Posts Tagged ‘boston’
Goodbye, CrunchGear.
Hello John Biggs - I would like to be the CrunchGear intern. At 28 years of age I’d probably be the oldest, creepiest intern that CrunchGear has ever hired
Continued here:
Goodbye, CrunchGear.
Why Hit Up One Happy Hour When You Can Hit Up 15,000?
Village Voice Media has always been about location. Their publications (which include Villiage Voice, SF Weekly, and 12 others) are highly tailored towards specific cities. So it makes some sense that they’d get into the mobile social location space that is getting so hot right now. But you might not have thought it would be with a happy hour app.
But that’s exactly what Village Voice Media is launching tomorrow alongside app developer GoTime. Happy Hours, is an free application for the iPhone, Android, and the mobile web. With it, you get access to some 15,000 happy hours in 30 different cities around the country. You simply load the app up, tell it where you are (which it can know automatically on the iPhone and Android phones), and let it show you happy hours close by.
While happy hour apps are nothing new (here’s another one we covered not too long ago), most are small and based around one city, or a handful of cities. Happy Hours is nationwide, so it’s good for traveling. Also, thanks to the Village Voice association, it has a range of data about establishments such as atmosphere, type of food served, etc — not to mention full reviews, when available.
The app launches tomorrow for the following 30 cities: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Broward-Palm Beach, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Orange County, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Washington DC.
Check out more in the video below.
How Does Compete Get Its Web Traffic Data? At Least One Way Sounds Very Sketchy.
A month ago, Jason Calacanis went on a rant about why everyone should boycott comScore. He felt they were using sketchy tactics to bully people into their pay-to-play model for measuring web analytics. He also noted that their free competitors like Quantcast, Google, and Compete would soon eat their lunch. Both Quantcast and Google (Analytics) offer direct counting of pageviews (but even these methods can be abused). But you may wonder how exactly Compete gets its numbers? It appears, that some sketchy tactics are (or at least were) employed, as well.
We were recently pointed to this post from last month by Ben Edelman, a Harvard privacy advocate. In it, he details the data the Upromise toolbar collects and sends out. This toolbar is used by college students looking for savings on various items across the web, and can be quite useful. But until a few weeks ago, it appears they were also sending web browsing (and more personal) data to Compete without anyone’s knowledge. Writes Edelman:
As shown in the “host:” header of each of the preceding communications, transmissions flow to the consumerinput.com domain. Whois reports that this domain is registered to Boston, MA traffic-monitoring service Compete, Inc. Compete’s site promises clients access to “detailed behavioral data,” and Compete says more than 2 million U.S. Internet users “have given [Compete] permission to analyze the web pages they visit.”
He continues:
Upromise’s installation sequence does not obtain users’ permission for this detailed and intrusive tracking. Quite the contrary: Numerous Upromise screens discuss privacy, and they all fail to mention the detailed information Upromise actually transmits.
The Upromise toolbar installation page touts the toolbar’s purported benefits at length, but mentions no privacy implications whatsoever.
If a user clicks the prominent button to begin the toolbar installation, the next screen presents a 1,354-word license agreement that fills 22 on-screen pages and offers no mechanism to enlarge, maximize, print, save, or search the lengthy text. But even if a user did read the license, the user would receive no notice of detailed tracking. Meanwhile, the lower on-screen box describes a “Personalized Offers” feature, which is labeled as causing “information about [a user's] online activity [to be] collected and used to provide college savings opportunities” But that screen nowhere admits collecting users’ email addresses or credit card numbers. Nor would a user rightly expect that “information about … online activity” means a full log of every search and every page-view across the entire web.
Shortly after Edelman’s post (and a follow-up PCMag.com post), Upromise changed their privacy policy to alert their users that this data is being sent out. But the company declined to state how long the issue had been going on.
Privacy implications aside, it’s interesting that this is one of the ways Compete was gathering data. And it would be good to know where else they get it from. On their site, they only vaguely note that they have “developed a unique methodology created by experts in the fields of mathematics, statistics and the data sciences to aggregate, transform, enhance and normalize data in order to estimate U.S. Internet traffic.” They also claim to have over two million members — but apparently, at least some of them (such as the Upromise toolbar users), don’t know they’re members.
I’ve sent a message to Compete asking them what other means (other toolbars, etc) they use to gather their data. In light of this Upromise fiasco, it seems wise that they should disclose that kind of information. I’ll update if and when I hear back.
A Fix for Discrimination: Follow the Indian Trails
Women, Hispanics and blacks have always been underrepresented in the ranks of the Valley’s tech companies. A new analysis by the Mercury News shows that from 2000 to 2008, the proportion of women tech workers in Silicon Valley dropped from 25.3% to 23.8%, and that the national numbers dropped from 30% to 27.4%. In 2008, blacks and Hispanics constituted only 1.5% and 4.7% respectively of the Valley’s tech population — well below national tech-population averages of 7.1% and 5.3%. It seems that the problem I highlighted in my last post on the dearth of tech women is actually getting worse, particularly in Silicon Valley. And it’s not just the women who are being left out, but also important minority groups.
Is the Valley deliberately keeping these groups out? I don’t think so. Silicon Valley is, without doubt, a meritocracy. In this land, only the fittest survive. That is exactly the way it should be. For the Valley’s innovation system to achieve peak performance, new technologies need to constantly obsolete the old, and the world’s best techies need to keep making the Valley’s top guns compete for their jobs. There is no room for government mandated affirmative action, and our tech companies shouldn’t have to apologize for hiring the people they need. But at the same time, without realizing it, the Valley may be excluding a significant part of the American population that could be making it even more competitive. False stereotypes may be getting in the way of greater innovation and prosperity.
Consider the data that I highlighted in my earlier post. It wasn’t always like this, but girls are now matching boys in mathematical achievement. In the U.S., 140 women enroll in higher education for every 100 men. Women earn more than 50% of all bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and nearly 50% of all doctorates. The companies they start are more capital-efficient, produce higher revenue, and have lower failure rates than those led by men. Yet women are still a rare commodity in the ranks of tech CEOs and CTOs.
How do we fix the “hidden biases” and discrimination? The experts I’ve spoken to have many great ideas. They suggest we create role models, provide mentorship and financing, and teach entrepreneurship. Foundry group’s Brad Feld says that simple acts of encouragement from parents, teachers, and peers would make a big difference. Cindy Padnos, of Illuminate Ventures suggested a solution that particularly resonated with me. She says that women should follow the trail mapped by Indian entrepreneurs (no, not the American natives, but my kind: the immigrants).
Thirty years ago, there were hardly any Silicon Valley firms with Indian-born founders. UC-Berkeley’s AnnaLee Saxenian documented that 7% of tech companies started in 1980–1998 had an Indian founder. A survey conducted by my research team at Duke University found that this proportion had increased to 15.5% from 1995 to 2005. My team also determined that in this period, Indians started 6.7% of the nation’s tech and engineering firms. These are pretty astonishing numbers considering that according to the U.S. census, in 2000 less than 0.7% of the U.S. population and only 6% of the Silicon Valley high-tech workforce was born in India.
I know from personal experience that Indian immigrants didn’t have it easy. They suffered from the same types of stereotypes as women, blacks, and Hispanics. Despite having co-founded a software company that we took from startup to $120m in revenue; profitability; and IPO in a record five years, I couldn’t get Research Triangle Park (RTP) VCs to even return my phone calls when I was ready to start my second venture. I later found out why: “my people” were great at mathematics and made great engineers, but didn’t make great CEOs — “we” didn’t have the necessary management skills, didn’t like diluting our equity ownership by raising venture capital, and couldn’t “fit” into the rough-and-tough American business-management culture. That’s what one RTP VC told me over lunch, to explain why his firm wasn’t inviting me to pitch my business plan. They were very busy and had to be selective in who they met.
So how did “my people” rise above ignorance and bigotry? When the first generation of Indians in Silicon Valley succeeded in shattering the glass ceiling, they decided to help others follow their path. They realized that they had all surmounted the same obstacles. And they could reduce the barriers to entry for others behind them by sharing their experiences and opening some doors.
In 1992, a number of highly successful Indian business executives formed a group called The Indus Entrepreneurs (which is now called TiE). Their mission was to give back to the community by fostering entrepreneurship. They would hold monthly events, teach entrepreneurship, and provide mentoring and support. And they would facilitate Indian-style matchmaking between entrepreneurs themselves and with investors and corporate partners. They created two categories of members: a charter member, who took the role of guru, and a regular member, who would be a disciple. The Guru had to donate time and money (minimum $1500/year) and was not allowed to gain any personal financial benefit. When disciples achieved success, they would be expected to pass it forward by becoming charter members and helping others behind them.
One of my current research projects is to document and quantify the accomplishments of TiE. But I already know the impact TiE has made. After my lunch with the RTP VC, I cold-called TiE co-founder, Kanwal Rekhi. He told me that my experience was no different from what he and others in Silicon Valley had endured. Rekhi advised me to look outside the region and to recruit a white male as president of my company. TiE Charter Member Vinod Khosla advised me to contact VCs in Boston and gave me several introductions. After I followed Rehki’s and Khosla’s advice, it didn’t take long for me to get a term sheet from Greylock Partners (of Boston). When the word of this got out, the RTP VCs came begging that I take their money. (I didn’t take their money and after I achieved success, I became founding President of TiE-Carolinas and would usually spend five to seven hours weekly — even when I was really busy — mentoring fledgling entrepreneurs.)
Telle Whitney, President of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, says that TiE has done an amazing job and that its work is a great example of a mobilizing, formidable force in making change through networks. But all networks are not created equal. To achieve systemic change and have more women and minority-group members as entrepreneurs, we need to involve corporate leaders. They need to personally be mentoring, proselytizing, and demonstrating by example a different model of investing in women and minority-group entrepreneurs. There is nothing more powerful within an organization than having its own CTO talk about the importance of, for example, promoting women.
I agree with Telle. Neither Rekhi nor Khosla knew me from Adam, but both readily gave me invaluable advice. That is the type of mentoring that women, blacks and Hispanics need. In addition to establishing stronger networks for these groups, we need to have the CEOs and CTOs of all of our top companies volunteer their own time to help others follow in their footsteps. They need to do this because this is the best path to diversity and this diversity will enrich their organizations. And we need to have VCs mentor the women and minorities they typically ignore. They need to do this not only for social good, but also for their own survival.
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Here are some links to women and minority networking groups which readers may find useful (If you know of others, please detail these in your comments).
Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology
Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives
National Center for Women & Information Technology
Silicon Valley Black Professionals
Silicon Valley Hispanic Professionals
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Editor’s note: Guest writer Vivek Wadhwa is an entrepreneur turned academic. He is a Visiting Scholar at UC-Berkeley, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School and Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University. Follow him on Twitter at @vwadhwa.
Wi-Fi school bus keeps kids quiet
A school district in Arizona has outfitted one of its school buses with a $200 mobile 3G Wi-Fi router and $60-per-month access. And guess what? Instead of punching each other and yelling all the way to school, the kids quietly tap, tap, tap away on their laptops
I’m Linux, you’re Linux, we’re all Linux!
I’ve been a full-time Linux user since 1999. I’ve been an advocate for Linux and Free Software for most of that time
Original post:
I’m Linux, you’re Linux, we’re all Linux!
The Receivables Exchange Receives Another $17M From Bain Capital Ventures
The Receivables Exchange, an online marketplace for real-time trading of accounts receivable, this morning announced that it has closed $17 million in Series C financing led by Boston, MA-based Bain Capital Ventures, with prior investors Redpoint Ventures and Prism Ventureworks participating.
This third round of financing brings the total invested into the company to just south of $30 million.
The Receivables Exchange started its online receivables financing marketplace in 2008 with the launch of its proprietary receivables trading platform.
The platform essentially enables businesses to sell their accounts receivable to a global network of accredited institutional investors that compete in real-time to purchase them. That way, companies are able to reduce their cash conversion cycles and gain access to capital that can be reinvested into growing their core business operations.
According to the company, the majority of companies have more than 60% of their working capital tied up in accounts receivable, limiting their ability to fund their own growth and contribute to that of the U.S. economy.
The Receivables Exchange says it will use the funding to scale its operations and sales activities and to expand its marketing, business development and corporate partnership efforts.
Exclusive: SecondMarket Data On Private Company Stock Sales
SecondMarket opened up its private company stock marketplace in early 2009 and gave employees at hot startups something they never had before – an organized place to sell their stock even before the company went public or was acquired. For the first time the company is releasing information on private company buy/sell demand and completed transactions.
Most companies don’t SecondMarket one bit, at least at first blush. Companies don’t want random outsiders holding their stock before they’re public. And they don’t like some employees having liquidity events before others, it tends to screw around with morale. And there are also legal and tax issues. Stock options must be priced at “fair market value” or both the employee and company face tax consequences. The board of directors usually sets the common stock price at a fraction of the preferred price. But when there are verified third party purchases on places like SecondMarket, the companies have to use those sales as a guide. The result is higher priced options for all employees.
But we’ve seen a big evolution in startup stock dynamics over the last year. Companies like Facebook and Zynga have created controlled secondary markets for their employees to sell stock, generally at around 65% of the preferred price. Yelp seems to be doing the same. Giving employees a way to “take some money off the table” isn’t such a bad thing after all. Think of it as releasing some of the steam in the pressure cooker.
So about that data.
Second Market says that just over $15 million in transactions were closed through them in December 2009. The top company was Solyndra, with 38% of the transactions, followed by Facebook with 31%. Ebags was next with 13%. LinkedIn, Zynga and Tesla Motors each took 6% of the total. In all, half of the transactions were for “consumer products and services,” which includes website services like Facebook. Alternative Energy/Clean Tech took 44%, and software took just 6%.
The vast majority of completed transactions were for later stage companies that have raised at least three rounds of capital.
64% of transactions were for startups based in California, followed by New York (10%) and Boston (3%).
Part of the sky-high price around consumer website stocks like Facebook and Twitter is due to an imbalance of demand and supply. 70% of buyer demand is around those stocks, but just 20% of the overall supply is. Employees from a wide variety of startups want to sell their stock, but most of the demand is for the hot Internet stuff, and Tesla (which has 5% of demand).
BitGravity Co-Founder Announces 3Crowd, Funded By Jay Adelson And Kevin Rose
3Crowd Technologies, Barrett Lyon’s new stealth startup, has announced that the company has received funding from Storm Ventures, Greenwich Technology Associates and angels Kevin Rose and Jay Adelson participating as well. Lyon didn’t disclose the amount of funding, but characterizes it as a convertible note.
3Crowd is currently in stealth right now, but will be launching mid to late next month. Lyon didn’t go too much into detail on what 3Crowd is going to be, but he mentioned that it has to do with crowd sourcing as applied to the underlying technology of the Internet, and he claims it will change crowdsourcing.
Lyon has had quite the technology career. He was previsouly the Co-Founder and CTO of BitGravity, a content delivery network that worked with sites like Revision3, which is how Rose and Adelson know him (both are co-founders of Revsion3, and Digg). Lyon is also the creator of the Opte Project, which is one of the first Internet mapping projects. The Opte Project was featured at the Boston Museum of Science and The Museum of Modern Art, among others.
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The World Is Flat For Twitter, As In Global Growth Has Stalled
Twitter’s international traffic continues to flatten as the microblogging site’s number of unique visitors flattened in November. Twitter saw 60.3 million unique visitors in November compared to 58.3 million unique visitors in October. Though the site saw a rise of 2 million visits globally, this slight uptick in visitors only represents a 3.5 percent increase in traffic. Twitter’s November U.S. traffic has stalled as well; U.S. traffic rose by a little over 100,000 visitors, to 19.37 million unique visitors after seeing a 8 percent decline in traffic in October.
Over the past few months, Twitter has rolled out versions in Spanish, German, French and Italian which could help boost the international use of its site. But as traffic stalls on Twitter’s homepage, third party Twitter clients like Seesmic and Tweetdeck are growing like gangbusters.
CEO Evan Williams acknowledged Twitter’s stall in growth but said that new features of the site could jumpstart growth in traffic, including the Retweet button, Lists, and Geolocation features.
Of course, many of these features have been added to the third-party Twitter clients, which easily account for half of all Twitter usage.
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