Other tech-world heavyweights taking part in a funding round,
which Ms. Lacy said will total just under $2.5 million when it
closes, include PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Zappos.com CEO Tony
Hsieh and Hunch co-founder Chris Dixon. PandoDaily also is getting
seed funding from Lerer Ventures, SV Angel, Greylock Discovery
Fund, Accel's Seed Fund, Menlo Ventures Talent Fund and Ooga Labs,
Ms. Lacy said.
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So how will PandoDaily stand out in a crowded tech-news
landscape? For one, the focus will be exclusively on startups. So
don't expect a ton of coverage of big tech companies such as Google
or Microsoft, unless
the news directly affects the startup world.
"The mission of the site is simple: To be the site of record for
the startup ecosystem," Ms. Lacy wrote in an email. "I think it'll
be more similar to the old pre-AOL [TechCrunch] than the current
[TechCrunch], which covers a lot of big companies. But we want to
be more comprehensive than the old [TechCrunch]."
To be more comprehensive, the site will include a curated column
of news on the homepage, called PandoTicker, that will include
short blurbs about as much of the day's startup news as possible,
with one line of analysis and a link out to deeper coverage if the
news calls for it it. Ms. Lacy said it's modeled after The Wall
Street Journal's "What's News" section.
"[T]he goal is that it's the 30 or so most important stories of
the day. Each will link to the best coverage, or whoever broke the
story," she wrote. "Hopefully that 's us and it links to a story
deeper in the site, but many times it won't be us. We intend to
aggressively link to awesome coverage by competitors."
Ms. Lacy said the site will feature contributions from Mr.
Arrington, former TechCrunch writer Paul Carr, and current
TechCrunch contributor MG Siegler. Slate's Farhad Manjoo will also
contribute. Ms. Lacy has hired one full-time writer, and is looking
for more.
Ms. Lacy said she is not monetizing the site just yet. There
will be ads on the site, and an events business, too, but, in her
words, "We have to produce great content first."
As for the site's unusual name, Ms. Lacy said it is a nod to the
massive root system in Utah called Pando.
"[T]he interconnected root system is the oldest living organism
in the world and no matter what happens above ground, it always
shoots up more trees," Ms. Lacy wrote in an email. "[I]t's the
perfect metaphor for the startup ecosystem, which is what we will
cover."
PandoDaily's parent company will be called PandoMedia.
