// startup autopsy

Newsvine

Collaborative news that got swallowed by its acquirer

acquisition gone wrongAcqui-hire

Fatal mistake: Selling to MSNBC before establishing an independent revenue model left Newsvine entirely dependent on its acquirer's strategic whims.

Founded	2005
Closed	2010
Country	USA
Sector	Media

50%

Key Events Timeline

2005-01

FOUNDING

Mike Davidson founds Newsvine, a collaborative news platform blending AP wire content with user contributions.

2005-06

FUNDING

Newsvine raises $1.25M in seed funding to build out its platform.

2007-09

ACQUISITION ATTEMPT

MSNBC.com acquires Newsvine, integrating it into NBC's digital news portfolio.

2010-06

SHUTDOWN

NBC News shuts down Newsvine as part of a broader digital consolidation strategy, ending the platform.

Full Analysis

Analyst plan

Documented cause

Newsvine was a participatory news platform launched on March 1, 2006, that blended user-submitted content with AP wire news. The startup was acquired by MSNBC.com in 2007, relatively early in its lifecycle. Fol...

lowing the acquisition, Newsvine was gradually integrated into NBC News's broader digital infrastructure. Rather than operating as an independent product, it was slowly absorbed into the parent compan

Verified lesson

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€2.3M

Peak valuation

HypeCycle · MoatType · ResearchTags

Newsvine raised €1.25M before selling to msnbc before establishing an independent revenue model left newsvine entirely dependent on its acquirer's strategic whims. ended it. See the documented cause, verified lesson and all failure signals.

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