Every once and awhile we need to step back from scooping the sarcasm and make sure that we’re still on target. It’s easy to be cynical about anything these days. Because of that its important that the Militant Geek crew surveys just where the ire lies. What should our next T-Shirt be about? Who needs to be taken down a peg? Vote in our poll (to the right) and help us decide just who gets their next foible on a Militant Geek Tee.
Call us late to the party but Militant Geek just read about Friendster and the greed therein (article is behind a NYTimes walled garden but Michael Arrington does do a wrap up). There are so many slights I’m not even sure where to start.
Friendster turned down a $30 million buyout offer from Google in 2003.
Everything went downhill from there.
…
Key points of failure seem to be a disastrous initial architecture that just couldn’t scale, a succession of high profile but out of touch CEOs (Tim Koogle, then Scott Sassa, then Taek Kwan), infighting at the executive level (particularly between the VP Product and VP Engineering) and a general level of arrogance at the board and executive level. No one is spared in the article, including Kleiner Perkins Partner John Doerr and former partner Russ Siegelman.
Hmmm…. Fiendster? Fraudster? Greedster? Too many options… Which is why it would make a great poll! Take a moment and vote for the most appropriate name for everyone’s favorite social networking also-ran.
Update
From Geek and Poke (what a ca-wink-a-dink!)
