Fab.com is gonna be big — Amazon big, says CEO

When Fab.com won a Crunchie for best shopping app, no one was more surprised than the startup’s CEO, Jason Goldberg (pictured).

“To be honest, I didn’t think we were going to win, mostly because Fab isn’t very much integrated into the whole tech scene… We’re definitely mainstream.”

Being mainstream can be both a blessing and a curse for a tech startup. Massive numbers of users outside the Silicon Valley bubble doesn’t necessarily translate well when … Continue Reading

YuMe grabs $11.9M, video advertising industry seeing more action

YuMe, a video advertising network, has raised $11.9 million in funding, according to a Form D filed with the SEC.

A YuMe spokesperson told VentureBeat the company is not ready to comment.

YuMe connects advertisers and video content creators, so videos appearing on mobile devices, computers, or connected televisions can include advertising revenue in their monitization plans. It uses the “ACE Relevance Engine,” which pairs relevant video content to an ad with the right message. … Continue Reading

Menlo Ventures starts $20M early-stage investment fund

Menlo Ventures has started a $20 million fund, called the “Menlo Talent Fund,” led by the firm’s managing director Shervin Pishevar (pictured right).

The fund will invest $200,000 in companies geared toward finding new talent. The turnaround time for a decision on an investment is between 24 hours and 72 hours, Pishevar said. The fund has invested in eight companies so far, although seven have only been announced.

“We weren’t doing seed investments before and … Continue Reading

Fab.com, profitable at 6 weeks old, nabs an $8M Series A

Fab.com, a design-focused flash sale site that launched June 9, has announced an $8 million Series A round of investment led by Menlo Ventures.

Fab co-founder and CEO Jason Goldberg also told VentureBeat exclusively that the company is already turning a profit and has just hit the 400,000-user mark.

The flash sale model has turned out to be a goldmine for Fab.com, and the pigeonhole-defying mish-mash of beautifully designed stuff has been popular, as well. … Continue Reading

17 reasons to attend GamesBeat 2011

We’ve been writing a lot of posts about our speakers at GamesBeat 2011. But here’s a summary of why we think this will be the must-attend game conference for you.

We’re gathering the industry’s top CEOs, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investors, journalists, marketers, developers and other key executives for a two-day gathering at the elegant Palace Hotel in San Francisco, from July 12 to July 13. The event is co-located with our MobileBeat conference this year … Continue Reading

SGN’s Shervin Pishevar joins Menlo Ventures, plans incubator

Shervin Pishevar, the entrepreneur and investor who founded the Social Gaming Network, has joined Menlo Ventures as a managing partner.

The move was first reported in The New York Times and was then confirmed on Twitter by Pishevar himself.

He’s is a much-liked and much-respected figure on the startup scene. In addition to starting SGN (which was acquired in April by MySpace co-founder Chris DeWolfe’s social gaming company MindJolt), Pishevar also founded publishing startup Webs, … Continue Reading