Tuesday, December 8, 2009, 2:04PM ET - U.S. Markets close in 1 hour and 56 minutes.

Why High Tech Luminaries are Betting on Kongregate

Posted Jul 18, 2008 02:40pm EDT by Sarah Lacy in Investing, Gaming, Internet, Venture Capital, M and A, IPOs

Jim Greer already had it pretty good. The mild-mannered founder of Kongregate had snared money from the Valley's elite Web investors including Jeff Clavier, Reid Hoffman and Greylock -- despite more than a few of them claiming they weren't too bullish on gaming.

In May he landed another big fish: A $3 million "rainy day" infusion from Jeff Bezos. The kicker? Bezos came to him. Greer tells us the rest of the story and explains why Kongregate has struck a chord with high tech elite in the second half of our studio interview.

Related segments:
Why Gamers Are Addicted to Kongregate

10 Comments

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday July 18, 2008 04:40PM EDT

So when you guys congregate do you come up with new ideas for Kongregate?

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Friday July 18, 2008 04:59PM EDT

COOL

Eric W
Eric W - Saturday July 19, 2008 11:13AM EDT

Maximize wind isobars? Compete ONLINE on a COMPUTER and NETWORKS and other COMPUTERS all using COAL FIRED ELECTRICITY to REDUCE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT!!!???!!! Oh...that's rich...and then...everyone flies on a plane or drives a car using PETROLEUM to go to a conference in ANTARCTICA!!!???!!! Brilliant. This global warming fantasy has become a religion. Baaah! People are such sheep. Baaah!

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday July 19, 2008 07:28PM EDT

Eric, Coal is a health concern I don't like coal. Wind and geo thernal is clean energy. It gets up to 140 degrees in some desert areas in the Inited States and the wind travels at 30 to 50 meters and up across differents elevations. tracking the wind at different times of day and at different elevations could maximize wind power. Sorgum sweet grass yeilds more ethanol for less money than corn. Reducing a carbon foot print involves coal, oil, carbon emissions from every form of burned fuel. Putting emisson scrubbers on every plant exhaust stack is only part of the answer. If I produce more clean electricty than what I consume on a monthly basis that is not only lowering my carbon footprint it is paying forward and lowering someone elses. To make it simple let say the power company sends me a check for three dollars each month because my wind mill put energy back in the grid on an average of three dollars each month. Thats thirty six dollars per year that lowers some one elses foot print. Now my foot print would be at about 80% because everything except my car is electric. If I get an electric car my carbon foot print might be zero if it cost thirty six dollar per year to charge it. See you at the conference in Antarctica..... It's a joke , there is no energy conference in chill city. LOL

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday July 19, 2008 07:29PM EDT

Eric, Coal is a health concern I don't like coal. Wind and geo thernal is clean energy. It gets up to 140 degrees in some desert areas in the Inited States and the wind travels at 30 to 50 meters and up across differents elevations. tracking the wind at different times of day and at different elevations could maximize wind power. Sorgum sweet grass yeilds more ethanol for less money than corn. Reducing a carbon foot print involves coal, oil, carbon emissions from every form of burned fuel. Putting emisson scrubbers on every plant exhaust stack is only part of the answer. If I produce more clean electricty than what I consume on a monthly basis that is not only lowering my carbon footprint it is paying forward and lowering someone elses. To make it simple let say the power company sends me a check for three dollars each month because my wind mill put energy back in the grid on an average of three dollars each month. Thats thirty six dollars per year that lowers some one elses foot print. Now my foot print would be at about 80% because everything except my car is electric. If I get an electric car my carbon foot print might be zero if it cost thirty six dollar per year to charge it. See you at the conference in Antarctica..... It's a joke , there is no energy conference in chill city. LOL

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday July 20, 2008 10:33PM EDT

cool

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday July 21, 2008 12:37AM EDT

hmm

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday July 21, 2008 12:48AM EDT

COOL

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday July 21, 2008 10:11AM EDT

Maybe 99.9 percent. I got to thinking. People release a little bit of methane gas every day attacking the ozone layer. Some release more than others. So the game would have to take that into account. Lets say Fox news came out with a lot of bad news stories and caused mass intestinal disstress among the masses. A 'Clear The Air' game could record the methane emission reaction, and award points for other networks that are more factual.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Monday July 21, 2008 12:11PM EDT

fascinating story - thanks!

Yahoo! reserves the right to refuse, or remove any comment that does not comply with the Yahoo! Terms of Service. The submission of spam, hateful, or obscene messages may result in the termination of your Yahoo! ID.
About Tech Ticker - Send FeedbackDisclaimer. Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright/IP Policy - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy - Help
Quotes delayed, except where indicated otherwise. Delay times are 15 mins for NASDAQ, NYSE and Amex. See also delay times for other exchanges.

Quotes and other information supplied by independent providers identified on the Yahoo! Finance partner page. Quotes are updated automatically, but will be turned off after 25 minutes of inactivity. Quotes are delayed at least 15 minutes for NASDAQ, NYSE and Amex. See also delay times for other exchanges. Real-Time continuous streaming quotes are available through our premium service. You may turn streaming quotes on or off. Fundamental company data provided by Capital IQ. Financials data provided by Edgar Online. Historical chart data and daily updates provided by Commodity Systems, Inc. (CSI). International historical chart data, daily updates, fund summary, fund performance, dividend data and Morningstar Index data provided by Morningstar, Inc. Analyst estimates data provided by Thomson Financial Network. All data provided by Thomson Financial Network is based solely upon research information provided by third party analysts. Yahoo! has not reviewed, and in no way endorses the validity of such data. Yahoo! and ThomsonFN shall not be liable for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All information provided "as is" for informational purposes only, not intended for trading purposes or advice. Neither Yahoo! nor any of independent providers is liable for any informational errors, incompleteness, or delays, or for any actions taken in reliance on information contained herein. By accessing the Yahoo! site, you agree not to redistribute the information found therein.