What am I Missy? Episode 5

Microsoft and Yahoo's never-ending deal; Duh... It's the debt crisis; Drew reveals his secret sauce

Let's take another glance at a couple of VatorNews articles and our top Lessons Learned story we covered last week.

Will the deal between Microsoft and Yahoo ever die? It's been reported that Microsoft is thinking about buying Yahoo's search business for some $20 billion dollars. The report has been widely dismissed, as the price tag is well over Yahoo's entire business. Sanford Bernstein's analyst Jeff Lindsay says that Yahoo's search business is worth more like $2 billion dollars. 

See: Yahoo search biz, worth more like $2 billion

Yes of course, we all know about our current debt crisis. If you asked anyone what is ailing the economy, they will tell you that everyone has been over-leveraged. Several people have been taking on too much debt. This means, debt will most likely not be the financing vehicle of choice when it comes to startups.

One of Skype's early investors Howard Hartenbaum said, "Bridge financings are dead and startups will have to rely on an equity round for capital." Unfortunately, those equity rounds will come at a steep price. Whoever said times are easy?

See: Bridge (to nowhere) financing is dead

One of America's top surviving entrepreneurs shared the secret of his success. Drew Curtis, CEO of Fark.com said," In order to survive, if you're an ad-supported startup, tap into a subscription model.

Back in 2002, Drew did this. It saved him back then and it's proving to be life support today. 

Then again, with advertising dollars evaporating, ask him six months from now and he'll likely tell you subscription sales account for half his revenue. Let's be thankful for different revenue streams.

See: Fark CEO Curtis on surviving the downturn