Razorfish co-founder offering advice again

Jeff Dachis, one of the original Internet cowboys while running Web consultancy Razorfish, is again offering advice to corporate America.

Venture capital firm Austin Ventures is putting up $50 million to back Dachis' new venture, a consultancy that plans to help companies use social networks as well as sell them the software tools they need.

Razorfish was one of those "Web services" companies that skyrocketed to riches during the bubble years only to end up in a heap after the bubble burst.

Noted for his swagger, Dachis was humbled when Razorfish--which had seen $250 million in revenues and a $50 million public offering--evaporate into a torrent of layoffs, executive departures (including his own), and share prices that tumbled from $57 to $1.

Razorfish eventually made a comeback of sorts and was acquired by aQuantive and renamed Avenue A/Razorfish.

So what does Dachis know about social networking? It's hard to tell from his bio.

He was a senior partner at Bond Art and Science, a firm "specializing in information architecture and user experience design," according to a press release from Austin Ventures.

Back in 2001, with Razorfish, the company he cofounded 1995, in full nosedive, pundits asked whether the company's meteoric rise was due to Dachis' skill or luck.

I guess we'll see.

[as2319]

Another Monster to Eons

I wish him success, but Monster's Jeff Taylor showed with Eons how lucky he was.

My money's on luck.

[laukins]

Avenue A/Razorfish

This company has made a dramatic turnaround since 2004 under the leadership of Colin Kinsella. It was recently purchased by Microsoft.

[basraw]

dramatic turnaround started by SBI

SBI bought Razorfishy first.

http://www.avenuea-razorfish.com/pressReleases/pr_072704_acquisition.htm

[mikele11111]

Dead Fish

I've been associated with two large companies that spent a lot of money with Razorfish...a total waste. I spend my days cleaning up messes that have grown out of their consultancy. Same story from a few years back with another company. How these guys survive is beyond me.