The Firehouse

It seems that they are already legally bankrup, but the Madrid-based Mobuzz has sent out a cry for help, in the form of a request for people’s donations. They need to raise 120.000€ to keep going, and seem to have already raised 20.000.

To be forthcoming, I’m not going to donate. Being a volunteer firefighter in a severely understaffed and underfunded municipal department, where the council tells us they cannot afford 12.000€ for a set of four air packs (SCBA) as a result of the crisis, makes me put Mobuzz’s call for help under a different light. The SCBA sets (pictured below) would allow us to safely enter burning structures and actually save lifes. We find that at times, we cannot intervene, and have to wait until nearby departments respond, which can take 20-30 minutes. So far we haven’t had to lament fatalities due to this shortcoming, in part due to luck, and in part due to our crews taking (otherwise unnecessary) risks.

We are offering an infinitely higher ROI with a 10th of what Mobuzz needs to survive. There have been plenty of comments, some in favor, most against, in the blogs of Martin Varsavsky, Enrique Dans, and even TechCrunch. Essentially, many people would rather give to a charitable cause, than to keeping the lifestyle, company perks, and jobs of an internet startup.

I feel Mobuzz’s pain, almost every startup is in a very similar situation, facing deep cost cuts and layoffs to try to survive, or facing certain death already. Before considering a donation, I would make these questions:

• My donation will go towards keeping your site alive, your jobs, but what are you going to do about your style? Are you going to lay people off, run on a shoestring budget, cut the number of shows, move to smaller and cheaper offices, sell your expensive editing equipment and go back to handheld cameras, which for web video work just as well? Basically, I need to know your plan on how you intend to make my donation count.
• What happens after and if you raise the money? Are we just prolonging your agony? When the 120.000 run out, and you face the same situation again a few weeks or months down the line, do we need to donate again?
• If you do make it and raise new funding, or eventually turn a profit, will you publicly commit to returning the donations, or even better, donating the 120.000€ to a charitable cause?

One final doubt – some sources quote 2 million visits per month, yet both Alexa and Compete seem to disagree – this is a chart comparing it to elmundo.es, one of the most read online newspapers in Spain, and a source of some of the buzz:

Where’s the traffic?