To me Flock is the poster child for the bad side of Web 2.0, a solution without a problem. Chris Messina says he’s leaving because basically he doesn’t like working with lots of people, or something he describes as (and I kid you not on this) the “vapor sublimation process”. Talking like this I’ve got no doubt he’ll fit in really well with the next Snake Oil Web 2.0 startup he ties up with. Of course the reality is the long tail might be long enough to sustain the like of Flock into the future. It’s easy to criticise companies like this because of the public profile they have, but with Google money coming in through search (like the Mozilla foundation has) Flock may even break even. Although with some 20 odd staff I’d think they’d be wanting to get something out there in the marketplace pretty soon. When you are talking those sorts of numbers you are talking Web 1.0 burn rates. Compare this with say NewsVine who I understand is burning less that $100k per month. Now that’s a sustainable way to start a business.
(in part via Flock sucks)
