People
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Quincy Jones is still at the forefront of music tech with his piano learning startup Playground Sessions
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. It’s a good thing for us all then that Quincy Jones has been at the cutting edge of music technology for more than 60 years. The legendary record producer, conductor, arranger, composer, television producer, and trumpeter was one of the first musicians in the world to use a synthesizer in... -
Classroom participation startup Top Hat Monocle strengthens its team with addition of elite CFO and CPO
Toronto-based classroom education startup Top Hat Monocle takes a contrarian position on students’ smartphones. Rather than insist that they put them away, which we all know is a losing proposition, the company uses the devices to drive engagement and participation. Today, the company has beefed up its executive team, announcing the addition Ralf Riekers as its new Chief Financial... -
“That kid with a 4.0 always felt like the reward was going to a great school. You don’t want to let that kid down”
When I knew we were doing a section on education, I knew I needed to get in touch with Phil Bronner. The last time we spoke, Bronner was a partner at Novak Biddle, one of the few venture firms dedicated to investing in online education — including the time when it used to be hot, the time when it was... -
Mark Zuckerberg’s new political action group: More field organization than lobby shop
Today, the tech industry got another high-profile advocacy organization, this time reportedly backed by $20 million of Mark Zuckerberg’s money and a broad alliance of industry heavyweights, including Reid Hoffman, Eric Schmidt, Fred Wilson, John Doerr, Paul Graham, Reed Hastings, and Marissa Mayer. The group, called FWD.us and led by NationBuilder and Causes co-founder Joe Green, who... -
Wealth management isn’t for old farts anymore. Personal Capital uses technology and design to spice up a boring topic
Once you accumulate a bit of wealth, managing it can becomes a second full-time job. Making it worse, technology to simplify the process is sorely lacking. That is, it was lacking. Personal Capital released a completely redesigned version of its wealth management iPad app today that takes advantage of the touch-based interface to make visualizing and managing one’s... -
As General Catalyst’s newest XIR, Unica founder Yuchun Lee hopes to hack the entrepreneur to VC transition
When entrepreneurs make the move to the other side of the table, becoming VCs, they often have difficulty with the shift from focusing deeply on a single company to the need to focus broadly (an oxymoron if there ever was one) across many portfolio companies. Former Unica co-founder, IBM executive, and MIT BlackJack team member Yuchun Lee is joining
From bloody war to social media’s soft power: Storify’s Burt Herman on the new news media
For a decade, Burt Herman covered conflicts, natural disasters, and other turmoil as a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press. His reporting took him to wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Macedonia, as well as to a revolution in Georgia, the grisly Beslan school siege in Russia, and post-tsunami Indonesia. But then, noticing a new media future unfolding back home in…
Kicks and Stomps trades the Lean Startup playbook for Hollywood-style development
We’re meant to be in the era of lean entrepreneurship, where technology is built iteratively, and with an eye on capital efficiency and product market fit. But apparently, not everyone got the memo. Kicks and Stomps, which launched yesterday, is an immersive, animated content experience masquerading as a $2.99 children’s reading app for the iPad that has more...CEO Supper Club: What company do you envy?
The last question we ask at every CEO Supper Club is always the same: On your worst day, what CEO do you envy? If you could run another company, which would it be? We got a wide range of answers at the end of our meal with various sharing economy CEOs. Leah Busque from TaskRabbit envies DogVacay or...
Why Mike Maples says we should ignore almost all data about the venture industry
I love writing about stats in the venture industry because there are always two realities at play: The macro one and the one that actually drives the bulk of the innovation, jobs, and dollars in the industry. I don’t care what the numbers are, the inherent reality of venture capital is that almost all of the returns come from less...
CEO Supper Club: Why Airbnb has absolutely dominated the sharing economy
Perhaps it was appropriate for something as feel-good-sounding as the sharing economy, but our CEO Supper Club attendees were awfully fawning about market leader Airbnb. It’d be easy for some professional jealousy to creep in– and Lord knows, I tried to stoke those fires. After all, these recent magazine covers touting the sharing economy phenomenon really focus mostly on Airbnb….and...CEO Supper Club: Why building a horizontal sharing economy company is so hard
Earlier in our month-long special report on the sharing economy, I wrote about how it’s the verticals– not the horizontal platforms– that are taking off as this trend gains steam. Some of the biggest investors in the wave already spoke with us about why they thought this was playing out so differently from past consumer Web trends. But I...
Prebacked partners with Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield to facilitate real innovation in med-tech
Healthcare technology is a challenging category. Entrepreneurs and investors regularly find themselves hamstrung by bureaucracy and limited information, not to mention the sheer magnitude of many of the problems being tackled. There’s a new organization in Silicon Valley called Prebacked which is tackling these issues with an entirely new take on the hackathon and accelerator model operated in partnership...CEO Supper Club: How the sharing economy is becoming the peer economy
Typically we get pitches all day long from entrepreneurs who are trying desparately to wedge their companies into the latest industry buzzy categories. Can you imagine anyone who works at a company ever paying you something? Then you’re an enterprise company! But during our dinner with various CEOs we’d considered part of the sharing economy, many of them argued...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...
Tony Hsieh makes another crazy bet, orders 100 Tesla Model Ss to rent to Downtown Vegas residents (Updated)
Tony Hsieh is not one to limp into a project. Consider the fact that he’s investing $350 million of his own money to renovate a city – in the freakin desert – that’s not even his hometown – with the hopes of making it a destination for tech entrepreneurship. What’s more, this is a bit of a pattern for Hsieh. Previously,...
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The scary future of the quantified self movement"
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Study: Tumblr is NYC's largest venture-backed exit
CB Insights notes that Tumblr, at $1.1 billion, is New York’s largest venture-backed exit of all time. The study doesn’t take into account Doubleclick, however, which was bought by Google for $3.1 billion, probably because Doubleclick was already public when it sold. [Source: CB Insights]
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The new Flickr: Biggr, Spectaculr, Wherevr
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Marco Arment weighs in on Tumblr-Yahoo
Marco Arment, David Karp’s right-hand man when Tumblr first began, weighs in on the Yahoo acquisition: “This is clearly what David believes is best for his product. On such big decisions, he hasn’t been wrong yet. This time, though, I don’t have any doubts.” [Source: Marco Arment]
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DOJ's AP snooping even broader than we thought
New information released to NBC News reveals that the Department of Justice’s secret subpoena for AP phone records was even broader than initially reported, covering faxes and landlines as well. The AP is considering possible legal action against the DOJ. [Source: NBC News]
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Yahoo didn’t buy Tumblr. They bought Tumblr’s market position
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Microsoft to launch "The Music Room" on Xbox
Microsoft wants the Xbox to be about more than just gaming; it’s working on its own in-house content like the upcoming TV show “The Music Room” which from the description sounds a bit like American Idol but for artists no one will ever hear of. [Source: Edge]
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Audi: Tesla isn't beating us
Last week, CNNMoney published an article with the headline, “Tesla sales beating Mercedes, BMW and Audi.” Audi has called foul on the headline, saying that while the Tesla Model S did outsell one of Audi’s luxury brands, Audi still sells over twice as many cars as Tesla. [Source: Audi]
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Yahoo redesigns its OTHER big acquisition: Flickr
To many, Yahoo’s acquisition of Flickr became a cautionary tale for small startups looking to get bought. Now, a day after its board approved the $1.1 billion acquisition of Tumblr, Yahoo has redesigned Flickr with bigger images and a more in-your-face Pinterest-y design, proving it hasn’t abandoned the photo-sharing network yet. [Source: Flickr]
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Google closes Checkout, pushing thousands of merchants into Braintree’s arms
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Gawker's "Crackstarter" is skeezy but significant
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Tumblr selling to Yahoo was not a "win" for NYC
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On the outskirts of the Maker Faire
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Chinese hackers reportedly gained sensitive data after breaching Google
Hackers who infiltrated Google’s network several years ago gained access to a database with information on US surveillance targets, the Washington Post reports. The purpose appears to have been finding out which Chinese intelligence operatives in the US may have been under surveillance by US law enforcement agencies. [Source: Washington Post]
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Bandwidth Pool gets $100k loan from state of Iowa
The Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based startup, which aims to make it easier for businesses to find affordable Internet providers, was awarded the loan from the Iowa Economic Development Authority. The money will go to site updates. [Source: Silicon Prairie News]
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Syrian Electronic Army has hacked the Daily Telegraph’s Twitter
The latest victim of the pro-Assad SEA is British newspaper the Daily Telegraph. According to reports, the Telegraph’s twitter handle began tweeting pro-regime messages. [Source: Business Insider]
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Why Yahoo’s track record with acquisitions isn’t relevant to Tumblr
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Sensopia raises $1.2M
Sensopia, the makers of the augmented reality software MagicPlan, has closed its latest round of funding at $1.2 million. In addition the company released a development kit today. [Source: VentureBeat]
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Apple releases Tim Cook’s senate testimony
Apple today released the text to Tim Cook’s upcoming senate testimony regarding the company’s tax practices. In the statement, Cook denies avoiding any taxes. [Source: The Verge]
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Square Cash to provide option to pay friends through email
Square has revealed a new product called Square Cash. While details about it are still nebulous, Cash will supposedly provide a platform for individuals to pay other individuals cash via email. [Source: TechCrunch]
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Facebook now allows users to suggest photos for its places
In an attempt to build out its locations database, Facebook is now allowing users to submit and suggest photos for unadministered place pages. [Source: InsideFacebook]
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Writers should be paid
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Vista Equity Partners acquires Websense
Buyout firm Vista Equity Partners has acquired anti cyber and data theft software maker Websense. The deal came to about $1 billion. [Source: AllThingsD]
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Google Hangouts update can’t make outbound call
The latest update to Google Hangouts has removed the ability to make outbound calls. Users, however, are able to receive inbound calls. [Source: CNET]
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AT&T will support any video chatting app by the end of 2013
After Google Hangout’s mobile launch, AT&T Android customers were unable to use its video chatting capabilities. Now AT&T has issued a statement saying it will be able to support any video chatting app by the end of the year. [Source: The Verge]
