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# Lady Gaga Backed Backplane Pivots To Help Others Serve Their Own Little Monsters
- URL: https://www.hypebot.com/lady-gaga-backed-backplane-crashes-pivots-and-hope-to-rise-again/
- Published: 2015-03-09T11:59:00.000Z
- Updated: 2015-03-09T11:59:00.000Z
- Description: Backplane, which created the tech serving Lady Gaga's Little Monsters fan community raised $18.9 million as the poster child for helping brands connect with fans. But behind the scenes, the. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2015/03/lady-gaga-backed-backplane-crashes-pivots-and-hope-
- Author: Bruce Houghton
- Tags: DIY Advice & Tips, Music Tech, Social Media, Startups & Funding, Academy Award, Academy Award for Best Picture, Adam Levine, American Horror Story, Barack Obama, Best Buy, Facebook, Lady Gaga, Social network, Twitter, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-01-21 10:28

**[![Lady Gaga](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e201b8d0e6f01d970c-150wi "Lady Gaga")](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e201b8d0e6f01d970c-popup?ref=hypebot.com)Backplane**, which created the tech serving **Lady Gaga's Little Monsters** fan community **raised $18.9 million** as the poster child for helping brands connect with fans. But **behind the scenes**, the story was not so impressive, until perhaps now.

Backplane was founded to create niche based communities of "like-minded people to connect across their shared interests." Several rounds totalling $18.9 million attracted investors like Google Ventures, SV Angel and Menlo.

Backplane's first hit was Lady Gaga's LittleMonsters.com; and it attracted a million plus fans. The next step was to build similar communities for brands. Coca-Cola, Cirque De Soleil and Nike signed on.

Lady Gaga invested in Backplane and her then-manager Troy Carter was the public face of the company. But when Carter split with Gaga, things started to go turn bad for Backplane. A bloated burn rate was eating up millions of dollars and "internal squabbles led to a useless product," insiders told [TechCrunch](http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/06/the-backplane-black-box/?ncid=rss&ref=hypebot.com).

[![image from d1s86nilnb8zl2.cloudfront.net](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e201b7c75dd724970b-300wi "image from d1s86nilnb8zl2.cloudfront.net")](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e201b7c75dd724970b-popup?ref=hypebot.com)

**New CEO, Focused Mission**

But before crashing, former Backplane President and COO Scott Harrison was installed as the new CEO, and the company pivoted. Backplane is now called [Place](http://place.xyz/?ref=hypebot.com), and they are building an impressive looking platform for creating themed social networks.

"Facebook gave the social web it’s beginning, but it can’t end there." [writes](https://blog.place.xyz/post/54fd0c17202ab099088b4657?ref=hypebot.com) Harrison. "We see our mission as very different, they are connecting the world, we are connecting your world. Take a second, look through your social apps, they’re about everyone else. Place is about you.

Place, currently in beta, will be free, much more self-service than Backplane and aimed at almost anyone trying to build community. Little Monsters need not worry. Like Backplane, Place still powers Lady Gaga's massive community.

[![place](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e201bb08018bdd970d-400wi "place")](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e201bb08018bdd970d-popup?ref=hypebot.com)

**Your Own Community**

Place is currently [looking](http://place.xyz/?ref=hypebot.com) for community builders to be part of the launch.

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