Monday, June 28, 2010

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Time Magazine Reminds Me Of Some Of My Fickle Ex Girlfriends Top
In 2008 Time Magazine really liked TechCrunch and yours truly, putting me on the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. I was on the verge of becoming a “cybermogul!” But things went downhill from there. In 2009 TechCrunch was no longer relevant to, well, anything. TechCrunch was named one of the most overrated blogs. “Stick a fork in this one — it’s done,” said Time. Ouch. But we’re back, baby! Despite absolutely zero editorial or other changes after our 2009 death, 2010 is a new year, and Time loves us once again. We’re one of their essential blogs: Michael Arrington may be as cocky as ever, but it’s with good reason: his tech blog remains the essential destination for the inside scoop and analysis on what’s going on in Silicon Valley and beyond. Arrington and his team of bloggers have enviable access, getting exclusives and access from Apple to Zynga. Plus, for those in search of the next big thing, no one covers startups better than the Techcrunch gang. (And fosters them now, too — the blog’s Techcrunch Disrupt conference this year brought together some of the smartest minds in tech to look at some of the best up-and-coming new ideas.) I’m pretty sure I know what’s coming in 2011: she loves me not, and another breakup. And I’m sad about that. But 2012 is going to be a good year, methinks. I’ve heard Time has already written the blurb about our big comeback from the 2011 flatline. CrunchBase Information TechCrunch Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Google Apps For Education Wins Two More States, Rolls Out Training Tools For Teachers Top
Google has made it fairly clear that adoption of Google Apps at schools and colleges is vital to the growth of the productivity suite as a whole. The strategy makes sense; not only do educational institutions represent a huge market for Google Apps, but schools and colleges are where many people get trained, start relying on, and form brand allegiances to productivity apps. Today, Google is announcing that it has signed on two more states, Colorado and Iowa, to extend Google Apps for Education to the 3,000 schools across the two states. The two states join Oregon, which was the first state to adopt Google Apps for Education in its schools. One of the advantages of "going" Google is the productivity suite's attractive price point for public schools that are on a budget.
 
Apperang Pays You Cash to Download iPhone Apps… Ka-Ching! Top
Yep, you read that right. Today W3i is announcing Apperang , a new service that will pay users to download mobile applications. Apperang builds on the pay-per-acquisition model that we’ve seen succeed with companies like TapJoy . As opposed to pay-per-click, pay-per-acquisition (or pay-per-action) means that the developer only pays if the desired action occurs. In this case, developers pay only when the user downloads the app. Hit the jump to find out how Apperang works.
 
AT&T Tricks Zuckerberg And Benioff Into Buying MicroCells; Promptly Fails Top
Oh, AT&T. I’ve already made my feelings on their MicroCell abundantly clear. Considering the quality of carrier’s network in cities like San Francisco (which is to say, awful), it’s a good idea. But given the poor state of AT&T’s performance, they should be giving away the device for free to customers affected . Instead, they’re making those customers pay an extra $150 for the “privilege” of having working service. It’s a truly remarkable business model. Let’s call it: bait & switch & fix (for a fee). And it’s working. AT&T managed to rope in two of the biggest name in tech into their scheme: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff . So that’s great for AT&T, right? Two huge potential endorses of their rip-off box. Well, not so fast — this is AT&T, after all. Benioff posted about his new MicroCell purchase on his Facebook wall yesterday. “ I hope my iPhone will work at home now ,” he wrote. This is undoubtedly the reason the vast majority of users have bought the device (instead of just, you know, leaving AT&T like regular people would do if their service doesn’t work). A lot of commenters on his post were curious to know how well it’s working as they suffer from the poor AT&T service as well. So how is it working? Well, according to the tech giants, it’s a mixed bag. “ I got one and it seems work pretty well ,” Zuckerberg wrote in a comment under Benioff’s post. “Pretty well” isn’t exactly a rave review, but AT&T will undoubtedly take it from Zuckerberg. But Benioff had a different experience. “ Bought 2 AT&T MicroCells today. Installation won’t complete. Called AT&T. They said they are having a national MicroCell outage since Friday. It won’t work for 2 more days. Where is TrustAtt.com when you need it?, ” Benioff wrote on his wall. Other posts confirm AT&T acknowledging the outage. It’s another genius plan from AT&T. The network won’t work to make calls, so they get you to spend an additional $150 (on top of the $100+ a month you’re already spending with them for service), then that goes down, but only those wealthy enough to pay for landlines or other cellular phones on other networks (Benioff) are even able to call and complain. If both AT&T and their MicroCell service go down across the country, but no one can make a call to complain about it, did it really happen? In all seriousness, this is pathetic. And besides Zuckerberg and Benioff, reports across the country seem to be a mixed bag about the MicroCell. Some say it works, so say it doesn’t (even when the network is up). We can’t confirm either of these scenarios because AT&T won’t even sell us one . With the iPhone 4 selling 1.7 million units in the first three days, a whole new group of people are about to be exposed to the pleasure of AT&T. Hope they have $150 ready when/if that MicroCell network comes back up. CrunchBase Information AT&T Information provided by CrunchBase
 
JibJab Means Business, Now Processing 1 Million Transactions A Year Top
Online humor site JibJab , which is behind ElfYourself and loads of other zany  videos has hit a big milestone: it’s now processing one million paid transactions per year. That’s big news for the company, which pivoted in late 2007 from an ad-supported business to one that generates revenue primarily through premium services and downloads. JibJab earns money through a few channels. First, it offers a premium membership for $12/year that gives members access to its full range of customizable “Starring You” videos, which let you insert your friends’ faces into funny video clips like the site’s amazing take on the original Star Wars Trilogy . Membership also gives you access to all Ecards and ‘Everyday Fun’ messages. Unpaid users have access to some of this content, but much of it is reserved for premium members. If users want to download their custom videos they can do that too for a few dollars (premium members get a discount on downloaded goods). Finally, the site also sells physical goods emblazoned with photos of you and your friends. CEO Gregg Spiridellis declined to break down how many transactions each of these revenue streams accounted for, but he did say that the site is seeing 2x growth in terms of premium transactions since last year. You can see Spiridellis talk more about this in the interview above. JibJab has raised $16.9 million since 2006. CrunchBase Information JibJab Information provided by CrunchBase
 
Elevation Invests Another $120 Million in Facebook as that IPO Looks More Distant Top
Elevation Partners has quietly amassed another huge chunk of Facebook shares on the secondary market, according to a recent letter to its limited partners. Elevation spent $120 million for five million more Facebook shares. This is on top of Elevation's $90 million, 2.5 million share purchase back in November. That November deal has already gone up 2.5 times in value in a short eight months, making Facebook one of the better performing deals in Elevation's portfolio and an enviable holding for any firm. Even though the bulk of Elevation's Facebook shares were purchased at the more recent price, if you blend the two deals, there’s still an on-paper gain. Blended together, Elevation’s 7.5 million shares were purchased at a $14 billion valuation, and Facebook is trading at upwards of $24 billion on the secondary market today. Sure, the appreciation looks good, but a lot of people– including us when we first broke the story– have alleged that these deals are ones any hedge fund could do. That's not actually true, according to several sources close to the deal. Facebook controls who buys its shares on the secondary market, and Elevation has tight ties with the company. Elevation founders Roger McNamee and Bono were personal investors in Facebook, and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's brother-in-law is Mark Bodnick, another Elevation partner. This isn't an accidental tie-up. Elevation's premature obituary is a popular story these days. Things haven't worked out as planned for the firm—at all— but that's not unique in the venture market these days, and the tide is turning for Elevation. The Palm-albatross is gone, and the firm didn't lose money on the deal—not a trivial milestone considering it was 20% of the fund. (Photo above from the good old Elevation days.) Today, Elevation is clearly switching strategies. Ambitious ideas of remaking the media business and investing huge percentages of a fund in revamping legacy companies are gone. The fund has more than $100 million left to invest, and that money likely won't go into another Palm or Forbes, but another Yelp or Facebook. These mature Web 2.0 companies have far more assured success, the question is how much of a multiple late-stage investors like Elevation can make. As an added plus, these type of deals don't take anywhere near the hand-holding and work that the big ambitious, swing-for-the-fences turnarounds required. That was likely the real reason Elevation was laying off support staff last week, not necessarily an indication of the firm's health. Elevation is simply becoming a different firm. And Elevation is playing a new role for the Web 2.0 ecosystem too—staving off the dreaded IPO. Rumors of a Facebook IPO have swirled since at least 2007, despite Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's long time apprehension to rush into the world of short-term traders and activist hedge funds. There are a few good reasons for a company to go public. An IPO can net a company a lot of cash, allow employees to get liquidity on their shares, and give a privately-held company a frequently-priced stock currency it can use for acquisitions. But Facebook has managed to do a lot of that with the secondary market, and it can still control who buys its stock. That's a template that only the highest valued Web 2.0 companies can follow, and if Elevation can raise a second fund, it'll aim to compete with firms like DST to scoop up the best ones. CrunchBase Information Elevation Partners Information provided by CrunchBase CrunchBase Information Facebook Information provided by CrunchBase CrunchBase Information Digital Sky Technologies Information provided by CrunchBase
 

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