Netvibes is no more a Start-Up

With the replacement of Tariq Krim by Freddy Mini as new CEO, Netvibes has given a clear sign that the almost 3 year long Start-up phase of the project is now finished.

Many well informed insiders, as Pierre Chappaz (shareholder and former co-CEO of Netvibes and actual CEO of Wikio.com ), have declared : Netvibes is now entering the monetization phase.

On the practical side what does it mean ?

First, it is the end of all those activities for which no revenues are at sight and that could mean a reduction in the Social Features or at least not a futher development.

Second, Netvibes will move to look for a broader massive distribution as the recent deal with the French largest Cable company (Numericable.fr) by which the 4.8 million users of Numericable will be able to access a "personal" mynumericable.fr homepage. " my numericable is a completely customizable web portal for Numericable customers. MyNumericable lets users access personalized TV schedules, email, billing services, local news, weather, games, blogs, widgets and other popular services like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube—all from a single, convenient startpage, powered by Netvibes". This personal homepage is provided by Netvibes as a premium Universe.

Third, an increase of the offer of Widgets, produced and or supported by Netvibes in the hope that the long waited boom in that market will give Netvibes the revenues it still looking for.

For the average end-user, as myself, all that could mean:

• less "glamour and hipe" that only Tariq Krim was able to create around Netvibes
• lesser options to choose from as that is increasing complexity and then costs
• lesser development of the Social side of Netvibes that could have create a real Netvibes'community around the service
• lesser interest from Netvibes team to create my long dreamed Single Social Interface

I hope to be wrong on many issues ;) as I think Netvibes is now just at half of its potential and that the most interesting part of the Service is yet to come.

Tariq KRIM steps down as Netvibes'CEO and is replaced by Freddy MINI

Fresh news from TECHCRUNCH blog:

"Tariq Krim is stepping down as CEO of Netvibes to “spend less time day-to-day” at the company and work on a “new project,” he tells me. (More details on that project later). He will remain on the board of the company and as a non-executive strategic adviser. Current Netvibes COO Freddy Mini will take over the helm as CEO."

“My role was to transfer Netvibes from a personal start page into a widget platform,” says Krim. He feels that the technical foundation for that shift has been completed with the recent release Ginger, the latest version of its site. "

Well, that is a big change and probably a necessary one. But Netvibes is losing a charismatic figure.

Pierre CHAPPAZ, former Co-CEO of Netvibes and founder of Kelkoo and Wikio, an actual investor in Netvibes comments on his own blog that:

"I think it's a good decision. Freddy Mini, Chief Operating Officer of Netvibes for 2 years and based in San Fransisco, has incomparable experience: he was CEO of ZDNet Europe. and then Musicme, before agreeing to join us at Netvibes in 2006. "

"When I resigned from my position as co-CEO last year in order to concentrate my efforts on Wikio , I highlighted how the strategy of distribution and monetization at Netvibes seemed to me essential for success . With Freddy's insistence, Netvibes has in the last year taken great strides in this direction and progressed significantly, supplying a number of large media sites with a personal page service that they could take on and redistribute with their own colors. Freddy is without a shadow of a doubt the man for the job, to continue to develop the distribution, and the widget market, for which Tariq was a true visionary. "

What is strange is that the news is not coming out on any of the Netvibes' Official Blogs, Forums or Streams...

A lack of confidence in Netvibes' own captive audience ?
Shoudn't this news been given to Netvibes' users before anyone else ?
I think so!

Anyway, Thanks Tarik ! :)