Sunday, October 30, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Mary Meeker's Web 2.0 Presentation
Mary Meeker's Web 2.0 Presentation, October 18 2011
Wikipedia: Mary Meeker (born September, 1959) is an American venture capitalist and former Wall Street securities analyst primarily associated with the Internet. She is a partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Meeker became known as "Queen of the Net" after being dubbed so by Barron's Magazine in 1998.
Meeker was born in Portland, Indiana, and holds a B.A. in psychology from DePauw University (1981) and an M.B.A. in finance from Cornell University (1986). In addition, she received an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from DePauw University.
Ecommerce Platform Shopify Announces $15 Million Series B Funding
Shopify, a leading ecommerce platform used to create and power online stores, today announced that it closed a $15 million Series B growth investment from Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark Capital, Felicis Ventures, and Georgian Partners. This new investment adds to the $7 million of Series A funding received last year, providing a sizable balance to fund continued growth.
Tobias Lutke, Shopify's CEO and co-founder, launched the company in 2006 after he discovered how difficult it was to create a professional online store. Today, over 15,000 active online stores in 80 countries are powered by Shopify. Individuals, entrepreneurs, and businesses use Shopify to setup and power their online stores. Shopify's product is known for its focus on ease of use, beautiful store designs, and scalability.
"The overwhelming majority of businesses are not yet selling online because the tools available have historically been complex and expensive," said Bessemer Venture Partners' Trevor Oelschig. "Shopify is working to change this by building beautiful products that are easy for businesses to use. Shopify's rapid growth and customer success speaks to the power of Shopify's platform and we are excited to be involved as they continue to expand."
GM invests in Car-sharing startup RelayRide
"RelayRides (http://www.RelayRides.com), the world's first neighbor-to-neighbor carsharing marketplace, today announces that General Motors Ventures and RelayRides CEO Andre Haddad are joining previous RelayRides investors Google Ventures, August Capital and Shasta Ventures in bringing the company's total Series A funding to $13 million."
"The RelayRides/GM partnership gives us an unprecedented opportunity to grow the RelayRides marketplace, and this funding will help us realize a goal of introducing carsharing to a whole new group of drivers," said RelayRides Chief Executive Officer Andre Haddad. "Whether it's by helping a car owner make a few bucks renting out their vehicle or by giving the budget-conscious motorist an affordable driving alternative, the partnership allows us to bring the benefits of the RelayRides community to millions of new users in the U.S."
RelayRides connects car owners with those in need of an auto through a user-friendly platform. Owners make money – on average more than $250 in monthly revenue – as they provide neighbors with affordable access to a car. In using pre-existing autos, the service is more eco-friendly than those of competitors that put new cars on the road. RelayRides is the only company with its unmatched security technology and a $1M per transaction insurance policy.
Andre Haddad
CEO
Andre Haddad loves cars, the consumer web and the environment... RelayRides is the perfect synthesis of all three! He joined as CEO of RelayRides in September 2011. Before RelayRides, Andre was CEO of Shopping.com, the leading online comparison-shopping network, a company eBay acquired for $600M in 2005. Before Shopping.com, Andre was Senior Vice President, Product at eBay. He was responsible for product management, design and research at eBay's global marketplace business ($5.1B in revenue, $65B in gross merchandize volume, 100M active users in 2007). Andre played several roles at eBay including GM in Europe, VP International Operations and VP User Experience and Design. Previous to eBay, Andre co-founded iBazar, a leading European auction marketplace, which was acquired by eBay in 2001 for $140m. Andre was the COO at iBazar, overseeing Product, Marketing, Operations and International. Before iBazar, Andre was a brand manager at P&G and a consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton. He graduated from HEC Paris.
Shelby Clark
Founder & Chief Community Officer
Shelby first tried carsharing when his car died after a cross-country move to California. He loved living a car-free life, but thought carsharing would work better and grow faster if it was "for the people, by the people", a neighbor-to-neighbor experience. So he founded RelayRides. Shelby obtained his MBA from Harvard, where he cultivated his passion for entrepreneurship and social impact. Before Harvard, Shelby helped launch three socially focused startups. He was an early employee at Kiva.org, one of the fastest-growing nonprofits in history, where Shelby provided strategic direction while building internal systems to scale the organization. Previously, Shelby worked at Oliver Wyman as a management consultant, advising Fortune 500 companies on strategy and operations. Prior to Harvard, Shelby graduated with a degree in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern.
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
Steve Jobs. Thanks for changing the World.
Steve Jobs. Age 56. 10.5.2011Larry Page
"I am very, very sad to hear the news about Steve. He was a great man with incredible achievements and amazing brilliance. He always seemed to be able to say in very few words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it. His focus on the user experience above all else has always been an inspiration to me. He was very kind to reach out to me as I became CEO of Google and spend time offering his advice and knowledge even though he was not at all well. My thoughts and Google's are with his family and the whole Apple family."
Sergey Brin
"From the earliest days of Google, whenever Larry and I sought inspiration for vision and leadership, we needed to look no farther than Cupertino. Steve, your passion for excellence is felt by anyone who has ever touched an Apple product (including the macbook I am writing this on right now). And I have witnessed it in person the few times we have met. On behalf of all of us at Google and more broadly in technology, you will be missed very much. My condolences to family, friends, and colleagues at Apple."
Mark Zuckerberg
"Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you."
Tim Cook
"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."
Bill Gates
"The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come."
Bob Iger
"Steve was such an 'original,' with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started. With his passing the world has lost a rare original, Disney has lost a member of our family, and I have lost a great friend."
Michael Dell
"Today the world lost a visionary leader, the technology industry lost an iconic legend and I lost a friend and fellow founder. The legacy of Steve Jobs will be remembered for generations to come."
Apple's board of directors
"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."
"I am very, very sad to hear the news about Steve. He was a great man with incredible achievements and amazing brilliance. He always seemed to be able to say in very few words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it. His focus on the user experience above all else has always been an inspiration to me. He was very kind to reach out to me as I became CEO of Google and spend time offering his advice and knowledge even though he was not at all well. My thoughts and Google's are with his family and the whole Apple family."
Sergey Brin
"From the earliest days of Google, whenever Larry and I sought inspiration for vision and leadership, we needed to look no farther than Cupertino. Steve, your passion for excellence is felt by anyone who has ever touched an Apple product (including the macbook I am writing this on right now). And I have witnessed it in person the few times we have met. On behalf of all of us at Google and more broadly in technology, you will be missed very much. My condolences to family, friends, and colleagues at Apple."
Mark Zuckerberg
"Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you."
Tim Cook
"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."
Bill Gates
"The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come."
Bob Iger
"Steve was such an 'original,' with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started. With his passing the world has lost a rare original, Disney has lost a member of our family, and I have lost a great friend."
Michael Dell
"Today the world lost a visionary leader, the technology industry lost an iconic legend and I lost a friend and fellow founder. The legacy of Steve Jobs will be remembered for generations to come."
Apple's board of directors
"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."
TED: Sebastian Thrun: Google's driverless car (video)
Here's the link (couldn't embed the video):
wiki link
wiki link
Wikipedia: The Google Driverless Car is a project by Google that involves developing technology for driverless cars. The project is currently being led by Google engineer Sebastian Thrun, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and co-inventor of Google Street View, whose team at Stanford created the robotic vehicle Stanley which won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and itsUS$2 million prize from the United States Department of Defense.[1] The team developing the system consisted of 15 engineers working for Google, including Chris Urmson, Mike Montemerlo, and Anthony Levandowski who had worked on the DARPA Grand and Urban Challenges.[2]
Lobbied by Google,[3] the Nevada Legislature passed a law in June 2011 to authorize the use of autonomous vehicles. Nevadabecame the first state where driverless vehicles can be legally operated on public roads. The Nevada Department of Transportation(NDOT) is now responsible for setting safety and performance standards and for designating areas where driverless cars may be tested.[4][5][6]"
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Achievers raises $24.5MM Series C - Sequoia, JLA, GrandBanks, Northleaf
Achievers (formerly I Love Rewards), the fastest-growing global employee rewards and Social Recognition company, announced today that it has secured $24.5 million in a Series C financing, led by Sequoia Capital with existing investors, JLA Ventures, GrandBanks Capital and the Ontario Venture Capital Fund (Managed by NorthLeaf Capital).
"Employee rewards and recognition is a $48 billion industry that is highly fragmented, largely manual and lacking in the metrics to prove-out the ROI," said Alfred Lin, a Partner at Sequoia Capital and board member at Achievers. "Achievers' customer centric business model and SaaS technology platform is on a path to disrupt this market. We're excited to join Achievers to meet the demands of the modern workplace."
About Achievers:
Achievers (formerly I Love Rewards) is passionate about employee rewards and Social Recognition. Our software helps engage employees and inspire performance globally. Achievers' customers include Deloitte, 3M and Microsoft. Achievers' investors include Sequoia Capital, JLA Ventures, GrandBanks Capital, and the Ontario Venture Capital Fund. The Social Recognition platform provides performance-based recognition and rewards in the form of points that can be redeemed for meaningful rewards including Apple, Visa Reward Cards, and Expedia travel. Check us out on the web www.achievers.com
Razor Suleman
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
5 Things You Need to Know About Razor
1) He is a serial entrepreneur who started his first business at 15
2) He loves to learn; graduated from WLU’s School of Business and MIT’s Entrepreneurial Masters Program.
3) He is completely unemployable. Fortunately he’s a great entrepreneur and has won BDC’s Entrepreneur of the Year.
4) He is passionate about leaving the world a little better than he found it through the Achievers mission and charity work.
5) He has led Achievers to be recognized as a top employer and fastest growing company in North America.
Fun Fact: He’s often seen wearing Rock & Republic jeans, drinking Cosmos in public and is madly in love with his wife Kari.
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