SV Moms Group Interim CEO Samantha Fein Speaks About Closure

The news that the Silicon Valley Moms Blog community and business is closing has generated a lot of buzz – not just among mommy bloggers, but throughout the wider blogging community. The affiliated company SV Moms Group is a major player in the space providing not only a blogging platform to 13 metro areas across the United States and Canada, but the team also worked as a third-party broker connecting brands and bloggers for national marketing campaigns.

Recently named interim CEO Samantha Fein spoke exclusively via a phone interview with ShePosts.com to help answer questions about the upcoming closure on July 1.

There’s been speculation about why the city sites aren’t being handed off to bloggers. Will those eventually be shut down or are there opportunities for the writers to continue to use those domains?

At the heart and soul of the community are the bloggers, and we know it. With their consideration in mind we haven’t made a final decision on what to do yet. It would certainly make the most sense to do what’s best for the writers, so we’re continuing to analyze those options.

What fueled the decision to close the business and was it primarily a financial decision?

I think the questions floating around are all very fair. It is notable that the founders and partners of SV Moms Group took serious consideration into their options before making this decision – it wasn’t rash.

Part of the burden and the joy of having a hobby that turns into a business that turns into a nationally recognized network are the growing pains. And most certainly a company of this caliber needs to have an investor come in and support the quality of work that’s going on. It can’t function as a hobby and be the size and quality that it is. So there’s certainly a financial component to it.

The company is successful. We cannot grow further without outside investment – it is not a scalable business without exterior help. The company is in the black and debt-free, and always has been. So there’s no financial trouble but you cannot work in an environment where you are functioning as a media conglomerate yet have the resources of a hobby.

You were recently named the interim CEO – were you anticipating that a buyer would come through?

We’ve been quietly looking at options for about 9 months. We’re always open to a last-minute fire sale, and although I would guess that’s unlikely, it is something we’re open to.

I’ve been working in an unofficial capacity analyzing options since March 2010; however, it was announced about two weeks ago. I was brought on board to anticipate potential outcomes and after much consideration we decided this is the best potential outcome for the bloggers, for the community and for the company moving forward.

Will the Recharge Suite at BlogHer ’10 still go on or will it be cancelled?

The idea of the Recharge Suite was to continue putting brands and bloggers in a private, peaceful environment to mutually do business. I would anticipate that although the official Recharge Suite will not be moving forward, that we will continue to facilitate those relationships during BlogHer and beyond.

So, you all will still be at BlogHer and will remain active in the blogging community – just in a different role?

Absolutely.

Even the writers seem to be quite confused and sad about the news. Who knew about the impending decision to shut down?

It’s a true, true, true community. I can understand all of that – and I share some of those feelings. You can only imagine what the founders and the management team must be feeling if the writers are feeling that way.

The SV Moms Group team has known each other for a very long time and they have worked very closely together. The information we could disseminate as a management team – we did. And the information that we felt was both safer for the bloggers and for the company to withhold we did, until we needed to disclose.

[Co-founder Jill Asher’s mother recently passed away, and she is now pregnant. Plus, co-founder Beth Blecherman’s father is not doing well.] Neither of the founders would use personal and private challenges to make determinations for the business – these decisions have been in the works for quite a long time.

What has the company meant to you personally?

Being part of the SV Moms Group community is a testament to both blogging and writing, which I’ve personally done professionally for years. It’s also a testament to the power of females in the workspace – working with brands of this caliber and writers of this caliber is really an inspiration to me moving forward in my next venture.

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In a press release, co-founder Jill Asher says:

“Over the past nine months we have been analyzing the most effective way to rationalize this business. We have concluded that, considering the needs of our 400-strong writer group and those of our customers and advertisers, the business is not sustainable without additional financial support.

It is anticipated that it will take approximately three months to complete the process of closure.

We recognize these are very difficult decisions affecting our writers, their families and the blogging community as a whole. We expect this elite community of bloggers to continue to thrive organically.”

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{photo credit: jasoon}