holy godtube raises 30 million
Show me the money.
I was a little stunned yesterday when I received word via my news feeds that GodTube - the Christian version of YouTube raised 30 million dollars in funding.
Here’s a story that is either the sign of an enormous bubble or an indication that perhaps entrepreneurs need to have a bit more faith (literally and figuratively). GodTube, the YouTube for the religious, has raised $30 million at a $150 million valuation, according to Rafat Ali. The funding comes from GLG Partners, a hedge fund. [via Mashable]
GodTube was only launched last summer by Chris Wyatt, a seminarian from Dallas Theological Seminary and now reportedly has about 2 million users.
I don’t want to sound like a hater or Doubting Thomas here. I’m happy for the GodTube folks since they must have worked really hard. But I have to admit that when it came out last year, I rolled by eyes and dry heaved. To be honest, I still don’t get it but hey, more power to them! Take over the world. In all seriousness, congratulations to them and I hope they’ll use their company to not only edify the body of Christ but be missional. There I said it.
But heck. Now, I’m thinking what ideas can we come with that can be knockoffs of the larger pop culture. Or if you want to be nice, you can say “inspired.”
- How about Faithbook?
- How about HISSpace [get it?] or GodSpace?
- XFriendster?
Am I good or what? Who wants to give me 30 million dollars?
What are your brilliant ideas?
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at
cute
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at
How about Gwitter. God + Twitter
As a side note 30 million would fully fund our current church budget (120,000) for the next 250 years.
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at
ChristPress: the holier version of wordpress
Godlines: god+bloglines
HolyHoo: for all your email needs….okay that one is lame
fun little game…yet very important point….BE ORIGINAL
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at
i think there’s already a Faithbook. just depends on whether you have a lisp or not (rimshot)
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at
I’m all about Jason’s last point.
I know you mean this as a light-hearted post and I’m all for jokes (and Lord knows we’re ripe for it… http://www.larknews.com) but seriously, here’s an idea: How about we stop copying what the world makes and start reclaiming our place as partners with God in ushering in NEW creation?
Large parts of the Body of Christ have neglected (even fought against) the arts for far too long and it shows, embarrassingly so. Walk into any Christian bookstore (as if there is such a thing) and you’ll see row after row, aisle after aisle of derivative, reactionary fluff.
Thankfully, there are growing movements out there trying to mentor and support Christian artists - preparing them and launching them into the world at large.
So while I don’t want to be a party-pooper (keep the jokes coming), how about we also highlight Christian artists/organizations that are truly pushing the boundaries and encouraging leadership, originality, and excellence in the world? (Sorry, PE, don’t mean to hijack your post)
http://imagejournal.org/
http://www.iamny.org/
oh, and how about
http://www.myspace.com/harrisonmusic
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at
How about
par.us.ia
To document signs of the last days….
click here to “rapture” this article
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at
What’s with all the quilt pattern avatars? Did I miss a memo or something?
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at
GODCast.
That would trump GodTube.
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at
I want to barf every time I get a call from “America’s Christian Credit Union”?
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at
Would a GODCast play on IGod - because that seems sac-religious.
@Randall: You missed the memo. He asked us all to choose a piece of our favorite quilt.
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at
Why don’t you people seriously take a chill pill? The cynicism-meter on this post is off the charts.
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at
@quest: it’s called a sense of humor.
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at
@ cooldad- that was amazingly funny :)
I’ve already launched a donut shop here in Seattle- Christ-y Kremes.
Tagline: Jelly is of the world. Our donuts are filled with the Holy Spirit.
Thursday, May 8, 2008 at
A christian friend of mine once saw “Fear Not” on someone’s T-shirt, a Biblical twist on the popular “No Fear” brand T-shirt at the time.
He said he wanted to have nothing to do with Christianity if it was behind that! He was 12 years old at the time.
He turned out to be an artist.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at
Eugene,
I must confess I had the same reaction when I first came across Godtube but then of course I have a blog GodSpace.wordpress.com so I am not sure if that makes me part of the problem or part of the solution.
If you really want to see the worst of Christian take offs I suggest you visit shipoffools.com Their gadgets for God have to be seen to be beleived.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at
[...] Can you believe it GodTube has just raised $30 million for its site. Read the story here [...]
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at
Sad my comment didn’t appear - was it too cynical?
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at
haha. godspace..i have to admit i laguhed pretty hard at that one. i dont have any ideas, but i do remeber the god tube. i went to it once, and got pretty angry. Havnt gone back since. how it got 30 million dollars i beyond me truly.
i hope they use that money to make a difference..not more videos.