Xconomy Boston’s Top 20 Stories of Q1: Editor’s Picks

The first quarter of 2012 is in the books, and it looks like Boston is settling into some typical spring weather. Time to look back on our editor’s picks for top stories of Q1.

As usual, these are not necessarily the highest-traffic stories, though in some cases they are. They are the stories that exemplify the reporting, writing, and editing that we do day in and day out as we cover important events in the business of technology and life sciences. And they serve to remind us of what kinds of pieces stand the test of time—and stand out from the pack.

Our first-quarter picks span a range of profiles (CloudBees) and innovation cluster stories (fashion tech), deals (Celgene-Avila) and analysis (Google-ITA), and startups (Intrepid Labs, Satori) and big companies (Hewlett-Packard, Biogen Idec, Sanofi) alike. Then, just to mix things up, we threw in some interesting opining from local tech and life sciences leaders (Nabeel Hyatt, Rob May, Mark Levin).

Without further ado, here are our editor’s picks for top technology and life sciences stories…

Top 10 Tech Stories:

Don’t Read Tech Blogs: 10 Ideas from Backupify’s Rob May

ITA Software Emerges from Google’s Shadow with New Airline Platform

How to Disrupt IBM, Oracle, and VMware: The CloudBees Story

Fashion Tech Startups Emerging from Harvard Business School Runway in Droves: The (Fashion) Slide Show

Nabeel Hyatt on the Next Consumer Startup Model: Metrics + Creative

Assholicism: Do CEOs Need to Be Jerks to Be Successful?

Intrepid Labs: Boston’s Newest Co-Working Spot for Maturing Startups

Hewlett-Packard Expands to Cambridge via Vertica’s “Big Data” Center

OpenView Labs Aims to Prime Portfolio Companies for Big Growth

Safari Books Buys Threepress, Forges Ahead in Digital Publishing Jungle


Top 10 Life Sciences Stories:

Third Rock’s Mark Levin: “Ultra-Super Positive” on Biotech Innovation

Satori Cultivates Prolific Herb for Promising Alzheimer’s Weapon

Why Biogen Idec Got Out of the Corporate VC Business

Family Affair: Courtagen Applies Management DNA to Genomics Startup

Transparency Launches as Linux of Drug Development

Celgene Buys Avila for $350M, Gaining Promising “Covalent” Drugs

Vertex Vows to Fight On With Alios Drugs in High-Stakes Hepatitis C Race

Sanofi CEO Viehbacher on Stirring Innovation in the Era of R&D Cutbacks

Par8o, from Sermo Founders, Aims to Be Patient-Physician Matchmakers

Inspiration Bio Founders and Execs Inspired by New Boston Headquarters

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.