Amazon Wins Race to the Bottom With Radical Pricing on Long-Term Data Storage

By Trevor Gilbert August 21, 2012

When I saw the news earlier today that Amazon was launching a new long-term data storage platform with rock-bottom prices, I thought it would be useful only for a small group of people. But after speaking to a few experts in the big data, infrastructure, and data storage fields, it’s clear that this is a much bigger deal than people…

Livrada Bridges the Gap Between Physical Books and the Digital World

By Trevor Gilbert August 21, 2012

There appear to be three sides to the ebook market. There are people who have wholeheartedly embraced the digitalization of our books and who don’t touch paper books for weeks at a time. Then, there are people who don’t want to read books digitally, and who are just fine — thank you very much — with their paper books. Finally,…

Introducing Cody: Your Virtual Gym Buddy That Pushes You To Workout

By Trevor Gilbert August 20, 2012

For the past few weeks, I’ve been watching a product grow from something that is mildly interesting into something that is well worth using. The product is Cody, a fitness-focused social network that acts like a mix of Foursquare and Twitter. And as an unintended side effect, it will also potentially cut down on the fitness-related noise that…

Boulder’s Startup Ecosystem: Pros and Cons

By Trevor Gilbert August 20, 2012

When I began talking to people about Boulder before I arrived, I got the impression that the ecosystem was overhyped. The ecosystem was doing well, but there were structural flaws. After spending two weeks in the city, and talking to as many people as I could fit into a very tight schedule, it’s clear that there are a couple of…

Plug.dj’s Non-Explosive Growth Is Its Biggest Asset

By Trevor Gilbert August 17, 2012

We’ve known for awhile now that once-hot group listening service Turntable.fm was in need of a pivot. Mostly because the service is a bit of a novelty. After it’s initial hype died down, Turntable’s base of regular users shrunk, making its plans to monetize less rosy. It’s obvious at this point that group listening won’t be the next Pandora….

Thrillist Employees Don’t Get Options When They Join, They Must Earn It

By Trevor Gilbert August 16, 2012

Thrillist has had a somewhat unusual policy regarding the way it distributes stock options to employees. According to CEO Ben Lerer, the company doesn’t automatically hand out stock options to employees when they join the company. The philosophy behind this is that Lerer has watched other startups give out options to new employees as a way to lure them to…

Ben Lerer on the Line Between Commerce and Credibility

By Trevor Gilbert August 16, 2012

Tonight at the fireside chat between Sarah Lacy and Thrillist founder and CEO Ben Lerer, Lerer opined on the line between a commercial product and an editorial product. [Click through for video clip.]

Incline Plans to Bring Veterans to Startups, With a Built-in Revenue Stream

By Trevor Gilbert August 16, 2012

There’s a soft spot in my heart for companies that not only have a solid business model, but are also looking to help change people’s lives for the better. Launching today, Incline is one such startup. Incline, started by gtrot co-founder Brittany Laughlin, is aiming to teach programming and computer science skills to military veterans, and then pair them...

Breaking Down Fab’s Copycat Claims Against Touch of Modern: Innovate, Don’t Copy

By Trevor Gilbert August 16, 2012

Yesterday, the flash sales site Fab.com sued one of its competitors, Touch of Modern, alleging copyright infringement, trade dress infringement, and a number of related charges. PandoDaily has heard exclusively from both Fab CEO and co-founder Jason Goldberg, and Touch of Modern co-founder Dennis Liu. As with most legal cases, there are a lot of moving parts involved, but we’re…

Virool Brings Viral Video Views to the Cash Carrying Masses

By Trevor Gilbert August 15, 2012

So you’ve made a two minute video that you’re really proud of. And because of how cool it is, people are flocking to YouTube to watch it. Just how many? We’re talking scads, as in Bieber’s fan base looks like the neighborhood book club compared to the views you’re surely raking in. Oh, not so much? Well, for a little…