Deals
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If Apple were smart, it would buy Dropbox, no matter the cost
I’ll just come out and say it: Apple should acquire Dropbox. This doesn’t mean it’s likely to happen – such a deal faces a number of obstacles that we’ll get into in a moment – but for a number of reasons it would make a lot of sense. I expect that this will be an unpopular opinion both among Apple... -
CEO Supper Club: “John Doerr doesn’t give a shit if we’re going to get liquidity next year”
This is by far the meatiest and most must-watch post from our CEO Supper Club on the sharing economy — particularly for any entrepreneurs eyeing this space. In this clip, our CEOs talk candidly about the biggest problems and challenges they’ve had building these marketplaces. As Bo Fishback of Zaarly puts it, “Everyone says marketplaces take ten years, local... -
The promise (and refreshingly low hype) of online education
At some point in 2011 education went from “Oh God, no!” to kinda hot in Silicon Valley. It has a lot of the ingredients the Valley loves: A controversial premise from a major Valley thinker that higher education is, for the first time in history, not worth the price of admission A few VCs being contrarian enough to start funding... -
School’s in session: LA’s The App Room hopes to stand out amid a crowded market for developer courses
With headlines about millions in venture capital raised and billion dollar exit valuations seeming to appear daily, tech entrepreneurship is in full vogue. At the same time, platform app stores on iOS, Google Play, Windows, and Blackberry have democratized distribution of software like never before, meaning that there’s never been a better time to become a developer. This trend has... -
StartEngine goes corporate with Accenture partnership. Will an “Innovation as a Service” program turn off entrepreneurs?
The job of a startup accelerator is to take ambitious teams of entrepreneurs and shepherd them through the process of turning ideas into businesses. But this is easier said than done. Some programs choose to only accept teams with a prototype built and early market traction. Others, including industry heavyweight Y Combinator, occasionally accepting teams with “napkin ideas” or even... -
Consumer-focused Maveron formalizes its Seed program, will make one investment per month
There’s no arguing that Seed stage investing is hot right now. After all, it’s the massive increase in Seed investments, not a decrease in activity in later stages, that has led to the Series A crunch. Not only are there more angel investors than at any time in history, but later stage firms are now running dedicated seed... -
Yuri Milner makes a big bet in Russia as part of $25M Series B for travel portal Ostrovok
Russian mega-investor Yuri Milner has made his first significant investment in a startup from his homeland in more than three years, joining a host of other big names in backing hotels booking service Ostrovok for a $25 million Series B round. Moscow-based Ostrovok, which was founded in 2010 by former Google and Slide employees Serge Faguet and Kirill Makharinsky, is…
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Retail brick and mortar may not die completely, but it’s dying as we know it
Running parallel to the debate about whether or not print is dead is the debate about whether or not brick and mortar retail is dead. In recent months, we’ve catalogued no shortage of well-founded arguments on both sides. What’s clear is that both arguments suffer from being oversimplified. On print: Certainly the failure of local newspapers that weren’t adding... -
TOLDJA™: BuzzMedia rebrands as SpinMedia, announces $15 million in further funding
As we predicted nearly a month ago to the day, BuzzMedia has rebranded itself, taking the name of one of its more prominent online publications. The online entertainment publisher will now be known as SpinMedia. “[The] new company name celebrates SPIN and its enduring promise to be intelligent, upbeat, daring, restless, insatiably curious, romantic, irreverent, and, above... -
Here come the acquisitions: China’s Internet industry gets down to business
China’s startup ecosystem hasn’t exactly been renowned for its fervor for mergers and acquisitions. Until very recently, the prevailing Internet industry culture has been to poach and copy rather than acquire and innovate. In the Web 2.0 era, the biggest Internet companies in China – Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and Sina – have been allowed to take a very startup-unfriendly approach, because…
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Barista problems: Why Starbucks isn’t the energy shot Square needed
You’d think there would be more overlap between Square and Starbucks on the Venn diagram of company cultures. Technology enthusiasts thrive on caffeine, and Starbucks offers free Wi-Fi for harried startup-ers. Both deal in life’s constants: cash and coffee. Starbucks has perfected the use of preloaded cards to pay for its mochaccinos and 500-calorie pastries while Square is promoting a... -
GameDuell turns to tyntec for SMS-based verification of gamer identities
As more and more areas of our lives move online and onto mobile, the need to verify identity and prevent unauthorized access increases exponentially. As countless corporate hacks and successful social engineering scams have demonstrated, passwords alone are woefully inadequate in this regard. Short of biometrics, which are costly and often impractical, text message-based two factor authentication is among the... -
Realty Mogul proves real estate crowdfunding works with its first completed deal
There are few verticals in which a dedicated equity crowdfunding platform is warranted. In most cases there is both insufficient demand and not enough differentiation required to justify the fragmentation. Real estate seems like a category where it is well justified. While betting on internet startups and independent films is typically not a wise move for everyday investors, real estate... -
LA digital media maven Mark Terbeek leaves MK Capital to join Greycroft Partners
There must be something in the Spring air in Los Angeles, because March has brought an unusually high level of change in the local VC landscape. The positive takeaway for the market is that it’s all meant more capital and deeper bench of investors talent focused on the local ecosystem. The first news to hit was the launch of Adam... -
Coffee Meets Bagel teams up with SideCar to get LA daters together
Online and mobile dating services have seen a resurgence as of late, with new products ranging from the primal and superficial Bang with Friends, to the more profile and relationship-minded Let’s Date. The growth in the digital matchmaking has seemingly paralleled the equally precipitous decline of the daily deals model. It’s funny then, one of the more interesting companies... -
New stats show raising Seed money from big VCs increases survival. (The opposite of what everyone in the Valley says)
I had an editor who used to always tell me that nothing ruins a nice clean story line like actual reporting. Reality stubbornly refuses to hew to something editors have sketched out and agreed on as a great cover piece that can sell copies. Likewise, nothing ruins good advice like data. Damn you, big data! The more (good) data we...
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PandoMonthly San Francisco with KPCB's John Doerr
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Google Glass in 10 years: The view from dystopia
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Xbox One will do random authentication checks
In other words, the Xbox One will periodically “phone home” to Microsoft to verify that users own their games. That said, a user will not have to buy a new license for used games. [Source: Polygon]
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Google, Verizon, and Acer help tornado victims
Google has teamed up with Verizon and Acer to offer Chromebook stations with free Internet to tornado victims in Moore, Oklahoma. [Source: Google]
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Is Gmail getting a redesign?
Leaked screenshots of a possible Gmail redesign reveal five tabs at the top of inboxes to allow for better organization. Like Google+ Circles for your emails kind of? Google has not commented on the authenticity of the images. [Source: The Next Web]
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Four simple strategies for monetizing your video
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Forget Aereo: Broadcasters sue Aereokiller
Aereo wants to kill broadcasters, Aereokiller wants to kill Aereo. But in this case, the enemy of my enemy is not my friend, as Fox, NBC, ABC and Allbritton Communications sue Aereokiller for providing broadcast television over the Internet. [Source: Variety]
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John Doerr: “Venture capital has changed and I need to adapt”
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Tumblr's David Karp in his own words
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Is the Internet of Things the future of narcissism?
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Google reportedly working to bring wireless networks to the developing world
The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is deep into an effort to build, fund and help run wireless networks in emerging markets like sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. The plan is to connect more than a billion new people to the Internet. [Source: Wall Street Journal]
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Twitter account of UK’s largest TV broadcaster hacked by Syrian Electronic Army
ITV is the latest victim of the Syrian Electronic Army’s attacks. The AP, Financial Times, the Daily Telegraph and the Onion were all attacked previously. This comes days after Twitter unveiled two-step authentication to prevent such a thing. [Source: Reuters]
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Lessons from Segway: Why John Doerr no longer makes $1 billion predictions
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Google and Microsoft collaborate on new YouTube app
Google will work together with Microsoft on a new YouTube app for Windows Phone, after Google had demanded Microsoft remove an unauthorized version from the platform. The collaboration will bring the Windows YouTube app up to pace with YouTube’s API terms of service. [Source: The Verge]
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Google planning to fund wireless networks in emerging markets
Google is reportedly funding, building, and helping run wireless networks in emerging markets. Markets include sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, and will be used to make internet available to those outside of major cities, as well as improve connection speeds in urban centers. [Source: The Wall Street Journal]
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LTE comes to AT&T’s prepaid service
Starting today AT&T GoPhones will be able to support LTE network. Before, only high-end contract customers were able to use AT&T’s high-speed LTE service. [Source: GigaOm]
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Google Glass user calls it too “creepy”
Reports are now beginning to come in about user experience with Google Glass. One user found that the wearable device was too creepy and made those around him feel uncomfortable. [Source: BGR]
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“As an entrepreneur, you have to rely on luck. Honestly, being an entrepreneur, in my opinion, is 95 percent luck; four percent knowing when to recognize it; and one percent hard work. I mean, that’s the equation.”
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Better Place to file for bankruptcy
Electric car company Better Place is reportedly planning to file for bankruptcy in the next few days. According to Fortune, over the last seven months the company has seen two CEOs come and go. [Source: Fortune]
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Facebook Phone will not be sold in UK
UK network EE has confirmed that the HTC First — also known as the Facebook Phone — will not be available in the United Kingdom. According to Forbes this is so that Facebook can increase the customization experience of its Home screen before it gets released across the pond. [Source: Forbes]
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iPad software tech maker Erply raises $2.15M Series B
Erply, a startup that makes iPad-oriented and cloud-based software for retailers, has raised $2.15 million Series B. Funding was led by Redpoint Ventures. [Source: TechCrunch]
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PayDragon sees spike in mobile grocery ordering
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Yahoo places bid on Hulu
Yahoo has entered into the bidding storm for video streaming site Hulu. According to AllThingsD, other possible contenders placing bids for the company include DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, and Guggenheim Digital. [Source: AllThingsD]
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Samsung’s Galaxy S4 camera outperforms the competition
According to a French firm that specializes in camera optics, the camera inside Samsung’s Galaxy S4 smartphone outperforms the iPhone 5 and Nokia’s Lumia 920. The iPhone 5, however, is better than Samsung for video. [Source: BGR]
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Amazon launches App Engagement Reports
Amazon today launched a service aimed toward developers called App Engagement Reports. The reports are aimed to help developers track app performance and revenue. [Source: TechCrunch]
