With New Tool, Visual.ly Wants To Replace Powerpoint With Infographics

"Before PowerPoint, you had to go find a designer to create a custom presentation," says Stew Langille. "Even though everyone hates PowerPoint now, it was really helpful when it first came out." Now Langille’s startup, Visual.ly, is attempting to do for infographics what Microsoft did for presentations. Today, the company launched a new platform to allow virtually anyone to create data visualizations. "We hear a huge influx of people saying, 'How can I get someone to help me create an infographic or a dashboard or an interactive visualization?'" The startup, which has raised $2 million in VC funding to date, unveiled the self-service platform at SXSW today. Currently, Visual.ly offers a small range of what Langille calls "WordPress-like themes," and a short list of datasets. The service is free, though Visual.ly does offer premium accounts. There is both a strong downside and upside to automating infographics. Click here to try Visual.ly’s new tool. [Image: Kinetic Imagery/Shutterstock]

20 Brilliant Marketing Campaigns That Literally Stopped Traffic Can you remember three ads you saw today? Probably not. Despite millions of dollars spent on advertising campaigns, most ads are not memorable. Every once in a while, some creative at some ad agency does something truly brilliant, and we have to stop and marvel. We racked our brains and scoured the internet to find photos of brilliant marketing campaigns that literally stopped people in their tracks. For more campaigns, check out Inc.com, Joe's AdBlog, and Ad Design Blog, which pointed us to many of these campaigns.

Интервью с создателем Wannafu(ck)n | Цукерберг позвонит! Интервью с создателем Wannafu(ck)n | Сижу за айпадом, делаю рисёрч, нажимаю лайк, нажимаю твит Все началось с невинного на первый взгляд письма: Скажу честно, до начала переписки (и общения) с Рустемом, я не знал про дейтинг, и в частности про Wannafun практически ничего. После этого интервью я вполне могу устраиваться в Мамбу или даже Баду (менеджером младшего звена). PS: Кстати, Злата Николаева недавно брала интервью у Андрея Андреева из Badoo, про которого Рустем тоже упоминает. Рустем, привет! Расскажи немного о том, когда (и главное, почему) ты решил делать дейтинг. Все началось очень давно. На Мамбе я сижу с самой зари своей юности, года с 2002, как только она появилась. «В компании поначалу думали совсем отказаться от размещения анкет девушек, предлагающих секс за деньги. Сигитов лукавит — он не называет соотношение нормальных и «извращенцев и проституток», предпочитая сравнить лишь их чеки. Андреев, создатель Мамбы, избавившись от проекта, уехал на туманный альбион создавать Баду. Резюмирую про больших ребят. 1) Нравятся социальные эксперименты. Колонки. Что в планах?

Apple Management Lessons Every Company Should Steal The 8 Best Tips You'll Ever Get On How To Launch (And Grow) A Startup A Poor Investment? VC Firm Targets the “Underbanked” There’s a lot of money in poor people. KPMG reports that America’s 88 million consumers who are “unbanked” (no bank account) or “underbanked” (no credit) earn $1.3 trillion a year. At least one venture capital firm is out to make money helping them out. Despite the huge dollar amounts controlled by the underbanked, most financial institutions want nothing to do with them - too much hassle and not enough profit potential. Core Innovation Capital has decided to help. “We operate as a ‘double-bottom line’ fund,” explains Core Innovation managing partner Mike Harris. Emerging Middle Class The market opportunity is real, Harris says, and so is the social need. There are more check-cashing outlets in the U.S. than there are McDonald’s and Starbucks combined. You may have thought debt bondage was a problem only in rural India. “When someone who is underbanked goes to pay bills or cash a check, what happens to them? Core Innovation has funded three startups so far: Image courtesy of Shutterstock.