Perhaps my way of dealing with tragedy is to strategize.

I'm posting a pair of articles with my advice for the former Rocketboomers, one with advice for Andrew Baron, and one with advice for Amanda Congdon.

First up is Andrew Baron, the owner of a controlling stake in what used to be the most popular video weblog on the Internet, now a name, a website, and a bunch of archives (my advice for Amanda is here).

Surprisingly, Andrew may actually be in the better position here (I'll explain why in the next article with advice for Amanda), but he'll have to act fast and act smart to capitalize on it.

Andrew's goal at this point is to recover from the loss of Amanda and turn Rocketboom into a profitable, sustainable enterprise.

The first thing to understand is that Rocketboom has been built on a lie, and you need to undo the lie. The lie is that Rocketboom cost only $25 per episode to produce.

It may have cost $25 out of pocket to produce, but it also took multiple talented people the equivalent of a full-time job to create. If Rocketboom was just an interesting hobby you could discount that, but in a profit-making enterprise you can't ignore the people costs, even if you're not paying them at the beginning.

Don't feel bad about this. Lots of entrepreneurs make this mistake. The problem is that it lulls you into a false sense of the economics of your company, and you underestimate how much revenue you need to bring in to be profitable.

If you were to pay everyone on Rocketboom something like market rates, plus compensate the correspondents for their work appropriately, I bet you'd find that Rocketboom actually costs something like $500 to $1,000 per episode. Most of this money is being invested by the people in the form of time.

It is important to understand this now, since (unlike when Amanda started) Rocketboom now has a demonstrated ability to generate at least some revenue. It isn't just an interesting experiment anymore, and whoever you hire to replace Amanda will know this and demand to be compensated appropriately. Worse, because Amanda owns 49% of the company, you can't give her replacement any equity and still maintain a controlling position.

(As an aside: About that stock Amanda holds: I'd let her keep it, for several reasons. First, this whole affair is ugly enough as it is, and you probably won't be able to get the stock back without a big public fight. That will just distract you, cost you tons of money, and further stain your personal reputation. Second, Amanda is still a very visible and popular personality, and it is to your benefit that she have a stake in making you succeed. She can still help Rocketboom fly, and you want that. Third, if you force Amanda to give up her stock, even assuming you can, you will have a hard time using Rocketboom stock to compensate talent in the future, since nobody will trust you to let them keep it.)

Okay, now that we understand what Rocketboom really costs, let's talk about Amanda's replacement.

Your goal is to turn Rocketboom into something bigger than the talent. Ideally, you want it to be a platform from which careers are launched. That will give you the upper hand in finding the replacement for Amanda's replacement: nothing works better than "I can make you a star!"

The one thing you don't want is a clone of Amanda. If you hire another Quirky, Perky Blonde, then you send the message that you need someone Just Like Amanda in order for Rocketboom to have an audience. That's not true, since there are lots of interesting, talented people out there who can build Rocketboom. But if people think that you need another Amanda, then they conclude that Amanda is the reason for the show's success, not the format, the platform, or the Rocketboom brand.

You want to show that Rocketboom can succeed without Amanda, and that it can make a star out of whoever sits behind the desk. So go for a strong contrast to Amanda, there's lots of talent out there.

(Unfortunately, early rumors are that the new Rocketboom host will be Joanne Colan, another Quirky, Perky Blonde. I think this choice is a big mistake. Near term you may keep more audience with an Amanda clone, but longer term it turns Rocketboom into the Quirky Perky Blonde Show, rather than a platform for great talent to grow.)

Then you need to start working on finding the next Rocketboom host, and the next one after that. Start building a bench, as they say. Have some backup hosts for when your main host is on vacation, sick, or quits. Changing faces for a week every now and then will let your audience discover new people, and make Rocketboom less about the star and more about, well, Rocketboom.

Finally, let the talent explore their own directions. Resist the temptation to meddle. Give the host 3-6 minutes each day to explore. It can be hard when you have a different vision for the show than the talent, but if you hired the right people, then the talent is usually right (that's why they're called "talent"). One of the great things about Rocketboom is that it is small enough to make mistakes and learn and grow.

So, in summary, my advice to Andrew Baron is:

1) Figure out what your real costs are, even if you're not paying them, and build the business around that. $25/day is a lie.

2) Let Amanda keep her stock. She'll be a good ally in the future, and Rocketboom can't afford another messy fight right now.

3) Hire someone who is not Amanda. If you go for the Quirky Perky Blonde, then the show never becomes bigger than the host.

4) Find a handful of backup hosts, and give your main host a break every now and then.

5) As long as the results are good, keep your hands off. Let the hosts do their own thing.