Move to new studio all but confirmed by CeHO

In a superhuman feat of sleuthing by members of the Total Drama editorial board—who for the time being must remain anonymous (think about the midnight raid on Bin Laden)—we are now prepared to announce that TWiT is making plans as we speak to move out of the Shithouse at 140 Keller St. to an as-yet unknown space. But one thing is for sure: TWiT will not be broadcasting from the “million dollar studio” for much longer. Perhaps this is why Leo has already shut down plans for the traditional New Year’s Eve show.

Hilton A. Goring could not be reached for comment.
Hilton A. Goring could not be reached for comment.

Our story about PadreSJ talking in an unscripted moment about moving to a mysterious “Studio C”—that many speculated was disinformation or reverse-trolling by the Fat Mexican Clown Priest—may indeed be about to happen. In the above video, Lisa Kentzell Laporte kisses Leo’s head as he signs away his life yet again and gives away “critical information” about his current lease in what’s known as an estoppel certificate.

Only time will tell how much of a débâcle this new studio will be. Stay tuned to Total Drama for more on this developing story and please use the comments section if you’d like to throw in your guess as to where Leo and his untalented gang of hacks will be headed next.

Videos from the previous article:

137 thoughts on “Move to new studio all but confirmed by CeHO”

    1. Basically it’s another legal term that requires college to understand. No reason it should have a name like that other then to keep colleges in business.

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  1. An estoppel certificate is a document used in mortgage negotiations to establish facts and financial obligations, such as outstanding amounts due that can affect the settlement of a loan. It is required by a lender of a third party in a real estate transaction.

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      1. Yes, we have more lawyers here or should I say “barristers” who have managed to make themselves millionaires by screwing over minimum wage Walmart employees…

        Surprising Lisa knows the term, I didn’t know she even had a degree other than the kind you get off the back of a matchbook.

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  2. Could we find another aspect of Leo’s body to lampoon? The “fat” this and that is tired, and besides — some TD readers are themselves a tad bit overweight 🙂

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        1. Laporte controls said “hearing aids” with his pink iPhone.

          Watch for the next sponsor he realllly looooves, self-lubricating catheters.The product demo will be spectacular, albeit remarkably brief.

          Ahem.

          Wonder if there will be an app for that?

          Bless his heart!

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    1. It’s something I don’t understand … I can understand Leo having a divorce but not swapping his wife for Lisa.

      Leo is pretty intelligent, Lisa is an intellectual mediocrity. Leo connects with people, Lisa is a charmless thin skinned person with the worst attributes of American women. Leo has the talent to make the money, Lisa has the talent to spend it and live of him.

      Leo could have shacked up with plenty of trophy(ish) women when he left his wife but he managed to choose somebody that it appears has no compatible attributes and comes across as a fairly tedious, demanding, individual.

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      1. Pure speculation but I’m gonna do it anyway.

        Leo is retarded and can’t do his own books. Because of mental problems or laziness the books are getting layers of dust. He looks for the cheapest solution so he finds the cheapest accountant in Petaluma. After learning that anything Leo says is a lie the accountant drops his “biggest” client onto the office slut/fall guy. Plausible deniability is at play here.

        After a little while Leo starts his usual ham handed flirting. She revels in it because, really, nobody is paying much attention to her once the orgasm is over. She gets a gander at what he has and her brain starts creaking along. She clucks to her fellow hens and all of them come up with a plan.

        She plays Leo like a kazoo and let’s his dick lead her to financial security. Months go by and he’s in deep. He’s probably shown her his dick in person and online numerous times. There are recorded nasty phone calls with his trademark fake laugh. I’m sure he’s gotten more than a few blow jobs. She has Leo wrapped around her penis-like clit.

        The trap is sprung. She tells Leo she has everything recorded and saved. She wants money or she’s going to her boss if not the cops for harassment or downright assault. He pisses his pants. He has a reputation to protect! He’s THEEEEEEE TECH GUY! He can’t lose the gig. Who else will tell granny to defrag or to call Comcast to fix the problem while getting told he’s completely wrong by losers in a chat room?

        Ho lays her cards out. She wants money. A lot of money. Leo mixes shit in with the piss. How can he hide the missing funds flowing out if he agrees? You can only claim to buy so many phones and Macs before people get suspicious. Leo thinks quick and with his dick. Be my girlfriend he says. You can’t deny there was chemistry there. We both liked the blowjobs behind the dumpster. Think of doing things in a bed! It’ll be great! He says. She isn’t wavering and asks about money again. He whips out the CEO position. She can get all she wants and reports to nobody. It’s a win-win for both of them! He says.

        That night they go out to dinner at Leo’s favorite trough. She agrees to the deal. She gets control of the money and he gets what he wants in bed. He’s thrilled. He can try all the things his exes would never let him do. She’s thrilled. She’s been teamed from stem to stern. Dealing with Soup will be a breeze for access to millions. Sure she doesn’t know anything about running a podcasting business but how hard can it be? She downloads podcasts all the time. She can’t figure out how to get them from her computer to her phone but that’s not a big deal. She’ll be working in a place where the podcasts are made! It has to be easier to get podcasts on the phone when the damn thing is in the place where the podcast people are!

        Months go by. She logs into the bank website to remind herself about how much she has. Yeah technically it’s Leo’s but she’s got him in so deep he can never get out. He came around grumbling about some guy named Rose doing videos. Must be kinky. Guzzler wants to make a studio to get out of the hobby room. Whatever! As long as it doesn’t creep into my share of the account!

        The train wreck goes on. They get married. She has complete access to everything and needs him to sign nothing. She is now Leo for all financial decisions. They have sex every so often indulging in whatever fetish he thinks he has now. It usually gals back to boring vanilla cowgirl because he can’t be on top without crushing her diaphragm and risking a death.

        He gets his phones and cars. She gets money and the ability to tell her friends from the past that she’s now a CEO in the company that invented podcasts. You know, those shows you download onto your computer and put on your phone if you can make it work. They ohhhand ahhh pretending they know what she does but knowing what they see. The same skank they always knew wearing the same lowbrow fashion backward clothes off the Marshalls rack that are supposed to make her look powerful and rich. Maybe more of that 80% off jewelry will do it? The hour long rouge session just isn’t doing it these days.

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          1. It was written in a Percocet and pain haze after not sleeping for over two days. Some days reading about the downfall is the only thing that makes me feel good.

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      2. >having a divorce but not swapping his wife for Lisa

        Yes. I always thought that she caught him with sexual favors and snared him into legal marriage by the promise of CEO behavior which would take care of his shaky business acumen. If you ever met Leo’s wife/Abby’s mother, you might wonder why he initiated the divorce. Now, there’s a mystery.

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  3. So if their lease at the brickhouse ends in 2017, which is a year and change from now, it would make sense that they are doing this now so they have time to start building the new studio. If I understand this right, this also means they are actually going to be leasing 2 buildings simultaneously for that time period.

    If this is the case, then what’s everyones predictions on how they are going to handle that? Cram even more ads into shows? Start a blitz of merch peddling? More bricks?

    If Leo has been stressed about stuff up to this point, having two leases at the same time surely will affect his health even more than usual.

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      1. Thanks for the clarification LBJ. For some reason it stuck in my head that the lease was up in 2017 not 2016. So that means they now have 5 months to build a new place. Assuming most of the sets and equipment will move over as is, there probably isn’t much for them to really do remodel wise except new paint and installation of the equipment. Still, 5 months isn’t a lot of time and it should be entertaining to watch to say the least. 😛

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    1. After watching the video, the moral of the story is this Leo… “You’re not supposed to dip you pen in the company ink”, seems this time your hubris got the best of you. Now you’re working at the soup house every Sunday goblin down unhealthy snacks while she’s out at the 49er’s game! Ha ha ha ha, damn right she tells you what to do now.

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    2. Wow, glad I downloaded that.

      It pretty much sums up everything that is wrong with TWiT, Leo’s personal life and why this site exists. From the horse’s mouth no less.

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    3. What a fucking whiny little baby!

      Awwww, Lisa handles EVERYTHING so I don’t even bother to prepare for shows. I work a CRUSHING 26 hours a week, barely part-time, and live like a king. I’m completely unnecessary for the success of the business, which is amply illustrated by my numerous vacations every year.

      Please, Paul, feel sorry for me! You have to keep working to pay your mortgage, while I could quit working any time I want, so listen to me complain about just how HARD my life is.

      Here, let me translate Leo into English for Paul’s benefit: “hey loser, not that you have the talent I do (because no one could), but if you ever win the lottery, don’t start a business employing worthless sacks of shit to make you money. It’s not worth it, you fucking peon. It’s better to be a lazy bone-idle asshole who is slowly eating himself to death, spouting saccharin morality all the while. Just fiddle while Rome burns.”

      I can’t believe what a nouveau riche scumbag Leo is.

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  4. I’m just hoping the new studio keeps the same steam punk aesthetic. It has that old-timey yet very modern look that goes well with both breaking tech news and Leo’s collection of wacky (yet still sexy) bowling (??) shirts. It’s like an old episode of Two and a Half Men meets Dr. Who. I’m actually excited – I bet the new studio will be even better designed than any of those one off T-shirt Lisa #CEOutstanding has sold in the TWIT online store. I feel like this is exactly the kind of refresh TWIT needs and I think steam punk is exactly where the tech world is headed. I hope Leo encourages his on air stuff to also dress steam punk, that would be some tech news I wouldn’t want to miss!

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    1. Well Hey Hey Hey Fake Molly!

      I read that comment and all I could think to myself was how wet you must have been when you typed it. I could literally here the juices oozing out through your words. You must have been sitting in a puddle when you got through.

      I hope Lisa plays designer on the new studio. If she does, then I am certain the new studio will look like a second rate hotel on the backend of a 20yr business. That place will look cheaper than Lisa did when she was walking the streets offering $5 hummers.

      TYFYC Fake Molly! ps. give me a call at (402) 867-5309. I am sitting here naked just waiting for you.

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      1. Mr Ken Sintek,

        1) Gross. That’s not how you attract a lady. Me and my dark triagle will stick with the puggy but lovable Laporte. Sorry, I’m saving my steam punk outfits for Leo.
        2) Wrong. While I may be envious of Lisa’s access to Leo’s little guy, I won’t begrudge the stellar jobs she does running the TWiT organization. Don’t you know they turn down advertisers? Haven’t you seen the new website? Did you watch The New Screen Savers recently? Aren’t you excited about a new studio? It is pretty hard to argue with her business success. Some guys are just intimidated by a gal who can TCOB.
        #Taken_Care_of_Business

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  5. The kiss-kiss on the head to distract Laporke from reading what he is signing is rather blatant. Is he really that whipped?

    If so, he deserves this slow-mo train wreck.

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    1. That was no kiss, that was Lisa sucking Leo’s soul out of his skull. She sates the gnawing creature in her gut by feeding off of Leo a little at a time. That’s also why Leo is eating so much soup these days, he needs to replenish the depletion of his innards.

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  6. “Sign this I gotta go”, read, got you by the ______ LL, I own your ___. Yeah fill in the blanks. I predict more stress eating and much, much more soup-slurping coming up. Can this chick be more condescending or what?! SMH!

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  7. So, any speculation as the why Leo is doing this to himself? Purely a cash-flow thing to keep the wife happy and the kids in college?

    Can’t be the state of the company, which has been in retreat for a couple of years now. It doesn’t the a new space, in fact, this is the perfect opportunity to go Plan B. (a.k.a fire everyone and only do the Leo stuff from the garage)

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  8. Estoppel? I thought it was something about John Stossel the reporter. Isn’t Leo pointing towards the direction of the former TWiT Cottage? Could it be they’ve purchased the Cottage? Most likely not.

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  9. How long can it be before the LaCock no longer satisfies LaCunt and she starts inviting in very well endowed FWBs to fill ‘er up and LaCock become LaCuck?

    Just curious…

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  10. Oh come on… First Ray is sacked , then Erik is eliminated, Elane moves to YouTube, Tom moves to LA, Iaz moves out, Shannon is sacked, Hilton is …well we don’t know where Hilton is, Carley is bopping around, and Lisa is going down on Leo!!! How much change must we endure..

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  11. Is TWiT broke? I mean it sounds like the company is going broke, yet they have many employees and keep getting ads for all shows (at least the ones I watch).

    Sure a move to another studio is going to take a lot out of Leo ($$$) but if they were broke they would have shut down by now. No?

    I’m a noob here so sorry for thinking this.

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    1. No way they are broke. If the written article is correct, their project gross income this year is $9-$10 million. I think he just doesn’t want to pay sky high rent. Who knows what’s the fair value rent in the future when properties are going up and up. If I were him I would operate out from his garage, cancelled all the other money losing shows. And does he need a $250,000/year ceHO? Fire her, too.

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    2. Just said he signed up for a Tesla X. That’s not a cheap car, and that are not and will not be a sponsor like Ford. I predict he will back out when they contact him.

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  12. Is ‘Two Tonne’ Tonya Hall is still in the employ of Mr Laporte? I am told that she is a ‘Marketing Maverick’ beyond compare. Perhaps her visionary advice can save TWIT. #TonyaForTWITCEO

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  13. Man Laporke looks so pathetic in that video clip. Even more pathetic that he puts all his trust in her own. Does he not actually know what he is signing? And how much more condescending can she be? That sound you hear is the vice tightening his balls even more.

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    1. The problem with this fucking scene is that LaCock should NEVER be finalizing business deals LIVE ON STREAM. What a fucking idiot! A normal person would block out at least a half hour or longer meeting with the financial director …. depending on how complicated the deal was.

      Everytime I watch this clip I feel like CeHo just pulled a fast one over on LaCock ……. like a fifth grader trying to get a school release signed by dad ….. it’s REALLY unprofessional.

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          1. In all honesty, he’d probably have one of those slave labour profiteers (task bunny?) send him a poor soul to dig for him and to be made fun of while doing it.

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        1. Father B. is probably a pedo too. Why do you think he likes drones so much? He uses them to spy on little children. Which reminds me – what happened to Hello World’s article exposed him for that very thing? What happened to Hello World for that matter? I love the guy! I hope he’s still part of #drama. I know a bunch of people were pissed-off at him for the kind of satirical articles he writes. Wasn’t he one that created the site? I miss him :'(

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          1. Why would anyone living on school grounds need to spy on children?

            That’s almost as asinine as suggesting chocolate factory workers retain any semblance of a sweet tooth beyond the first couple of days, maybe weeks.

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        1. Just like California and all of its cities have Spanish names… it too was once under Spanish rule and still is appparently, since the names never assimilated “Murican” names. Heck, even the “Murican” monetary symbol came from Spain.. $ came from the Spanish Dolar.. Ever wonder why we use that symbol? It’s an S with a line thru it, where the S stands for Spain. Mexico moved on to use the peso for its monetary unit symbolized by the P with a line thru it. Europe has the euro , symbolized by and E with 2 lines thru it. Japan , the yen, a Y with a line thru it.

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          1. Which is why the US dollar has two lines running through the S, duh.

            Isn’t it interesting that Laporke says,

            “I’ll trust you.”

            Not once, but twice.

            And as for his windows/light epiphany, how will this end well for the ADD letch, really?

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  14. Ive been a long time fan of Twit and Leo but over the last year all the drama and scandals and firings… I mean resignations has really taken a lot out of me. That clip of the Cuntness of Petaluma giving Leo a pen and forcing him to sign the papers reminds me of a sinister family member making a dying relative on their deathbed sign over everything to them. Good luck Leo. We hardly knew ye.

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  15. Leo said that almost 10% of his income goes in rent. In the 2010 video he said he has a million dollar payroll.

    So, let’s say 9% of his income goes in rent. That means his annual income is around $1.7million

    Does he really have a million dollar payroll? I have no idea if he’s telling the truth about what he pays Lisa. But how many actual paid staff does he have?

    Part of the problem here is, we all think Twit is “failing” but it’s probably financially neither up nor down. Morally, ethically, personally, emotionally it’s a complete failure, for sure. And the 2010 video shows that Leo sometimes knows it.

    (For those who didn’t watch the video, it’s Leo explaining to Paul Thurrott that he got too big, he wanted it all – he just used to have one or two people but decided he wanted a network, wanted to be the big boss, and now he really regrets it)

    Leo has enough money to last the rest of his life. If all else fails, he can sell his assets and buy a small enough house in cash. He won’t have to worry.

    I’m saying this cos so many people think that what we’re seeing is the *financial* crash and burn of Leo’s dream. Instead, what we’re seeing is the end of the actual dream of running a new media network.

    I don’t think it’s all about Lisa. I think that’s giving her too much power. I think Leo got the woman he wanted – as he said in 2010, he had big ideas. He found exactly the person to believe in those ideas – and hey ho, she convinced him she was the perfect person to run it. But the idea – being the big boss of the big network – was all his.

    He’s responsible for his own downfall.

    The biggest thing for me is, neither of them (they’re far too similar here) have any idea how to nurture and develop talent. Leo is jealous of everyone else, and Lisa really amplifies that jealousy. That’s where they are a toxic couple. Truth is, everything we think we know about them is speculation – think about how many serial killers people thought were “nice, quiet men”. We never truly know whether what we see is the truth.

    We can guess that Leo is a massively fragile insecure person, and that Lisa amplifies those faults and adds her own. I think we can be fairly sure that she insulates him from his mistakes, which means they act as if it’s them vs the world, which amplifies the problems.

    So if Leo was alone, he wouldn’t get so nasty to people who succeed or do better than him. He would still get jealous, still get insecure. But he wouldn’t act so much on it. But Lisa reinforces those feelings in him, so he now feels more powerful in acting badly towards people.

    That’s why we’ve seen his behaviour get so much worse in the last few years. He’s ALWAYS been a real shit towards people, but he didn’t have someone whispering “don’t worry, we’ll SHOW THEM” in his ear.

    Anyway, that’s about all we can say about her. What we see her doing in this video is just a mirror of the way men have treated their wives for a long, long time – expecting them to “just sign this, honey – you don’t need to understand it”. I doubt a man would be subject to the vitriol Lisa is subject to by her critics – for some reason, when a woman acts as so many men have acted, she’s considered somehow worse.

    I think Leo wanted a strong person who could comfort him and form a bubble with him. He’s not a weak man. He’s not been manipulated. He’s not being used for money. I think they genuinely love each other, and they are in a co-dependent relationship: he needs someone to mother him and tell him what a great boy he is, she needs someone she can chaperone and ‘handle’. They’re both getting what they want out of this.

    And the same is, the insulation she provides for him means he couldn’t see how to develop new talent, how to make true use of the space they rented (rented!), how to make his plans a reality.

    The co-dependency – his insecurity, her reinforcement – is what’s ruined everything for them (and us). It’s brought out his worst failings and allowed her a level of power she’s not competent to handle.

    In a sense, it’s why you do need ‘directors’ to oversee what the day to day management of a company is doing.

    When the people who run it are the people who own it, their failings become the organisation’s failings: TWIT as an organisation is insecure, jealous, petty. Just like its owner.

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    1. Great analysis. It does seem as if ex-wife Jennifer, a shrink, was more likely to calm Leo down from going off the deep-end while Lisa said, “Seems like a good idea, dear. Jump!”

      In fact he did OK by jumping. But now he’s become a huge self -centered -hole. And the joke is that none of it was necessary. He could have stayed small and ended up with more money and less aggravation. Not to mention the bad karma.

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  16. btw can someone explain to me/us what the benefit could’ve been of *renting* a place like this?

    Is it common for a successful business to have insecure accommodation and spend $1million fitting it out if the lease is only guaranteed for a few years? I would’ve thought you should try to buy a freehold, or a long leasehold (in the UK, freehold means you own the actual land, leaseholds are often long guaranteed rental periods – you can buy 100, 200, 999 year leases; if you’re only taking a place for a couple of years, it’s generally not considered a ‘lease’ but a ‘tenancy agreement’; my parents did have a lease on a business building, for 15 years – and even that was considered quite short).

    I don’t know anything about running a business, so maybe what Leo did was perfect. But I would’ve thought you would always be better off trying to own an asset.

    I’d be very interested in hearing the pros and cons of what Leo has done. His lease was extremely short – so, surely that was built in to his business planning? Perhaps it’s what people said: he hoped to be bought out by then, at which point the business would move into the new parent network’s home.

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    1. Renting is normal for business (especially startups). Even the desks, chairs and computers are often hired. You can grow and shrink as the need arises.

      Running a studio is different. It’s a custom build. They should have arranged better terms than they did… or, if they were confident in the business, bought the property.

      That said, if I were setting up a business, then I wouldn’t pick the entertainment industry (podcasting being part of it).

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    2. The building wasn’t for sale and the initial rent was very low.

      Putting in a million in construction that you can amortize over 4 years (+option) isn’t that big a deal, especially in a video production company that needs to refresh sets eventually anyway. They’ve certainly extracted their money’s worth from the current sets long ago (loans were IIRC payed off years ago), and apparently now feel that there’s enough life left in the cash cow to go ahead with another building.

      Maybe they hope to revive the company with that project (unlikely if you look at their current talent and show roster, IMHO the content side needs some serious upgrade), or it’s just to satiate Mr Laporte overwhelming boredom for a couple of months.

      Who knows. Who cares. Just sign the damn estoppel!

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    3. The idea moving out of the cottage house into the brickhouse was that the company was set up to be sold. They wanted TWiT to be bought out and we’re planning strategically for a buyout. Let’s not forget that during the time they were planning a huge buyout, that TWiT was actually thriving. Big time sponsors, big time staff and hosts with a decent following. They didn’t want to buy out the building because TWiT wasn’t supposed to be permanent.

      There were numerous times where big timers came through the show to check it out. Also, there were a few offers on the table. The problem was, it was nothing close to what Leo was willing to give the company he built for.

      It’s very common practice when you are building a company to sell. The problem was, he sat on the egg for way too long. Other companies literally took everything good about TWiT and instead of buying TWiT they just started their own type of tech news/videos network. Now TWiT once known as one of the tech news networks is one of hundreds.

      Literally every major corp pumps out tech news/videos. Now when Leo realized that there were no longer any buyers everything came crashing down. Which is also very common. They made TWiT look like a Lamborghini so someone could buy it. Unfortunately, when no bought it, it was just a costly thing that cost a lot to maintain.

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      1. I think Danny has hit the nail squarely on Leo’s perverted head. I’d go fruther with the proposition that Lisa was a major force behind the build up of the network as a way for Leo(and Lisa) to retire early and that didn’t happen. Maybe the live twit specials format is a way they are trying to market TWiT again as the only podcasting network doing fake live coverage, i.e. , the CNN of podcasting. ???

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  17. The blank stare on Leo’s face says a lot. Mentally Leo checked out 4 or 5 years ago. Lisa has all the power now. She drives the Twit train while Leo sits in the back slurping soup and sniffing fine leather shoes.

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  18. So what does this move mean for TWIT? I imagine it’s going to be very expensive to take everything down and move or rebuild in another location.

    Will they have to cut costs on the shows or ask fans to pay for the move again? Will this affect Lisa at all? I mean she is the CEO, maybe she’ll be forced to step down or take a pay cut because of her failings. I mean who else is there to blame for all the problems theyve been having? Where did things start to go wrong and what could they have done differently?

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  19. Laporke could save tons of money not buying every single gadget that comes out. He claims that he needs to buy them because of the nature of his work but do people really rely upon on his review of new tech when deciding on what to get? It’s not like he’s writing in-depth 10,000 word reviews nor has he ever been known as the go-to-go for tech reviews. I’ll never trust reviews from a guy who buys a new smart phone, claim that this is the best phone he’s ever had and how it’ll be his new daily driver only to dump it off the second a new one comes out.

    The funniest part is when he asks his guests if they’ve got the latest gadget as if they’ve got the disposable income to just blow on every piece of new tech. Most are either waiting for a review unit or not getting it at all. I feel bad for Andy on MBW. By the time he gets a review unit for any Apple product, it’s already been beaten like a dead horse by Leo and the gang.

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    1. Those business expenses don’t mean squat.

      The question is whether it makes sense to pay the optional extra year at market rates and stay around with a new landlord that wants you out and can’t wait to turn the building into their new project.

      Moving only gets more expensive with the extra year, as does construction.

      It would make sense to stick around if you planned to shut the whole thing down (or significantly reduce the size of the company) in the next 18 months.

      If you plan to continue, find a new place, invest the savings into moving there before the end of year 4, and everyone will be happier for it.

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      1. Can someone explain the math of this to me?

        Current rent is $13K per month, which is around $156K per year. It’s going up by $7,000. If they hadn’t wasted $350K on that stupid website, they could have used that money to stay in the studio for another four years.

        It’s not like they didn’t know the lease was ending in 2016, and that they would likely see their rent increase, so why waste money on a new website with that expense looming?

        What am I missing here?

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        1. Does Leo think people go to TWIT’s website? I seem to recall him rationalizing something or other by stating people actually didn’t visit the website.

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        2. (1) The website is, again, a business expense, and the cashflow is apparently there to cover it. I’m sure they didn’t go into it thinking they’d pay what they’ve paid so far, but that is just about any project for you right there.

          (2) The building was sold, the new owner wants to turn it into something or other. Of course, the current lease is in place, but there is no option to stay beyond 2017, maybe not even if they offered above market rates.

          When the sale went through, any further investment into the property became pointless. Find a new place, set it up, and move there before the initial 4-year-term is up, and you get a nice break on your construction and moving costs. ($84k minus whatever the outlay is for the new place for the time of construction, might even be zero if they decide to purchase the new place)

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  20. First, I don’t dislike Leo…I really used to enjoy his shows until he got all “Tim Cook” on us, that is pushing out his uber-liberal comments and if you don’t agree with our philosophy, we don’t want you. (ie. JCD ouster)
    I’m sorry if I’m re-stating a previous comment but I think Leo/Lisa are paving the way for a Patreon funding.
    They’ve seen how well it is working for the ex-twitters.
    The little hints they’ve been dropping about moving and higher rent is just a teaser to get his rabid supporters to shell-out more money. It is just another revenue stream that they haven’t tapped into. I’m sure Lisa see’s this as “money left on the table”.
    If they do this, that’s it for me.

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    1. As a commie liberal myself, I think the worst thing about Leo is the constant bragging. Liberals are supposed to care about helping the poor, making sure people have healthcare, etc. Leo doesn’t perform any meaningful charity, but he’s got millions to spend on expensive cars, vacations, and homes so he can constantly say “look at me! look at me! I’m important!” with every boast.

      Constantly bragging about his money is more Trump than Clinton.

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  21. I wouldn’t give Leo Lagorge a nickel. I hate how podcasters assume they can tap into their fan base like some ATM card. I’m not bankrolling Leo’s gluttonous world tour.

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  22. Thanks for your responses, NormansThirdNipple. It makes sense what you’ve said – I guess from the outside, it can look like idiotic decisions are being made. But we can only assume that they always knew what their expenses were going to be up to 2017, and they knew they would either have to grow the business to absorb the extra market value rent, or they’d have to move.

    I agree that the gadget purchases don’t mean anything. People have to realise, TWIT brings in around $160,000 per month. So even if he is buying every gadget, it’s meaningless in financial terms. When doing accounting, you have the concept of “material” expenditure – stuff that takes 5% or more of your income, for example. I doubt his gadget purchases come anywhere near that.

    Same with the website. He claims that the cost was so high because he was investing in major new technology. If you separate that from the design, the idea is that this technology will form the foundations of his online presence for the next 5-10 years, in which case it’s totally justifiable for a business which is entirely devoted to online experiences, which (you’d hope) will grow, and which is taking in $2million a year.

    That’s the sensible stuff out of the way – the point I’ve made repeatedly, and I think this is the essential TD point, is that Leo and Lisa have thrown this all away by their petty jealousy and inability to grow talent and allow Leo to be in the shadow. Leo being eclipsed by new talent is the ONLY way that TWIT will grow materially – it needs 2, 3, 4, 5 Leo-type figures fronting shows, so that each one can become a star and draw audiences and sponsors.

    If Leo was able to put his ridiculous ego aside, all these purchases would make sense. But given how shit he has been, how badly he’s treated people, how lame his CEO’s abilities to run the business are, the whole thing is a waste of time.

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    1. *CLAP *CLAP *CLAP *CLAP *CLAP

      This, so much, beautiful analysis …When you run off major talent, bad mouth them on the air, and treat your fans as poorly as TWIT has the last few years. You will fail.

      Tom Merritt, Brian Brushwood, Iyaz, and Sarah Lane all could be taking TWIT into the future but Leo and Lisa appear to be too petty to let that happen.

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      1. Lets stay real here, of the 4 people you listed, 3 1/2 would require the studio to be moved to 3 or even 4 different cities to be involved with on-site production.

        Remember, Leo got Eileen and Tom to move up north and truly be local before Eileen went on to bigger, better things, and no one can fault Tom for following his wife.

        Looking back, not continuing with Tom was a really stupid decision as far as the quality of the content is concerned, but that’s because off-site Tom got replaced by an on-site imbecile who’s constantly outshone by his desk’s veneer in the personality department.

        It’s my contention that the basic reasoning behind splitting with Tom was sound (on-site/off-site, extra shows tanking, shorter and shorter availability, his Geek&whatevs stinker), but him not being adequately replaced helped unravel significant parts of the company’s talent pool and contacts.

        Brushwood couldn’t even be bothered to wear a f-ing earpiece for his work. 4+ years of technical difficulties ensued. By the end of his run, he was clearly not in it any more and couldn’t even be bothered to bring more than his ideology to the big roundtable.

        (IMHO, of the NSFW crew, Justin is the way more interesting talent, he is classically trained and can turn off the goof and be a serious reporter or pundit. Also, he loves the process.) Let Bribri rage against “the system” and rave about “private” spaceflight. (brought to you by taxpayer dollars via NASA, thank you very much)

        Iyaz was gone once his former family moved back East, and I can’t fault him for it.

        And Sarah proves that she can do the same thing she’s done for the past 15 years, just as professionally and maybe just as lacking in emotion, a stone’s throw from her home instead of spending 2 to 3 hours a day in a car.

        tldr

        Things change. Talent leaves. Life.
        A Business lives or dies.
        Bring on fresh talent.

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        1. You sort of have me on those points…you got me.

          Related to the talent department, What do you think of Leo being unwilling to move the studios to San Francisco? I know it would be much more expensive, but Leo would have talent all around him (both everyday talent and contributors)

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          1. IMHO, moving the operation to the city would be a suicidal move.

            You’d basically blow up your cost structure, screw large parts (if not the entire) staff in the process, and the only thing you moved closer to are a bunch of valley “journalists” who’ll still call in via Skype rather than taking hours out of their “busy” day to do a 3 minute hit.

            If you want to go for a deep pool of on-air talent, which is what this company is desperately needing, I suppose a move the either New York or LA would make some sort of sense, though the staff thing would still apply, you’d find yourself a very small fish in a very big pond, and the talent you’d actually want to hire may very well not be desperate enough to sign with you. (a.k.a. too many other options)

            The past two years have conclusively shown that this company can not attract quality talent where they are now.

            I guess in a perfect world, they’d try to recruit at least two people who know what they’re doing for a change in one of the big markets, bring them in remotely for a start but then helicopter the operation to their local and start to grow roots in the community before they leave for greener pastures.

            It’d be a huge gamble. Ventures in this space have not exactly flourished in the past decade. It probably makes more sense to just keep doing what they’re doing, knowing full well that this company will die with its founder.

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        2. NO fresh talent. In Leo’s word’s “We only hire old people, they won’t leave” (paraphrased) or incompetent (See effendumb)

          Lisa has shown that throwing shit up on a stream can be monetized (see Gumbot and Megan and Padre) so why pay anything more for talent. “They only leave” Leo Laporte on hiring EffenFuckingDumb, ex Navy Seal, oops ex Navy Buttboy, oops, ex Navy Wiring Specialist, Class 3.

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      2. Competent managers hire people better than they are and surround themselves with major talent. In the end that ability is the over-riding talent.

        Incompetent managers hire crummy talent so they, the incompetent managers, can look better.

        Hello Leo.

        Flawed strategy.

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        1. Leo often spoke openly about having multiple “Leos” (such as Tom Merritt) so TWIT could be a true round-the-clock operation and he could get on with a luxurious semi-retirement. However, in practice he insists on being the focal point of everything, and on top of that sees true talent as competition.

          As a result, he always sabotages himself twice over.

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  23. I wonder about J_______ LaPorte, Leo’s wife during the cottage / brickhouse transition. Going purely by the few photos available from image searches, she had a very, very strong facial resemblance to Leo. If the eerie photos are genuine, Leo’s “type” was the same as looking into a mirror. Certainly fuel for the narcissism theory. Bounding ahead on pure speculation, perhaps the marriage collapsed when Leo began realizing his mistakes and engaging in self hating and self destructive behavior.

    In the alternate timeline of events where TWiT is doing great, Leo would still have to realize he was trapped into doing live reads for sponsors several times a day. I doubt anyone could plow through that repetitive material and feel good about himself. I feel sorry for him, since other broadcasters can take a mind clearing break during commercials and come back refreshed.

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    1. Change that to mind-numbing material instead of repetitive. No, wait, change it to mind-numbing lies.

      How about just running actual produced commercials rather than Leo reading bullcrap? It’s just constant Leo lying about crummy products.

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  24. “I trust you” #1 reason TWIT is absolute shit now.

    Anyway, if it’s a church it’s the cherry on top of Leo’s sludge sundae. What better place to worship his “holiness” than a church. I bet he puts on a collar at some point and implores his “flock” to send in money to build LeoLand theme park…

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  25. Such insightful analysis. Change happens, the only constant is the bag of gas Leo Laporte. I’m not interested in his failure or success or neckbeard analysis of it, he’s an ass, and that’s the last sliver of entertainment I get from that waste of space.

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  26. If he’s suddenly not around the void will be filled. It always is, so I really don’t care all that much. I do rely on TWIT for cheap entertainment/news though.

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  27. Windows Weekly – anyone catch fatass demanding his maître d’ put cream in his tea or some shit? Gawd, “go fuck yourself” is the appropriate response to that.

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