Funny or Die is a YouTube challenger with a twist – most of the videos feature well-known actors. The Landlord, starring Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and McKay’s 2 year-old daughter star, Pearl, has been viewed more than 30 million times since April 12. At that rate, it’s a pretty strong contender, unless it gets too much like, yecch, TV.
Ferrell and McKay started the site with the financial backing of Sequoia Capital, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm that billions by investing early in YouTube and Google.
According to the NY Times, “because of the heavy traffic on FunnyOrDie.com, Sequoia has increased its investment to several million dollars and hired 10 full-time employees, with plans to expand the staff to 25.”
I hope they remember their own advice:
“Mr. McKay warns that any videos that smack of Hollywood manipulation are going to be a turnoff to visitors. “That’s when a site starts smelling bogus.”
Sequoia Capital also is an investor in Jason Calacanis’ newly launched human-powered search engine, Mahalo.
