If you earned $48 million in a day, what would you do with it? Brad Greenspan, embattled former chief executive of Intermix Media Inc., plowed some of it back into the Internet, launching a new company last week called vidiLife Inc.

Greenspan was an outspoken critic of News Corp.’s acquisition of Los Angeles-based Intermix and fought the pending deal at every turn. Intermix’s main asset is the popular social networking site MySpace.com.

Greenspan owned close to 4 million shares, or 11 percent. News Corp. bought Intermix for $12 per share, giving him almost $48 million in the deal, which closed Sept. 30. (He continues to pursue a lawsuit against Intermix executives.)

His new venture, West Hollywood-based vidiLife, is about video social networking: “It’s like MySpace, except with a pure focus on video,” he said.

Users will be able to share video they create on their camera-phones. Greenspan said the site’s proprietary technology allows video content to be posted on user profiles or Web pages. (MySpace.com’s technology only allows for still photos.)

“As you post your video, we give instructions on how to make it appear on your MySpace page, your blog pages, your eBay posting,” Greenspan said. He calls vidiLife a central video repository that can link with or interact with other Internet communities.

His staff of 12 is keeping an eye out for video copyright infringement (no posting movies or clips of pirated material). Greenspan is funding the venture, which he co-founded with Toan Nguyen, a former Intermix Web developer who helped create MySpace.com’s architecture.

Semtech Sequel


Surprising analysts, maybe in a good way, Camarillo-based chipmaker Semtech Corp. fired its chief executive last week.

No explanation was offered for the departure of Jason Carlson, who had led the company for almost two years. The previous CEO, John “Jack” Poe, was re-installed in the interim.

“During the time that Jason was around, the company lost focus and lost a lot of (customers) and a lot of momentum,” said Harsh Kumar, an analyst at Morgan Keegan & Co. “We have a lot more confidence in Jack Poe coming back.”

Semtech’s chips are used in cell phones and computers. The company has lost market share over the past two years; its stock is trading in the $15-a-share range, down from $20 in January.

While some analysts welcomed the change, it could take a while for the turnaround to kick in. “You have to go back to your entire customer base and give them a really good reason why they should come back to you,” said Kumar.

WR Hambrecht + Co. analyst Michael Bertz raised his rating to a “buy” after the announcement. “Poe is very well regarded in the investment community,” Bertz said, calling it a “positive move” for the company.

EBay Empire


Last week we reported that Net2Auction Inc. acquired Auction Boulevard Inc., the Encino-based eBay Inc. drop-off store featured in the movie “The 40 Year-Old Virgin.” This week, Las Vegas-based Net2Acution snatched up Hollywood-based AuctionWagon Inc. in an all-stock deal. Terms were not disclosed.

AuctionWagon has just one store location in West Hollywood, but more important is the back-end processing and consignment software it developed. Its AuctionWagon Network is deployed in 23 affiliated eBay drop-off locations nationwide, and its consignment system Store Manager Pro is used in 145 locations.

*Staff reporter Hilary Potkewitz can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 226, or by e-mail at

[email protected]

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