Designer Jeans Meet Deep Pockets

"Today DailyCandy is proof that geeks, albeit stylish ones in Levi's low-rise jeans and drugstore flip-flops, are alive and well in New York's Silicon Alley. More than 1.4 million subscribers gobble up daily dispatches in nine cities across the U.S., plus London. New franchises include a kids' edition, a special deals edition, and one on travel. The site got so hot that it attracted several potential funders and in 2003 accepted an investment from Pilot Group, headed by former AOLer Robert W. Pittman. Last summer, Pilot put DailyCandy on the block for $100 million, and pundits proclaimed the valuation evidence of another bubble. But instead of selling, the site took a second round of funding, which helped push its value to an estimated $130 million. This year's revenues are projected to be nearly $19 million, more than double those of 2005."