Amp'd Mobile about to shut down

Service is expected to be terminated at 12:01 a.m. tonight (July 24). Customers of the mobile phone service reseller were told about the shutdown over the weekend through text message (paidContent). The L.A.-based company, which filed for Chapter 11 on June 1, said in court filings that it could not obtain financing to continue operating. Here is a lesson on the hazards of growth: Amp'd Mobile saw its customer base jump from 30,000 customers last September to 200,000 in April. There was just one problem: Many of those customer were age 18-24, and they had this thing about not paying their bills. That created a cash crunch, and the company couldn't pay its bills. By the way, Amp'd Mobile had snared $350 million from top-flight investors that included MTV, Universal and a bunch of VC firms (here's some background).