillybong
Jul 22nd, 2009
hay mate wate hapened 2 stumble did i affend you if i did appolagz
Frank J
Jul 22nd, 2009
Not at all, you are still in my friends list.
Joanie
Jul 22nd, 2009
I’m still a member of Entrecard, but I don’t participate much (if at all) any longer.
The problem I had was that most of the traffic I got was “bad.” People hit the site long enough to click the entrecard widget, and moved on. No one read anything, commented, clicked an ad, subscribed. Nothing. To me, it just seems like such a closed system. I can’t see how to benefit much from it in terms of traffic.
I did meet a lot of bloggers there, so the networking aspect was well worth it. That’s the only thing that would tempt be back again.
Frank J
Jul 22nd, 2009
Joanie,
I agree! My bounce rate was through the roof when I was member. I did meet a lot great people who I still keep in touch with.
ozbillybong
Jul 22nd, 2009
whates up mate
Frank J
Jul 22nd, 2009
ozbillybong,
Hey mate!
Susie
Jul 22nd, 2009
It was our humble beginnings, it worked great for me, and yes, I know I need to get the widget off my site Frank!
Frank J
Jul 22nd, 2009
Susie,
I met you through EC. I thank EC for bringing us together as best friends. Yes, remove the widget!
Susie
Jul 23rd, 2009
It’s gone!
Frank J
Jul 23rd, 2009
Susie,
Now remove the widget! Christmas is over!
My Journey
Jul 22nd, 2009
I was an entrecard member but due to Graham’s rudeness removed all 5 of my blogs from the system. I have a post on my blog (July 18) with the details of ZipRunner at the bottom of the post. I don’t thing ZipRunner is the same management team as entrecard but with all the shady dealings surrounding entrecard somehow it wouldn’t surprise me.
Frank J
Jul 22nd, 2009
Interesting. I will check out the information on ZipRunner. There was a lot of immature things that happened. What do you expect when a kid is running the biz.
Frank J
Jul 22nd, 2009
My Journey,
I added your information about ZipRunner and a link to your article called ‘Storms a Brewing’. Thanks for the share!
Jaffer
Jul 22nd, 2009
Hey Frank !
If you really want the scoop about Entrecard and who ziprunner is you can visit Turnip of Power at http://turnipofpower.com/
I was referred to that blog by ‘My Journey’ (Thanks !) and I’ve been reading it ever-since Entrecard decided to enforce ‘paid ads’
I still have my account at Entrecard but with all my friends quitting/banned I have no purpose there.
Frank J
Jul 22nd, 2009
Jaffer,
Thanks for the share. I know who Turnip is and that is who I referred to in my article about the banning.
John
Jul 22nd, 2009
Hi Frank,
Hopefully the new company will fix the problems with Entrecard. So far this year Entrecard has made one unpopular change after another, losing 31% of their traffic in the process
John
Frank J
Jul 23rd, 2009
John,
That’s a lot of traffic to lose and I am not sure if you can fix all the things that were wrong about EC.
HART (aka PetLvr)
Jul 22nd, 2009
I remember receiving an email about the purchase/takeover .. wondering why it was in my “IN”box once again – so I marked it as spam once again.
BadEvan
Jul 23rd, 2009
I still have my widget up…. I never gave out hope that EntreCard would one day be the company it set out to be. I was one of the first ECers and had the honor of being the first blog banned for “Adult Content”. Granted I was reinstated after a couple of rounds of emails.
The community was there. The blogs were there. The interest and commitment were there. Sadly the leadership was not. As a former MOD I can tell you that many people that were part of the EC OG gang left due to the mismanagement and extremely poor communication from the top boss.
Even as recent as a couple of months ok, I had reminded (as did others on my behalf) Graham that he still hadn’t answered my emails or calls from over a year ago. Questions from a current MOD, aka me, about what the “new strategy” is/was? What am I supposed to be doing? What the FRAK is going on? I got a tweet telling me he was sorry he had neglected me… still wanted me to MOD… and would be sending me an indepth email…
Like usual, it never came.
So, what I am saying is… Good luck “ZipRunner”! You have a giant task ahead of you.
Frank J
Jul 23rd, 2009
Evan,
That was the problem with EC. Too many promises broken. Graham, baited many of us, but couldn’t deliver.
Susie
Jul 23rd, 2009
Nice to see ya badevan!
CrimeCleaner
Jul 23rd, 2009
Man…sounds like some very interesting stuff. I remember hearing a lot about EntreCard from friends and I also got an email not to long back about the buyout…Maybe I’ll give them a shot here in a few months. You just never know…