VantagePoint Venture Partners shutters 3Guppies

Venture capital firm VantagePoint Venture Partners has reportedly pulled the plug on mobile social networking service provider 3Guppies. According to VentureBeat, VantagePoint--which assumed ownership of 3Guppies (formerly Mixxer) in a $20 million deal combining mobile social networking firm MoPhone and ringtone provider 3Guploads--made the decision to cut its losses after 3Guppies CEO John Dearborn and senior management execs failed to deliver metrics compelling enough to translate to a second round of financing. VantagePoint let go the 3Guppies staff last week, but will continue paying their salaries through the end of the month. VantagePoint explained the shutdown thusly: "It just was not a good idea to blast to the end of the runway and crash, but to taxi off gracefully."

For more on 3Guppies' demise:
- read this VentureBeat article

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