Mr. Monahan (Photo: Jesse Thomas/Facebook via Tipster

Earlier this afternoon, Gawker republished photos and a video of AlphaBoost CEO Matt Monahan drunk and naked during a vacation to India. The escapades were originally shared by Jesse Thomas founder of JESS3, a social media advertising firm.

Venture-backed startup founders are fond of booze-soaked jaunts to unwind from the pressure of crushing it, celebrating a big milestone, or just because they can afford to. The difference here is that Mr. Thomas graduated from ill-advised Instagram shots of popping bottles to sharing a video and photos of a stark naked Mr. Monahan cavorting on the beach, somewhere approaching blackout drunk.

And that Mr. Monahan got caught on tape at the same time that he's trying to sell his company.

In the video, Mr. Thomas’ girlfriend looks on aghast while Mr. Thomas laughs and shouts, “Matt, you got a small ass dick, yo, what’s going on? If you’re gonna get naked, you gotta have a big ass dick, what’s going on?” The scene ends with a shot of an empty bottle of Johnny Walker Blue.

Gawker says the three arrived at Surya Samudra, a private beach resort, a few days in advance of Dave McClure’s “Geeks On a Plane” (GOAP) tour--"a sort of mega-nerdy season of Real World"--sponsored by the likes of GE, Google, Qualcomm, PayPal and, yes, JESS3. Mr. Monahan also serves as a mentor for GOAP.

Last year, Mr. Monahan raised $1 million in seed funding for AlphaBoost from Mr. McClure’s 500 Startups, as well as Gary Vaynerchuk’s Vayner Media, and About.com founder Scott Kurnit.

The images and video were not only shared on Mr. Thomas' private Facebook and Twitter accounts, but also from the official JESS3 company accounts, reaching tens of thousands of followers and subscribers.

Adding to the potential embarrassment, emails forwarded from a tipster to Betabeat indicate that around the same time Mr. Monahan was partying at the resort, he sent out an email to investors detailing discussions with "stakeholders" at companies like Facebook, Salesforce, Adobe, and more--and promised meetings with Google and Yahoo scheduled for next month.

(The tipster is not an investor. We have reached out to Mr. Monahan and will update the post when we hear back.) [Update 6.24 pm: We received a call from Mr. Monahan, who is still on vacation in India. He asked that the correspondence below be taken down. We have declined that request.]

Despite the fact that a deal hadn't materialized, Mr. Monahan predicted that a "verbal offer we received will likely materialize in mid-March and provide us with leverage we can use to negotiate with others." He also said, "The AlphaBoost entity would be shut down, and the entire team would take positions at the acquiring company." Back in January, Mr. Monahan told investors and advisors, "If we do not sell the company before April 1st, we will start to speak with investors about a Series A to ramp up our products and revenue."

Here is the email that Mr. Monahan sent to investors last week (emphasis Mr. Monahan's):

From: Matt Monahan <REDACTED@alphaboost.com>

Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2013 10:07:37 -0800

Subject: AlphaBoost UPDATE - 2.15.13

To: Matt Monahan <REDACTED@alphaboost.com>

*A quick note to catch you up on the last few weeks and our plan moving forward...

*In the past few weeks, I have had discussions with stakeholders at Facebook, Salesforce, Adobe, Oracle, Acxiom, Rubicon Project, AppNexus, Demand Media, and Experian. Candidly, some of the discussions fell flat.  The feedback I heard was "Not a good fit given corporate strategy...", "too small of a deal for it to be interesting..", "we only want a portion of the team..", etc. I have Google and Yahoo meetings scheduled for early March.  I am also setting up meetings with folks at companies like Science Inc, Intelligent Beauty, The Honest Company, and NastyGal to discuss options.  These types of companies have plenty of cash and are in dire need of our teams' skills

-- customer acquisition efficiencies on Facebook driven by owned and operated marketing technology. The verbal offer we received will likely materialize in mid-March and provide us with leverage we can use to negotiate with others. The deal on the table is taking shape as an exclusive license of our technology wherein we transfer our codebase to the acquirer in exchange for a lump sum of cash to be booked as AlphaBoost revenue.  That profit would then be distributed to equity holders and investors.

The AlphaBoost entity would be shut down, and the entire team would take positions at the acquiring company.  This deal structure was proposed to avoid a lengthy diligence process, and to minimize liability for all parties involved. The amount of cash paid for the exclusive license is still being hammered out but should provide a nice return.  That is all of the information I as of now...

The team is still heads down building product and servicing clients.  I am beginning to set up meetings for mid-march with investors to discuss the prospects of a Series A as a back up.

Have a great weekend, and let me know if you have any questions or ideas.

MM

And here's another email from the same tipster that Mr. Monahan sent to investors and advisors last month:

On Thu, Jan 31, 2013 at 7:01 PM, Matt Monahan <REDACTED@alphaboost.com> wrote:

Dear AlphaBoost Investors and Advisors,

Sorry in advance for the long email, a lot going on, in a really good way...

*As I reflect on AlphaBoost in 2012, some thoughts come to mind:*

- We learnt some valuable lessons that we will carry with us forever.

- We had some major wins with clients, products, and within the team.

- The team has become lean and mean, and is firing on all cylinders.

- The team and business model are maturing.

- We have honed our focus on a product that is meaningful and differentiated.

- We keep getting new media services customers through word of mouth and good work which is exciting

- We are optimistic about the prospects for AlphaBoost's investors and team.

- Startups are hard, but that is the fun part :)

*

*Company Overview as of 1/31:*

- We have 4 months of runway left assuming static incoming revenues (but we are expecting revenues will grow).

- We are aggressively trying to extend our runway with presentations like this<http://www.slideshare.net/mcmonahan/direct-response-on-facebook> targeted at specific customer segments, and up-selling current / past customers.

- We have meetings with our first enterprise subscription clients in the next few weeks, and hope to sign up a few for subscriptions that will cover burn and extend our runway.

- We have 5 full-time people (2 engineers, myself, 1 account service person, 1 product designer)

- We are now tracking +$32M in client media spend, a +60% increase in the last 30 days.

- We have 372 unqiue ads accounts connected to the system.

- We are now open to the public and you can sign up for a trial for free at http://alphaboost.com -- you must have Facebook ads attached to your account for the system to work.

- We have found a sweet spot at Search Marketing Agencies and are pursuing revenue generating partnerships.

*The Plan for 2013 (GOOD NEWS):

* We are at an inflection point at AlphaBoost given the state of our product, scale, traction, expertise, team, and the macro opportunity.  I am currently pursuing a corporate transaction because I think we can make the economics work for everyone involved.  We are talking to several parties, and...

*We received a verbal acquisition offer today from a publicly trade company with a very strategic need for AlphaBoost. I will know more next week. Stay tuned...

* I have attached the collateral we are using to contextualize the acquisition (this is not for distribution).

Cross your fingers for me and the team.  We have worked hard and would love to put a big W on the board and money back in your pocket.

If we do not sell the company before April 1st, we will start to speak with investors about a Series A to ramp up our products and revenue.

Feel free to call me if you have any questions or just want to talk about the weather.

Thanks for your continued support, over and out,

Matt Monahan

CEO // AlphaBoost

That's the thing about verbal offers. You should really wait until the deal is sealed before hanging out with friends like Mr. Thomas.

Except to see more of this. (Photo: Guest of a Guest)

It's never too early to start speculating about the next election cycle. So we're calling it, less than a month into the new year: 2013 will be New York tech’s debut as a political force.

Tech moguls and politicians have always been willing bedfellows, of course. Last year, technophiles in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area outpaced "Hollywood celebrities and Wall Street moguls" in funding President Obama's reelection campaign, according to a report from MapLight.com. On the other side of the aisle--like far, far to the right--Facebook investor Peter Thiel "almost single-handedly" funded Ron Paul's super PAC. After his fringe candidate dropped out of the race, Mr. Thiel donated $1 million to Club for Growth Action, a Tea Party super PAC.

Locally, however, New York's tech set has been able to rely on the Bloomberg administration asking for their two cents on what might benefit the community. Cornell-Technion's applied sciences campus and the software engineering high school, for example, were responses to founders and investors bemoaning the talent crunch for engineers.

The dialogue was mutually beneficial. After Wall Street's collapse, New York City Economic Development Corporation president Seth Pinsky kicked off a number of initiatives, like funding General Assembly's urban campus and launching app competitions, in the hopes that a robust startup sector would mitigate losses in the financial industry.

But with the countdown clock ticking on Mr. Bloomberg's third term and the success of defeating SOPA/PIPA, New York's techies are taking a more proactive role in making sure City Hall is invested in their success.

This week, the New York Tech Meetup announced plans to host a series of candidate forums in advance of upcoming citywide elections. Leaders of the 30,000-member group are also soliciting input on seven proposals under the banner “Help Us Make NYC the Best City for Tech in the World!" The slate includes creating a deputy mayor for technology innovation and providing New Yorkers with the fastest broadband at the lowest possible price.

Local entrepreneurs and investors are also voting with their wallet, a pattern the Wall Street Journal says is "likely to continue as the campaign season heats up":

Kevin Ryan, chief executive of online luxury retailer Gilt Groupe, contributed $1,000 to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a Democrat expected to vie for mayor, and gave the same amount to state Sen. Daniel Squadron and Reshma Saujani, two Democrats preparing to run for public advocate. Andrew Rasiej, chairman of New York Tech Meetup, gave $100 to mayoral hopeful Bill de Blasio. Fred Wilson, of Manhattan-based Union Square Ventures, has contributed the maximum of $4,950 to Mr. Squadron and Ms. Saujani.

As Crain's later reported, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss--who have been hosting political fundraisers at the Hollywood mansion financed by their Facebook settlement--each donated $4,950 to Mr. Squadron's campaign as well.

In fact, the race for public advocate between Ms. Saujani, Mr. Squadron, and Letitia James--all Democrats--is an early sign of the tech sector's eagerness to flex its newfound political clout. Mr. Squadron has been involved in tech initiatives like successfully advocating for an applied sciences campus in Brooklyn. But Ms. Saujani, a former hedge fund lawyer, has cultivated more visible ties to the tech world.

Last year, she founded the very well-regarded non-profit Girls Who Code, which secured backing from Twitter, eBay and Google to educate and encourage teenage girls toward careers in technology and engineering. At private fundraising events, Ms. Saujani has advocated for bringing the same energy and job opportunities in the Flatiron's tech enclave to the outer-boroughs. She recruited Uber to sponsor transportation for volunteers to Far Rockaway after Hurricane Sandy. Her husband, Nihal Mehta, is the founder of the successful advertising startup LocalResponse.

Indeed, while The Village Voice estimated that 40 percent of donations for her 2010 Congressional campaign came from Wall Street big wigs--in addition to high-profile support from Jack Dorsey, Chris Hughes, and Randi Zuckerberg--Ms. Saujani's campaign for public advocate has greatly benefitted from advocates in New York tech, beyond just the Fred Wilsons and Kevin Ryans. No surprise considering she was the first candidate, back in 2010, to accept donations using Square.

According to the New York City Campaign Finance Board, Ms. Saujani has raised $759,711 to Mr. Squadron's $820,008. But Ms. Saujani got a last-minute boost from techies, using the mediums they love best: 150 of her donations were made in the final hours via Twitter and Facebook. Mr. Mehta galvanized last minute social media efforts while he was at Summit Series' mountain in Utah. Gary Vaynerchuk, Adam Braun from Pencils of Promise and Scooter Braun Project CMO Brad Haugen, who has nearly 60,000 Twitter followers, tweeted out their donations, encouraging others to join.

That's in addition to support and fundraising efforts from Gotham Gal and angel investor Joanne Wilson, who donated $4950, as well as Google's community affairs manager Alex Abelin. Last Spring, Gilt Group's Alexis Maybank also headlined an event for her campaign.

"I think with a new mayor there's an awareness in the tech industry that things could change in the relationships between city government and the community--whether it's getting RFPs for incubators or partnering on the academies," Ms. Saujani told Betabeat. It was a morning after the Presidential Inauguration and Ms. Saujani, a former bundler for President Obama, had been in D.C. for the inaugural ball, followed by a party hosted by Electronic Arts. "The change presents a real opportunity for people in the tech sector to be active in the 2013 elections, like we're seeing with New York Tech Meetup and with supporters of my Public Advocate campaign," she continued. "So there's a lot of excitement too."

The startup sector likes to present itself as a positive force for world change. But with more political lobbying, is there a danger, we asked Ms. Saujani, of the tech sphere seeming more like a special interest? "The conversation about innovation in New York City is not just happening in the tech community in Manhattan--it's happening in all five boroughs. Elected officials citywide are interested in bringing more 21st century jobs to their communities, and that means partnering with tech."

Those divergent conversations are part of the reason tech voters are unlikely to present a unified bloc. As Anil Dash told the Journal: "It's venture capitalists and 23-year-old graphic designers in Bushwick. It's labor and management. It's not traditional allies."

Naptime!

Sundancing in the Dark South by Southwest is basically right around the corner, but it seems several techies needed a break before March offers the excuse for a tax-deductible trip to Austin. Investor Scooter Braun is be there (for obvious reasons), as is VHX cofounder Casey Pugh, ABC News's Maya Baratz, onetime Myspace prez Jason Hirschhorn, and Thrillist cofounder Ben Lerer. Judging from Mr. Lerer's Instagram, Gary Vaynerchuk is also along for the ride.

Startups are taking advantage of the festival's halo of hipness. The creatives at Kickstarter have devoted a page to Sundance entrants funded on the platform, and cofounder Yancey Strickler says he'll be in attendance. Uber will be there--and handing out hot chocolate. "All you have to do is tap the Uber app and we will come wherever you are to deliver sweet salvation from the epic cold," the company promises. Not to mention helping sooth the pain of Uber's high fares.

Two of the cast members of "Start-ups: Silicon Valley," Hermione Way and Marcus Lovingood, are in Park City and hosting something called Hollywood Meets Silicon Valley. In case you'd like a reminder of why people sell out for reality TV, here is the view from their window, as tweeted by Mr. Lovingood:

Popcorny Lest anyone get the idea Mr. Lerer is all high-minded indie films, all the the time, we'd like to point out this little admission via Twitter: "I sorta want to see Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters (I understand this makes me a stupid and bad person)."

Don't Kiss, Do Tell Speaking of Ms. Way, it seems she's still a tad confused by the concept of "discretion." To recap: Earlier this month, she was caught in a hottub on Necker Island with several people, including her host Sir Richard Branson and One Direction's Harry Styles, fresh off his breakup with Taylor Swift. Naturally, at least one tab came calling, checkbook at the ready, but Ms. Way turned the offer down. She explained in a lengthy Facebook note that she couldn't bring herself to violate the privacy of her fellow guests on Necker Island, who were very high profile, you see.

Well, it seems Ms. Way has decided releasing just a few more details won't hurt. She's now written a piece about her week-long visit for the Next Web, promoted on her Facebook with the teasing title, "What really happened on Necker." Did she mention the quality time spent with famous entrepreneur Richard Branson?

The week was jam-packed with activities on Necker including morning tennis tournaments with Richard Branson, kite races to Anagada and yacht racing.

Has anyone ever been this smug about not making out with a pop star?

Corrections for $2,000, Alex? Foursquare made its third appearance on “Jeopardy,” this week. According to cofounder Dennis Crowley’s Instagram of the blessed event, the app-savvy woman guessed correctly and went on to win $40,000 that night. As Mr. Crowley pointed out, Alex Trebek’s prompt was actually 1 billion check-ins behind Foursquare’s current totals. “Gowalla,” one Instagram commenter guessed facetiously--name-checking the Foursquare competitor that was acquired by Facebook and then shuttered last year. Considering the recent PrivCo report that Foursquare will be acquired for less than it raised by the end of 2013, you might want to watch the schadenfreude.

Now You Know "What is the plural of Sex on a Beach?" angel investor and Tumblrer Rick Webb recently wondered aloud to himself on Twitter (as one does). Luckily, GroupMe cofounder Steve Martocci was ready with a riposte: "It is plural, masterbate on the beach is the singular." And there you have it.

GIF Out of Here Buzzfeed is hiring an intern to run the company Tumblr. In keeping with the tech world's slouch toward goofy-ass job listings, the announcement asks, "Can you make an animated GIF of Joe Biden drinking a beer with a red panda?" If so, running Buzzfeed's Tumblr might be literally the only job in the world for which you are ideally suited, you crazy diamond.

Sartorial Corner Don’t get it twisted: In the wake of Michelle Obama’s bold new haircut, AllThingsD’s scoop mistress general Kara Swisher would like everyone to be aware that she, Kara Swisher, does not have bangs. “Side sweep. Never bangs, despite my mother’s best efforts at various D conferences where she got hairdresser under her thumb,” she tweeted in response to someone who suggested otherwise.

Who are you gonna believe, the fine-feathered Ms. Swisher or your lying eyes?

Glass half empty kinda day

Some bad news for New York's best big mouth, it appears that Wine Library, Gary Vaynerchuk's online store, has been hacked. The site sent an email out to customers yesterday, as first reported by Alexia Tsotsis, which gave them a rundown on the timeline of the attacks.

When we began hearing from a few customers about possible fraudulent credit card charges in the middle of October, we launched an investigation.  At that time, we did not know a data breach had occurred.  However, as the number of these concerns increased in early November, we removed all credit card data from our site on November 11th since it became clearer that, although we couldn’t find a breach, something was going on.  Last week we confirmed that an IP address from China was used to hack our website and potentially compromised customer credit card information.  As far as we can tell, this did not affect any in store transactions.

The company makes it clear that this is the first time in its 15 years on the web that it has experienced something like this, and that it is taking big steps to ensure it never happens again. In fact, according to the email, the company will no longer store any customer credit card data. "All credit card data will be tokenized through a third party, meaning that even if someone takes the data they can’t do anything with it."

Wine Library is also ramping up the launch of a new site which will have top flight security baked into the back end. It's a rough episode for Gary V and his family business, but the company seems to be responding aggressively. In the comments on TechCrunch a man named Jasen Bartlett suggests there may be legal liabilities from this attack. "Wow, there is no way they were PCI compliant storing data on their site... And not knowing about a break until they had complaints. The requirements are stringent for PCI compliance.. That could lead to a 75K fine per instance of improperly stored credit card data. Not good."

But most of the comments were supportive of Mr. Vaynerchuk, blaming the hackers and sympathizing with the plight of his company.

flickr.com/photos/stewtopia

Local oenophile, investor and The Daily contributor Gary Vaynerchuk announced today he's retiring after five and a half years of producing "the most! passionate! wine program!" on the internet and the one that launched his career as an author and social media expert.

"It was never in the cards for me to spend my entire career being a 'wine critic,'" he said, marking the title with air quotes. "But wine will always be a massive part of my life ... will I come out with a wine brand one day? Maybe."

He doesn't know where he's going next.

"I just feel ready. I have a lot of ambition in life and there's a lot of things I want to accomplish," he said.

Mr. Vaynerchuk retired from Wine Library a few months ago, and has been producing daily wine videos at Daily Grape. But it was a false start, and making daily videos was taking a toll on even the insanely-energetic Mr. Vaynerchuk.

"I know this is disappointing for a lot of people," Mr. Vaynerchuk said to the camera. "I know some of you just discovered me. I know that for a lot of you I've beena part of your day-to-day life, like you literally come home and you watch the show. That's a big deal to me. That's something that I take very seriously and I feel selfish. A part of me feels like I'm letting you down. It does, and I hate that. But it never felt more right to move on and see what else is out there for me."

He finished the episode with a swish.

No word yet on whether the vlogger will continue his monthly social media tips for the iPad newspaper.

But earlier today, on Twitter: "Wait ...... did my retirement just cause an Earthquake #THUNDER" Mr. Vaynerchuk asked.

Instead of being stuck on a remote spit of land with just five books, Kyle Bragger has created a simple web app, My Five, that asks users to pick the five people on Twitter they would follow if that was all they could have. 

It was inspired by this question from Daniel Brusilovksy and hacked together over the long weekend.

Wine blogger, best selling author and incorrigible loudmouth Gary Vee is the #1 overall pick. In turn, Gary Vee has selected the NY Jets, Kyle Bragger and, #humblebrag, an account composed of the 881,000 people who follow him, proving his social media genius once again.

"I'm watching a lot of small companies hiring people who are social media experts. I think this needs to be debated," Mr. Vaynerchuk explained in a video posted on Sunday. "People who look the part, speak the part, definitely read a lot of content on the part, and then come into the business and don't really know what to do. "

Social media professionals need business experience in order to be effective, he said.

The comment was a little bit hyperbolic, he admitted, but he wanted to "spur a conversation." "People without chops hurt the space dramatically," he said, comparing the damage caused by bumbling "social media experts" to the damage black-hat tactics do to the reputation of the field of search engine optimization.

Will work for money.

As a regular service to our readers, Betabeat selects an especially appealing tech job posting and pens a sample cover letter. Just insert your name, append a resumé and say hello to your future!

MARKETING AND SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER AT ARTSICLE

Want to help develop a brand without any BS corporate rules? Social media maven/ninja with vision? With us you can…

1. Own, manage, & write for Artsicle's "collecting art" blog
2. Start conversations with customers on Twitter, Facebook, and anywhere else you think we should be (Perk: having read @GaryVee's Thank You Economy)
3. Maintain a fun, authentic voice for yourself & the Artsicle brand
4. Bring your vision for our social strategy & work with the dev team to make it happen
5. Get your hands dirty in event planning, schwag creating, and other real life stuff

___

[Today's date]

Dear Artsicle,

First of all, I get it! Art + popsicle = Artsicle. Art you can suck on! No one wants sucky art, but they do want suckable art. It’s a brilliant idea. After all, art is nothing if not a visceral experience, right? I’ve always enjoyed Jackson Pollock’s work, for instance, but wondered why I couldn’t put my mouth on it. Now it seems like it might finally be possible, thanks to the magic of the internet. Artsicle, you’ve created the answer to a question I never thought to ask: Is there a website where I can rent art and lick it in the privacy of my own home? Turns out yes.

To be sure, my previous experience in New York area startups should come in handy here. When I worked for Kozmo.com, we helped our audience understand that free delivery of pornography, twin lobster tails and hot chocolate chip cookies (in under an hour) was not just a privilege, but a right in the New Economy. By the same token, Artsicle’s audience need no longer suffer the tyranny of art that can’t be returned or shipped off to the next foster family like a disobedient orphan. After all, who among us hasn’t suffered buyer’s remorse after quaffing a few too many white zins and shelling out for a Banksy only to find that you’ve bought a Mr. Brainwash? Hands high, now. I see you, Courtney Love!

The reality of our world today is that no commodity is truly valuable unless it can be rented and returned at will. This is as true of art as it is of cars, movies, tuxedos and bowling shoes. I don’t know about you, but my life is full of so much STUFF that I can barely move sometimes, let alone find the time to gnaw upon some of my favorite objets d’art. The wired set knows that ownership is overrated. To that end, I firmly believe Artsicle will change how people consume art in the same way Craiglist changed the way we view prostitution: Find a piece you like on the web, invite it over, then leave some money on the table when you’re done with it.

Finally, I’ll direct you to my popular personal blog, “Outsider Art” (and its accompanying Twitter feed), a collection of gallery reviews filed from outside of the gallery after misreading their hours of operation and being denied entrance. Years of working in social media has taught me that building a business around your passion on the internet usually leads to direct monetization, a philosophy shared by the legendary Gary Vaynerchuk, who also taught me that if wine is your passion, you can treat Twitter like one long, glorious drunken voicemail.

That’s all for me, Artsicle. If you’re looking for a forward-thinking social media maven slash third-degree black belt ninja who “gets it” and wants to help create shared experiences around art on the web, your search is over. I see my future, and it’s hanging on the wall, 30 days at a time.

Yours Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]

Source: mixergy.com

Gary Vaynerchuk will contribute to The Daily for a video feature called "The Next Wave." It's not about wine; it's about Twitter!

"Beginning this week, best-selling author and radio host, Gary Vaynerchuk, will be an on-camera contributor for The Daily. In this role, he will offer analysis on the latest developments in business, technology and social media trends,” the iPad app announced today.

Mr. Vaynerchuk is a talented Twitter-er who issues dozens of @ replies a day to keep his audience engaged.

The Daily's 15 minutes of fame ended a few weeks ago so here's a reminder from the press release:

About The Daily

The Daily is a first-of-its-kind daily national news publication built exclusively as an application for tablet computing. It provides readers the engaging experience of a magazine combined with the immediacy of the web and the need-to-know content of a newspaper, all while elevating user experience beyond the printed word. The Daily is a subscription-based news product, published 365 days a year, at the cost of $0.99 cents a week or $39.99 a year.