Hot Or Not has been purchased by Avid Life Media for a reported 20 million dollars. Big congratulations to founders Jim Young and James Hong. I originally met James at a TechCrunch party last fall. Very cool & down to earth guy. He was telling me about the explosive growth that hot or not was experiencing due to Facebook and other super high trafficked social media sites.
Hot or Not has a great story. Basically 2 buddies built a site for fun where people could rate people based on their looks. They always had a moderation queue so they could weed out the pornography. The funny thing behind this is James’s parents were doing most of the moderation for the first couple years of the site. He told me it was kind of weird paying his parents to sort out the porn pictures on Hot or Not. Anyway they implemented a dating/connection component and other items to create revenue over the years. Techcrunch reported last may the site was bring in 5 million a year in revenue with 2-3 million of that being profit on average. Also reported was that the founders had taken out 20 million from the site over the years.
So this means they have personally taken in 40 million from the site now with the sale. Great job guys.
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March 11, 2008 at 8:38 pm
40 million is too hot.
March 11, 2008 at 9:50 am
They did well to get that for it as there are so many competitors out there, just shows you that there is great money to be had with sex sites
February 28, 2008 at 2:29 am
i actually thought the site had more potential and could be worth up in the low xxx millions. Surprised it sold for so less, although the popularity has kinda died down since the site is a couple years old if they sold it in its prime i guarantee they could of got a lot more, and 40 million isn’t really a whole lot of money nowadays, im guessing it coudl buy 20-30 years of good living
February 16, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I remember being shown that site when I worked at Ask Jeeves in 2000… it’s been around FOREVER!
February 16, 2008 at 6:06 pm
I agree completely–20 mil for that site seems like a very nice payday.
February 16, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Wow. I’m impressed by that. I was trying to figure out what kind of revenue that site brought in. Not bad–now they’re rich.
February 16, 2008 at 9:48 am
Execution of your idea is the NUMBER 1 thing…it is so important not to just sit around himming and hawing…just do it!
February 16, 2008 at 9:47 am
I remember when Hot or Not started…it was huge in the office! The people who invented that site were like pioneers for the Social Networking sites and the boom that we are in…I think they sold for too low! Hopefully they still have some sort of profit sharing agreement or something!
February 15, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I’d say its marginally on the low side considering the revenue it was pulling in and I’m sure they can increase profitability on their site too
February 15, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I blogged about it on my blog when a source rang me as the deal was going through, was a great business deal for them
February 15, 2008 at 12:21 am
Wow thats a good amount
thinkin for a good idea for which theme should be started
February 13, 2008 at 10:59 pm
…and a Roomie. They were going to get him Rims for his bed at Christmas too…
Kidding
February 13, 2008 at 3:51 pm
It’s nice to see a very simple idea with strong execution get rewarded. There are a ton of small ideas that could make loads of dough, as long as their implemented properly. Ideas are obviously important. Execution is much more significant.
February 13, 2008 at 2:21 pm
You’ve got to love the internet
February 13, 2008 at 12:17 pm
It’s crazy because I’ve spent like 5 minutes on the site in the last 2 years. I had no idea it was this popular either.
February 13, 2008 at 11:17 am
Thats funny that his parents had to weed through the porn. This is my dream, develop a site, it gets hot and sell it off for millions. Awesome job they did in my opinion.
February 13, 2008 at 5:52 am
So, the parents lost their job?
February 12, 2008 at 11:36 pm
It’s amazing what these two buddies did. And to think it all started from something they thought was a fun and cool idea. It makes me wonder what next new idea is going to appear next and who will be responsible for it? It takes just a bit of creativity and a dash or innovative thinking to create something new and exciting. That bit about paying the parents was pretty amusing, too!
February 12, 2008 at 7:49 pm
If they are pulling in $2M a year it is 10x earnings which isn’t cheap. Unless they have some decent IP its a gamble.
February 12, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Incredible! I hope that I can get someone like you Shoe to write a post just like that about me. Do you know if they had an investor?
February 12, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Now I will do the same with http://www.FavoritePart.com
February 12, 2008 at 2:48 pm
i would go with it being low. depends on whether they can do something more with it. but the pe ratio seems great for an internet company.
February 12, 2008 at 2:46 pm
It was always a good distraction, before all these social gathering sites. still a great site though.
February 12, 2008 at 2:45 pm
It was like pringles, once you started, you couldn’t stop… you had to go through withdrawl symptoms and all.
February 12, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Wow. That’s impressive.
February 12, 2008 at 1:12 pm
another true success story. I didn’t think hot or not was this popular.
February 12, 2008 at 1:12 pm
wow.. how do you even go about asking your parents to weed out porn on your site? lol
February 12, 2008 at 1:02 pm
congratulations they have made it!
February 12, 2008 at 12:11 pm
LOL! I am sure they are happy and think that it worth watching so much porn
February 12, 2008 at 11:33 am
That’s about $20 Million more then the Paris Hilton movie with a similar title made!
February 12, 2008 at 11:11 am
Thats a pretty cool success story. Everyone has heard of it!
February 12, 2008 at 10:05 am
this is a great story … I remember using hot or not in the past … My buddy met his wife on there!
February 12, 2008 at 10:02 am
wow $20 million from a site is just great. James’s parents must be really happy now
February 12, 2008 at 9:56 am
I think what you said in your past video applies. Do something that you love to do. This is what Hor or Not owners did
February 12, 2008 at 9:32 am
That’s insane! 5 million a year in revenue and then they get paid $20 million for the site, I know there are still a million ideas like that left, I just have to find one. That just frickin’ insane!
February 12, 2008 at 8:42 am
40 million is surely hot. I am surprised to see that they credit facebook and social network sites that much. It was just a unique idea and innovation is good money
February 12, 2008 at 8:21 am
Congrats to them! It’s amazing what a little, simple idea can turn into.
February 12, 2008 at 8:04 am
I was actually reading about Jim and James yesterday in a book …. great concept and great result for these guys!
February 12, 2008 at 7:49 am
Wow, sounds like a hot site, lol. What an awesome thing to have bragging rights on. We’re definitely in a new generation, our kids and grandkids are going to be web fortune heirs!
February 12, 2008 at 3:14 am
Easy, simple concept…yet extremely successful!
It just goes to show you…put your simple ideas into action. They don’t have to be complicated to be popular and make money!
February 12, 2008 at 3:06 am
Personally I felt that if they were bringing in 5 million per year and of that, half were profits, 20 million was a little on the low side. They probably could have generated more by keeping the site unless they have something else in mind to invest the 20 million in.
February 12, 2008 at 2:58 am
That is amazing. It doesn’t seem long since they launched and I remember thinking it seemed like a smart idea. It has certainly paid off for them.
February 12, 2008 at 2:11 am
it’s great to see that if you stick at something long enough, the web will pay out a small fortune!
February 12, 2008 at 1:45 am
its pretty spelled out in the TC post. They offer a dating component and other virtual services. They were getting about 10,000 signups a day on average in 2007
February 12, 2008 at 1:34 am
I’m wondering how they were making millions of profit each year?
February 12, 2008 at 1:02 am
It’s funny how so many comments at TechCrunch are claiming $20m is too low… I’d say that was a decent offer if true.
February 12, 2008 at 12:44 am
i know this site for years, nice job!
congrats to the founders!
February 12, 2008 at 12:22 am
Wow, good for them is all I have to say