8 Tips for Entrepreneurs Who Want to Develop Cross-Cultural Apps. Thailand has potential to become digital innovation hub - The Nation. This year, dtac Accelerate has teams of participating start-ups who have amazing and innovative products.
Some of them started out by trying to find a problem and finding the best way to resolve it. The creator of Drivebot encountered a problem himself while driving in a car with his dad. A few minutes after driving out of his house, the red "Check Engine" light came on and he had no idea what to do. The service manual suggested that he contact the dealer, but he wanted to figure out what went wrong first. So he turned off the engine and restarted the car. The Check Engine light is a warning of up to a thousand possible problems with the car, and gives an average car owner zero chance of working out what is happening. Algolia Raises Another $1.2 Million For Its Real-Time Search API. French startup Algolia raised $1.2 million as an extension of the company’s existing seed round to turbocharge your website’s search engine.
It brings the total funding of the startup to $2.8 million. The round extension was led by Storm Ventures, with angels coming from Box, Eventbrite, Google, Microsoft and Stripe. Chrisoph Janz of Point Nine Capital is also joining the board. “They wanted to raise another million dollars to accelerate growth,” Jason Lemkin of Storm Ventures told me in a phone interview. “They went from no to 200 customers this year. 10 start-ups to battle it out for Start Tel Aviv-Ireland competition - Start Ups - Start-Ups. Ten Irish start-ups will battle it out to take part in the Start Tel Aviv international start-up competition, where the most innovative start-ups are selected to attend a five-day intensive start-up experience in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Tel Aviv is a leading innovation hub with world-class tech talents, dozens of leading multinationals, and hundreds of tech star start-ups. The Wall Street Journal named the city Europe’s leading tech hub and Startup Genome ranked Tel Aviv as the second best place in the world to open a start-up. The winning Irish team will be joined by founders from Colombia, Chile, Norway, New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Spain, UK, Hungary, France, South Africa, India, Japan, China, Holland and Serbia.
Finalists for 2014 Finalists will compete at a pitch night at the NDRC in Dublin on 26 June for this trip and other prizes. "Trustev really enjoyed their experience at Start Tel Aviv,” said Trustev’s CEO Pat Phelan. The 10 Irish finalists are: Mobile Savings App Ibotta Raises $20 Million From Netscape Founder Jim Clark & Others. Big money for small savings: the mobile couponing app Ibotta, which lets consumers save money on grocery purchases, household goods, apparel, electronics and more, has raised $20 million in Series B funding, the company is announcing today.
The lead investor in the round is Jim Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Healtheon/WedMD. He will now be joining the company’s board of directors, as a result of the new funding. Also participating in the round was Tom Jermoluk, previously of Silicon Graphics, @Home and KPCB. Mode raises $2M and opens ‘GitHub for data’ to the public — Tech News and Analysis.
Mode, a startup that launched last year under the tagline of “GitHub for data analysis,” has raised $2 million in venture capital and is opening a beta version of its service to the public.
Formation8 led the round, with participation from Panorama Point, Goldcrest and a number of individual investors, including Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian. Derek Steer, Mode’s co-founder and CEO (pictured above, second from right), explains the company’s platform as being similar to GitHub in theory but significantly different in practice. It’s a place where data analysts can share their work and find others’ work (datasets, models, code, etc.), establish reputations for themselves, and generally reduce the need to reproduce analyses or clean messy datasets that others have already done. Bitcoin ATM Startup BitAccess Joins Y Combinator's Trailblazing Incubator. California-based startup accelerator Y Combinator has officially selected bitcoin ATM manufacturer BitAccess for admittance to its esteemed incubator program.
Founded in 2005, Y Combinator has gained a reputation for empowering entrepreneurs and startups, with nine of its companies having since been acquired by Google and seven snapped up by Facebook – a track record that attracted BitAccess to the deal. Haseeb Awan, co-founder of the startup, indicated that while his firm has shied away from major investments in the past, the Y Combinator offer – which finds the incubator investing $120,000 for a 7% equity share in the startup – was appealing for the additional incentives it can provide. Awan told CoinDesk: “If we’re going to take it to the next level, we’re going to need those kinds of connections and partners who can help us to grow to a billion dollar company.” Uber just had the biggest funding round of all time – Quartz.
Uber hit the accelerator in its most recent funding round.
The ride-sharing startup just put the finishing touches on biggest funding round of any technology startup in history, according to PrivCo, which provides financial data on privately-held companies. Uber raised $1.2 billion in its latest funding round from a group of investors including mutual fund giant Fidelity. The round values the company at $17 billion, about five times its valuation from just a year ago. Just to put things in perspective: Uber’s funding round is nearly as big as the combined largest funding rounds of online home rental company Airbnb, which recently raised $450 million in equity, cell tower company NextG Networks (paywall), and Uber’s own $361 million round a year ago. Mobile Analytics Startup Splitforce Raises $150,000 Seed Round, Launches Automatic A/B Testing For iOS And Android.
Mobile analytics company Splitforce has launched an automatic A/B testing service called Auto-Optimization for iOS and Android that it says will dramatically increase the speed and efficiency of running user tests for startups.
The company, which currently serves over 250 app developers, also announced that it has raised $150,000 in seed funding led by SOS Ventures and angel investors including Simon Newstead, the CEO of Frenzoo; Steven Ho, an entrepreneur whose companies have been acquired by eBay and Yahoo; Jamie Lin, founder of accelerator AppWorks; and Guillaume Luccisano, founder of Socialcam. Auto-Optimization includes support for user targeting. For an in-depth look at how it works, check out Splitforce’s explainer. “But with Auto-Optimization, you can actually automate the test for all your user segments without having to actively manage them.”
“It’s an English term for a slot machine and the problem is basically that you have a multi-armed slot machine. Image by PicJumbo. High rent drives London’s start-ups south. But the number of new businesses was slightly lower than the previous year when 15,720 new businesses launched, and could signal the start of a shift by start-ups elsewhere.
South London's SE1 postcode, which covers Borough, Bankside and Bermondsey areas south of the River Thames, saw the fastest acceleration in business creation, the survey found. The number of new start-ups increased 13 percent, from 5,190 to 5,850 over the year. Read More Ten British startups with super-fast growth rates Colin Jones, partner at UHY Hacker Young, said rising rents around Silicon Roundabouts meant that entrepreneurs were starting to look south to set up shop. "The area has experienced rapid regeneration in recent years, most notably the development of the Shard, which is attracting the professional and financial services and businesses from the creative industries into the area," he said in a statement. Read MoreEuropean tech hubs hoping to rival Silicon Valley.
Sam Altman Names Y Combinator’s New “Board Of Overseers” Sam Altman, president of Y Combinator, has just posted a blog post announcing the Board of Overseers at the world’s most successful accelerator.
The list includes Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky, Homejoy’s Adora Cheung, John and Patrick Collison of Stripe, Dropbox’s Drew Houston, longtime partner and co-founder at YC Jessica Livingston, Weebly founder and CEO David Rusenko, Kiko co-founder and Justin.TV CTO Emmett Shear, and Sam Altman himself. All of the members of the board of overseers are former graduates of Y Combinator, with the exception of Jessica Livingston, and will help guide the organization in big decisions, especially in matters that involve the hiring and firing of the president.
This is a much lighter touch than a board of directors and is modeled after what universities do. Y Combinator has been going through a number of changes lately, most notably the succession of Sam Altman to the president position after co-founder Paul Graham stepped down in February. Splice Machine has plans to turn the database market on its ear - Fortune Tech. What's Wrong With a Little Perfectionism? How many business articles praising the "fail fast, fail often" mantra have we read? Too many to count, but three immediately come to mind. 1. "Failure is no longer something to be avoided and criticized, it is something that can propel a company to future greatness," writes futurist Dominic Basulto in The Washington Post. 2. Crowdfunding's Popularity Surged in 2013 (Infographic) Judging from recent numbers, businesses and entrepreneurs are jumping on the crowdfunding bandwagon in record numbers, hoping to become the next Pebble--the highest-funded Kickstarter campaign to date.
In 2013, nearly 17 percent of crowdfunding dollars went to startups. So who else is using the more than 20 crowdfunding platforms out there? You might be surprised to learn that the most active crowdfunding category is social causes. Statistics company Statista put together the chart below that further shows the breakdown of these categories and depicts how crowdfunding's popularity has changed over the years. Funding daily: It's bloomin' startups.
An inordinate number of startups raised funding today in a variety of sectors, ranging from mobile payments to online flower delivery. Most of these startups are based in the U.S., but a few are in emerging markets, like Brazil’s iFood. This Is What Really Happens When a Startup Fails. Three weeks ago, the Canvas team had returned from winter holidays, hunkering back into work at the company's Union Square office in New York City. Just weeks earlier, the company--seven people, including its 26-year-old founder, Chris Poole--had a major success in launching its first iPhone app, called DrawQuest. It took off in the iTunes store, exceeding expectations vastly. Revenue was growing, and three-quarters of a million people downloaded DrawQuest. It was encouraging. But it wasn't enough. "One of our investors came to me and said, 'I think we might want to be honest with ourselves here. Is Your Product a 'Vitamin' or 'Painkiller?' Is your startup building a "painkiller" or a "vitamin" for your clients?
In order to get their attention and build a sizable business of scale, "painkillers" are a must. We all need to take a critical look at our businesses from the perspectives of our clients. Would your product or service be something they really need today and help them solve big pain points with established budgets? Is Starting A Company A Terrible Decision? Ebay-inspiration-more-effective-than-delegation. 8 Successful Companies Didn't Start That Way (Infographic) How Square Is Structured For Rapid Decisions, Awesome Products. Over the six years Ajit Varma was an "ad spam czar" at Google, he found himself getting into a routine: he would pour himself into an idea--and then have to gather opinions that would allow it to move forward.
"What happened to me was I spent lots of time presenting to execs in the company," he says, "and they would basically change the direction of the product with 30 minutes of context. " This, he says, was because the execs in question didn't have a chance to think deeply about the product--which generates a "trend towards the mean. " A Landing Page Is NOT A Minimum Viable Product. “Our MVP is to build a landing page.” That’s what I heard from one of the participants at the recent Lean Startup Machine (LSM) in Toronto after I asked him how they’re testing their riskiest assumption.
Failing-to-understand-failure-is-not-an-option. We all appreciate a good comeback story. A person tries their hand at something, fails (the more spectacular the collapse, the better), and then stages a successful second act. Inc.com. Global Startup Trend for 2014: Consider Brazil. Global It's time to look beyond the sunny beach-party exterior. 5 Steps to Take Your Product From Concept to Reality. Internet of Things: Startups Connecting the Home. While the term Internet of Things was coined almost a dozen years ago, there's recently been a wave of startups that have reenergized this idea of connecting everyday objects to the Internet. One area gaining much momentum is the connected home. We Build Big Ideas. You’re not really trying. We are big proponents of the lean startup methodology at Differential.
The 20 Hottest Startups in Russia. Previously defined by the way it cloned western companies, Russia is gradually becoming a place where its undoubtedly strong education and engineering standards are blending with original entrepreneurship. The Russian startup scene is buoyed by the impressive Skolkovo project, which already incubates more than 1,000 domestic and foreign startups from its campus in Moscow. Story01.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+home%2Fupdates+%28Inc. Story01.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+home%2Fupdates+%28Inc. Why only fools write code first. Story01.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+home%2Fupdates+%28Inc. Story01.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+home%2Fupdates+%28Inc. Story01.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+home%2Fupdates+%28Inc. College Entrepreneur Creates Digital Care Package Business.
Business News & Strategy For Entrepreneurs. Google Buys Flutter, a Gesture Control Startup. Inc.com. Screw It, Just Do It: The Curiously Inspiring Wisdom Of Richard Branson. What Obamacare Means for the Startup Founder, the VC, and the Big Company. Why Do Startups Create Better Mobile Apps? ⚙ Co. Story01.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+home%2Fupdates+%28Inc.
Inc.com. The Lowdown on Why Denver's So High on the Startup Scene Hotlist. Max-levchin-says-innovation-has-returned-to-the-valley. Hey Japan, What’s Up With Your Startup Culture? ⚙ Co. Mobile-app-marketing-costs-on-the-rise. I am shutting down my Startup Govpinion and here is what I learned. The Wild and Crazy Career Paths of 5 Self-Made Billionaires (Infographic) "Why the f*** would I use Yelp?" Investor Bets $5,000 Yelp Will Fail. Less-innovation-is-better. The World's 20 Hottest Startup Scenes (Infographic) 7-reasons-why-you-should-see-jobs-movie. 6 Reasons Vancouver Is Hot for Start-ups. Google Bus Is A Sign Of Silicon Valley's Excesses. Super Coder, or Manager? Why Your Top Geek Can't Be Both. Untitled. The ways of Silicon Valley. Top 20 B2B Startups with the Most Momentum Lead by Disqus, Virool & Bitnami.
4 Reasons to Build Your Company in Las Vegas. 3 Reasons to Crowdfund Your Next Project (Hint: It's Not About the Money) Back To The Future: Why Retro-Innovation Is The Next Big Thing. A Kayak.com For Booking Anything That Isn't A Plane. Vols à bas prix, hôtels, billets d'avion, billets à bas prix, offres de voyage à bas prix - Comparez des centaines de sites de voyage en même temps. SoMa Dreams: Your Future Is in the Hands of Wired's Entrepreneur Neighbors. What are some of the most ridiculous startup ideas that eventually became successful.
Should Your Startup Persevere, Pivot, or Shut down? 5 Start-ups to Watch From Y Combinator's Demo Day. Fund medical treatments for people around the world. The Grand Internet Business Idea that Didn’t Succeed. From Stanford to Startup. Guy Kawasaki "The Art of the Start" @ TiECon 2006 So you want to do a startup, eh? Ask the Readers: How can I earn an extra $1000 per month? “Lifestyle” and “Business” Are Not Mutually Exclusive Terms. What Makes an Entrepreneur? Four Letters: JFDI. E - commerce forum by AICEL. Area Ambiente e Territorio.