This is exciting.  Again, congratulations, Matt.

Run with it!

Congratulations!  I have worked in a couple of start ups and it is a tough road to get that financing!  Kudos to you on this round, and my fingers are crossed for all of you and the future.  

Matt: I know what's it's like to start up a business...and everyone else need just go back in time a little bit to when they first started their business. It take long hours of dedication, effort and hard work....without pay. You all are doing what needs to be done so you can move forward and not have to panhandle to keep things going (okay, not panhandling but asking people to help out) ActiveRain is the best investment ANYONE could possibly imagine.

Oh...so it's Jerry I have to nag about the outside blog?  I am in...that's a given. I am so pleased with what I've gotten from ActiveRain...my first closing/recording on Thursday from ActiveRain and most importantly...the info and support from peers here...  OH...and you guys too. Thanks...now I'm going to bother Jerry if he doesn't get some kind of update up about that blog.

Congratulations, Matt.  I am glad you have the funding you need to make your vision even more of a reality.

Matt,

You've looked out for all of us and we appreciate it.  I can't wait to get going on my outside blog :).

Thanks,

Yes Outside blogs would be a good thing.  I check back daily for info on them.  Can't wait to see you roll them out.

No insult intended, Matt, but you should fart more often into your hat during the wee hours. Congratulations on closing your round of financing. I guess you guys can now afford the fusball table! Well done.

Andrew, I had to think about that comment for about 2 minutes before I got it, I'm a little slow today :)

Just a thought Matt,,, hello, my name is Mike..

I am past president of a few small clubs, leads groups. We were always needing cash, so we ( I) contacted the Wal Marts, ect to have hot dog sales, ect. We also started  a 50/50 ticket sale for every weekly meeting. The 50/50 made our insurance payment after that!!

I know this may be outside the scope of the existing format, but everyone deserves to be paid for what they do, except for Realtors, who somehow in the early days of real estate said"Ahhh, don't worry about paying me now, I will catch yu at closing"  We still have that crappy method of possible reimbursement of expenses to this day!!

I recently used a vacation travel package to fund some of our contributions that our various charities had gotten so used to that we were line items in thier budget.. No pressure Mike, the Food bank will make it somehow............Anyway, the travel packages cost us really squat, and had a retail value of thousands, so we raffled them off at various functions for ten bucks a ticket. We sold so many tikets we gave away more cruises..

Oh yeah, I am blown away with the sucess of Active rain...If you had a little pay pal doanation banner off to the side somewhere, yo might be surprised what would trickle in...

Of course, none of this beats 2.75 mill in one check!!! Good for you... are you  looking for low rent offices in Central Fl with some of that cash... Just had to ask  Again great job...go buy some ice cream now, you deserve it

Congratulations - now push that outside blog platform on over!  I'm anxiously awaiting something easier than I have now!

Good luck with tings. I hope the financing from this point forward will not be as difficult.

This is awesome news, Matt....Congratulations to you and the the rest of the AR crew!!

I'm looking forward to seeing what the coming months will bring,

Jo 

This is terrific news, Matt. Well deserved. Looking forward to more improvements.

Jeff 

Congratulations on finding your funding!  I wish you all the best!  I thank you for creating this place where we can encourage and help eachother.  I have learned much and gained more friends.

It's a Good Life!

Fran

What? You guys don't want to work for free anymore? What's up with that?  Glad you are starting to see a few rewards with your fabulous idea!

"I was working out of my basement ..." -- brings new perspective to the phrase 'getting in on the ground floor!' Congrats on the funding. Things always seem to run a little smoother with a couple of million in the bank.

I am both very excited for you guys and nervous of the prospects of a company like HV being involved with this platform.  I will continue to hope for the best. 

Hey Fellas of the Rain.  It has been a long while, but I saw this come through my feedreader and I could not be anymore happy for all of you who have put your blood and sweat .. fart and other bodily functions into ActiveRain!

I wish you continued success and MUCH happiness, always!   

Congratulations on the funding.

Congratulations Matt.  Keep up whatever it is that you are doing!  Think big !

matt,

I know how hard you guys worked to make this a reality!

The hours have paid off for you and it`s time to spend some of the DOUGH!!!

Enjoy, you`ve earned it!.

You guys will be the ones benefiting from the dough spending our top priority right now is ramping up product development as fast as possible.

Matt - you all sacrificed so much.  I appreciate that you are staying true to your promises to the community!  Much luck to you and the rain gods!

Congratulations and thanks for all the hard work and sacrifice. 

Congratulations, all!  Working out of your basement you should be glad you were in Washington instead of in Florida, where you would have drowned. Things do usually work out for the best - I'm glad the deal with realtor.com didn't work out, and that you're maintaining majority control. We'll hang on for the ride.

Reserved Parking For "The Lovely Wife"...TLW...ROAR! :)

I'm very happy for you guys Matt. Now about that cab money you owe me? :)

Matt...

Can I trade my points in for ammo now? :)

TLW...ROAR!  

I agree Michelle

Congratulations - now push that outside blog platform on over!  I'm anxiously awaiting something easier than I have now!

Congrats on getting this one done. Have been through the whole process withon a startup we did in LA in the '80's that eventually came up on NASDAQ. It was an eye opener. Wrote the orig. biz plan when there were two of us, then quickly became SR VP Marketing as we took off and grew.

Commented about your recent funding success with Jonathan, and gushed to him about the recent hiring of Rich. Bob has been a real gem, and adding Rich is one hell'uva excellent move.

cheers 

Matt, very happy for you and everyone, Sarah, Jon, Ben, Lydia, Bob et... all.

I'll reserve my opinion on HV and hope over time it will change. You deserve the best, you have a great network of people who love and trust one another here.  

Very happy for everyone.... you deserve what you have earned and what is to come!!!!!!

Matt,  Congrat and very cool!  I know what you're up against when you go out looking for financing.  Looking forward to see what you have in store for us.  Congrats again!

This is good news. You deserve any financial success that comes your way.

Matt, yes I have watched my son grow buysafe.com from a class project to an Internet business with 90 million contacts per month.  I DO understand where you've been and where you're going.  I trust your decision - you've created a business with great potential, and you certainly have the right to earn a profit.  Good luck to you all!

Matt, you deserve to get money after all the work and time you have put in. What I still don't understand that has not been fully explained is what is in it for your new contributor? Bottom line there has to be some reason why they would want to invest that kind of money and I for one, would like to know what it is.

Matt, congratulations on this financing.  I trust that there are bigger and better things coming down the pike for Active Rain!

Hey Gena,

The deal is structured very similar to a typical VC investment.  They believe we are going to be very successful with a little bit of cash behind us, and want to the opportunity to share in the success.  Same reason I invested my money in the company...

I love it when a plan comes together.

I've been with a couple of start-up, an IPO, started several new businesses and moved on when markets changed.  It's not easy and I didn't have 65,000 folks to try to please. 

You guys do a great job.  I appreciate you every single day.

Keep up the good work and we will all be happy and hopefully you will prosper. Congrats

Sounds like a  wonderful day in the rain.  Where can we read more about the outside blogs?  I'm well on my way to addiction!

Congratulations on securing funding.  You guys have done a fantastic job with AR, even on a shoe-string budget.  I can't wait to see what comes next.

What an Extraordinary way to start the New Year!  Congratulations on the Funding Deal.  Every business needs capital and every business owner knows what it is to work hard and do without.  I hope this transaction turns out to be everything you have desired and more.

Congratulations.You guys deserve a pay check. You do good work, a lot of people are benefiting. Start-ups are never easy. Thanks for all the work you are putting into this project.

Matt, 2.75 M for a brain fart is pretty darn good in my book. Congratulations and I think it's cool for you to share a little of the history of the company. I wish you all the very best w/ your future plans.

Colleen

We appreciate how difficult it is to raise money, believe me, I know this path very well.  Anyway, you got the bucks now! Congratulations and remember the quote from Spiderman, "To whom much is given, much is expected." Based on what I have seen here so far, you guys are all on the right track.  Keep up the good work.

In the trenches. ktm

Matt - I could not be happier for you and Lydia and all the people involved - i too know what it is to do a start up and what you all have put into it - I'm thrilled for you and know your future is so bright - I'm just a little sad missing Caleb at this special time - that would have made it perfect.  CONGRATS - can't wait to see what's coming next...

Matt,

I hope you guys can get paid now, and pay back those HeLOCS on your homes :)  I hope this is everything you guys need, and that it works out for all.

Matt, very pleased to see your hard work rewarded!

Hi Matt:  Congratulations on having arranged the financing that you have been seeking.  It is never easy to get one's creative juices flowing when you are under such pressure just to survive.  Take care...

Matt, This is great news. I know you will structure it well. Start up companies are always fun.  Keep up the great work

WOW!  I wish my 3 AM brain farts would come to something as successful as a concept of Active Rain Matt!  I had one yesterday and ended up logging on active rain at that ungodly hour and lost it!

A most sincere congratulations to you and your team!

Matt,

Congratulations on securing the financing.  Great job and shows your determination to bring your 3 AM dream to fruition.

Great work. It is difficult to go through the challenge of maintaining the original concept and look for investment capital without strings (there are always some but you know what I mean).

Without revealing your souce did you end up with a VC type or were you able to locate a pool of private investors in the area?

 Since you went through the gauntlet I am interested to know where you ended up.

 I like to hear good news or success stories in a period of time where it seems people are hanging on the negative.

Thanks and happy trails.

Kirk

LOL....well congratulations. This place is and will be great. You all had a great idea and wonderful vision.

Congrats dont worry you will be cashing in here very shortly. Keep up the good work.

Matt, great to see you guys making it happen, after many long hours and hard work.  Keep it up!

Matt,

With the news of the HV layoffs,how will this change the leads generation for A/R?

I hope having a lead generation/sales company for a minority partner will not negatively impact AR.

Scott & Jim, it won't have any impact.  We are operating under a very different business plan and model than Housevalues.  

Matt-I want to say congrats...boy you guys have worked hard and you deserve this... I imagine it's a nice relief and quite incredible to you...I have no problems with Housevalue's....and look forward to seeing what's in store!

Thanks for sharing. I am now imagining you eating ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches every day :)

You guys deserve a break - congratulations on the funding.  Keep up the good work.  This is a great family and I'm proud to be part of it.