Posted on September 12, 2008 at 5:34 PM
Filed under: Behind the Money | Tech Confidential
Tagged: AlleyCorp , Kevin Ryan , Technology , Venture Capital

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Someone might want to check technology entrepreneurs Kevin Ryan (left) and Dwight Merriman for steroids.

Since selling DoubleClick Inc., where Ryan was CEO and Merriman was co-founder and chief technologist, to Hellman and Friedman LLC for $1.1 billion in 2005, they have coached not just one but half a dozen startups under the AlleyCorp LLC franchise, which they describe as a network of affiliated companies. (Meanwhile, Google Inc. bought DoubleClick for $1.3 billion earlier this year.)

Indeed, there's little connection among AlleyCorp's startups, beyond being the brainchildren of Ryan and Merriman. The pair are the companies' founders, providing the companies with seed funding and often acting as CEOs until a permanent chief is hired.Perhaps the New York firm's best-known startup is Silicon Alley Insider, a fast-growing media company that publishes business blogs and that recently obtained a $1 million Series A funding from well-known angel investors including Mayfield Fund managing director Allen Morgan. Other AlleyCorp holdings include Gilt Groupe, an invitation-only designer fashion site that provides the online equivalent of a sample sale and that secured $5 million from Matrix Partners last year; 10gen, a provider of so-called cloud computing technology for Web site developers that received $1.5 million from Union Square Ventures over the summer. (Merriman is now 10gen's CEO); and Music Nation, a music service that lets musical artists and fans connect online.

Here's Tech Confidential's tour of AlleyCorp's operation in Manhattan's Silicon Alley. We start with our video interview with Ryan. Tune in later for my chats with Merriman, Silicon Alley Insider CEO Henry Blodget and Gilt Groupe co-founder Alexandra Wilkis Wilson. -- Mary Kathleen Flynn

See video interview with Music Nation CEO Daniel Klaus

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