We used TripHub for a group ski trip last year. I though the concept was good but the execution was a bit lacking. And, as with many consumer Web plays, it takes a lot of work (and luck) to reach critical mass and positive cash flow before funding runs out.

Quoted: TripHub, a Seattle-based group oriented travel site, has closed its doors. We originally covered the company’s beta launch in September 2006, when we described it as a good way to help compile and centralize information for a group trip, but questioned if it was viable as a standalone business, especially against other players in the travel space like Yahoo Travel.

Quoted: Find out what companies are cutting jobs.

I am a sucker for entrepreneurship-oriented reality shows. Start-Up Junkies Season 1 is about the evolution of a Seattle-based startup, Earth Class Mail. Accordingly, there are lots of familiar names, sites, experiences, etc. You can watch it for free on Hulu.

In Episode 2, they mention how Ignition Partners had cold feet but eventually participated (to the tune of $6M) in the $16M round.

As for the idea itself, I think they have the same problem as Netflix. Just as DVDs will eventually be replaced by streaming video, most mail-based communication will be (is already being) replaced by digital communication.

Unrelated note: Ron, the CEO, is a CMU CS/ECE grad.

My friend just left MS to co-found this company. Looks like they help you deploy Office Communications Server (OCS) and Exchange.

Quoted: Helping you deploy the world's leading platform for Unified Communications.
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Quoted: The Seattle area added the greatest number of high-tech jobs in 2006, outpacing Boston, San Francisco and more than 50 other U.S. cities, according to the Cybercities report from the American Electronics Association.

It looks like Right Sized Media (a fellow StartPad tenant) has changed its name to MiniRiot.

RescueTime (our neighbor at StartPad) gets a mention in the New York Times. No hyperlink, unfortunately.

Quoted: A typical information worker who sits at a computer all day turns to his e-mail program more than 50 times and uses instant messaging 77 times, according to one measure by RescueTime, a company that analyzes computer habits. The company, which draws its data from 40,000 people who have tracking software on their computers, found that on average the worker also stops at 40 Web sites over the course of the day.

Quoted: I recall there was a study done at MIT years ago that looked at the number of founders and success of startups as measured by revenue 1 and 2 years after founding. It turns out that the success of your start up is directly correlated to the number of founders up to 4 and then it starts to decrease.