Amazon May Own the Skyscrapers of Cloud Hosting, But DigitalOcean Is Looking to Own Main Street

By Trevor Gilbert August 14, 2012

As big and important as the cloud hosting market is to the global startup ecosystem, a giant part of it is being underserved and ignored. At least, that’s the story coming from DigitalOcean, a recent TechStars grad. The current cloud hosting market is dominated by companies like Amazon and Rackspace, with a number of smaller providers dotting the fringes of…

Conference Call Dial-In Numbers Be Gone! MobileDay Is Here to Save the Day

By Trevor Gilbert August 13, 2012

Who doesn’t hate conference calls, with its laundry list of problems? First, the sound quality is terrible. Second, scheduling everyone to call-in at the same time is a pain, unless it is a regularly scheduled event. All of that is to say, it seems a bit ridiculous that we’re jumping through hurdles despite being in the age of smartphones. Solving…

Gumroad Launches Platform API, as It Aims for the Music Industry

By Trevor Gilbert August 10, 2012

Gumroad, the startup that wants to help people sell anything with only a link, is making a big push into the music industry. The company has partnered with a number of prominent music industry organizations, and is beginning to launch products that are perfectly suited for artists. Today, the company is launching a Platform API that will allow any…

Reid Hoffman: Groupon Made Multiple Missteps While Going Public

By Trevor Gilbert August 9, 2012

At the PandoMonthly fireside chat tonight, Reid Hoffman, who was an early investor in Groupon, shared his thought’s on the company’s initial public offering.

Reid Hoffman: Entrepreneurs Need Optimism, Even When “Assembling the Plane on the Way Down”

By Trevor Gilbert August 9, 2012

Tonight at the fireside chat between LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and Sarah Lacy, Lacy asked Hoffman when entrepreneurs should enter the market, and whether or not being overly optimistic is valuable. Lacy cited rumors from PayPal’s earlier days that Hoffman was the founder that kept people in line because of his optimism in the face of overwhelming attacks from competitors.

Reid Hoffman: Three Disciplines that Product-Focused Founders Need

By Trevor Gilbert August 9, 2012

We’re here tonight at Madrone Studios for a fireside chat between Sarah Lacy and Reid Hoffman. For those that aren’t familiar with Hoffman — where have you been? — he is a co-founder of LinkedIn, a partner at Greylock, and a prominent member of the PayPal mafia. Hoffman began by detailing his thoughts on product-focused founders. Conventional wisdom tends to…

PivotDesk Is Making a Play for Startup Office Space Everywhere

By Trevor Gilbert August 9, 2012

Airbnb and Uber have been pretty successful so far, providing solid experiences for users and suppliers. But the idea of reclaiming unused space, like livery cars and spare bedrooms, and reselling it to other parties isn’t stopping there. Today, PivotDesk is exiting the TechStars program, and is looking to take Airbnb’s unused bedroom model and apply it to unused…

Ubooly’s Lovable iPhone Toy Is Not Your Average Stuffed Animal

By Trevor Gilbert August 9, 2012

The best part about trying out new products is when you have a “wow moment.” For example, when you connect with long lost friends on Facebook for the first time. Or when photos of your relative’s newborn baby show up on Instagram. They make the service incredibly sticky, and more importantly, they make the service worth using. With Ubooly, a…

Mocavo Connects the Hidden Dots for Genealogists

By Trevor Gilbert August 8, 2012

Genealogy. The study of generational knowledge. It’s a curiosity for most, a hobby for many, and an obsession for some. Yet despite the wide range of interest in the subject, it’s surprising that the market for it is so underdeveloped. Thankfully, Mocavo is looking to push the market even further ahead with its genealogically-focused search engine. Mocavo is looking…

App.net Is Like a Cool Glass of Water in a Desert of Ad-Supported Social Networks

By Trevor Gilbert August 6, 2012

App.net is really strange. The experimental Twitter-competitor being created by Dalton Caldwell has gotten plenty of attention in the last month, something real seems to be going on. The excitement is palpable among the few hundred users that have been manually added to the service — myself included — and there seems to be a clear promise of a…