Van, I liked this Twitblogs.com seems TC and Sam had issues …one commentor said

Raj Anand – December 14th, 2008 at 8:42 pm PST

Ok I have gone through most of the comments made above. Some bloggers have expressed their anger whilst others have mentioned thoughts on the new service.

I don’t want to get into TC v/s SS debate but it is worth showcasing some facts. Sam has also worked/founded some successful start ups like Feedburner (http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/23/100-million-payday-for-feedburner-this-deal-is-confirmed/). He was also been a Director of CMGI, Microstrategy and Gateway Computers (see Sam’s LinkedIn Profile).

Hi Tosh,

The service does seem interesting, I just don’t see the point if you already blog – you can integrate your blog right into twitter, so what is the point?

Sure, I guess if you don’t want to have a blog (for whatever reason) the service may fit a need.

As for Sam, I did check his linked in profile before the post. While not talking about TC/SS discussion, Sam’s history is questionable.

Saying he was a Director of CMCI (et al) and ignoring his scandals is like saying it’s OK to trust Bernard Madoff because he was the Chair of the NASDAQ.

Sure, Sam’s past sins may not impact this service but it does cast a shadow on what he does moving forward unless he comes clean.

Thanks for stopping by, and for the input.

Hi Van

While I agree someone should be expected to work their way beyond their actions good or bad, what you have read at TC is only one perspective and hardly something to measure someone by.

Also the source from which you are measuring the size of the cloud is hardly beyond reproach. TC has often written scathing posts about ex-employees or partners, it is Michael’s way (his or the highway).

Regarding Sam’s LinkedIn account. One never overtly talks about such concerns on what is in effect a CV.

Now lastly to the most valid response of all. Sam is not the founder of Twitblogs. He is a member of the founding team.

His sins real or perceived or a (more probable) mixture of both are not the only factors to consider when you realise he neither controls, funds, or directs the team.

Just something to think about and by the way we are doing really awesome stuff at Twitblogs that you will probably use. You may not use our whole service but you are probably going to use us at some point. You will just have to wait and prove me wrong in a couple months probably.

Regarding the validity of our service, well Twitblogs is very popular especially considering how recently we launched. Users tend to rave about our customer service, the ease with which they can add video, images and sound (all very popular on Pownce) but remain on Twitter.

Also some bloggers such as Profy’s very own Chief Editor Svetlana have even speculated it would be an excellent way for her to embed polls and gather feedback for blog posts. I personally loved this idea and think its something you may want to consider too. Perhaps it will help the next time you write about Twitblogs

Lastly, thanks Van for taking the time to write about us and I hope you drop by soon to see what is new. Jan 2009 will be huge for us, big features will be coming out then.

Have a happy holidays and a wonderful new year.

Cheers
Roger

Hi Roger,

A few things on Sam and my impression of him. You are right, to develop an impression of someone based on one source would be a poor decision, however TC was not the only source. My view of him comes from his involvement in BlogNation.

Thank you for clearing up the point that Sam was a member of the founding team, I was wrong in that.

I am obviously concerned about Sam’s involvement specifically because I don’t know that my login/password are truly just being passed to the API, so with that concern in mind – can you tell me…

1) What is Sam’s role with the company now?

2) Are password collected/stored/review at any time during the process?

If you provide guidance on these two, I’d be happy to come back at take a look.

Thanks!
V

Sam has no direct involvement in the technical aspects of the operation. Santosh is responsible for all technical aspects of the operation. Our AboutUs page should be up shortly to address roles more accurate.

There is absolutely no storage of any password on our site.

Thanks for the information, Roger. Knowing this makes me feel at ease.

I’ll give it a try!

[...] week I wrote about a new service called Twitblogs – essentially a service for Microbloggers that allows posts longer [...]

One of the most convincing arguments on why people should not even bother with Twitblogs, comes from this poster on Blog Herald:

http://www.blogherald.com/2008/12/15/twitblogs-lets-you-publish-longer-tweets-looks-dubious/#comment-729229

Briefly, this whole mess they are into are a direct result of, I would say inexperience or even incompetence of the people who runs it. But it boils down to the bottom line, money to keep the lights on. Does anyone think VC’s will invest, or advertisers will advertise, or subscribers will subscribe? I think not. So why should anyone even start blogging on Twitblogs if the possibility of shutting down is high? I’ll pass.

Hi Vu,

You bring a good point with the funding, but that is true with any start-up – not just with Twitblogs.

In the end, if you have more to say than what Twitter allows, why not just blog, ya know?

Thanks for stopping by!
V

Van,

I think I did not make my point clear. It is about the earning potential. VCs invest because a start-up has the potential to earn money through advertisement or subscription. My point is, Twitblogs do not have the credibility for advertisers or subscribers to pay them real money. What start-up can survive a year without the promise of income? Especially now that they have more negative publicity surrounding them.

Finally, about Roger Kondrat. The more he denies Sethi as the founder, the more I believe he is as crooked and as a liar as Sethi.

Check:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=twitblogs+ssethi+twinterval

On days leading-up to Twinterval, no one was denying it was Sethi’s project. Can Roger Kondrat provide any searchable record before that Twinterval event, that he stepped-up to tell anyone that Sethi is not the leader/founder? Do you think TC’s Arrington will publish an attack against Twitblogs, if Arrington did not have any solid proof that the crook Sethi is barking the orders at Kondrat. Come on now, no one likes liars!

@VU

Now I follow – sorry I was slow on that. Yes, you do have a VERY valid point on VC / advertisers.

As for Roger, he did say that Sethi was a founding member, not the founder. Your evidence on Sethi does raise further questions….