At Xconomy we shy away from pure product-release stories, but there’s word today of a product from a San Francisco company I admire (Zendesk) on a platform I love (the Apple iPad). Starting today, employees at companies that use Zendesk’s online customer support management platform (which we profiled here last August) can download the new … Continue reading “Zendesk Gets an iPad App”
Author: Wade Roush
Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco.
Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.)
I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia.
I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats.
My personal site: waderoush.com
My social media coordinates:
Twitter: @wroush
Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush
Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush
YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967
Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/
Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/
PariSoma “Innovation Loft” Is Movin’ On Up; A Taste of Parisian Startup Community in San Francisco
Let’s say you left the Bay Area in 2009 and spent all of 2010 assisting ornithologists in Antarctica, or writing cookbooks in Provence, or whatever it is that adventurous startup types do on their getaways. Arriving back in San Francisco today, one of the first things you’d notice is the explosion of incubators and coworking … Continue reading “PariSoma “Innovation Loft” Is Movin’ On Up; A Taste of Parisian Startup Community in San Francisco”
Pandora IPO Filing is Music to Investors’ Ears
Oakland, CA-based Pandora, the vastly popular personalized streaming music service, filed an S-1 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission today in preparation for an initial public offering this year. In the filing, the company said it hopes to raise as much as $100 million in a sale of common stock, and revealed that it … Continue reading “Pandora IPO Filing is Music to Investors’ Ears”
$5.8M for GT Nexus
Oakland, CA-based GT Nexus has raised $5.8 million in an equity-based financing round, a regulatory filing published today shows. The company makes a software platform that helps companies simplify global trade and logistics. Léo Apotheker was a member of GT Nexus’s board until his appointment as CEO of Hewlett-Packard.
Shocking Gets $5.2M Jolt
Shocking Technologies, a five-year-old startup in San Jose, CA, that’s developing polymer dielectric materials that help electronics manufacturers deal with electrostatic discharge, has raised $5.2 million out of a potential $6 million in a sale of equity, according to a regulatory filing. Investors in the round weren’t identified, but previous Shocking Technologies investors include Arch … Continue reading “Shocking Gets $5.2M Jolt”
Raptr Scores $15M
Raptr, the Mountain View, CA-based creator of a social platform for gamers, said today that it has collected $15 million in Series B funding, bringing its total venture cash to $27 million. DAG Ventures led the round, which also included new investor Tenaya Capital and existing investor Accel Partners. Founded in 2007 by gamer and … Continue reading “Raptr Scores $15M”
Cartoon Raccoons Lampoon Startup Life
I was too busy to write a regular column this week. Or maybe I’ve simply run out of weighty things to say about mobile gadgets, digital media, the future of journalism, and the like. In any case, I thought I’d entertain you instead with a few of my favorite startup cartoons. These animated shorts all … Continue reading “Cartoon Raccoons Lampoon Startup Life”
488 To Go? Dave McClure’s 500 Startups Unveils New Incubator with 12 Startups
500 Startups, the early stage investment fund founded by PayPal alum and startup guru Dave McClure, today took the wraps off its long-rumored Mountain View, CA-based startup accelerator program. With an investment and mentorship structure patterned after Y Combinator and other successful venture incubators, the new program has already admitted 12 new startups for terms … Continue reading “488 To Go? Dave McClure’s 500 Startups Unveils New Incubator with 12 Startups”
Tela Innovations Raises $4.75M
Los Gatos, CA-based Tela Innovations has raised $4.75 million in an equity-based financing round that could go as high as $5.5 million, according to a regulatory filing. The company has developed techniques for compressing the chip layouts created during the lithography phase of semiconductor fabrication, saving space and reducing power leakage. Tela raised an undisclosed … Continue reading “Tela Innovations Raises $4.75M”
$12M C Round for Glassdoor
Glassdoor, a Sausalito, CA-based job listing site enhanced with employee-posted company reviews and salary data, announced today that it has collected $12 million in Series C funding from a syndicate including Battery Ventures, Benchmark Capital, and Sutter Hill Ventures. New investor Battery was in the lead, and general partner Neeraj Agrawal has joined Glassdoor’s board. … Continue reading “$12M C Round for Glassdoor”
Bay Area Coworking Spaces: The Xconomy Guide
Building a company is hard enough—there’s no need to do it in lonely isolation. That’s the realization hitting a growing number of tech entrepreneurs seeking desks at the coworking spaces scattered around San Francisco Bay. The appeal of these spaces goes well beyond the free coffee and the Internet access: proximity to other creative people … Continue reading “Bay Area Coworking Spaces: The Xconomy Guide”
Visa Buys PlaySpan for $190M
Santa Clara, CA-based PlaySpan, creator of a widely used payment platform for digital goods in online and mobile games and social networks, will be acquired by credit card giant Visa (NYSE: [[ticker:V]]) for $190 million in cash plus milestone-based payments, the companies announced today. Founded in 2006 by Karl Mehta, PlaySpan had raised roughly $46 … Continue reading “Visa Buys PlaySpan for $190M”
ConnectAndSell Connects with $7.5M
Redwood City, CA-based ConnectAndSell, which helps automate the placing of live telephone sales calls, said today that it has collected $7.5 million in Series C funding. Institutional Venture Partners led the round, and IVP general partner Steve Harrick has joined ConnectAndSell’s board. Mike Maples, managing director of the startup’s original seed investor Floodgate Fund, has … Continue reading “ConnectAndSell Connects with $7.5M”
Idle Games Wins $4.1M
Idle Games, a San Francisco-based startup building a massively multiplayer social game for Facebook called Idle Worship, has raised $4.1 million in new equity-based financing, according to a regulatory filing. The company was co-founded by Rick Thomspon, founding CEO of Playdom, and Jeffrey Hyman, founder of interactive advertising agency COG1. Coincidentally, Idle Games chief architect … Continue reading “Idle Games Wins $4.1M”
Astia: Knocking Down the Hurdles for Women-Led Startups
Quick: Name the Bay Area startup accelerator where 60 percent of the companies go on to get acquired or win funding within 12 months of graduating, and where the 220 companies that have participated since 2003 have raised, in total, nearly a billion dollars in venture funding. If you answered Y Combinator, you’re wrong. In … Continue reading “Astia: Knocking Down the Hurdles for Women-Led Startups”
RealNetworks Cuts 130 More Jobs
Seattle’s RealNetworks (Nasdaq: [[ticker:RNWK]]) said today that 130 more positions, representing about 10 percent of the company’s workforce, will be eliminated in the final step of a restructuring program that began last year. The cuts, which are projected to save the media software company $11 million per year, bring total layoffs at RealNetworks to nearly … Continue reading “RealNetworks Cuts 130 More Jobs”
Facebook Buys Sun Campus
In a news conference in Menlo Park, CA, covered by Forbes, TechCrunch, and other outlets, Facebook confirmed today that it has purchased the former Sun Microsystems campus on the Bayfront Expressway in Menlo Park. The social networking juggernaut plans to move its headquarters to the 11-building complex beginning this summer. To provide room for expansion, … Continue reading “Facebook Buys Sun Campus”
Google Ventures in Dasient Round
Dasient, a Sunnyvale, CA-based maker of anti-malware software for companies that operate on the Web, announced Thursday that it has closed a Series A financing round led by Google Ventures. Also joining the round—the amount of which was not disclosed—were existing investors Benhamou Global Ventures, Floodgate Fund, and Radar Partners. Google Ventures partner Karim Faris has … Continue reading “Google Ventures in Dasient Round”
QCOM Chips in Verizon iPhone 4
In a detailed teardown of the new Verizon version of Apple’s iPhone 4, home repair website iFixit revealed yesterday that the device contains CDMA chips manufactured by San Diego-based Qualcomm (Nasdaq: [[ticker:QCOM]]). The device includes both a Qualcomm MDM6600—a “world mode” baseband chip that can support both CDMA and GSM cellular frequencies—and a Qualcomm PM8028 … Continue reading “QCOM Chips in Verizon iPhone 4”
$15M for Meraki
Meraki, a San Francisco startup that makes wireless access points and routers that owners can manage via cloud connections, said today that it has raised $15 million in new capital in a round led by Sequoia Capital. The series C round brings the company’s total venture financing to $40 million.
Animoto, with Boost from Amazon GPUs, Goes High-Definition
Animoto would have knocked my grandfather’s socks off. A freelance photographer, he spent countless evenings assembling his Ektachrome transparencies into multimedia slide shows—but back in the 1970s and 1980s, “multimedia” meant a pair of carousel slide projectors with a dissolve unit controlled by time codes embedded on a musical cassette tape. At Animoto’s site, by … Continue reading “Animoto, with Boost from Amazon GPUs, Goes High-Definition”
Splunk Hires Former Microsoft Fellow, Opens R&D Center in Seattle
Four examples is enough for a bona fide trend. Joining its Bay Area neighbors Facebook, Salesforce.com, and Zynga, San Francisco-based Splunk plans to announce this week that it’s opening a satellite office in Seattle. To be led by former Microsoft engineer Brad Lovering, the office will be an R&D outpost for the fast-growing company, whose … Continue reading “Splunk Hires Former Microsoft Fellow, Opens R&D Center in Seattle”
The White House Smiles on Entrepreneurs, TripAdvisor Smiles on EveryTrail, Hearsay and ReadyForZero Debut, & More Bay Area BizTech News
Last week was just about the most hectic news week since Xconomy hung out its shingle in San Francisco last summer. —The White House, continuing on the innovation theme sounded by President Obama in his State of the Union address, unveiled a “Startup America” initiative highlighting dozens of programs around the country designed to improve … Continue reading “The White House Smiles on Entrepreneurs, TripAdvisor Smiles on EveryTrail, Hearsay and ReadyForZero Debut, & More Bay Area BizTech News”
Sidereel: Your Dial Tone for TV
It’s a great time to be a cord-cutter. Thanks to Internet companies like Amazon, Apple, Boxee, Google, Hulu, Netflix, and Roku, it’s getting easier every day to cancel your cable or satellite TV subscription without giving up on your favorite TV shows. There’s just one problem. If you do cut the cord—as I did two … Continue reading “Sidereel: Your Dial Tone for TV”
Violin Memory Tunes In to $35M
Violin Memory, a Mountain View, CA-based maker of Flash memory arrays for enterprise data centers, announced today that it has collected $35 million in Series B funding. Strategic investors Toshiba America Electronic Components and Juniper Networks led the round, which was joined by “other corporate partners, crossover investment funds, high net worth industry leaders and … Continue reading “Violin Memory Tunes In to $35M”
IntegenX Adds $16M, Buys GenVault
Pleasanton, CA-based IntegenX, formerly known as Microchip Biotechnologies, has acquired Carlsbad, CA-based GenVault and raised $15.6 million in new capital in a round led by existing investor Domain Associates, according to a report today in Dow Jones VentureWire. IntegenX makes automated sample preparation systems for genetics laboratories, and GenVault produces bio-sample storage systems that do … Continue reading “IntegenX Adds $16M, Buys GenVault”
In the Beginning, Storify Raised $2M
San Francisco-based Storify, which is helping publishers such as Washington, DC-based TBD assemble social media updates into narrative news stories, has raised $2 million in new venture funding, according to a regulatory filing. The company, whose service is still in a private beta testing phase, identified Khosla Ventures as an investor in a blog post … Continue reading “In the Beginning, Storify Raised $2M”
Loc-Aid Locates $13M
San Francisco-based Loc-Aid, which helps enable location-based services and transactions on mobile devices using gateway software that mediates between wireless carrier infrastructures and application developers, has collected $13 million in new funding, according to a regulatory filing. The filing doesn’t name the investors in the round, but lists partners from Intersouth Partners in North Carolina, … Continue reading “Loc-Aid Locates $13M”
Tablet Journalism: Can Rupert Murdoch’s iPad Adventure Save the News Business?
Sorry for the sensational headline. I couldn’t help myself. Talking about the future of journalism just gets me fired up, I guess. Anyway, the answer, of course, is no. Rupert Murdoch’s new initiative, called The Daily, can’t save journalism in an Internet era when advertising rates have declined and everyone wants to get their content … Continue reading “Tablet Journalism: Can Rupert Murdoch’s iPad Adventure Save the News Business?”
EveryTrail Was “Unappreciated Gem,” Says TripAdvisor Exec: A Look Inside Today’s Acquisition
As we reported earlier today, Palo Alto mobile travel publishing startup EveryTrail is now part of TripAdvisor, the giant travel review site based in Newton, MA and owned by Bellevue, WA-based Expedia (NASDAQ: [[ticker:EXPE]]). EveryTrail’s iPhone and Android apps allow users to document their travels by uploading geotagged photos and voice memos, which are arrayed … Continue reading “EveryTrail Was “Unappreciated Gem,” Says TripAdvisor Exec: A Look Inside Today’s Acquisition”
Epocrates Prices IPO
San Mateo, CA-based mobile medical reference company Epocrates priced its initial public offering and began trading on the Nasdaq exchange yesterday under the ticker symbol [[ticker:EPOC]]. Shares began trading at $16, bringing in about $57 million in working capital for the company and $29 million for selling shareholders. Xconomy profiled Epocrates and its push into … Continue reading “Epocrates Prices IPO”
EveryTrail Thumbs A Ride From TripAdvisor, As Internet Travel Business Consolidates
Newton, MA-based TripAdvisor, the travel review site owned by Bellevue, WA-based Expedia (Nasdaq: [[ticker:EXPE]]), said today that it’s buying EveryTrail, a Palo Alto, CA, startup that helps users create multimedia travel tours using their GPS smartphones. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, so it’s hard to say whether the acquisition represents a sizable return … Continue reading “EveryTrail Thumbs A Ride From TripAdvisor, As Internet Travel Business Consolidates”
Hearsay Helps Corporate America Get Local, and Get Smarter About Facebook and Twitter
If you’re an ambitious store manager at Starbucks, an agent for State Farm Insurance, or even a paper salesman for a branch of Dunder Mifflin, then of course you’re setting up your own local accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn and Twitter. You are certainly reaching out to customer with updates and special offers. It would … Continue reading “Hearsay Helps Corporate America Get Local, and Get Smarter About Facebook and Twitter”
What’s Brewing at Massive Health? A Chat with Newly Funded Co-Founders Sutha Kamal and Aza Raskin
Forget stealth mode—these days the coolest pre-launch Silicon Valley companies are in ninja mode. That’s how Sutha Kamal, the CEO of San Francisco-based Massive Health, describes his situation in a blog post today announcing the company’s $2.25 million seed funding round. Luckily, I got Kamal and co-founder Aza Raskin to come far enough out of … Continue reading “What’s Brewing at Massive Health? A Chat with Newly Funded Co-Founders Sutha Kamal and Aza Raskin”
Seesmic Shakes Loose $4M
Seesmic, the San Francisco-based maker of desktop and mobile software that helps users publish and browse social media updates on Twitter and other services, has raised $4 milion in new financing, according to an announcement Tuesday. The company said the funds came from new investors Salesforce.com and Softbank Group as well as existing investors Atomico, … Continue reading “Seesmic Shakes Loose $4M”
Instagram Snaps Up $7M
Just hours after rival Path announced its own $8.65 million funding round, San Francisco-based mobile photo sharing startup Instagram announced on its blog that it has raised $7 million in new venture financing. Benchmark Capital led the round, with individual investors Jack Dorsey (of Square and Twitter fame), Adam D’Angelo (Facebook and Quora), and Chris … Continue reading “Instagram Snaps Up $7M”
ReadyForZero’s Free Service Eases Credit Card Troubles
Y Combinator founder Paul Graham likes to advise entrepreneurs taking part in his startup incubator program to focus on “hair-on-fire” problems—areas where new ideas can take hold faster because people are in urgent need of a solution. In the consumer market, there couldn’t be a much bigger hair-on-fire problem than credit card debt. Households with … Continue reading “ReadyForZero’s Free Service Eases Credit Card Troubles”
RentJuice Collects $6.2M
San Francisco-based RentJuice, whose website helps landlords and real estate brokers manage apartment listings, said today that it has closed a $6.2 million round of financing. Highland Capital Partners in Lexington, MA, led the round, with seed investor Tim Draper also participating. Founded in 2009, the site serves landlords and brokers in Boston, Chicago, Miami, … Continue reading “RentJuice Collects $6.2M”
Path Pockets $8.65M
Path, the San Francisco-based startup offering an iPhone app that allows users to share photos and videos with small groups of friends, announced in a blog post Tuesday that it has collected $8.65 million in new venture funding, on top of approximately $2.5 million already raised. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Index Ventures led … Continue reading “Path Pockets $8.65M”
The Facebook of Food? Foodily Makes Meal Planning Social
Eating is usually a social experience. But choosing what to eat—that’s the more solitary pursuit. In most families, the meal planning, not to mention the shopping and the cooking, falls to one person, usually a busy mom who’s toiling alone until the food is on the table. There’s a startup in San Mateo, CA, that … Continue reading “The Facebook of Food? Foodily Makes Meal Planning Social”
Aria Systems Sings $20M Solo
San Mateo, CA-based Aria Systems, which offers subscription management software for Web-based service providers such as Lionbridge and Hootsuite, said today that it has collected $20 milion in Series C funding. New investor Interwest Partners led the round, which was joined by existing investors Hummer-Winblad and Venrock. An unnamed Fortune 500 company also participated as … Continue reading “Aria Systems Sings $20M Solo”
White House Startup Investment Coincides with Sweeping Changes for TechStars, Y Combinator, Other Incubators: A Road to Recovery, or Another Bubble?
It’s been an unforgettable seven days for tech entrepreneurs—as if somebody poured startup juice into the nation’s water supply. First President Obama dedicates a good chunk of his State of the Union address to the virtues of high-tech innovation and entrepreneurship. Then Russian investor Yuri Milner and Silicon Valley super-angel Ron Conway pair up to … Continue reading “White House Startup Investment Coincides with Sweeping Changes for TechStars, Y Combinator, Other Incubators: A Road to Recovery, or Another Bubble?”
Eventbrite Shares Scaling Lessons, Okta Emerges from the Cloud, IPOs Coming for LinkedIn, Epocrates, and RPX, & More Bay Area BizTech News
With all the news flying last week about IPOs, you might almost think that the public markets were opening up again as a capital-raising opportunity for startups and an exit opportunity for their early investors. —LinkedIn filed registration papers to go public, saying it hopes to raise $175 million in an offering on either the … Continue reading “Eventbrite Shares Scaling Lessons, Okta Emerges from the Cloud, IPOs Coming for LinkedIn, Epocrates, and RPX, & More Bay Area BizTech News”
Velti Prices US IPO
Velti (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VELT]]), a San Francisco- and Dublin, Ireland-based advertising technology conglomerate, began trading on the Nasdaq exchange on January 28, debuting at $12 per share and raising about $133 million in working capital. Velti—which acquired Palo Alto, CA-based mobile ad exchange Mobclix last October for an undisclosed sum—has been trading on the London Stock … Continue reading “Velti Prices US IPO”
Bodnick Leaves Elevation Partners
Marc Bodnick, co-founder and managing partner of Menlo Park, CA-based venture firm Elevation Partners, has left the parnership to take an executive position at Palo Alto, CA-based question-and-answer site Quora, according to numerous reports. Business Insider suggested in a story Friday that Bodnick’s departure was a sign of internal feuding over credit for the firm’s … Continue reading “Bodnick Leaves Elevation Partners”
Engine Yard: The Ruby on Rails Company Salesforce Didn’t Buy
Salesforce.com startled Silicon Valley techies last month by acquiring Heroku, a San Francisco startup born just three years earlier at Y Combinator, the venture incubator program. Heroku’s specialty is hosting Web-based applications written in Ruby, a programming language so powerful yet easy to use that it has become the tool of choice for developers building … Continue reading “Engine Yard: The Ruby on Rails Company Salesforce Didn’t Buy”
$3M for Solar Power Partners
Solar Power Partners, a Mill Valley, CA-based solar electricity producer that manages large solar installations and sells the power to utilities and commercial entities, has raised $3 million in debt and securities, according to a regulatory filing. The amount was small compared to previous fundraising rounds, including a $100 million round in 2008 led by … Continue reading “$3M for Solar Power Partners”
How the Challenger Disaster Changed My Life
The space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff on January 28, 1986—twenty-five years ago today. The disaster took the lives of six astronauts and one schoolteacher, and shook NASA to its core. Like other televised national traumas, it burned itself into the memories of millions of people. I was just a spectator to the catastrophe, … Continue reading “How the Challenger Disaster Changed My Life”
LinkedIn Files for $175 Million IPO, Reveals Financial and Membership Details
Nearly eight years after its founding, LinkedIn, the professional social networking site funded by Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners, and Bessemer Venture Partners, today began the process of going public. The Mountain View, CA-based firm filed S-1 registration papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying that it intends to raise up to $175 million in … Continue reading “LinkedIn Files for $175 Million IPO, Reveals Financial and Membership Details”
GE Loans XDx $12.5M
XDx, the Brisbane, CA-based molecular diagnostics company, said today that it has secured a $12.5 million loan from GE Capital, Healthcare Financial Services (technically it called the loan a “senior secured multi-draw term loan facility”). The company said the funds will give it enough runway to move forward with commercialization of its FDA-approved “AlloMap” test, … Continue reading “GE Loans XDx $12.5M”