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In every business, there’s a select group of people guaranteed to lure a following when they speak.  Typically war tested and battle scarred, these are people that have been there.  People that, over years and decades, have weathered the battles and cultivated experience.  People that offer the prospect of insight only time can yield.   Rupert Murdoch is one of these people.   

If you’re in the media industry and want a perspective, Rupert’s one of your dream dinner table guests.  He took the helm of his first newspaper at 22 and in a lifetime of deal making he grew it into a global media powerhouse.  With News Corp, his holdings span TV, cable, print, film, internet, satellite and they travel around the globe.  

Unfortunately, Rupert Murdoch isn’t someone you can call up and ask to share a few stories or pointers.  That is out of the question.   Luckily, there’s ample supply of soundbytes, especially this month.

Every year for the past 48, Australia’s ABC Radio National has broadcast a series of lectures from a prominent Australian.    This year’s speaker in the  49th annual Boyer Lecture series is none other than Rupert Murdoch.   Through the span of November and December, he’s delivered a total of four themed talks.  Another two will air through December 7th. 

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When a company goes public it inherits the responsibility of regularly disclosing its financial performance in SEC mandated filings.  Usually this burden is a willing sacrifice in exchange for new monies or the liquidity of a public trading market.  Every now and again, however, a private company can be forced to register and report even when it’s not in their near-term plans.  Facebook has just managed to avoid stepping into this minefield.

The securities law, specifically Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act, requires companies to register if the number of shareholders or the value of the corporate assets exceed certain thresholds.   Per a rule that went effective December 7, 2007, these thresholds for employee stock plans were set at 500 option holders, or assets in excess of 10 million (SEC Rule: http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/2007/34-56887.pdf).

Facebook’s stock plan was apparently nearing the 500 person boundary. 

Facebook’s attorneys petitioned the SEC for an exemption.  In a letter first reported by BusinessWeek, the SEC agreed to provide it.

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Raising money in a tightening venture climate can depend on who you know as much as what you’re company is doing.  Based on these factors, set top box developer Sezmi may be in a pretty good place.    The company aiming to potentially reshape television distribution counts among its board members a past president of the National Venture Capital Association, a prior president of Bell Labs and another executive whose resume credits include roles as CEO of NBC and Sony BMG music.

According to regulatory filings reported at PEHub, since August, the company has drawn $28m out of a possible $50m in Series C financing.  Prior investors including Morgenthaler Ventures and Omni Capital Group both participated.

UPDATE Nov. 25: Sezmi has confirmed the financing and issued a press release. A total of $33m was reported. Click to Read More

Chalk up another Web 1.0 movie delivery service to the fire-sale files.  Last year, it was Blockbuster stepping in to salvage Movielink for pennies on the dollar, $6.6m  to be precise.  This year it’s Sonic Solutions sweeping up CinemaNow for even less.

Announced Thursday, the media authoring software company known as a leading maker of DVD and Blu Ray encoding tools is buying the assets and assuming the liabilities of the movie download service for a reported $3m.

Cinema Now was founded in 1999 to offer online movie rentals.  As studios became more accepting of Internet delivery mechanisms, downloadable sales were added to the mix.    CinemaNow was the first website to offer pay-per-view movies from major studios. They were also the first broadband distributor of HD content.

Investors including Menlo Ventures, Cisco, Transcosmos and Lions Gate fueled the company with more than $40m in funding.  A fifth round totaling more than $20m was closed in 2006. 

The investors money helped build both the delivery mechanism and a catalog of TV and film titles more than 6,000 strong but it wasn’t enough to buy a sizable audience.  Consumers never really embraced the service.  Click to Read More

Today, hundreds of Microsoft shareholders converged on Bellevue’s Meydenbauer Center to hear the state of their union.  Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates talked Azure while  shareholder votes for board seats were tallied.  Yahoo wasn’t  a subject on the annual meeting’s agenda, but the prospect of a new Microsoft bid for the struggling web giant was on the minds of many.

The very first question of the open Q&A put it out there:  “What’s happening with Yahoo?” Is Microsoft still interested?   Steve Ballmer answered assuredly.  Click to Read More

Jerry Yang took the helm of Yahoo a year and half ago with a plan to restore the then struggling company he co-founded to its former glory.  Amidst mounting pressure from major shareholders, he’ll step down with the task far from complete.

Yahoo announced Monday evening that executive search firm Heidrick and Struggles has been retained to help them find a new CEO.  Jerry Yang will stay in the roll until a replacement is found.  He’ll then revert to his role as “Chief Yahoo.”

Running Yahoo has never been an easy task.  As demonstrated in historical stock charts depicting the stewardship of each of Yahoo’s CEO’s (shown here split adjusted), despite the company’s amazing audience growth, there’s been a consistent ebb and flow to the valuation of the company since its public debut. All of the executives saw value erode in the later periods of their tenure.

Jerry Yang’s short term was particularly tempestuous.  From February 2008 until May, he went to head to head with Steve Ballmer and Microsoft. Through the spring and summer, he faced off with shareholder Carl Icahn over board seats and corporate strategy.    Into the fall, he’s faced defecting staff and an economic environment not before seen in the lifespan of the company.

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Is there an Massive Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) with a Hollywood connection in Ubisoft’s future plans?

The convergence of Hollywood with the video game industry is a recurring theme.  Traditional studios like Paramount and Disney have expanded their game offerings.  Publishers like EA, have signed up talent agents and sought out visual storytellers to partner with; striking development deals with luminaries like Spielberg and up and comers too.  French publisher Ubisoft is as much a part of this process as any studio. 

Arguable, Ubisoft may even be blazing part of the trail.   In the past couple years, the company has made significant strides to align itself with the movie (and TV) industry.   Click to Read More