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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Internet startups

Internet startups stories: 10 news summaries
OPINION

 Fickle User Base 
 May Doom Facebook 

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

Sep 17, 09 10:24 AM CDT
(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 »

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social networking • Internet • MySpace • user generated content • Facebook • profits • Internet startups • Twitter

 Twitter Hits $1B Valuation 

Company will raise $50 million this round

Sep 17, 09 9:16 AM CDT
(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 »

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social networking • venture capital • Internet startups • Twitter

(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... More »

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Silicon Valley • Facebook • venture capital • Internet startups • startup • private companies

Facebook Buys Rival FriendFeed for $50M

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

Aug 11, 09 7:31 AM CDT
(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 »

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technology • social networking • mergers and acquisitions • Facebook • Internet startups • FriendFeed • Twitter • technology companies • Jay-ZTV • social media

Chinese Web Surfers Embrace Facebook Clone

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

Jan 14, 09 7:09 PM CST
(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 »

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China • social networking • censorship • Facebook • website • Internet startups • Internet censorship • Facekoo

GLOSSIES

This Xoogler Might Be the
Next Bill Gates

Former Googlers make ever-widening waves
across Silicon Valley

Oct 4, 08 2:40 AM CDT
(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 »

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Google • YouTube • Silicon Valley • Gmail • venture capital • Internet startups • venture capitalists • Esquire

For Web 'Game,' Everything
New Is Old

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

Jun 21, 08 8:44 PM CDT
(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... More »

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Internet • Web 2.0 • venture capital • Internet startups • multiplayer games • Internet advertising • PMOG

Silicon Valley's Prodigal Son Comes Home

Frank Quattrone seeks to repair his rep with new investment bank

Mar 19, 08 9:50 PM CDT
(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 »

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Silicon Valley • IPO • investment bankers • Internet startups • Netscape • tech sector • information technology • tech industry • investment banks

Investor Avoids 'Web 2.0' to Avoid Bust?

VC firm Kleiner looking for 'more fundamental innovations'

Nov 5, 07 2:55 PM CST
(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 »

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Internet • Silicon Valley • Web 2.0 • venture capital • Internet startups

Dot-Com Bubble 2.0 Sparks Fears of Another Bust

Exuberant bidding for startups boosts Silicon Valley bank accounts

Oct 17, 07 12:31 PM CDT
(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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Silicon Valley • venture capital • Internet startups

10 Stories


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