TechCrunch reports that Six Apart sold LiveJournal to SUP (pronounced "soup"). LJ is a dominant blogging platform for Russians and the diaspora and was previously licensed to SUP.
“This allows Six Apart to focus on their remaining three brands (Vox, TypePad and MoveableType)” CEO Chris Alden told me this evening. LiveJournal, created by Brad Fitzpatrick in 1999, was the lone service not built in house. “We have very ambitious plans for our remaing brands going forward” he added.
I've watched SUP since its inception with Andrew Paulson at the helm. They have made tremendous progress to become the leading portal in Russia. All good soup except one of my better friends and a SUP executive, Edward Shenderovich, currently spends way too much time in Moscow.
Here's the LJ 100-day plan going forward. Om Malik quotes Edward on why:
We believe it’s a good business. In the world now dominated by social networks, the role of a “community platform” holds a very special place. We have some ideas about new functionality, new partnerships, and some interesting monetization opportunities. We are very excited about the progress we had made in Russia in the last 6 months and look forward to replicate some of our success worldwide.
