Who will be the small business software super-portal? Not Microsoft
Editor’s note: Brent Frei (pictured below) is the executive chairman and co-founder of Smartsheet.com, an online work management software company. He also served as the chief executive of Onyx Software, a Bellevue-based customer relationship management (CRM) software company he co-founded in 1994, and as a programmer analyst at Microsoft, among many other roles. He wrote this column for VentureBeat.
Back in 2001, I listened to Steve Ballmer predict that in five to 10 years, 40 … Continue Reading
Home energy monitors come to big box stores — for less than $100
Fry’s Electronics announced today that average consumers can now buy a PowerCost Monitor, made by Blue Line Innovations, in any one of its retail stores or on its web site. The device tells you how much energy you are using and how much it is costing you in real time. It’s priced at $99.99. That’s one of the lowest price points we’ve seen for such a system, yet another indicator that home energy management is … Continue Reading
Motorola sends first Android phone to Korea
Those lucky South Koreans get everything first. Motorola’s newest Android phone, the Motoroi, will go on sale from SK Telecom early in February. Specs-wise, it’s like an updated Droid with one heck of a camera.
The phone’s leading feature is an 8 megapixel camera with a Xenon flash. It can record video in 720p HD format, which Moto claims is the first time any Korean phone has been able to do it. South Korea’s broadband … Continue Reading
Virtual goods-related companies raised $598M in 2009
Virtual goods companies raised $598 million in venture capital in 2009, according to a report released today by Engage Digital Media.
Virtual goods are digital items in games and other applications that don’t exist in the real world. In the world of online entertainment, you can play many games for free, but you may have to buy a virtual good, such as a better sword in a role-playing game, using real money.
Engage Digital Media … Continue Reading
Free antivirus drives AVG to 110M users
Free is a good price. Just ask AVG Technologies, which announced today that active users for its antivirus software have now surpassed 110 million.
The Amsterdam-based company gives away its antivirus software for free. Most people use the software for free, but they can also pay to upgrade it to a full-featured security software suite. Back in October, the company said it had 85 million users, so the growth rate is impressive.
The company announced … Continue Reading
Why do entrepreneurs flock to loudmouths as mentors?
(Editor’s note: Will Herman is an entrepreneur who has founded or held senior roles at several tech companies. This column originally appeared on his blog.)
I’m fortunate that I get to work with many startups, both independently and with TechStars where I’m a mentor. There is no better way to learn than through teaching (learning is the most fun you can have, at least for a sustained period) and there are few better students … Continue Reading
Medical ed site Orbis lands $8M to ease nursing shortage
VCs have, for the most part, steered clear of education startups, save for a few areas where consumers are willing to open their wallets — things like standardized test prep and language learning. However, Lightspeed Venture Partners thinks it’s found a goldmine in nurse training. Today, the firm announced an $8 million round for IL-based Orbis Education, which helps universities web-enable their nursing programs, reduce their per-student costs and meet the country’s growing need for … Continue Reading
SwitchGames builds a big market for used games
SwitchGames is a game trading site that has ridden the wave of demand for used games. Today, the company says its users are now offering more than 100,000 items for trade on its peer-to-peer game trading community.
The New York company, which was a finalist in the GamesBeat 2009 startup competition, makes it easy to trade games quickly and safely without fear you’ll be ripped off. The company hit its 100,000-item milestone in less than … Continue Reading
Mobile payments firm Boku gets $25M in spending money
Boku is on a roll. The mobile payments company bought two companies, combined them and, in June, launched its service, which lets people pay for online goods and games with their mobile phone accounts. Now it has raised $25 million in a third round of funding.
The San Francisco-based company was one of the finalists in our startup competition at MobileBeat. Now its service is available in 58 countries, and it has more than 1,000 … Continue Reading
How the iPhone built the mobile ad market, even as the rest of the economy tanked
Even as the global advertising industry entered a significant contraction last winter, the nascent mobile ad market started heating up.
Why? Credit the iPhone.
First, publishers of new mobile applications started paying other publishers every time a user clicked on their ad to download their applications (cost per click, or CPC). Second, brand advertisers sought to reach iPhone users as they surfed more frequently on their applications.
Back in November 2008, while the rest of … Continue Reading
Jivox video ads get social and interactive
Video ad platform Jivox is the latest online ad companies t0 look beyond run-of-the-mill video commercials to offer something a little more interactive. The startup says it’s adding social and interactive features to its do-it-yourself ad creator.
There’s growing interest in creating web ads that don’t just replicate the television experience, and not just on PCs — last fall, AdMob launched the first interactive video ad unit for the iPhone. These kinds of ads will … Continue Reading
New site helps cancer patients network, improve treatments
Navigating Cancer, an organization dedicated to helping cancer patients find the best treatment options, has just launched a new, free web site to help its target audience keep track of their medical records, work more closely with their physicians and find other patients going through the same thing. The idea is to give users the information they need to take charge of their health.
The web site, in its beta version, offers all of these … Continue Reading
Shopkick bags $2.5M to turn shopping into a good deed
iPhone application development firm Shopkick has raised $2.5 million in a first round of venture capital, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Menlo Park, Calif., the company is best known for an app called CauseWorld. Users can earn points by shopping or even just checking in (like on Foursquare) at brand retailers — points that they can convert into charitable donations to causes of their choice, with the retailers actually putting up … Continue Reading
VEVO, the Web’s MTV, is winning the music wars
VEVO, the music video portal that launched in conjunction with YouTube and a number of music labels in December of 2009, is bringing back the glory days of music videos. And, based on its meteoric rise to the top of the online music charts even after a shaky at best launch, it’s working.
In December, VEVO had 35 million visitors to its site, and 13 billion videos viewed across all of its sites, mostly from … Continue Reading
Bikes get a tech upgrade to lure green commuters
Many people have been watching the technological advances coming to cars this year, with electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids finally becoming a reality. But there are plenty of high-tech changes coming to bicycles too. While the aluminum frame is staying the same, MIT, Cannondale, Sanyo and others are working to change just about everything else.
Very little has changed about the bike since its introduction in the nineteenth century. Until about the middle of last … Continue Reading
Cyclone Power to turn waste motor oil into clean electricity
Cyclone Power Technologies, maker of electric generator systems, has just received a tall order. As part of a new contract with the Phoenix Power Group, it will be building a prototype of a generator powered by the external combustion of waste motor oil (PDF) — a ubiquitous, renewable source of energy.
The first of these systems is predicted to churn out 50 kilowatts of electricity (enough to power about 50 American homes). Motor oil might … Continue Reading
Apple sends invites for Jan. 27 event profiling its "latest creation"
Apple confirmed reports of its upcoming event on Jan. 27, where many expect it to unveil its iSlate tablet computer. The company didn’t say anything about the event except, “Come see our latest creation.”
It will be at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, and it will likely be one of the most closely watched tech events since, um, Apple’s last press conference. We’ll definitely be there to write about the … Continue Reading
MerchantCircle enlists its millionth small business for online marketing help
MerchantCircle may not be as well-known as business listing site Yelp, but its user base of small businesses who want to control their web presence keeps growing. The company says it recently signed up its 1 millionth business, about three-and-a-half years after launching.
Los Altos, Calif.-based MerchantCircle creates online profiles for every small business it can find (it has created 15 million profiles in all), then encourages owners to “claim” those profiles and start paying … Continue Reading
Ask the Attorney: Should I be a C-Corp? (And other formation issues)
(Editor’s note: “Ask the Attorney” is a VentureBeat feature allowing start-up owners to get answers to their legal questions. Submit yours in the comments below and look for answers in the coming weeks. Author Scott Edward Walker is the founder and CEO of Walker Corporate Law Group, PLLC, a boutique corporate law firm specializing in the representation of entrepreneurs.)
Question: Two former classmates and I are launching a new venture. Unfortunately, we don’t have … Continue Reading
Broadcom's Scott McGregor aims to stay ahead of Intel in consumer electronics
There are a few companies that stand in the way of Intel as it tries to make an empire in consumer electronics chips. One of them is Broadcom, the Irvine, Calif.-based chip design firm that sells billions of dollars worth of chips in the home, mobile, and communications infrastructure markets.
Scott McGregor, chief executive of Broadcom, plans to dominate the markets for chips used in set-top boxes, digital TVs, modems, cell phones, and wireless networking … Continue Reading
