One of the “under the radar” businessness listed in this Deal Flow article has me scratching my head:
Zazzle.com — Kleiner Perkins and Google board member Ram Shriram invested $16 million in the series A round of this Menlo Park, Calif. startup, which provides a marketplace for buying and selling custom goods on the Internet. Consumers can use the site to design a custom T-shirt, poster, print, or card and make money every time it sells. Zazzle was founded in 1999 and launched its service in 2003. Kleiner Perkins managing partner John Doerr and Shriram serve on the board.
A $16 million Series A round for a T-shirt site? With all due respect to KPCB, because they deserve it, an investment of this size in this space baffles me. From a London persective, it looks like they’re partying like it’s 1999 over in California.
Jason Ball 