Y Combinator, the incubator with buzz

Y Combinator, the incubator with buzz

updated

Y Combinator has nailed the start-up incubator model, most likely because of its visionary leader.

Many famous incubators, from Idealab to CMGI, have come and gone over the years, and there are predictable autopsies suggesting the incubator model is flawed (see a list of articles about… Continue Reading

Xobni raises $4.26M to let you improve your email habits

Xobni, a San Francisco company that seeks to improve your productivity in email usage, has raised $4.26 million in a first round of funding from Khosla Ventures, according to PE Wire, citing regulatory filings.

Xobni is yet to launch. Its name is “inbox” spelled backwards, referring… Continue Reading

Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

Founders should live on Ramen noodles, and $2,000 a month

The Less-Is-More theme continues:

Ram Shriram, the founding investor in Google who backed Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were still at Stanford, remembers those frugal days. Page and Brin insisted on taking public transportation when they first visited Europe, refusing to fork out money… Continue Reading

Roundup: Digg, MyBlogLog, Sling, Trumba, Kongregate & more

Roundup: Digg, MyBlogLog, Sling, Trumba, Kongregate & more

Silicon Valley never sleeps. Here’s the latest tech stuff:

Digg subverted — The news site that ranks stories based on how many users submit them, is being subverted by a group called Spike the Vote. It lets its members conspire to submit certain URLs of stories —… Continue Reading

The thief’s Chihuahua, loopt, Snocap & more

The thief’s Chihuahua, loopt, Snocap & more

Here’s a roundup of relevant Silicon Valley action, after the long weekend:

Yahoo employee sets up Flickr on his phone, and “captures” thief — Yahoo Web designer Ben Clemens, of Berkeley, said his phone was stolen, but that a program he’d installed made the phone automatically take… Continue Reading

Google’s blind-spot: wild ideas

Google’s blind-spot: wild ideas

Google’s badly named Google Image Labeler made us scratch our head this weekend. The clunky title is one more reminder that Google remains vulnerable despite its invincible image — something that start-up expert Paul Graham also points out in a recent interview.

One advantage that big… Continue Reading