ecommerce20
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Fab’s eyes are bigger than its wallet. That’s nothing $100 million can’t fix
Last year Fab started to move away from its flash sales roots into big-kid commerce — the kind that doesn’t rely on gimmicks like deadlines, huge discounts, celebrity endorsements, or monthly subscriptions. Much of this was done quietly, but today the company is making all kinds of noise. On the product side it’s announcing a redesigned website and mobile... -
Amazon’s confused foray into fashion tries to please too many women. Will it please any?
I am as bullish as you can get on Amazon. For years, I have argued that Jeff Bezos is the closest thing the Internet age has to a Steve Jobs-level visionary. I’ve applauded him as one of the only CEOs unwilling to cave to Wall Street pressure — indeed he’s willing to laugh in honking tones obnoxiously in the face... -
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... -
The ecomom liquidation is underway. Here’s how things looked at the end
When ecomom terminated the last of its employees one month ago following the shocking death of its founder Jody Sherman two weeks prior, we were told the company would be liquidating its remaining assets. It’s a process most entrepreneurs and investors hope never to encounter, although the laws of startup success dictate that most will. Yesterday we got... -
Danny Rimer one-ups Andreessen: Even supermarkets will be extinct
I opened last night’s PandoMonthly with Index Ventures’ Danny Rimer by ever-so-politely asking what his biggest flameout was. He didn’t have to hesitate: The $1 billion-plus gamble on HomeGrocer back in the dot com days. But somewhere deep inside, he hasn’t let go of the dream. At the end of the evening, one of the most fascinating things he described... -
FabFitFun dabbles in content+commerce with quarterly VIP boxes
Consumers increasingly want a brand narrative around the products that they buy. So it makes sense that connecting content and commerce is a hot business strategy. There’s been some debate, however, about how to combine content and commerce, and in what cases it leads to distrust or erodes brand authenticity. As our Erin Griffith and the guests of our... -
Two years in, here’s how BaubleBar is increasing women’s metabolism for jewelry
Last weekend, the New York Times Magazine published a devastating excerpt from the book “Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us.” In it, reporter Michael Moss described ways processed food industry execs have maneuvered to get American consumers addicted their salty, sugary, fatty snack foods, all very carefully engineered to produce the most addictive “bliss point” among... -
Are European entrepreneurs actually better at ecommerce?
Back in 2008 I wrote a column for BusinessWeek on how ecommerce had hit a wall. Although numbers– and all empirical evidence– backed my griping up, at the time there was only one venture capitalist I knew who was aggressively betting on a new generation of ecommerce companies: Danny Rimer of Index Ventures. And — astonishingly enough– a lot... -
More iPad Minis may ship in 2013. Here’s what that means for retailers
It would be too premature to call it a sea change, but it at least looks like smaller tablets are here to stay. And in perhaps no industry is that more compelling than in-store retail. In a blog post yesterday, David Hsieh, an analyst at Display Search, cited data that shows shipments of smaller tablets has increased dramatically since the... -
What does it take to turn around a Web company? A look inside the only two we’ve ever seen
Every time a has-been startup like Myspace or Digg or a big public company like Yahoo or AOL attempts a Web turnaround, the tech media is quick to remind them that Web turnarounds never work. Technically, we can’t say that anymore. Two companies– Priceline and eBay– have quietly proven that truism wrong, at least from a financial point of view.... -
Houzz’s torrid growth comes down to the three C’s: Content, Commerce, and Community
In Silicon Valley, tales of startups growing at outrageous rates are a dime a dozen. In too many cases, however, those growth narratives are carefully crafted by PR crack teams to highlight the appropriate vanity metrics, while ignoring the mundane or even unhealthy businesses laying below the surface. For example, a headline-worthy 1,000 percent growth rate is not that meaningful... -
CEO Supper Club finale: What company you do envy most?
PandoDaily fans know we end our PandoMonthly events by asking every guest the same question, and we have an ending question for our CEO Supper Clubs as well: If you could run any company other than your own, which would it be? The answers say a lot about these CEOs’ ambitions… and their fantasies. I decided to throw them all... -
Maiden Nation wants to empower women through ecommerce
What do Gloria Steinem, Yoko Ono, and Lauren Bush have in common (besides the fact they are women)? If you said they’re all jewelry designers, give yourself a pat on the back. Surprised? Don’t be. They, and others, have been seduced by the idea behind New York-based startup Maiden Nation, which launched in November. The company seeks to empower women by... -
Why increasing revenues can be bad for startups
Fortune 500 enterprises and startups alike face constant pressure to increase revenues. Naturally, that’s not surprising. Ultimately it’s why we found startups in the first place. Meanwhile, investors want to be a part of growing companies, and smart employees want to be part of the next big thing, not the last. But this intense pressure to grow often pushes management... -
CEO Supper Club: Does ecommerce 2.0 need its own brick and mortar to survive?
Something interesting is going on with ecommerce 2.0. On one hand, it’s aimed at replicating more of the in store experience online — whether that’s customer service, personal shoppers or just brand affinity. But at the same time there’s a trend towards ecommerce 2.0 actually opening physical locations. Aren’t these two inherently at odds? Neil Blumenthal from Warby Parker said... -
CEO Supper Club: East Coast entrepreneurs smack talk West Coast VCs
In an earlier segment of our sit down dinner with Thrillist/Jack Threads’ Ben Lerer, Birchbox’s Katia Beauchamp, Warby Parker’s Neil Blumenthal, and One Kings Lane’s Doug Mack, we talked about why more of the ecommerce 2.0 movement isn’t emanating from Silicon Valley. In this segment, we talk about why some Valley VCs are starting to sour on it as...
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HP versus the headwinds, part 17
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Iran-backed hackers escalate attacks against US
US officials say energy companies are believed to have fallen victim to cyberattack assaults by Iran-backed hackers. The hackers were unsuccessful in manipulating oil and gas pipelines, which is what officials suspect they were attempting to do, but one former official told the Wall Street Journal that they got “far enough to worry people.” [Source: Wall Street Journal]
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Molecule-sorting material could lower gas prices
Technology Review reports on a new molecule-sorting material that could lower gas prices and reduce the need for cancer-linked additives. During the refining process, gasoline molecules are sorted by size to achieve certain octane levels. But this new hydrocarbon-sorting material would remove many steps from the process thus making gas less costly to produce. [Source: Technology Review]
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DHS: 3D-printed guns may be "impossible" to stop
According to a memo obtained by Fox News, the Department of Homeland Security warns 3D-printed guns may be “impossible” to stop: “Significant advances in three-dimensional (3D) printing capabilities, availability of free digital 3D printer files for firearms components, and difficulty regulating file sharing may present public safety risks from unqualified gun seekers who obtain or manufacture 3D printed guns.” The memo closes with, ” [Source: Fox News via Venture Beat]
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The Selena Gomez of SoCal’s tech industry
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3D-printed tracheal splint saves child's life
3D printing. It’s not just for guns. In fact it’s hardly for guns at all. Will 3D printing save more lives than it ends? That’s not a stretch to say. The latest milestone comes out of the University of Michigan, where a team built a tracheal splint that allows a child with a collapsed windpipe to breath again. [Source: New England Journal of Medicine via Gizmodo]
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Watch: Google Hangout on immigration reform
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For Skillz, real money gaming is all about skill
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Study: Religious cities watch a lot of porn too
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Yahoo design chief to depart
Tim Parsey, Yahoo’s SVP of user experience design, will step down for reasons unclear, sources told AllThingsD. He has been a part of many of the company’s major redesigns, including the homepage, Flickr and email. [Source: AllThingsD]
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Pandora beats Wall Street expectations
The streaming music service reported total revenue of $125 million, with $16 cents a share. Analysts had predicted revenue of $123.9. Total mobile revenue grew 97 percent year over year. [Source: Pandora]
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Pixel Press turns your doodles into videogames
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Hearst hires Demand Media and Yucaipa execs for SF Chronicle
The media giant tapped Demand Media’s Joanne Bradford and former Los Angeles Times CEO Jeffrey Johnson to help the flailing San Francisco Chronicle. Johnson will be the newspaper’s publisher, while Bradford will be the president. [Source: AllThingsD]
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Google+ photos incorporated into Google Search
The company announced today that users can surface personal photos from Google+ plus accounts just by searching through the main Google search homepage. A user has to be logged in for it to work, and they can search through friends’ photos too. [Source: Google]
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“We certainly have taken quite a bit of criticism over the years. But it is worth noting that for the first several years, the funding from Tesla was entirely private. In fact, I provided most of that initial funding.”
— Tesla CEO Elon Musk, on the company's repayment of its US loan
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Intel’s new chip family draws 50% less power
Intel has a lot riding on the upcoming release of its new chip line. To add to the excitement, the company released some details about its power consumption, including that it draws 50% less power than the current Core processor line members on “active” workloads. [Source: The Wall Street Journal]
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SimpleRelevance raises $1M
SimpleRelevance, a company that gathers customer data to send more personalized mass emails, has raised $1 million. Funding was led by Hyde Park Angels and Hyde Park Venture Partners. [Source: VentureBeat]
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Yahoo testing out new search results interface
Yahoo appears to be tinkering with a new search results page. For some users, when logged in and using Firefox, they are directed to a new results page that looks markedly different than the old one. [Source: Search Engine Land]
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Smule generated $12.6M in revenue in 2012
iOS music app maker Smule reportedly made $12.6 million in revenue in 2012. It is also supposedly on track to make $20 million this year. [Source: GigaOm]
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Third-party Facebook apps share 1B stories a day
Facebook today highlighted its developer platform, in celebration of the six year anniversary of being open to independent developers. The company threw around some numbers about third-party apps, such as: more than 500 million users use third-party apps through Facebook as well as those users sharing 1 billion stories a day. [Source: CNET]
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Fandium raises $1.25 million for sports app that blends storytelling with betting
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Lambda Labs has made a facial recognition API for Google Glass
San Francisco-based startup Lambda Labs is going to release a facial recognition API for Google Glass apps. The API will be available within a week, according to the company. [Source: TechCrunch]
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GameStop raises earning forecasts on XBox hopes
Despite the videogame industry struggling recently with declining sales, GameStop today raised its full-year earnings forecast. This is based on a potential boost from new gaming consoles like the XBox One. [Source: Reuters]
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Apple to kick off WWDC conference with keynote on June 10
Apple has announced that it is going to kick off its Worldwide Developers Conference with its keynote on June 10. [Source: CNET]
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Box acquires Folders
File-sharing company Box has acquired the technology behind the French app Folders. According to Box, the acquisition is part of a bold plan to make a product “that doesn’t suck”. [Source: VentureBeat]
