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NEWS ABOUT: Internet startups

8 Celebs Betting Big on Startups

Music, social media, augmented reality, and more get major attention

(Newser) - More than just Oscars and Grammys, becoming a big star today requires mastering the world of online and social media. So it's no surprise that many of today's brightest glitterati are also eager to become leading digerati, investing in a wide range of startup tech companies. Mashable presents... More »

Smartphone App Knows You're Sick Before You Do

DailyData app detects changes that should tell you something's wrong

(Newser) - Your smartphone might have a better grasp on how you're feeling than you do. A new startup has unveiled an Android app that uses your phone's activity to detect the onset of the common cold, the flu, and depression, reports Mashable . DailyData , developed by a group of MIT... More »

Hipster Start-Up Offers New Hires a Year's Supply of Beer

Along with skinny jeans and $10K bonus

(Newser) - A tech start-up in San Francisco is offering perks to new hires consistent with its name: Hipster . Successful applicants will get $10,000, a year's supply of Pabst Blue Ribbon, skinny jeans, Buddy Holly glasses, brown boots, etc. It's a sign of the ultra-fierce competition for engineers among... More »

7 Startup Ideas That've Been Beaten to Death

Sick of Groupon knockoffs yet?

(Newser) - Sure, maybe the little kid down the block just happened to think of setting up a, um, limeade stand right after you started hawking lemonade, but in the real-life world of startups the consequences are somewhat more serious—and annoying. Business Insider runs down the seven moldiest startup trends out... More »

Groupon: We Owe Our Success to Good Writing

Daily deals site differentiates itself through the 'Groupon Voice'

(Newser) - Pop Quiz: What’s the best way to describe a 4,700-pound chandelier? If you want to work at Groupon, your answer should be “More brilliant than a studious Christmas tree.” That’s an actual question the booming Internet company asks its prospective employees, reports the New York ... More »

Another Tech Bubble Might Be Getting Ready to Pop

Venture capitalists are pouring money into social networking startups

(Newser) - The New York Times makes the rounds of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs and hears worry that another dangerous bubble is forming with tech startups. Because relatively young companies such as Groupon, Twitter, and Zynga have billion-dollar values, nobody wants to miss out on the next big thing—hence the flood... More »

Groupon to Google: Keep Your $6B

Startup turns down rumored purchase offer

(Newser) - Valued at a mere $1.3 billion in April, Groupon last night walked away from Google and its rumored purchase offer of between $5 billion and $6 billion, opting instead to remain independent, sources tell the Chicago Tribune. Neither Groupon nor Google would comment, but insiders say that the 2-year-old... More »

Facebook Elite Drift Toward New Startups

And most leave rich, thanks to liquid shares

(Newser) - Though Facebook is only six years old, some early employees are leaving to start their own businesses. Co-founder Dustin Moskovitz created collaboration software Asana, co-founder Chris Hughes started social networking site Jumo; among other employees, there are a question and answer site, a social gaming company, and more—at least... More »

One Non-Profit Should Index the Internet

It would make things faster for everyone

(Newser) - The Internet would be faster for everyone if a single, non-profit entity maintained a search index, writes Tom Foremski. Privately owned search engines use enormous resources to build their proprietary indexes, and sites use tons of bandwidth to answer their queries. On Foremski's Silicon Valley Watcher , for example, search robots/spiders... More »

Fickle User Base May Doom Facebook

Users with no brand loyalty are a shaky foundation to build a long-lasting business on

(Newser) - These are rosy times for Facebook, but there's no guarantee the social networking juggernaut will even be around 5 years from now, Gary Andrew Poole writes for True/Slant.  The newly profitable site is riding high, with 300 million users. But as fallen giants like AOL and veterans of the... More »

Twitter Hits $1B Valuation

Company will raise $50 million this round

(Newser) - Twitter soared to $1 billion in valuation in its most recent round of venture capital funding, TechCrunch reports—up from $250 million in a round earlier this year. CEO Evan Williams shared the results with Twitter employees during a recent meeting. Sources say the company will raise about $50 million;... More »

Tech Employees Want to Cash in Early

(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... More »

Facebook Buys Rival FriendFeed for $50M

Purchase sets up battle with Twitter for real-time search market

(Newser) - Facebook is buying fellow social networking site FriendFeed for nearly $50 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. Friendfeed, a 12-employee outfit founded by former Google engineers, allowed users to share information across multiple social media services but never took off beyond a core techie user base. The purchase may help... More »

Chinese Web Surfers Embrace Facebook Clone

'You have to respect the local user' says Berkeley-educated Facekoo founder

(Newser) - Since its March introduction, Facekoo has drawn 350,000 users and is one of the fastest-expanding social-networking sites in China, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. And, says its Hong Kong-born, Berkeley-educated founder, that’s because it fills a void left by Western sites whose mere translations to Chinese miss all... More »

This Xoogler Might Be the Next Bill Gates

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... More »

For Web 'Game,' Everything New Is Old

In classic fashion, company has cool idea, needs users, cash

(Newser) - Won’t these Internet startups ever learn about business plans? That's backward thinking, says prolific venture capitalist Joi Ito, who has a stake in the new website PMOG. “People make fun of the idea," he told Portfolio. “There are few sites, however, that have a critical mass... More »

Silicon Valley's Prodigal Son Comes Home

Frank Quattrone seeks to repair his rep with new investment bank

(Newser) - Silicon Valley prodigal son Frank Quattrone is staging a comeback, poised to debut his new tech-centered investment bank Qatalyst—after years recovering from federal obstruction-of-justice charges. But now that he's back, the question is whether the industry will welcome home an errant child with open arms. Probably, BusinessWeek writes—if... More »

Investor Avoids 'Web 2.0' to Avoid Bust?

VC firm Kleiner looking for 'more fundamental innovations'

(Newser) - Today's launch of Web 2.0 Expo Berlin notwithstanding, there are hints that "second-generation" Web companies are losing appeal in the venture capital community -- or at least with prestigious Silicon Valley firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Digital Daily cites a KPCB partner who recently told a... More »

Dot-Com Bubble 2.0 Sparks Fears of Another Bust

Exuberant bidding for startups boosts Silicon Valley bank accounts

(Newser) - Remember the dot-com bubble, when companies' huge price tags were based on buzz instead of revenue? Here we go again. Facebook is a prime example: It's valued at as much as $15 billion—half as much as established Yahoo, though the search giant has 32 times the revenue. “There’... More »

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