Longtime readers will remember that I led the web development for Petstore.com which, a mere 8 months after launch, was sold lock, stock, and barrel to Amazon-backed rival Pets.com. Just a few weeks ago Petopia laid off 60% of its workforce, and now it turns out that Pets.com is going out of business. They couldn't find a backer willing to gamble that even an uncontested pet supply company could become profitable on the web.

Also, though even fewer people know it, A good frined of mine, Ray, and I made a stab at an online meta-wish list registry a year and a half ago called Wishbank. After meeting a few delays, we saw the market become saturated both with dedicated wish lists (Amazon and the like) and VC funded meta-lists, like Wishclick. Well, I just saw my first Wishclick commercial, so more power to them!

Now if I start seeing any of my fellow bloggers with commercials I'll start feeling inadequate.