The Uncommon Zivity Spinoff Spawns VC-Entrepreneur Lovefest
July 23, 2009
Filed Under: in Analysis, News, Social Media
Author: Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins
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Earlier today it was announced today at Techcrunch that venture backed oddity Zivity had created an amicable split within the company, spinning off much of the company, employees and assets into a separate venture to be called “Top Fans.”
Cofounder Cyan Banister
takes the CEO spot at Zivity, which will continue to publish adult content. She also keeps Zivity-related software and other assets, two other employees and a portion of the $4 million or so that the company still has in bank.
Former Zivity CEO Jon Elvekrog
The original founding team of Zivity and the angel investors in their first round of financing are now the sole shareholders of Zivity. Venture funds BlueRun Ventures
A startup backed by Silicon Valley VC’s where the main thrust of the offering is of an adult nature is intriguing, to say the least, and almost unheard of.
Just as unheard of is the way that Zivity has split from itself amicably, even in an unfunded company, let alone a venture funded one.
John Furrier and I were chatting about it shortly after the news came out.
“In Silicon Valley a VC blowing out an entrepreneur can have a major impact to that entrepreneur (and family and friends),” said Furrier. “With Zivity, the financiers did the right thing; think of all the innovation and creativity that they 
saved. It often takes months to years for founders to recover from a VC blow out. Here with Zivity and Top Fans its a win win.”
On our open editorial backchannel, new Zivity CEO Cyan Banister chimed in as well.
“I mean this sincerely: you could not ask for better venture investors than Blue Run and Founder’s Fund,” said Banister. “They are involved in several of our companies and I hope we’ll do business again. I recommend them to any entrepreneur. This was an awesome outcome for all parties involved.”
A hearty round of congratulations go out to all involved – the move exudes class and maturity from all sides.
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