Themestream – by the time you have to bribe contributors with a $50,000 giveaway to get them to join you, it might be a little too late to recruit anyone that has actually something to say. Can you believe their search results lead to Amazon? Where are your contributors and content? Zeal succeeded with its exit strategy, but will you? There must be a limit to the number of lousy epinions/deja wannabees.
However, since Themestream recruited management with a successful career in bottom-up web communities, we’re saved…
04/16/01 update: they closed this weekend (I sent the URL to Ghost Sites). According to the FAQ, it “is very unlikely that [they] will be able to pay any other creditors- including contributors”.
04/18/01: Steve Outing draws Lessons From Themestream.