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VCs And Marketing: How The Big Players Play
Aug 06, 3:18AM
Editor's Note: Sales Marketing Manager Leslie Hitchcock is a non-editorial TechCrunch employee. In addition to working at TechCrunch and being super fashionable, she reviews startups and tech products occasionally on her personal blog, Leslie Just Joined. "Marketing is the name we use to describe the promise a company makes, the story it tells, the authentic way it delivers on that promise." --Seth Godin In an effort to appear in touch with Silicon Valley, the traditional media has recently turned its eye on venture capital's marketing efforts. Venture capital is certainly a changing landscape, especially as of late. With the chattering classes abuzz about the current state of VC, the tech industry seems to be taking the recent visibility of local investors personally. Traditionally a quiet industry, firms are now actively touting themselves and it is making some people uncomfortable.The Rise Of The Enterprise Startup: Consumerization And Clouds Open The Door, Disruption Closes The Deal
Aug 06, 2:30AM
It was only a few years ago that selling IT to enterprises was the terrain mainly of large companies like IBM, Oracle and Accenture. And in a market that is forecast to be worth some $3.6 trillion this year, they may still be top dogs, but another trend is also afoot: the growth of the enterprise startup. Growing confidence in the cloud, the falling cost of hosting, the rise of mobile technology and consumerization are all playing their part for smaller companies not only to get their foot in the door with large enterprises but also win lucrative business.Computer, Walk With Me
Aug 06, 1:00AM
Editor's note: Gentry Underwood is a software designer and entrepreneur who co-founded Orchestra, Bring a Trailer, and formerly led the Knowledge Sharing domain at IDEO. You can find him on Twitter at @gentry. Let's start with the obvious: if you're reading this post you're already well-aware of the breakneck pace of technological innovation that has defined the last 30 years of human development. We can probably skip the refreshers on Moore's law or the platitudes about innovation happening faster and faster. This is a story we've all heard. This is a story we know by heart.Congress Goes On Recess Without Cybersecurity Law
Aug 06, 12:30AM
"This is one of those days when I fear for our country, and I'm not proud of the United States Senate," said Senator Joe Lieberman, referring to Congress's inability to pass a critical cybersecurity bill before a month-long recess. Despite a rare op-ed from President Obama urging congress to pass legislation, the Senate couldn't agree on privacy provisions and government regulations in the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, meaning that America's 21st century national security strategy is likely delayed until after the election (along with immigration, corporate tax reform, and most other meaningful legislation for the tech industry).Facebook Ecosystem Crunchup: Video Highlights (TCTV)
Aug 06, 12:00AM
Did you miss any of our Crunchup on Facebook's ecosystem this past Friday? Perhaps you didn't hear how Facebook deals with 7,000 different devices accessing its platform every day. Maybe you didn't find out whether Zynga expects it will make back its money on the OMGPOP purchase. Or, want to learn how many people played games on Facebook.com last month. If you guessed less than 200 million, try again.Twitter's Succès De Scandale: Olympics Suspension Fiasco Drove Signups
Aug 05, 11:17PM
There's no such thing as bad publicity. A source tells TechCrunch that mainstream news coverage of the temporary suspension of an NBC Olympics coverage tweeter / hater gave Twitter's signup rate a boost. The same source revealed that the debacle led to internal communication within Twitter, describing the scandal as having a silver lining: "A good thing". Why? Well, Twitter needs user growth to power its ad model and lay a nest egg.The Nexus Q Was Such A Mess, Postponing Its Launch Was Google's Only Option
Aug 05, 10:30PM
It's not often that a company decides to postpone the launch of a high-profile hardware product indefinitely just days before it's expected to ship the first units. But that's exactly what Google did with the Nexus Q this week. The spherical Nexus Q media streamer wasn't just Google's first consumer electronics hardware project that was designed completely in-house, but it was also a key product the company showcased at its I/O developer conference and put into every attendee's swag bag. Even at I/O, though, it was already clear that Google wasn't really sure what the Q was supposed to be and maybe that explains why the on-stage demo of the Q, which was supposed to retail for $299, was the single worst demo of I/O. Not all is lost, though. Google says that it's working on making the Q "even better." Having used the Q for a bit after I/O and then quickly forgotten about it, I can't help but think that postponing the launch was the best thing Google could have done. There is a lot to love about the Q, but it was nowhere close to being ready for public consumption.Be A Bitch On Email, Or Be Email's Bitch
Aug 05, 9:30PM
I've long hated email. As someone with upwards of 5,000 unread messages at any given time, taking a quick moment to check email is like pushing hot pokers into my eyes. It makes me feel irresponsible and rude every time I see that massive number in bold, yet if I were to diligently read through each email I'm sent, I would write zero TechCrunch articles per day. I would complete nothing but the communication and coordination for future, real tasks. This is thanks in large part to the actual content of messages. Sure, some startups are really great at the concise pitch, sending over three or four lines on their company and perhaps a screengrab, and asking if I want to know more. But most pitches, and most emails in general, are much longer than that. And the reason they're longer? Courtesy.eBay Is Launching A Same-Day Shipping Service Called eBay Now
Aug 05, 7:10PM
eBay today invited some San Francisco users to a new same-day shipping service called eBay Now. An iOS app, eBay Now's beta will let SF residents get $5 same-day shipping on products from local stores. It's now signing up users for an "exclusive beta". It seems that anyone can currently register, and those admitted should get a download link soon. Startups like TaskRabbit and Uber have given consumers a taste of instant gratification, and now it seems eBay wants to deliver the same satisfaction. We are witnessing the rise of convenience tech.The Case For 'Curiosity': Why You Should Stay Up And Watch The Mars Rover Landing
Aug 05, 7:00PM
As I write this, NASA's Curiosity rover is hurtling through space as it has been for the past eight months, but that all changes tonight. With any luck (scratch that -- with a staggering amount of luck), that Mini Cooper-sized envoy will survive its tricky seven minute atmospheric entry, after which it will roam the Martian surface conducting a slew of science experiments for nearly two years. It's all arguably important stuff -- what Curiosity finds could be instrumental to understanding the origins of the planet, not to mention that it could help pave the way for a manned mission -- but I have to wonder how many people living in this age of distraction actually give a damn.Iterations: Public Market Sentiment Rattles Consumer Startups' Cages
Aug 05, 5:05PM
The consumer technology startup world is largely insulated from most happenings in public financial markets. That seemed to change this week. Facebook's stock has taken a real beating on the NASDAQ after its $100b IPO just a few months ago. At the same time, the second-most popular network, Twitter, continues on a path to lock-in users with new features as it primes itself to increase revenue. Typically, these kind of events wouldn't really impact the very early-stages in consumer-facing startups...that is, until now. There is unquestionably a trickle down effect this time around, one that is imparting some sobering lessons. However, upon closer examination, the fear that has spread from public markets to startups is probably more of an overreaction and more likely a response to volatility and overall market uncertainty. And it is up to the ecosystem to respond.Meet Le Geek: Francois-Henri Pinault
Aug 05, 4:21PM
Editor's note: Joe Einhorn, chief executive of fashion pinning/buying site The Fancy, interviews François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of PPR, in the article below. PPR the Paris-based group that owns luxury brands such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen, and sports brands that include PUMA and Volcom (and is an investor in The Fancy). Joe Einhorn: We were talking recently and you told me that you used to be a computer programmer and that you even started your own company a long time ago. What's the story? François-Henri Pinault: It's true that I'm fond of new technologies and it dates back quite a long time ago. I discovered computer science back in 1980, when I was a student at HEC business school in Paris. I found it so interesting that I used to spend a lot of time reading and learning more about computing. I learnt FORTRAN and COBOL programming languages. As a member of the school's student-led junior company, I started focusing on relational databases management for our clients and I became the Dbase software developer of the team.First-Time Startup Entrepreneurs: Stop Fucking Around
Aug 05, 3:00PM
Editor's note: Paul Stamatiou is Co-founder of Picplum, a Y Combinator-backed photo printing service, where he obsesses over both design and development. He also co-founded Notifo (YC W10) and Skribit. Follow him on his blog, PaulStamatiou.com, and on Twitter: @Stammy. Reminisce with me for a bit. Do you remember the first time you got an Internet connection? Before your computer was always connected and when going online was a thing you had to plan. The joys of seeing new browsers like Phoenix emerge. Your excitement when you first experienced the Web with your new high-speed connection. It was a time when sites rarely had any JavaScript and DHTML was the buzzword of the year. Now it's hard to believe that Chrome is just a few years old.What Sports Can Teach You About Creating Awesome Products
Aug 05, 1:00PM
Editor's Note: This guest post is co-authored by Nir Eyal, Andrew Martin, and David Ngo. Nir is a regular contributor to TechCrunch and blogs at NirAndFar.com. Andrew and David are seniors at Stanford University working in conjunction with the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab and Trinity Ventures. This week, fans packed stadiums in London wearing their nation's colors like rebels ready for battle in Mel Gibson's army. They screamed with excitement and anguished in defeat. Many paid thousands of dollars to travel around the globe to be there.
How To Make Sure Your Crowdfunding Dreams Don't Turn Into An Investor Relations Nightmare
Aug 05, 9:00AM
Editor's note: Jason Best and Sherwood Neiss spearheaded the efforts to legalize crowdfunding and helped author the JOBS Act. They founded Crowdfund Capital Advisors and are currently co-authoring Crowdfund Investing for Dummies. The concept of crowdfunding to launch and grow your business may seem like a dream come true—reduced cost of capital, access to new pools of investors, the community opening their arms and wallets— all giving your business a shot to make it big. While crowdfunding (both donation and equity based) offers amazing opportunities, it also brings fiduciary responsibilities, commitments of time, reporting requirements and the potential to let down the people who mean most to you in the world if the unforeseen happens and failure occurs.Zyngapocalypse Now (And What Comes Next?)
Aug 05, 4:55AM
Editor's note: Tadhg Kelly is a game designer with 20 years experience. He is the creator of leading game design blog What Games Are, and consults for many companies on design and development. You can follow him on Twitter here. Significant losses, declining ARPUs, failing mobile acquisitions and shareholder selloffs. A stock price down to $3.01. A product catalog repeating previous mistakes. Media coverage ranging from the mystified to "I told you so". A vague promise to get into gambling. Last week was miserable for Zynga and, as the bellwether of social games, was not good news for the whole sector. As Zynga goes, so eventually go Wooga, EA Playfish and countless others.Analytics Company Crazy Egg Acquires The Hello Bar
Aug 05, 3:00AM
Crazy Egg, a company that helps website owners to visualize visitor activity, has acquired the web toolbar product Hello Bar. The Hello Bar is a customizable, relatively unobtrusive bar that sits at the top of a website and directs visitors with a call to action. For example, the bar on Gary Vaynerchuk's website prompts visitors to "Circle me up on Google+!", while the one at Eric Ries' Startup Lessons Learned points to the video of his Lean Startup track at this year's SXSW.Unbaby.me? Unfriend.me Instead
Aug 05, 1:09AM
Seriously, people? Unbaby.me? You hate seeing baby pictures on Facebook so much that you have to use a Chrome extension to block them? Look, I get it. Parents and non-parents sort of can't stand each other. For god's sake, we can't even hang out at the same bar together without it turning into some kind of turf war. (Yeah, that's right: bar. Apparently, it's not totally irresponsible parenting to consume alcohol in front the kids. See also: my house, every Friday night). But even though Unbaby.me is only the latest development in the whole us vs. them saga of breeders vs. non-breeders, it actually speaks to a couple of long-standing issues surrounding social networking services: that A) you're either doing it wrong, or B) the social network itself has failed you in some way. In this case, I'm voting for A.Predictors Of The Fundraising Market
Aug 04, 11:59PM
Editor's Note: This is Redpoint VC Tomasz Tunguz's third article in a series examining trends in the public and private technology markets. (Here are one and two.) It is widely believed that the stock market is a leading health indicator for the venture industry. In reality, however, the performance of the S&P 500 tells us very little about trends in the fundraising market. For this week's analysis, I evaluated correlating factors for VC fundraising and VC investment using annual data from the NVCA and Yahoo Finance from 2001 to 2011. I examined five possible correlating variables: number of IPOs, aggregate IPO value (proceeds from IPO), number of M&A transactions, aggregate M&A value and the performance of the S&P 500 (year over year change). This analysis time shifts the data by one year.Fly Or Die: iCases!
Aug 04, 11:00PM
It's almost silly to own an iPad or iPhone without a case — they're such fragile devices. But not every case is a good one. In fact, we learned in this episode of Fly or Die that not every case even fits. We decided to look at TwelveSouth's BookBook iPhone case, Hard Candy's BubbleSlider iPhone case, and the Candy Convertible iPad case by Hard Candy. Only one stole our hearts and minds, and even it is a bit bulky.If at any time you'd like to stop receiving these messages, just send an email to feeds_feedburner_com_techcrunch+unsubscribe-hmdtechnology=gmail.com@mail.feed2email.net.
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