extremepreneur

Huffington Post: Farting Permitted, Politics Prohibited? Does Apple Have a Problem with Political Games?

The Huffington Post covers the issue of Apple blocking and/or delaying apps with political satire.

Farting Permitted, Politics Prohibited? Does Apple Have a Problem with Political Games?

Beat the Bailout on your iPhone or Google Android Phone

AN UPDATE:

IT SHIPPED! THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SENT MESSAGES AND MADE CALLS

Buy it at the iPhone App Store

We've decided to increase our contribution to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties to 25% of sales (retail price).

----------------------------------------------

PlayScreen Battles the “Bailout Bonanza” with a New iPhone Game

Angered by the million dollar bonuses, corporate jets, fancy junkets and other executive perks

funded by the Bank Bailout?  Wish you could stop this “Bailout Bonanza?” A new iPhone game 

will give you the opportunity to do just that, and in the process, provide a REAL helping

hand for people in need.

PlayScreen has created “Bailout Bonanza,” a fast, fun and furious arcade-action game where 

you try to catch bundles of cash being thrown by a greedy executive.  Taking advantage 

of the iPhone’s cool control features, “Bailout Bonanza” gives you the option to play by swiping your 

finger across the screen or by tilting the phone.  Watch out for the occasional shoe toss!  If you 

miss a moneybag or get hit by a shoe you lose one of your baskets and make the greedy 

exec very happy.

PlayScreen is pledging to donate 25% (yes, we have changed this from 5%) of each sale to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

With “Bailout Bonanza” you can channel your frustration over Bailout abuse into helping the people hit hardest by this economic crises.

Now available for the Google Android G1 phone!



Contact Information:

William Volk
[email protected]
(858) 692 1124

Bailout Bonanza, a new iPhone game that takes on the abuses of the bailout

AN UPDATE:

IT SHIPPED! THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SENT MESSAGES AND MADE CALLS

Buy it at the iPhone App Store

----------------------------------------------

Motivated by anger over the abuses of the Bailout, PlayScreen is launching a iPhone game called "Bailout Bonanza."

Here is a video trailer for the game:

(There's a high quality viewing option on the lower right of the video).

"Bailout Bonanza" is a classic arcade game where you try to stop the abuses of executives using the Federal Bailout of Banks for their own personal benefit.

Featuring a choice of a Swipe or Tilt interface, "Bailout Bonanza" recreates a classic arcade experience with a theme as timely as today's headlines.

The game will be available on iTunes for a price of 99 cents.

PlayScreen is pledging to donate 5% of each sale to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. With “Bailout Bonanza” you can channel your frustration over Bailout abuse into helping the people hit hardest by this economic crises.

Web 2.0 = Dead 2.0? The Financial Crises As An Extinction Event

Let's get this over with at the start.  I believe most Venture backed startups will not survive this crises.

First let's begin with some background.  A few days ago a presentation was 'leaked' from Sequoia Capital on the financial crises.  You can view that here (yes, this is the opening slide):

The summary?  This isn't like the dot-com crash or earlier slow downs.  This is systemic and it will last a long time.  

Here are some choice quotes from a recent Forbes Article:

Venture firms brace for cash crunch

"If you are not cash-flow positive you are in a tough spot right now"

"To the extent you haven't figured out your business model yet you are in trouble, because it's going to be hard to get another round," ... "You aren't going to get a second life this time."

So, why am I such an expert on this?

Well I saw this happen to a far smaller extent during the dot-com crash.  I've even heard the same sort of nonsense that I heard eight years ago.

"Web 2.0 and Silicon Valley is still in a bubble"

"Good ideas will still get funded"

"Mobile is growing, it won't slow down"

I'd advise EXTREME CAUTION here.  In hindsight the dot-com boom/bust looks almost insane but if you were in it, it seemed rational at the time.  The mind loves to rationalize events.  Come up with metrics that in hindsight look foolish.  Some choice ones:

"The valuation of a dot-com is the number of subscribers x $20" (this was for a free service)

"Forget revenue, the number of eyeballs is what matters"

So here's what will happen.

The "next round" ... maybe not.  Don't count on it.

The funding you are waiting on to get started?  Think of the wealth destroyed in the last few weeks.

I am so reminded of the summer of 2000.  People were still attending these events where you would network with potential investors.  I myself won a major venture event that summer, one that NPR covered.

The result was one investor who basically offered a small investment ($50k) backed by home equity.

THIS IS WORSE.

Now is the time to get cash flow positive.  Better to be one of the small mammals that survives than a large dinosaur who starves to death.

This isn't going away in a few months or a few years.