Im Joining Xydos Advisory Board

One of the things I share on Twitter and this blog that I get the most comments on in real life has been that of Xydo, a personalized news service comparable to the likes of Digg, with a Quora-like twist (with the ability to edit, claim, and subscribe to topics of your choice). The other day someone mentioned in front of me to a friend of theirs how cool this service was, and that it would “just work”, showing you all the news you were interested in just by the links your Twitter and Facebook friends are sharing (as well as those you post and share online). It was then that I knew I was onto something. Just last week they announced a $1.25 million funding round, and I’m proud to announce that with that, I am now officially a small, equity-holding (non-paid) member of Xydo’s Advisory Board.

When I met with Eric Roach, Xydo’s co-founder, a few months ago, I was sold. Digg is old-school and I have been eager for something new and innovative that could be much bigger. Eric, who has multiple exits himself in the past, has the experience to make this happen, and I’m very excited to help them in this endeavor. It’s also great to have Epic Ventures, one of Utah’s most successful Venture Capital firms, backing them in this effort.

What does this mean? It means I will be able to have an even stronger, and more official, say into the direction of Xydo and how they grow moving forward. I truly see this being a significant new way to consume news in a very social manner, based on relevancy to who you are, where you are, and what types of things you are interested in. I hope we can even further bring in influences from sites like Quora and Digg, and bring the era of news consumption to a new and better level than ever before.

My hope is that this does not affect too much bias here, but I would be lying if I didn’t say it didn’t give me any bias at all. This is just one more thing added to my continued list of advisory roles and client relationships that I will always disclose here if there could be any conflict. On top of this I still consult, I still run SocialToo.com, and I still work in my day job at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

If you’re ever in Utah please come say hi and I’d be happy to take you up to Park City for some skiing and a visit to the Xydo offices there. This is a great company, with great talent, and a great vision for the future that I can see big things for.  Of course, please try out their service – share it with your mom or grandma. Xydo is a news service for all who like news! You can try it out at http://xydo.com.