What is Digg?325 Comments
- kevinrose, on 10/12/2007, -3/+46The biggest problem we have faced so far is keeping up with growth. This gives us some money to buy more servers (just ordered 12) and hire a few more developers to help Owen out. Once we get rolling, expect to see new features more often.
And don't worry, we still control the company. This wasn't some kind of crazy takeover, just an investment by some cool folks that believe in the digg community.
..and no guys - I don't get the money, it goes to the company to help us grow :P - kevinrose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+26There will be no crazy ads all over the place, all decisions involving the site we control. While it may seem like a lot of money, once you hire a DBA, 3-4 developers, QA guy, designer, get a small office, and plan on buying over 100 servers in the next 6 months - it works out.
This will ensure that digg will continue to keep up with growth and add new features. I have a list of 20 features Owen is starting to work on. If you like digg now, wait till you see the stuff we have planned.. - copperkidd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7So I don't guess they need my $5 each month now
- danhuard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6NOTE: Digg and Revision3 are two ENTIRELY different companies. Diggnation is a part of Rev3 AND NOT digg. The two company's successes are completely separate.
- Keith_rev3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Ok, let me clear a couple things up. Digg.com and Revision3(Diggnation, Systm, etc.) are two SEPARATE companies. Funding for Digg.com has nothing to do with Rev3. Also, investment money goes to the company, not the individual. It doesn't make Rose a millionaire overnight. Most of the money will be used to hire a staff, rent out office space, and beef up the infrastructure to handle the continually increasing server load. Just thought I'd clear things up a little.
- davidpb145, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I wonder if Alex can now afford AC for his appartment?
- hankbeasley, on 04/22/2009, -0/+3I bet alpacino is pissed he missed this story...
- TimmyK., on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Venture Capital isn't debt. All it means is that the people who put up the money will get a chunk of the success and proffit IF it succeeds. Theyt will also share in the failure if it doesn't. This whole thing just means that the Digg guys have some things cooking that these investors like, and are willing to take the risk on. And they obviously aren't going to reveal what those things are until the time is right, so just hold on to your BVD's.
- jcroft74, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2is digg about to go "big time"?
- UnitedByBeer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2this Digg is on fire.
- Brak710101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Dear mistear K. rosse.
hello, i live in nigera and i need you help transfering money to my bank account as i move to america. i have 1.8$ million dollars check i will send you to deposit in your account untill i can get imagraded. once i get imagraded you can give me my moneys back and you can keep 100.000$ dollars.
thanksalot, song.
(/joke) - jcroft74, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Why are so many people hating on success or, at least warning against success? Of course there are pitfalls associated with any sort of business venture, but no one has, yet, sold out or compromised anything. The 2.whatever million dollars just seems to be a validation of the idea of digg. And would seem to be help to fully realize that idea.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Why the hell hasn't Alex dugg this? He's pretty lazy as it seems. ;-)
- tpimental, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The guys at Paid Content are questioning the viability of this.
http://www.paidcontent.org/pc/arch/2005_10_28.shtml#052108
Seriously... why does Digg need $2.5 million? And more importantly, how are they going to pay it back? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2What Kevin can do is basically license the digg model to other sites. Maybe even sites like CNN, Reuters, or other news resources. By having a special section on those sites, users will be able to do the same thing, just digg stories they like. Maybe that's where the money can come from.
- hansonc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"I think Digg just won the Digg vs. /. war"
I don't think it's a war when slashdot ignores that digg exists...
and it's not like the slashdot owners didn't make an assload of money when they were bought by Andover.net and when Andover was bought by VA linux. - Interpol, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Congrats!
- rileyjt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Congrats guys - keep up the good work!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hey how bouts a loan?!?!?
- LeeVal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1whats digg
- TheSource, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1As long as Kevin Rose is behind Digg I don't think you'll ever seen any kind of "selling out" as some people seem to believe. He's always been a proponent of things such as open source and making information widely available.
I'm happy for Digg and can't wait to see it continue to grow and improve. - DaviDK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Break out the champagne!
Leo was right, Kevin did become a millionaire before the year was out.
*clap* *clap* *clap* - ndm007, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1diggnation needs to be shot with 3 cameras now. =)
- b0b0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1All this means is that the big boys have bought a large stake in digg. This doesn't mean that Kevin and the rest are rich by any means; all it means is that they are receiving funding. Understand that by investing such a large sum of money, the venture capitalists will attempt to exercise a large amount of control over digg. If digg does not produce significant returns, then they will quit supporting digg.
- Livewired, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Venture Capital is debt. That means it has to be paid back. How does digg expect to pay back $2,800,000.00? I can see the headline now, "Digg can't dig out"
- moisie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Good for Digg
- tarun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1-Better chairs
-Faster servers
-No more f-bombs on Diggnation? :)
Digg+ - rileyjt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1>>
Seriously... why does Digg need $2.5 million? And more importantly, how are they going to pay it back?
>>
For the same reason Google needs $10 Billion - to help improve and grow their business. Good Service + Traffic + Ads = $$$, how do you think all these websites stay online? This isn't exactly a foreign concept.
Without funding and a solid business plan, popular websites simply get crushed under the weight of their own success. Here's hoping that Digg is able to improve and continue their services. - fudgebrown, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1well, digg would not be what it is without it's users... so i think every registered user deserves a cut. :-P
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm happy for the digg guys - but I'm concerned that the model has dugg themselves into a tough hole. usage is obviously free, things are promoted by the users so you can't promote un-dugg news for $$$. to me, ads seem to be the only revenue generator if you don't break the model, and I doubt they'll break the model. hopefully they're thinking about this more deeply than I'm able to, because like many I'm not sure what 2.5 mil buys digg besides more bandwidth.
they must be working on a model that's NOT the website - e.g., intranets for corporate customers or something.
just some thoughts. congrats, digg. - Mininday, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow......Kevin Rose...Millionaire by 30?
- vincenzothavise, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1by the way, if you REALLY want Alex and Kevin to spill some, make sure this digg is dugg so that it must be covered on teh Nation.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Good job guys! Just be careful because when investors invest they own you. I know this was just a stupid movie but it's a good exmaple of when someone buys you out....wayne's world....real life example...techtv...but you knew that. Just be carefull and lets keep on diggin'!!!
~mario - pjrichwine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If they truly received this monetary donation thats great, but I hope they don't sell out and start putting ads all over their page.
- ieatdirt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1suppose that's the reason for the lack of content on rev3?
/still holding on the my $5 - ext237, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hey Kevin! Remember me? We met in college -- I hooked you up with that babe Shannon at that one party that one night. Call me.
- xaqaria, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1William71 - Yes. I believe I have read every single one - or at least skimmed them. I have come back several times today to see how it is ranked (#2 for the month at 2909 when I browsed at 3:30pm PDT) and see if anything else good has come through.
Kevin and Alex - New feature idea: How about a cookie or some other functionality that will allow me to only see the comments since my last visit? - vincenzothavise, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Kevin and Alex, please fill in the details. Enough with the cloak and dagger stuff. I know you don't owe us a thing as your users, but we would be extremely greatful"
to a certain extent this is untrue. we are the users and community who make the site a huge success. would it have been as popular if it was just kevin, alex, dan, and a few others submitting stories? prolly not. let's all pat ourselves on the back and celebrate this as a community win. - TacitusBen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0DiggNation LIVE!
In Concert! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Thinking about it some more, Digg is probably worth more. Based on the Weblogs, Inc. sale, for example, BoingBoing is worth over $9,000,000:
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/10/24/how_much_is_your_blo.html - wilf_brim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Congratulations. Now how about a bunch of reader meet ups with Sam Adams on tap?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0My previous comment:
"Um, does digg have any sources of revenue? A free site, without ads. I love digg, but if I were a VC I'd have to question this. Is there a business model here?"
Ok I'm stupid, I didn't think to turn off adblock ;) - boscorelle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0dudez the money is for Digg as a company -- not for indiviuals -- they just get to spend it :)
- mactotoro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Congratulations dudes - keep up good work on this great site - innovation is the way forward, along with a steadfast ethos...power to ya!!
- draven_b4u, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0CONGRATS BOYZ!
It's about time a big player stepped up to the plate. Now what is next for the boyz. A 24/7 IPTV channel? GO REV/3! - Zoobster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Well hell - maybe now you can spend some money on hardware speed up this slow monster, as well as optimize the maze of code and HTML that loads with each page.
- ndm007, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Now they have the money...
Diggnation Fest 2006: (Podcasts from...)
-San Francisco
-New York
-London (and Manchester so i can go watch)
-Hong Kong
-and the final night in Tokyo.....
Now THATS a tour - rmiguens, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Could not of happened to a more deserving bunch.
- TacitusBen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Kevin's Secret Plan"
1)Improve Digg's internal search engine.
2)Digg entier internet.
3)Pwn Google! - TomJ, on 10/12/2007, -0/+01. Throw a party for Diego / Bay Area Digg folks w/ lots of beer and misc.
2. Hire some talented people
3. Growth
4. More VC
5. Rinse and repeat -
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