Startup Has Language Learners Translating the Web. Language learning: Duolingo teaches users a new language as they translate Wikipedia entries and other Web-based content that carries a Creative Commons license. Luis von Ahn is frustrated with the Internet. More specifically, with the amount of content that is available only in English—which is to say, most of it. “The Web in Spanish is just shittier,” he says, his voice tinged with a Spanish accent. So von Ahn, an associate professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University who grew up in Guatemala, is doing something about it. Late last year, he and cofounder Severin Hacker, who was previously a student of his at CMU, launched Duolingo, a startup that combines language learning with crowdsourced translation. As users gain the knowledge of a new tongue, they help translate documents on the Web for others.
The territory isn’t entirely new to von Ahn. The setup seems to be working. Www.spencertipping.com/posts/2012.0530.why-i-left-google.html. 2012.0530permalink This post is getting a lot more attention than I expected or hoped. I wrote it mostly for family and friends who know me well and who might be curious about it. So I need to address some stuff to avoid saying the wrong thing. Responses to Hacker News comments Replies to DannyBee's comments I think I've unintentionally misrepresented Google here. I'm not a lawyer or an expert, and I tried to play things safe and as much by the book as possible, since I didn't know what to expect. I did receive a reply about the project to the effect that it was in an area that Google was interested in, and it was a pleasant surprise when they allowed me to release the code and retain copyright.
Also, jrockway has provided an excellent summary from the other end. Original post I resigned from Google about a month ago and have been meaning to write about it. Also keep in mind that I only saw the part of the company I was working with. Technological culture Pros: Total openness. Cons: Notes: Pinstagram: Tolle Website für alle Freunde von Instagram und Pinterest. Pinstagram ist das geistige Kind von Pek Pongpaet und Brandon Leonardo. Unterm Strich handelt es sich bei der Website um eine Plattform, mit der Nutzer Instagram-Fotos im Wasserfall-Layout von Pinterest betrachten können.
Pinstagram als Missing Link zum Browser Wired zitiert einen der Entwickler wie folgt : „Ich denke, Pinstagram füllt eine wichtige Lücke aus, denn Instagram hat den Fokus noch nie auf die Nutzung am Desktop gelegt“, so Pongpaet. Es existieren zwar eine ganze Reihe von Apps von Drittherstellern, die Instagram in den Browser bringen, aber keine davon kommt mit einem so erprobten Design und Interface wie Pinstagram daher. Pinstagram: Von einer Spinnerei zum Website zur iPad App Ursprünglich war Pinstagram für Pongpaet und Leonardo lediglich eine witzige Spinnerei.
Das Feedback auf den neuen Dienst ist nach Angaben der Entwickler durchweg positiv, auch wenn sie noch keinerlei Reaktion von Pinterest oder Instagram erhalten haben. Weiterführende Links: Google interviews: would you get a job with the search giant? | Technology. We live in an age of desperation. Never in living memory has the competition for job openings been more intense. Never have job interviews been tougher.
For some job seekers, Google is the shining city on the hill. It's where the smartest people do the coolest things. In the US, Google regularly ranks at or near the top of Fortune magazine's list of 100 Best Companies To Work For. But unsexy firms also find themselves with multiple well-qualified applicants for each position. This is most evident in the interviews. The style of interviewing at Google is indebted to an older tradition of using logic puzzles to test job candidates at technology companies. Most of the time, the job applicant stumbles around, gamely trying to make sense of a series that gives every indication of being completely senseless.
How would you weigh an elephant without using a scale? Forget maths. Now for the payoff: what number comes next? At many of these companies, the one and only correct answer is 96. How to Make It as a First-Time Entrepreneur. Vinicius Vacanti is co-founder and CEO of Yipit. Next posts on how to acquire users for free and how to raise a Series A. Don’t miss them by subscribing via email or via twitter. If you want your start-up to become the next big thing, it’s not good enough to just build a great product.
Unless you can afford to buy users, you’ll have to grow virally. The difference between getting one of your new users to convince one friend to sign up and that person getting two new friends, is huge. Below are 9 ways your start-up can grow virally: Get Your Users to Spread the Word Get users to tell others about your app simply by using it. Get users to push content they create on your app to Facebook, Twitter. Increasing Conversion Adjust your product to become more mainstream. Conclusion Building a great product is only half the battle. How to Make Your Startup Go Viral The Pinterest Way. On Thanksgiving, Pinterest’s co-founder Ben Silbermann sent an email to his entire user base saying thanks.
It was fitting, as Pinterest was born two years ago on Thanksgiving day 2009. Ben had been working on a website with a few friends, and his girlfriend came up with the name while they were watching TV. Pinterest officially launched to the world 4 months later. Some startups go crazy with hype and users right after launch. And some don’t. I don’t know the founders, but I thought I’d take apart Pinterest’s story to discuss growth and virality in consumer web startups. Pinterest was not an overnight success. Take a look at Pinterest’s one-year traffic on Compete from Oct 2010 to Oct 2011, which is the picture in this post, and shows Pinterest rising from 40,000 to 3.2 million monthly unique visitors. Backing out of Compete’s numbers, we see Pinterest grew about 50% month over month from a base of zero since its inception (on average, smoothing the curve).
The Secret to Facebook's IPO Value. Share There is one thing missing in most of the hype over Facebook’s massive IPO. Everyone knows the company is popular, with 845 million users, and successful, with a potential valuation of $100 billion dollars. (That’s five times the size of Google’s 2004 debut.) But what exactly makes Facebook so valuable? You. In fact, in the modern era, Facebook’s IPO will constitute one of the largest voluntary transfers of property from a large group of people to a corporation. And “voluntary” is a pretty charitable gloss. If you read them, though, you learn that all content which users previously owned as intellectual property, like photos and videos, is granted to Facebook under a “a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license.”
This is a truly galling power for a service provider—like an e-mail company asserting copyright over every piece of writing sent through the system. There is no way to take your intellectual property back from Facebook, either. The 4 M's of Attracting Investors to Your Startup. Mark Suster is one of those unique venture capitalists in that he has experience as an entrepreneur prior to joining the VC world (or the "dark side" as he calls it). Twice, in fact. That's why he calls his blog "Both Sides of the Table," because he has literally sat at both sides of the negotiating table. It's this experience as both an entrepreneur and a VC that provides him a fresh perspective on startups and the investment market, so what does Suster think are the most important factors to securing investment?
Apparently, it comes down to four M's. The first M Suster suggests is "momentum," which is almost synonymous with "traction. " "Almost all VCs care about investing in big markets with ambitious teams. "If you want to raise money from VCs you should see them early," he says. Second comes "management," which Suster says accounts for 70% of his decision to invest (just 30% goes to the actual product or idea). The third M? Are any other M's missing from Suster's summation? Eight Questions To Ask Before You Start A Business. Are you thinking of starting a web business? Starting a PPC Management agency? Setting up your own site and selling things, or building a web publishing empire? Before you start, ask yourself the following eight questions. The advantage of this Q&A is that you can quickly see if the idea you’re going to throw your money and soul into is likely to work. 1 .
What Do You Do? Define what service the business provides. Try to focus. McDonalds could, no doubt, provide up-market meals, but they focus on selling quick, cheap food. That is what they do. 2. Who are your customers? Create a mental image of your typical customer. 3. What is your unique selling proposition? If your customers can buy the same services for less elsewhere, or more easily, they will.
There is a tendency to model yourself on others. This is not to say doing something wildly new or different is any guarantee of success. 4. This point is so important, it really should be number one. Businesses may have great ideas. 5. 6. 7. 8. Www.Gruenderzentren-in-Berlin.de.