MyToons
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
MyToons was a free online animation community founded in 2006 in San Antonio, Texas, by Paul Ford, Stacey Ford and Dan Kraus as a spinoff of Bauhaus Software, backed by a $500,000 grant from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. It launched publicly in March 2007 during SXSW Austin and drew more than 1.5 million unique visitors in its first three weeks, offering animators customizable pages, uploads and social networking around member-created animation videos. After laying off most of its staff in January 2009, MyToons closed completely in April 2009 when its venture capital funding ceased.
02 / MyToons FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
MyToons burned through its venture funding without building a revenue engine. The lead investor refused to put up more cash in January 2009, forcing the layoff of 20–27 people — nearly the entire staff — and the company shut down in April when the money ran out. Former employees alleged grave mismanagement and a complete disinterest from the co-founders in turning MyToons into a revenue-generating business, accusing the executives of misrepresenting the company's financial status to investors and wasting VC money on personal purchases (trips to Hawaii, fancy dinners, home electronics); the founders did not respond to requests for comment. In short: years of burn, no business plan, and an investor base unwilling to bridge the gap.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Company founded
Paul Ford, Stacey Ford and Dan Kraus found MyToons in San Antonio as a Bauhaus Software spinoff, with a $500,000 Texas Emerging Technology Fund grant.
- Public launch
MyToons launches publicly in March 2007 at SXSW Austin; 1.5 million unique visitors arrive in three weeks.
- Shutdown
After laying off most staff in January 2009 when the lead investor stops funding, MyToons closes completely in April 2009.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Former employees alleged over $6 million of venture capital was blown in a couple of years — but that figure is an anonymous allegation of spend, not an audited loss with disclosed subject, period and basis. No reliable loss figure was extracted.