Inside the 'PayPal Mafia'

The new business model calls for a 'slow and easy' approach to going public

(NEWSER) - Growing Web 2.0 companies like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Slide are biding their time before going public, making sure to run up their value as much as possible to fetch top dollar with an IPO, reports Business Week. It’s a far different approach than companies took before the dot-com bubble burst, when the fast track to an IPO was the goal. More»

So says Valleywag about contrarian PayPal founder Thiel

(NEWSER) - In Silicon Valley, where "like funds like," Valleywag thinks it's important to note that Peter Thiel, "the smartest VC in the world, is gay." Why mention it? Thiel's Founders Fund, which just raised a $220 million financing round, could reinvent the way entrepreneurs get paid, and Valleywag attributes his contrarianism to the fact that he's a gay man in a VC world filled mostly with straight white guys. More»

No rest for driven Silicon Valley moguls

(NEWSER) - Rather than reveling in his $100 million fortune, mogul Max Levchin spent a year feeling "worthless and stupid" after he sold PayPal to eBay at the age of 27. Too young to retire, too restless to become a philanthropist, Max was like many young Silicon Valley tycoons dogged by their own over-achievement, the New York Times reports. More»

From Facebook to Google, Silicon Valley frowns on flashy spending

(NEWSER) - Facebook's staff may be full of zillionaires, but don't expect Ferraris in the parking lot. Silicon Valley, where almost 14% of homes earn more than $200,000 per year, is deeply opposed to conspicuous consumption—hence Mark Zuckerberg's iconic hoodies and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's underground house. "The message here is, ‘Keep shipping product,'" an insider tells the New York Times . "If someone buys a fancy car and posts a picture of it, they get ridiculed and berated." More»

Olympics protected by stringent branding laws

(NEWSER) - The Olympics are headed to London this summer, but visitors and athletes alike better beware of what they post online, reports Mashable . London has passed legislation ahead of the games to penalize people who violate the games' official branding. Legally speaking, this would include:

• Athletes posting media of themselves with products that are not Olympics sponsors
• Fans uploading their own photos or video of the games
• Businesses attracting customers with official Olympics nomenclature, like "2012 Games"