Startups
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WordPress.com now lets you write and collaborate in Google Docs
Instead of competing with Google Docs, WordPress.com is going to embrace the popular web editor so you can write and publish from Google Docs. It’s going to make it much easier to collaborate with other people, as Google Docs has become the default collaborative real-time editor on the web. More than a quarter of the web runs on WordPress. In other words, millions of people use the… Read More
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Farmer’s Business Network cultivates $40 million to help farmers buy seeds at favorable prices
GV (formerly known as Google Ventures) and DBL Partners co-led a $40 million investment in Farmer’s Business Network, Inc., the company announced on Tuesday. FBN started as something of a professional network for farmers and other agronomists. It allowed people working in agriculture to anonymously share information about what they were paying for seeds, fertilizers and other… Read More
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Old-school social networks Tagged and Hi5 bought by MeetMe for $60M
Like bizzaro Facebooks, Tagged and Hi5 launched in 2004 to help you meet new people instead of connecting you with friends you already know. Through social games and paid dating features, they earned a surprising amount of revenue despite being relatively unknown. Tagged bought Hi5 in 2011 before branching out into standalone social app development and renamed the parent company If(we). But… Read More
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How Hazel Technologies keeps fresh fruit and vegetables from spoiling
Chicago-based Hazel Technologies is on a mission to reduce food waste. The company has developed packaging inserts that, through the magic of basic chemistry, can ward off fungus and mold and slow the spoilage of fruits and vegetables. How big a problem is food waste? The most recent available reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have found that each year we waste more than 25… Read More
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Spammers expose over a billion email addresses after failed backup
At its height, River City Media, run by Alvin Slocombe and Matt Ferris, sent out a billion emails a day, slamming Gmail servers with fragmented traffic in order to ensure all of its email went out on time. After failing to password-protect a remote backup, however, the company has exposed its nearly 1.4 billion email records, some of which contain real names and addresses. The company, for… Read More
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AppOnboard offers fast, playable mobile ads
AppOnboard is betting that the best ad for a mobile game is the game itself. Co-founder and CEO Jonathan Zweig (who was previously CEO at AdColony, which was acquired by Opera) said that this addresses a big need for game developers, namely the fact that they spend lots of money promoting their apps, only to find that users give up during the initial tutorial. AppOnboard’s solution is… Read More
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Why we’re ditching Demo Days
Demo Days are not the best way to help most entrepreneurs get the funding they need. And in the long run, they are not helpful for investors, or the broader ecosystem — in fact, they aggravate blind spots that investors already face. We need to rethink how we innovate, not just what type of innovation we’re looking for. Read More
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Let’s meet at the March Micro-Meetup in New York!
In preparation for Disrupt New York in May I’m going to hold a few pitching workshops in New York for you all. We’ll listen to and critique ten pitches on March 13th at 7pm at the Knotel space at 22 West 38th Street, 3rd Floor. This is an informal pitch-off but the two best teams will get two tickets to Disrupt New York and the undying admiration of millions of people (actually… Read More
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Algoriz lets you build trading algorithms with no coding required
Traders who have an idea for a money-making algorithm have two choices: learn to code themselves, or hire a great engineer. But neither of these two options are realistic, especially for part-time traders who don’t have a large bankroll behind them. Meet Algoriz, a startup participating in Y Combinator’s Winter 2017 batch. Read More
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The Associated Press’ plan to put hyperlocal data in the hands of reporters
Since 2013, The Associated Press has been making an intentional effort to put data in the hands of local reporters. In the last few years, this meant assisting with Freedom of Information Act requests and putting a team of four engineers to work building visualizations and extracting insights from massive spreadsheets. Today the AP is entering into a joint pilot program with Data.world to… Read More
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