Monday, April 9, 2012

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Reminder: The TC DC Mini-Meetup Is Tonight Top
virginia-is-for-loversJust a reminder: today is the most important day of the year. It's TC DC Mini Meet-up Night! We're here in DC and we're looking forward to meeting with you all at RFD (810 7th St NW) at 6pm for some networking, some fun, and some start-up talk. I've been doing these things in the US and Europe for a few years now and my style is very laid back and very organic. This is a very informal event - we won't be having speeches, panels, or wonkery. We're here to hear pitches, talk tech, and discuss what you've been up to. Come along even if you have nothing to launch. After all, maybe you'll meet your next start-up partner tonight. As a special bonus, DC meet-up folks will get to meet our new co-editor, Eric Eldon, who is coming in from San Francisco and who will be in Virginia with us that evening. It will be, as they say in Virginia, a hoot.
 
U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Gets Open Source, Publishes on GitHub Top
cfpb-logoI've been harping for a while here on TechCrunch about the benefits of open source software. I often quote Canonical's Technical Architect Allison Randal, who said "Free software is a fundamentally superior model for developing software." Free and open source software enabled much of the innovation we write about here at TechCrunch, but it's been slow to move into established enterprises, let alone the U.S. Government. That's starting to change today with an announcement from the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that states, unequivocally, "We use open source software, and we do so because it helps us fulfill our mission." The announcement goes on to state that "when we build our own software or contract with a third party to build it for us, we will share the code with the public at no charge." The CFPB is making it clear that they get it with respect to open source software: they have a GitHub account for hosting their works and are sharing their open source policy as a GitHub gist in addition to a static HTML document on their own website.
 
Indian Government To Launch BlackBerry Messenger Snooping System 'Soon' Top
04-BBM-6BlackBerry fans in India had best stay on the up-and-up lest they want to draw unwanted attention from the country's security agencies. India Today reported over the weekend that the country's government is on the verge of being able to capture messages sent though RIM's formerly iron-clad BBM service. Unnamed Indian officials were quick to point out to India Today that their forthcoming ability to capture and crack BBM messages will be used strictly on snoop on devices whose users are suspected of engaging in criminal or terrorist activity.
 
The Lumia 900 Becomes Amazon's Best Selling Phone, Topping The RAZR MAXX And Galaxy Nexus Top
amazonAnd we're off! Even though the Nokia Lumia 900 launched yesterday and was largely unavailable thanks to the Easter Bunny, the phone quickly skyrocketed to the top of Amazon's best sellers list. The phone hovered around the 5th spot yesterday but jumped to the first and second spot today with the black version preferred over the cyan edition. This puts the Nokia's large Windows Phone over top of Android's star players, the Droid RAZR MAXX and Galaxy Nexus.
 
Zoomingo's New App Turns Spotting And Rating Deals Into A Game Top
zoomingo-hot-or-notShopping discovery service Zoomingo, which helps you find nearby sales using your mobile phone, is out with a new iPhone app that introduces a gamification element to its platform. Local shoppers are now being encouraged to share the unreported sales they spot in the wild as well as rate those spotted by others. By playing the new "Hot or Not" game within the app to rate deals, shoppers earn points while also training the service's branded "ZoomSense" recommendation engine to present more deals matching their interests.
 
Dow Jones Says Q1 2012 U.S. Venture Fundraising Up 5 Percent, NVCA Reports 35 Percent Decrease Top
dow jonesThanks to big raises from venture firms like Andreessen Horowitz, U.S. venture capital fund-raising increased to $7 billion across 47 funds in the first quarter of 2012, which is a 5% increase in capital raised and a 34% increase in fund closings from the same period last year according to Dow Jones. The report says that 23 early-stage funds raised $1.6 billion, which is a 35% increase in fund closings and nearly triple the amount of capital raised during the first quarter of last year. Dow Jones says that just three early-stage funds accounted for 79% of the total, and 12 funds targeting $50 million or less in fundraising held final closings during the first quarter.
 
The 'Dogbnb' Wars Escalate: Rover Raises $3.4M in Round Led By Madrona Top
Screen Shot 2012-04-09 at 5.41.30 AMFinding a place for your pooch while you're away should be getting easier. Rover, a Seattle-based startup that is trying to disrupt the kennel market, said it has raised $3.4 million in a round led by Madrona Venture Group. It's one of several startups that are vying to be the online marketplace for pet owners that need a sitter or a place for their dogs to stay when they're out of town. "This addresses a real, concrete problem," said the company's chief executive Aaron Easterly. "There are more dog-owning households than households with children in the U.S." Easterly said that kennels or pet hotels are often too pricey to be reasonable. It can range from being about $30 a night to upwards of $80 or 90 at higher-end places. Plus, they might charge extra for walks or playing fetch.
 
With New Monthly Grooming Kits For Men, Birchbox Isn't Just For The Ladies Anymore Top
birchbox-manBirchbox, the New York-based startup that racked up more than 100,000 subscribers for its monthly kits of beauty products, is now aiming for a certain well-styled gentleman. The company is launching Birchbox Man, which will deliver a box of grooming and lifestyle products for $20 per month to a customer's doorstep. It might include four to five picks per month with samples like high-end shave gel, deodorant and skincare products from brands like Billy Jealousy, Costume National, Kérastase and Kiehl's. Then there are lifestyle products that might include headphones or socks. "It's not as obvious the we would go for men," said Katia Beauchamp, one of the company's co-founders. "When we launched Birchbox, we would have never guessed that this would be the next vertical."
 
Here's Lenovo's Latest Android Tablet, The 9.7-inch IdeaTab S2109 Top
Lenovo is keeping the Ice Cream Sandwich social rocking with its upcoming IdeaTab S2109. Inside the sleek 8.9mm thick casing is a 9.7-inch 4:3 IPS LCD with a 1.3MP camera sunk into the bezel. Four speakers reside on the backside, which Lenovo claims will help with bass reproduction, therefore capable of producing a richer sound. There's also a microUSB port, microHDMI, and a microSD card slot for connectivity options.
 
SEC Filing: Chris Sacca Raising $25M For New Fund, Lowercase Spur Top
lowercase-capital-1According to a new SEC filing, investor Chris Sacca is raising as much as $25 million for his new fund, Lowercase Spur. As Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported a month ago, Sacca is in the process of raising capital for Lowercase Spur, which is set to invest in startups over the next ten years. It was unclear how large the fund would be, but that number could be around $25 million. Sacca raised nearly $50 million in 2010 for Lowercase Capital, and operates a number of funds. Lowercase I appears to invest early-stage startups, and Sacca operates another $1 billion fund that buys secondary market shares of companies such as Twitter and Facebook.
 
Woopra's New Dashboard Lets Publishers See Exactly Who's Visiting Their Site Top
Woopra New DashboardWhen you hear the phrase "real-time analytics" you probably think of Chartbeat (at least I do), but it's not the only company in the field. In fact, a Lebanese startup called Woopra has been offering its own real-time services since 2008. And you may be hearing more about it soon — it recently opened an office in San Francisco, and today it's launching version 5.0 of its service. Founder and CEO Elie Khoury demonstrated the new version for me about a week ago. The change should be immediately obvious to Woopra users, since the Live Dashboard has been completely redesigned. Beyond looking a bit cooler, the new layout has an additional benefit: The entire dashboard now fits in a single window. That means you can see all of the data that Woopra deems most essential without having to scroll down — a seemingly minor change that could end up making life easier for people who leave Woopra open all the time or check the dashboard many times throughout the day.
 
AOL Sells 800 Patents For $1.1 Billion To Microsoft [Memo To Staff] Top
images (5)This just in: one chapter of AOL's patent journey is coming to an end. The company is selling 800 patents to Microsoft for just north of $1 billion: $1.056 billion in cash to be exact. Tim Armstrong, the CEO of AOL (which owns TechCrunch), says that the company will continue to hold on to about 300 patents and patent applications after the sale. These span "core and strategic technologies" around advertising, search and content generation, he noted in a memo to employees. [Full memo below the break.]
 
Study: CIOs May Like To Talk The Social Media Talk, But Only 10% Walk The Walk Top
walking suitThe use of social media in the enterprise has been a path well-trod by companies using mass market tools like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to communicate with peers, customers, investors and anyone else who might be interested in what they're up to. But when it comes to the most senior information executives, they're actually a little antisocial. According to data compiled by social software provider harmon.ie, only about 10 percent of CIOs in the top companies -- Fortune 250 and and Global 250 -- actively use public social networks. Within that group, only four CIOs write blogs, and more than one-third either do not have LinkedIn profiles, or have profiles with fewer than 100 connections.
 
"The Hacker Company": Facebookers Snag A Vintage Sign For New HQ Top
Screen Shot 2012-04-09 at 1.12.56 AMIt all started last April when former Facebook engineer Chris Putnam (of  fame) was visiting his girlfriend's mom in Lake City, FL and saw the striking sign -- 'The Hacker Company." Putnam, who had left Facebook in August 2010 to do his own thing, felt an immediate affinity for the sign, after all, he actually had been hired by Facebook after hacking the site so hard it got co-founder Dustin Moskovitz' attention. "I'll always feel pretty close with the culture and all my friends there, so I immediately thought 'Man, this should be on FB's campus,'" Putnam said. So he posted a picture of it to Facebook with the caption, "Facebook NEEDS this sign."
 
Sephora Doubles Down On Tech: In-Store iPads, Revamped Website, Pinterest Tie-In Top
sephoraSephora, the cosmetics retailer, is still best known for its brick-and-mortar shops that let customers test out high-end makeup, skincare and fragrance products with less pressure than typically comes with department store beauty counters. But that doesn't mean the company, which has its US headquarters in San Francisco, isn't focused on the increasingly important world of virtual shopping. To that end, Sephora today rolled out what it's calling a "social and mobile makeover." The new updates are pretty visual, so we swung by Sephora's San Francisco flagship store to talk with its senior vice president of digital, Julie Bornstein, about the company's strategy. Watch the video above to see why Sephora is embracing the constant comparison-shopping element that the web has brought, how the company's San Francisco headquarters influences its tech focus, and more.
 
Strategy For Startups: The Innovator's Dilemma Top
929005910_a12cbbc1ecStrategy. Unfortunately, it suffers from a bad reputation among startups. It is associated with consultants who are paid millions of dollars only to come back with a two-by-two matrix of animals. Not that there is anything wrong with it. Some of my best friends are consultants. However, strategy is crucial for startup success. Startups usually operate in an environment of constrained resources while competing with strong incumbents. Hence, the right strategy can be a matter of life and death. This post is the first in a series of posts that will explore concepts in strategy and how they apply to startups.
 
Hooking Users In 3 Steps Top
Screen Shot 2012-04-05 at 1.49.04 AMThe truly great consumer technology companies of the past 25 years have all had one thing in common: They created habits. This is what separates world-changing businesses from the rest. Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter are used daily by a high proportion of their users and their products are so compelling that many of us struggle to imagine life before they existed. But creating habits is easier said than done. Though I've written extensively about behavior engineering and the importance of habits to the future of the web, few resources give entrepreneurs the tools they need to design and measure user habits. It's not that these techniques don't exist -- in fact, they're quite familiar to people in all the companies named above. However, to the new entrepreneur, they largely remain a mystery.
 
[Excerpt] Fundraising: From $1,000 To $1,000,000 Top
fundraisingEditor's Note: The following is an excerpt from Onswipe CEO Jason L. Baptiste's new book The Ultralight Startup: Launching a Business Without Clout or Capital. If you pay attention to the headlines about startups getting millions of dollars of funding from investors, venture capitalists, or partnerships, you might think the fund-raising process happens overnight. It all sounds so easy: Some entrepreneur with a thousand dollars in his pocket creates a great PowerPoint investor presentation, secures a few meetings with important people, and bam! A handshake, some signatures, and the deal is done. The reality is a little trickier. Fund-raising is a process, and although the right pitch might come in handy, in this chapter I'll discuss the practical start-to-finish way to think about fund-raising that will get you the money you want in the end.
 
Silicon Valley Needs To Take Itself More Seriously* Top
Screen Shot 2012-04-08 at 4.42.08 PM
"Silicon Valley is high school, except it's only the smart kids, and everyone has a lot of money." -- Kim Taylor, "Silicon Valley" star.
For an industry so reliant on the wholehearted embrace of the future, many technologists and pundits seem so completely resistant to change it's mind-boggling.
 
Push Notification And The Beginner's Mind Top
underconstructionPush notification and the fabric it creates are about what comes next. Not what we know, but what we're about to know. The next step, the one we're about to take, the moment when the foot is in the air and hasn't yet figured out exactly where to land. It's like putting english on a tennis return, or the release of the ball in a pitch, the moment when you commit to whatever the strategy is. Sometimes it's about gathering every possible piece of information and then acting with that full authority. Other times it's about keeping the beginner's mind, clear of opinion and calculation. What matters is the context — who or what or why we are following. Realtime is not just the up-to-date quality but the metadata that surrounds each object: why do we find this person interesting, what does this information suggest will come next, and so on. Only when we can be reasonably satisfied of the quality of our pipeline can we begin to trust it.
 

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