StockTwits creates another way to unlock Twitter’s potential
StockTwits, a startup that aggregates stock-related “tweets” on micro-messaging service Twitter, has released a Firefox extension that links stock tickers to the StockTwits site. Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures (a Twitter investor) says he’s impressed by the extension, also argues that it provides a model to make Twitter smarter.
The idea behind the extension is pretty simple — once you install it, all tweets in the ticker format ($GOOG, $APPL, etc.) become links to the… Continue Reading
Union Square’s blogging VC backs blogging tool Zemanta
Updated
Zemanta says it can make the arduous job of blogging a little easier by suggesting relevant content worth linking to or adding to your posts. It looks like well-known blogger and venture capitalist Fred Wilson has been making good use of the tool — Wilson’s firm Union Square Ventures just announced it’s investing an undisclosed seed round in the startup. [Update: Zemanta now says the financing was for nearly $750,000.]
Wilson describes Zemanta as “AdWords for… Continue Reading
Case closed: Non-competes aren’t good
I’ve been watching the debate raging over the past five days about non-compete agreements, those clauses in employment contracts which forbid an employee to go work for a competing company.
It’s time to weigh in favor of getting rid of them.
Venture capitalist Bijan Sabet kicked off the debate, saying his venture firm Spark Capital is going to stop requiring them from the companies he invests in, and calls for other companies to drop non-competes too. He… Continue Reading
Roundup: Warner CEO changes online music stance, engineers become scarcer, and more
Here’s the latest action:
1) Warner CEO praises Apple, DRM-free music
2) VMWare is after your engineer blood
3) Berners-Lee warns of walled gardens
4) Microsoft completes $47M acquisition
5) Another VC speaks in favor of taxing himself
6) Joost rolls out new ads
7) Billeo raises $7M for easy payment
Warner Music CEO now supporting DRM-free music, iTunes – “We used to think our music was perfect just the way it was … of course, we were wrong,” said Warner Music CEO Edgar… Continue Reading
Roundup: Google and Sprint, VC tax, future of VCs, and more
1) Rumor: Google to buy Sprint?
2) The U.S. House of Representatives passes VC tax
3) Berkeley Bionics brings exoskeletons to market
4) Fox Interactive Media may start its own ad network
5) Railpower Technologies to steam on, for now
6) Zuckerberg, speaking grandly
7) Are Facebook’s ads illegal in New York?
Murdoch calls Facebook a phonebook
9) Sprint and WiMax startup Clearwire have ended plans to form a joint venture
Rumor: Google to buy Sprint? – The rumor surfaced yesterday, here, suggesting that… Continue Reading
VC tax continued — differing views
Private Equity Week’s Dan Primack has a good follow-up on the debate about the new tax for venture capitalists and other investors.
A public backlash against these investors is encouraging politicians: The extravagant ways of Blackstone, the buyout firm that that just went public and where leaders were feasting on $300 stone crabs, haven’t helped. The tax proposal is gathering momentum.
And while most investors are upset about the tax, New York venture capitalist Fred Wilson (pictured… Continue Reading
Fred Wilson’s fortunes, sexy commenters & latest on Mojungle, MobiTV and Edgeio
The latest in the world of start-ups and venture capital:
Fred Wilson sells home listed at $37.5 million — Fred Wilson, the venture capitalist at Union Square Ventures in New York, who has one of the most widely read VC blogs, AVC, has sold his 15,000-square-foot townhouse in Manhattan. If it closed near the asking price, the 1847 mansion would be the most expensive single-family residence downtown, reports the Observer. In 1996, the home apparently sold for… Continue Reading
YouTube follow: Yahoo gets bashed, “page view” metrics & the third man
Now that Google has snapped up hot video site YouTube, everyone is piling on Yahoo, which is supposed to be Google’s competitor.
They’re criticizing Yahoo for being too slow. The NYT cites an advertiser saying clients are taking out fewer ads on Yahoo, preferring hipper sites like MySpace. There’s the WSJ, saying Yahoo’s negotiations to buy college social networking company Facebook (as previously reported) aren’t going anywhere, and that it has fewer reserves than Google to… Continue Reading