[Posted on February 6, 2008 - 11:24 AM]
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Digg"What we're seeing, especially in the digital space, are tweaks to the model," says Drew Lipsher, partner, Greycroft LLC, about his outlook for startups in 2008.
"Two thousand seven was a very, very big advertising year," he says in Tech Confidential's Behind The Money video interview. Dozens of online advertising firms got funded. Greycroft, for example, led a Series A for an undisclosed amount in New York's Collective Media, an online ad network that focuses on high-end publishers, such as the Tribune Co.
"I don't think we're going to see 30 ad network companies start in 2008. I think that the market now needs some time to develop and mature -- and let key players like Collective Media ride the wave, develop the market and build the industry itself."
Last year's mega-acquisitions in online advertising -- most notably Microsoft Corp.'s $6 billion purchase of aQuantive Inc. and Yahoo! Inc.'s $650 million buy of ad exchange Right Media Inc. -- still need "time for the market to digest," says Lipsher. If Microsoft succeeds in buying Yahoo!, there will be even more to digest, as the company would own the largest online ad exchange.
"From a consumer content perspective, a creative perspective, a technology perspective and an investment perspective, I think it's an equally healthy time in 2008 as it was in 2007," predicts Lipsher. - Mary Kathleen Flynn
Watch our video interview with Drew Lipsher
