The latest from TechCrunch
- Spotify Looking For A COO, Still Hoping For U.S. Launch This Year
- Intel And Another 70 Companies Launch Cloud 2015 Open Data Center Alliance
- Canada Gets Real About Seed Investing With New $45 Million Fund
- Don't Tell Tesla: In 2020, Sales Of Electric Vehicles Will Be Less Than 8% Of The Global Market
- Intel Backs Three Startups From The Middle East: Nymgo, Jeeran, ShooFeeTV
- Dennis, Tell Us How You Really Feel About Facebook
| Spotify Looking For A COO, Still Hoping For U.S. Launch This Year | Top |
| Music streaming service Spotify has retained executive search firm Odgers Berndtson to assist them in finding chief operating officer as the number two executive after founder Daniel Ek . A number of candidates, particularly in Silicon Valley, have been contacted for the job. Our first source on this story said that Spotify was actually looking for a new CEO to replace Ek. But Ek says this is inaccurate. “We’re looking for a COO to help run the company,” he said by phone this morning. I also spoke with Ek about the story I wrote yesterday about acquisition attention from Google and Apple. Ek says Spotify has had absolutely no acquisition discussions with Apple at all, ever. “We don’t want to sell, we are here for the long term,” he said. On the Google story he was less forthcoming, saying only that the story wasn’t correct in its entirety. “Google is a great partner,” he said. I also asked Ek, since I had him on the phone, about Spotify’s U.S. launch plans. The company has been talking about a U.S. launch for well over a year, but it hasn’t happened yet. The complications appear to be over their very strong desire to offer a free version of the service here, as they do in Europe. Ek says that discussion with labels are ongoing, and that he still “hopes for a U.S. launch this year.” CrunchBase Information Spotify Information provided by CrunchBase | |
| Intel And Another 70 Companies Launch Cloud 2015 Open Data Center Alliance | Top |
| Today at a press event in San Francisco, Intel and a group of 70 companies announced an alliance to build a system of open standards for cloud computing. Part of the Cloud 2015 initiative, The Open Data Center Alliance makes it easier for customers to deploy cloud computing solutions, as it focuses on interoperability, flexibility and unifying industry standards. The Open Data Center Alliance will represent more than $50 billion in annual IT investment. Intel, which powers 9 out 10 of the servers for cloud today, will be a technical advisor and non voting member in the alliance. The companies involved are cross-vertical including Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, BMW and JP Morgan Chase, joining together with Intel towards the ultimate endgoal of simplified virtual computing. While Google, Amazon Yahoo are missing from the list, Intel commented that membership is still open, “There’s a lot of people still in the pipeline. We’re adding people by the minute.” Grappling with the fact that there will be another one billion people and another 15 billion devices on the Internet in 2015, the Cloud 2015 vision to simplify virtual computing is three pronged: Federated (so clients can better and more securely share data), automated (more efficiency in moving data), and “client-aware” (a cloud API that is device aware, taking into account whether a user is on a phone or a laptop). Intel executives emphasized that communication between the players will be key in achieving the initiative’s goals of decreased IT spending and increased effiency. “The Open Center Alliance is way to create and unify the voice of cloud consumers and cloud users, using usage models as a way to specify requirements. We’ve never seen this approach before.” said Intel representative Billy Cox. From the hardware side, Intel also announced an expansion of its Cloud Builders program, which allows companies like Citrix, Dell, HP, IBM, Microsoft, NetApp and VMware to provide solutions for many of the issues brought up by the alliance and the usage model roadmap. CrunchBase Information Intel Information provided by CrunchBase | |
| Canada Gets Real About Seed Investing With New $45 Million Fund | Top |
| If you need more proof that seed investing is taking over the world, just look up north to Canada. Three years ago, a group of angels started Montreal Startup, a $5 million seed fund. This week, they are launching their second, $45 million fund under a new name, Real Ventures . It will invest in startups across Canada from Montreal to Vancouver, but mostly within 250 kilometers of Montreal where most of the partners are based. The partners include serial entrepreneur Austin Hill , John Stokes , and Jean-Sebastien Cournoyer, Daniel Drouet, Alan MacIntosh , and Mark MacLeod . The fund will invest in web, mobile, software, digital media, social and casual gaming startups. A $45 million fund is small by venture capital standards, but it is actually quite large for a seed fund. New York City’s Founder Collective , for instance, is a $40 million fund. The more seed capital gets spread across different pockets of entrepreneurship, the more chance there will be for new startup hubs to grow or feed into the bigger hubs in California and, increasingly, New York. You can learn more about Real Ventures and its investing philosophy in this blog post . CrunchBase Information Real Ventures Montreal Start Up Information provided by CrunchBase | |
| Don't Tell Tesla: In 2020, Sales Of Electric Vehicles Will Be Less Than 8% Of The Global Market | Top |
| Given all the apparent excitement surrounding electric vehicles and the billions invested by automakers , financial firms and government incentives, you would assume there was a groundswell of consumer support for hybrid and battery electric cars underlying this momentum. Unfortunately, according to a J.D. Power and Associates report released this morning, we may be on the electric car bandwagon but once you get us to the dealership, we look the other way. The firm predicts that in 2020, international sales of hybrid and battery electric cars will total 5.2 million, or 7.3%, of the 70-plus million consumer vehicles expected to be sold. This year, the world is on track to sell 954,500 electric units, 2.2% of all car sales. Thus, in a decade, consumers will only move the needle about 5 percentage points, from 2.2 to 7.3. If the future of the car is electric, it’s not happening in the next decade and— given the sluggish growth curve— not the one after that either. So why the apprehensiveness among consumers? According to J.D. Power and Associates, a confluence of factors have discouraged would-be-electric owners. Not surprisingly, the number one reason is money. Although there are government subsidies to encourage green car purchases in the US, it’s still difficult for cash-strapped buyers not to compare the new hybrid models against cheaper, less fuel efficient vehicles (remember, the recession is not over for the 9-plus percent who are still unemployed or the many who are underemployed). “Many consumers say they are concerned about the environment, but when they find out how much a green vehicle is going to cost, their altruistic inclination declines considerably,” John Humphrey, an SVP at J.D. Power, said in a statement. “For example, among consumers in the U.S. who initially say they are interested in buying a hybrid vehicle, the number declines by some 50 percent when they learn of the extra $5,000, on average, it would cost to acquire the vehicle.” Beyond sticker shock, the report says other popular reasons included: aesthetics, insecurity in the new technology, unhappiness with how the car performed, and the need to recharge batteries/driving range. Who is actually buying? J.D. Power says from their research, a very clear, dominant demographic emerged: “buyers of HEVs and BEVs are generally older, more highly educated (possessing a postgraduate degree), high-income individuals who have a deep interest in technology, or who like to be among the early adopters of any new technology product.” At least there’s hope for those Tesla dealerships in Silicon Valley. | |
| Intel Backs Three Startups From The Middle East: Nymgo, Jeeran, ShooFeeTV | Top |
| Intel’s investment arm, Intel Capital , announced three new investments at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa today. The three startups that have received fresh capital from the investment organization are UK/Lebanon based Nymgo (which delivers cheap VoIP telephony services), Jordan-based Jeeran (social networking site) and ShooFeeTV (which operates a Web-based entertainment guide). The size of the three investments were not disclosed, but I understand the investment comes from Intel’s $50 million Middle East and Turkey Fund. For Jeeran and ShooFeeTV, this is actually the second financial boost provided by Intel Capital – both were originally funded in May 2009. The investment in Nymgo, means Intel Capital firm has now expanded its portfolio in the ME region to a total of eight companies. Nymgo launched in December 2008 and offers low-cost VoIP calling services. With over two million downloads, Nymgo says it serves customers in over 200 countries worldwide. Since its creation, Nymgo claims to have served over 300 million minutes of international calls. With Intel’s help, Nymgo says it intends to accelerate infrastructure deployment, operations enhancement and global marketing. CrunchBase Information Intel Capital Information provided by CrunchBase | |
| Dennis, Tell Us How You Really Feel About Facebook | Top |
| Ever wonder what the inspiration was for the Facebook Friends icon, the one with the outline of two people side-by-side? Neither have I. But now that Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley put up this side-by-side comparison of images on his Tumblog , I will never be able to look at the outline of the woman friend’s bob haircut again without thinking of Darth Vader’s helmet. It’s just a funny photoshopped juxtapostion with the caption, “I'm sure this is where the Facebook 'Friends' icon came from.” I don’t want to psychoanalyze Crowley too much on this. He simply reblogged something he found amusing from someone else’s Tumblog. (That is what you do on Tumblr. It’s like retweeting). But you have to wonder if he doesn’t feel a little bit like the Luke Skywalker friend. Before closing Foursquare’s last $20 million round, he was talking to Facebook (and others) about a possible acquisition instead. The deal never happened, and Facebook went on to launch its own rival geo-location product, Facebook Places. Interestingly, Foursquare was present at that launch. , but Crowley definitely has mixed feelings about Facebook. Sort of like Luke did about Darth Vader. CrunchBase Information Foursquare Facebook Information provided by CrunchBase | |
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