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Consolidation Heats Up In Subscription Economy, As Quarterly Buys Celeb-Endorsed Rival 12Society
Jul 04, 1:28AM
Today, TechCrunch has learned that Quarterly.co, a subscription giftbox service that features monthly instalments curated by respected entrepreneurs, designers and organizations is buying 12Society, a rival startup with a similar, celebrity-endorsed approach to subscription commerce. Terms of the deal are not yet being disclosed, although a source tells us that it's a small cash and equity deal that is expected to officially close in the next week or two and will lead to the closure of 12Society this summer.Here Come The Bespoke Apps: Dolo Is Just For Finding Friends In SF's Dolores Park
Jul 03, 11:53PM
Apps don't have to be for everyone. Development tools, reduced costs, and the trend of nailing a single use case are spawning a generation of homespun applications. The latest is Dolo. Useful for finding friends in San Francisco's crowded Dolores Park, useless for everyone else. Bespoke apps designed exclusively for little groups of friends, neighborhoods or jokes could be the next big thing.BeachMint Founder, President, And Investor Rebuke Report About The Startup's Implosion
Jul 03, 10:49PM
This morning, PandoDaily reported that Los Angeles-based eCommerce startup, BeachMint, had finally tanked after a long, “slow unraveling.” The problem, however, is that this doesn’t exactly mesh with reality. The reporter, Michael Carney, says that “multiple sources” informed him that the startup’s board had essentially fired CEO Josh Berman and President Diego Berdakin, and, on top of that, had asked them to return their remaining $20 million (of the $73.5 million total) to their investors. Were that the case, it would be a clear indication of BeachMint’s impending demise. However, TechCrunch has since spoken with Berdakin, Berman, NEA General Partner and BeachMint investor and board member Pete Sonsini and JewelMint Product Lead David Oh, who tell us that the reports of the company’s death have been greatly exaggerated. In a series of emails and conversations, the founders reported that, in fact, Berdakin and Berman remain 100 “percent committed to and focused on BeachMint” and at no time have been asked to step down by the company’s board of directors. Nor were they asked to return any of the money they’d raised. Sonsini says that the board is “completely behind the founders” and NEA, which is the largest stakeholder in BeachMint, has invested in each of the startup’s three financing rounds because the firm believes in the founders’ vision. Even if actualization of that roadmap takes time. So, in short: Everyone we’ve talked to at BeachMint says that these reports are completely untrue. In its report, Pando essentially speculates that BeachMint’s lack of traction and burn rate have forced the company into an overhaul reminiscent of the one that recently took place at fellow Los Angeles startup, Viddy, in which it recapitalized and gave back $18 million in funding to investors and reshuffled its board. The BeachMint President tells us, however, that the company has been laser-focused on limiting its burn rate, still has “north of the $20 million [in capital] that was reported” left in the bank and has plenty of runway left. If there is any truth to the story, Sonsini says, it’s that the company has been talking to strategic partners about fundraising. Whether that’s smart or not, well, the truth would appear to lie in the middle. In the big picture, subscription commerce is beginning to enter a period of consolidation similar to the one that the Daily Deal space went through after its gold rush. AsNew Zynga CEO Mattrick's Package Is Worth About $50M In Stock, Options & Salary
Jul 03, 10:04PM
New Zynga CEO Don Mattrick, who just left Microsoft to fix the ailing social gaming company, is getting incentivized heavily with stock for his new gig. He starts with a sign-on bonus of $5 million, a base salary of $1 million, then gets a pro-rated minimum annual bonus that is either worth 200 percent of his salary or the average bonus percentage for the rest of the company's executives -- whichever is greater.New Twitter Tool Translates The Last Desperate Tweets Of Egypt's Fallen President
Jul 03, 9:53PM
Avid Twitter followers saw the short reign of Egypt's Mohammed Morsi crumble in real time this afternoon, as the army overthrew the mostly tyrannical ruler. Twitter began auto-translating Morsi, who issued a string of desperate tweets.Source: Xobni Was Acquired For More Than $60 Million
Jul 03, 9:19PM
Xobni was acquired by Yahoo today, the company officially announced on its blog. Initial reports said the company was acquired for "upwards of $30 million" but TechCrunch has learned that total consideration for the deal will be about twice that amount, somewhere in the $60 million-plus range.Cambridge Audio's Minx Go Couples Crazy Battery Life With Great, Portable Sound
Jul 03, 8:45PM
A little while ago, I reviewed the Cambridge Minx Air 200 and found it a solid new performer in the UK-based company's new lineup of wireless speakers. Today, I'm looking at the Cambridge Audio Minx Go, a portable Bluetooth speaker with 18 hours of advertised battery life and a $149 price tag. It's bigger than cheaper competitors like the Jawbone Jambox, but it's got plenty more juice, too, and Cambridge's high-quality pedigree.New Moto X Details Point To Customizable Cosmetics, Not Components
Jul 03, 8:18PM
An ABC News report is dashing the hopes and dreams of Android fans everywhere. According to Joanna Stern, a version of the Motorola X will be available with custom casings and wallpapers, not customizable internal hardware like was widely speculated.Yahoo Acquires Xobni
Jul 03, 8:15PM
Yahoo has just announced that they've acquired Xobni, the startup that tries to make your inbox and contacts list less terrible by focusing on the people you communicate with most.Video Editor Givit Beefs Up Social Experience With iPad App Update
Jul 03, 8:01PM
The video editing app Givit is releasing an update to their iPad app today, an effort to bolster the social, video watching side of the platform. The app updates include an expanded screen view, hashtag tracking, and improved friend feeds — nothing major, but necessary changes to make Givit a more viable social site. People tend to shoot and edit on their phones, making social a better bet for iPad use, which stands at 21% of total Givit activity. This comes at the behest of users who have been pushing for a more social experience lately. CEO and founder Greg Kostello told TechCrunch that although he initially imagined that users would edit their videos on Givit and then share through more established social platforms like Facebook and Twitter, they seem disinclined to do so. That’s an interesting finding given that Givit recently partnered with Dailymotion, the second largest video sharing site after YouTube. It was the first US app to integrate into the France-based Dailymotion’s API, and the partnership was intended to make Givit an easy feed to the site. But as it stands the vast majority of videos stay on Givit, despite a prominent “share” button placed front and center, Kostello said. This seems to be because users want to interact with makers with similar interests. Parkour pros with like-minded souls, for instance. Although Givit is appeasing its users with a better social platform, it will have to make some moves to encourage them to move their videos over to Dailymotion. If the “share” button has been there all along and users haven’t been eager to click on it, it should be interesting to see how they’ll accomplish that.4chan Launches Self-Serve Ads To Stay Lean And Let Users Pay To Troll Each Other
Jul 03, 7:48PM
4chan, one of the wildest corners of the web, is growing up without losing its edge. The image board just opened a self-serve ads tool for scrappy businesses and trolls willing to pay for lulz. Founder Moot tells me "We're already seeing users using it to troll one another, advertise specific threads or their favorite boards, etc. I think there's a lot of potential for people to use the self-serve ads in a creative manner."Vine Fights Instagram With Biggest App Update Yet
Jul 03, 7:43PM
Vine, Twitter's six-second looping video-sharing app, has just launched some new features to the app, including a redesigned camera, categories for various vine genres, and the ability to revine people's existing Vines. The update brings some much-asked-for features to the social network, and also improves users' abilities to gain and following and get noticed within the app.Health App Maker Azumio Launches Argus, A Comprehensive Food And Activity Tracker
Jul 03, 7:41PM
Azumio, the maker of health apps, such as Fitness Buddy and Instant Heart Rate, has another one up its sleeve. The Palo Alto-based startup, which is backed by Founders Fund, Accel and Felicis, is out with a comprehensive activity and food-tracking app called Argus. Argus follows how much you move, walk, run or cycle through the accelerometer; it does not rely on signals from cell towers like other competing apps which might drain the battery more. It also helps you log what you eat, how you sleep, how much water and coffee you drink and how much you exercise. The idea is that it's a catch-all, life-logging app where people can store all of their activity, eating and sleeping habits in one place without having to switch from app to app. It was a common request from Azumio's user base, the company's CEO Bojan Bostjancic says.Founder Stories: Swell's Ram Ramkumar On Transitioning From CTO To CEO
Jul 03, 7:24PM
For today's Founder Stories, I met with Ram Ramkumar, co-founder and new CEO of Concept.io, which last week launched Swell, an adaptive mobile app that streams audio news content. Ram explains how, as CEO, he has to focus on usability and design, which is in contrast to his experience running a technical team at Snaptell.Pave, The Crowdfunding Platform For Investing In People, Launches Option For Those Who Just Want To Pay It Forward
Jul 03, 7:12PM
Pave launched to allow investors to put their money not into startups or companies or ideas, but into people. In return, those who put money in to help would receive a small share of their future income afterward. Now it's offering a way for backers to pay it forward, with a new investment plan called Ripple.TSA's New Instagram Account Highlights The Crazy Things People Try To Sneak On Planes
Jul 03, 7:03PM
Seemingly tired of being chewed out by every third traveler to step through their scanners, the TSA is trying something new to connect with the people: Instagram. Over the last few days, the TSA has been Instagramming some of the crazier things they've confiscated from people who didn't get the whole "don't bring things that can kill people on planes" memo. Guns! Grenades! Secret spy knives!Location Tracking App Glympse Links With Evernote To Let Users Archive Their Trails
Jul 03, 6:59PM
Glympse, the navigation tracking app that has made inroads into location-based services by inking deals with the likes of Ford, Mercedes Benz and BMW to integrate its app into their in-car systems, is today laying down ground in another direction: other cloud-based mobile platforms. Today it is announcing that Glympse users will be able to archive their "trails" directly to Evernote.Doug Engelbart, "Father Of The Mouse" And American Inventor, Passes Away At 88
Jul 03, 6:53PM
Doug Engelbart, an American inventor best known for creating the early computer mouse, passed away last night due to kidney failure. He was 88 years old. Engelbart pioneered many early Silicon Valley technologies, mostly surrounding human-computer interaction. In his own words, Engelbart describes the early development of the mouse...Lyft Takes On SoCal: Launches In San Diego, Plans Community Meeting In LA
Jul 03, 6:21PM
On-demand ride-sharing startup Lyft is looking to make more of an impact in Southern California, with a launch in San Diego and increased community efforts in Los Angeles. That'll open a new market for the company and hopefully quell some regulatory issues that it's faced in another of the cities it operates in. First, the launch: Lyft has officially opened for business in San Diego, which will be the company's fifth market since launching in San Francisco a little more than a year ago. After a successful run here, the startup has been busy expanding into other cities, including Los Angeles, Seattle and Chicago.WordPress.org, Reddit, Mozilla & Others Will Participate In Anti-NSA Web Protests On July 4th
Jul 03, 6:08PM
A number of high-profile websites will be taking part in an online protest tomorrow against the National Security Agency (NSA)'s surveillance of online activity and phone calls. The protest is organized by non-profit organization Fight for the Future, and will see participation from thousands of sites, including WordPress.org, Namecheap, Reddit, 4chan, Mozilla, Fark, TOR, Cheezburger, Demand Progress, MoveOn, and EFF, among others.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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