Why? “There is a reasonable hypothesis that areas that are fertile for startups are fertile at a point in time, such as Detroit in the 1890s,” says Ed Glaeser, Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard. “Startups come, they succeed, and then it becomes progressively less friendly as the area becomes wealthier. A few dominant firms emerge and they eventually end up pushing out startups. Areas then have to find a way to reinvent themselves.”
NYC tech startup, On Deck Capital, is running a contest to celebrate the opening of its new NYC headquarters. The contest will connect one deserving New York City-based small business with $10,000. All you have to do is describe in 100 words or less how the money would help your business grow….
Designers! In March a new program called Bridge by Designer Fund will pair up designers with high profile startups like Path, Dropbox, Pinterest, and Airbnb.
Bridge isn’t your typical residency, built to get young people into the industry. Rather, it’s intended for mid- to senior-level designers across all disciplines to try out the startup experience for three months—completely integrated with the team, working on an applied project that can be finished within a quarter.
From rooftop bashes and acquisition talks to staff clashes and layoffs, Hipstamatic’s founders and ex-employees describe the startup’s losing struggle to keep pace with Instagram, Facebook, and others in the white-hot photo-sharing space. Read the three-part series from start to finish.
(Above: Hipstamatic CEO Lucas Buick and CTO Ryan Dorshorst)
Fast Company’s Austin Carr brings us the first installment of a three-part series: “Hipstamatic was one of the first startups to crack the photo formula in the mobile space—then it watched similar services gain ground and eventually blaze by. The company’s experience proves that no startup can rest on its laurels in the age of the iPhone, when the time between innovation and disruption is ever shortening, and when IPOs and fast exits are valued over establishing long-term viable businesses. And perhaps most significantly, Hipstamatic proves that no modern startup can ignore the siren call of social, even if at its own peril.”
In recent years, an increasing number of startups and big-name companies have looked to celebrity backers to boost their brands and street cred. Here, four questions to ask your celebrity investor before taking the plunge.
They’re hot now but do mash-up apps have a future? We talk with Brandon Leonardo, cofounder of the Pinterest/ Instagram combo Pinstagram, to find out. We also pitch him a few of our ideas, including “Shazump,” “Spotifurious,” and “Angry Fruit Ninjas.” Let the investment cash flow!
Meet The League Of Extraordinary Women: 60 Influencers Who Are Changing The World
The previously untold story of how an unprecedented network of high-achieving women from the world’s largest companies, innovative startups, philanthropic organizations, government, and the arts combined forces to change the lives of girls and women everywhere.
“I had a CEO who had offered this new engineer three-quarters of a percent of the company, but he wanted more. He was screwed over at his last startup. And the CEO didn’t know what to do. I asked, ‘What’d you give other guys at his level?’ Three-quarters. So that’s what he should tell him: ‘You’re not going to get screwed because nobody’s talking me into paying more.’ The CEO came back and said, ‘Done deal.’ The engineer didn’t want 1%. He was asking for fair. If you’ve been a CEO, you know. If not, you have to learn the hard way. We make some of the hard way the easy way.”
Ben Horowitz, Cofounder, Andreessen Horowitz, one of the hottest VC firms in the Valley—raising $2.7 billion in its first three years and helping companies such as Bump, Facebook, Foursquare, Groupon, Pinterest, Twitter, and Zynga.
How did a startup, that’s barely a year old, that only has 1,400 customers, and whose founder is a first-timer become in a mere 12 months a company that the experienced hands at Andreessen Horowitz not only believe is going to be a game changer, but will be a leader in its class?
Foursquare has entered the mostly uneventful period between takeoff and landing. And one of its earliest employees, Tristan Walker, has left the comfort of its cruising altitude in search of the next rocket ride.
