Money is never easy to deal with, at least not for me. I've had a pretty uneven relationship with it (we got too big, too fast at the Standard, and were underfunded, at least for a while, at Wired), and have learned to distrust it, at least in large amounts. That's why I'm trying to start this business with partners/investors who are more interested in the idea of the company, rather than the financial return. So far, I've been very lucky to attract the interest of a half dozen or so really cool companies who, well, get it. I'm steering clear of VCs, not because I don't like them (I really respect most of the ones I know) but because at this stage, I don't want the company to be under the pressure of returns that VC money usually entails.

But no matter what, when it comes to talking money, the return matters. Unless you have really wealthy, really lazy friends (and I don't), getting money without strings is simply not going to happen. If this site is dark for a while, it's because I am focusing my efforts on money for a bit - procuring just enough to get this thing started and developed, to pay good people well for their efforts, to get an office going, and the like.

But it's never certain that the money will come, I surely don't take it for granted. Once I have any news, I'll post it here.