Kevin Rose's Next Move: Partner at Google Ventures

[cpeterso]

Moving from talent acquisition to G+ to Google Ventures in just three months sounds like the "we're not firing you, but we'll call you "Director of Special Projects" and you'll have an office but don't need to come in until you find a new job" exit.

[capred]

Now this is good work if you can get it. $12m talent acquisition and then he quits in 3 months.

Maybe im just not a valley insider but what exactly has Kevin done that was successful? I'm not trying to be critical here, just don't see what warrants the hype around him.

[oldstrangers]

Digg was a success once.

But mostly I think what Kevin offers is a very 'industry insider' perspective. He's created startups, he's worked with a lot of them, he's funded many more. So, experience and opinions/insight mostly.

[forza]

In the end doing things count. For all the reasons you'll find in the recurring "Why you should quit school and start a startup in SV". You can't do the kind of investments he's been doing without the experience and network that comes with staying "in the game" for a long time.

[jinushaun]

I'm in the same boat. He basically made Slashdot for web 2.0. Digg can't be the sole reason why he is considered so valuable and is so highly sought after.

[nicholassmith]

Digg pulled down ridiculously high amounts of user engagement for a long while, which given everyone's ridiculously short attention spans is impressive.

Plus he had one of the most recognised podcasts with actual large sponsors. And a successful investment record. He seems to try engage with the community at large as well.

He does alright essentially, and has a decent reputation amongst start ups.

[capsule_toy]

I'm surprised no one has brought up his ability to generate hype. Other than actually building the product, one of the biggest problems startups face is being able to get users.

Do you remember how much publicity Milk got without a single product and just from having Kevin attached to it?

[moolcool]

Digg was pretty successful for a while, and you could consider Pownce successful if you consider that he probably made a bundle when it sold to sixapart (IIRC)

[ojbyrne]

I would guess that there would be some form of vesting and/or the earnout would be affected.

[JVIDEL]

He was an early investor at zynga IIRC

[rjj]

Duh, makes total sense. I was initially unsure where he'd fit in at Google (Google+?, Android?, Gmail?), but as soon as I read the headline I thought "Duh". His angel investments have been super strong and his willingness to share his life has been inspiring. Digg and Milk didn't ever turn into Instagram, but he kept making great moves forward.

Kevin - keep sharing your thoughts online and to the community, it has served you well and will continue to do so. Congrats.

(Sorry for the lovefest HN, but that's how I feel.)

[staunch]

Surprisingly Google ventures doesn't seem very savvy to date. Kevin Rose will probably be the highest performing partner in no time.

Smart move for everyone involved.

[joshu]

They're doing a lot of stuff that's not showy but will likely show very solid returns. Don't discount them because they don't show up on HN too much.

[tsunamifury]

I'd say their investment in Nest was pretty savvy. An incredible product that seems to have consistently sold well.

[cicloid]

... and probably a better fit for Rose ?

[cantbecool]

For some reason I still remember him as the 'Dark Tipper' and explaining emule (or was it torrenting?) on Tech TV's The Screen Savers. I never would have imagined him being an angel investor/entrepreneur.

[benackles]

I'm a little surprised they didn't put Rose on the YouTube team. He would've been a great figure head for the video platform. It would have played to his strengths as a creator and promoter of pro-am content.

That being said, perhaps Google Ventures is a great place too. Kevin has shown a strong ability to act as a connector between budding entrepreneurs and capital. This might be a brilliant move for deal flow.