Google Launches $100M Venture Capital Fund

Former Googlers make ever-widening waves across Silicon Valley

(NEWSER) - In the past few years, Google has lost some serious firepower to the startup frontier, Luke Dittrich writes in Esquire. With self-styled Xooglers providing the brain power not only for two dozen or so startups, but for the venture-capital firms that fund them, it’s likely “the next big thing to come out of Google won't come out of Google at all.” More»

Venture capital has dried up, stocks have sagged in tech hot spot

(NEWSER) - Venture capital in Silicon Valley is drying up as angel investors, wary of the fickle stock market and tightening credit markets, become more cautious with their cash, the New York Times reports. Their hesitance has slowed the pace of job growth and expansion at tech start-ups, and has dramatically cut the number of firms going public. More»

Expanding corporate campus will have employee housing

(NEWSER) - Some Google employees will soon be able to live their lives under the shadow of the company—in Googletown, a residential complex to be built on an old space base in Silicon Valley . Google's not actually calling the mini-city that—it's Gawker's phrase —but it will be filled with all the luxuries that have made Google's offices legendary—athletic facilities, parks, child care, posh housing, gourmet grocers, and restaurants—all surrounding the headquarters in Mountain View. More»

(NEWSER) - Facebook’s recent deal to let employees sell some of their stock to private investors has sent Silicon Valley scrambling, as workers at other start-ups ask for similar deals, the Wall Street Journal reports. Start-ups rely on the promise of future stock sales to lure and retain talent, but with the market upheaval scaring most companies away from public offerings, employees are getting restless. More»

Marissa Mayer can't be compartmentalized

(NEWSER) - Marissa Mayer is Google’s 20th—or maybe 16th—employee, responsible for such household names as Gmail and Google Maps. But the 34-year-old exec is also addicted to cheese and Oscar de la Renta, and carries an iPhone “to have a non-Google product to better simulate the user,” she says. Mayer, who prizes her Omega De Ville watch and schedules hair appointments two months in advance, talks life and work with Vogue. More»