Burlington, MA-based Nuance Communications, shortly after announcing yesterday that it will raise $175 million in a stock sale to private equity firm Warburg Pincus, revealed that it has reached a deal with IBM to incorporate the computing giant’s speech technology into Nuance products. Nuance said it “expects the first integrated speech innovations combining Nuance and … Continue reading “Nuance Gets IBM Speech Technology”
Category: Boston
Verenium Wins FL Grant
In an announcement yesterday, Cambridge, MA-based biofuels startup Verenium said it had won a $7 million grant from the state of Florida to help build a next-generation cellulosic ethanol plant in Highlands County, FL. The plant will use Verenium’s specialty enzymes to turn renewable grasses grown adjacent to the plant site into as much as … Continue reading “Verenium Wins FL Grant”
Axon Becomes Zeo, Adds $8.3M
Newton, MA-based Axon Labs, which is developing a wireless headband and bedside display designed to help people with sleep problems monitor their own sleep patterns, announced today that it has closed an $8.3 million Series C financing round and changed its name to Zeo Inc. Trident Capital of Palo Alto, CA, led the venture round, … Continue reading “Axon Becomes Zeo, Adds $8.3M”
Have Xtra Fun Making Movies with Xtranormal
This week’s column comes partly in the form of a digital cartoon. Click on the play button below to watch it. (Or if you’re reading this story via an RSS feed or e-mail newsletter, click this link to view the video—then come back here). Clever, eh? Of course, it’s just fiction. I still have a … Continue reading “Have Xtra Fun Making Movies with Xtranormal”
Hydra Biosciences Raises $22M to Create New Pain Relievers With Fewer Side Effects
Hydra Biosciences has been around a long time for a private biotech company with no experimental drugs in clinical trials. Even so, seven years after its founding, the Cambridge, MA-based company has secured a $22 million Series D round of venture capital to develop experimental pain drugs designed to be as powerful as morphine—without the … Continue reading “Hydra Biosciences Raises $22M to Create New Pain Relievers With Fewer Side Effects”
How to Survive the Downturn: Five Questions With Boston Biotech Leaders, Part 2
Yesterday, we ran highlights from interviews with Alnylam CEO John Maraganore and Vertex Pharmaceuticals CEO Josh Boger, who were asked the same five standard questions about the future of the industry. Today, I’m sharing a second installment from conversations with Sirtris CEO Christoph Westphal, who responded via email, and Alkermes chairman Richard Pops and Jim … Continue reading “How to Survive the Downturn: Five Questions With Boston Biotech Leaders, Part 2”
Hydra Biosciences Secures $22,000,000 Series D Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=4b83e982-eb1a-439e-bdac-1a69067b06d4&Preview=1 Date 1/16/2009 Company Name Hydra Biosciences Mailing Address 790 Memorial Drive, off Pleasant Street Cambridge, MA 02139 Company Description Hydra Biosciences is a biopharmaceutical company developing molecular regeneration medicines, novel cardiovascular therapies and drugs targeting novel ion channels. Website http://www.hydrabiosciences.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $22,000,000 Transaction Round Series D … Continue reading “Hydra Biosciences Secures $22,000,000 Series D Funding Round”
Zeo Inc Lands $8,300,000 Series C Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=8a4c8856-7f91-4f28-8f98-57889a77d009&Preview=1 Date 1/16/2009 Company Name Zeo Inc Mailing Address 320 Nevada Street, Floor 4 Newton, MA 02460 Company Description Our mission is to help people to discover new, scientifically-based ways to improve the quality of their lives through the power of sleep. We will accomplish this by combining breakthrough educational sleep technology … Continue reading “Zeo Inc Lands $8,300,000 Series C Funding Round”
Vertex Envisions a Single Massachusetts Campus and a Bold Future
Vertex Pharmaceuticals isn’t going to move its labs and offices anywhere, at least in the near future. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company has extended leases at two main buildings in Cambridge until 2015. The leases will keep Vertex’s headquarters at 130 Waverly Street, and in other space at 200 Sidney Street through 2015, according to … Continue reading “Vertex Envisions a Single Massachusetts Campus and a Bold Future”
Harvard Touts Its Economic Impact
Harvard University today released a report from New York-based research firm Appleseed detailing the university’s impact on the regional economy. The Boston Globe points out that the report, which credits Harvard with directly and indirectly accounting for some $4.8 billion in Boston-area economic activity in fiscal 2008, comes just as “Boston officials seek to squeeze … Continue reading “Harvard Touts Its Economic Impact”
Robotics Pioneer Brooks Called to Jury Duty—at Sundance Film Festival
I know for a fact that robotics guru and Xconomist Rod Brooks was looking forward to next Thursday’s Xconomy Battle of the Tech Bands 2, both because it’s across the street from his Central Square-based Heartland Robotics company—and because he’s spoken enthusiastically about rocking out with us several times. So it was a blow when … Continue reading “Robotics Pioneer Brooks Called to Jury Duty—at Sundance Film Festival”
Cynosure Cuts 60 Jobs
[Corrected 1/21/09, see below] Westford, MA-based Cynosure, which develops laser systems used in cosmetic surgery, announced today that it laid off 17 percent of its global workforce, amounting to approximately 60 people, at the end of 2008. The company said it expected these cuts and other spending reductions to save approximately $8 million to $10 … Continue reading “Cynosure Cuts 60 Jobs”
Nuance to Sell $175M in Stock
Private equity powerhouse Warburg Pincus will buy 17.4 million shares, or $175 million worth, of Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: [[ticker:NUAN]]) common stock, Nuance announced today. The Burlington, MA-based speech and imaging technology company said it will use the funds to support M&A activity and general corporate purposes. Warburg Pincus will also acquire a warrant to purchase … Continue reading “Nuance to Sell $175M in Stock”
ThinkEngine Files for Bankruptcy
Marlborough, MA-based ThinkEngine Networks, a telecommunications company whose media servers unify traditional circuit-switched and Internet-based voice signals, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in U.S. bankruptcy court in Worcester, MA, according to reports today in the Boston Business Journal and the Boston Herald. The American Stock Exchange delisted the company last March due to … Continue reading “ThinkEngine Files for Bankruptcy”
Roombas and Rock Bands and Zunes, Oh My! Queue Up for Fabulous Door Prizes at Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 2
Here at 10 Rogers Street we’re bending considerable energy toward final preparations for the Battle of the Tech Bands 2, a week from today (January 22) at the Middle East Restaurant & Nightclub in Central Square, Cambridge. Reserve tickets now for $20 apiece and you’ll be benefiting the two local non-profits, Science Club for Girls … Continue reading “Roombas and Rock Bands and Zunes, Oh My! Queue Up for Fabulous Door Prizes at Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 2”
How to Survive the Downturn: Five Questions With Boston Biotech Leaders, Part 1
Maybe it’s just that executives feeling misery love to have company, but the mood this week at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco didn’t strike me as quite as apocalyptic as advertised. I’ve been doing some unscientific polling of Boston’s biotech leaders this week at the industry’s biggest investor event, asking a series … Continue reading “How to Survive the Downturn: Five Questions With Boston Biotech Leaders, Part 1”
NitroMed Delays Vote on Drug Sale
NitroMed (NASDAQ:[[ticker:NTMD]]) says that its board of directors has opted to delay a shareholder vote from today until January 20 on the company’s proposed sale of all assets related to its heart drug for African Americans, isosorbide dinitrate/hydralazine hydrochloride (BiDil), to JHP Pharmaceuticals for about $26 million. The Lexington, MA-based firm says it has delayed … Continue reading “NitroMed Delays Vote on Drug Sale”
FirstDocs’ Series A Round: $3M
FirstDocs, a Westwood, MA, startup whose software automates the way law firms and corporate legal departments create, share, store, and retrieve legal documents, disclosed on January 9 that it had garnered an unspecified amount of Series A funding from Boulder, CO-based Foundry Group. Today, Private Equity Hub reports based on regulatory filings that the amount … Continue reading “FirstDocs’ Series A Round: $3M”
FitnessKeeper Is Making Its $10 iPhone App Free…For One Day
Here’s an interesting little story about a local mobile software developer and the vagaries of working with Apple. At several recent events around town, I’ve run into a fellow named Jason Jacobs. He’s the founder of FitnessKeeper, a Boston startup that released a fitness app for the iPhone back in August. Called RunKeeper, the app … Continue reading “FitnessKeeper Is Making Its $10 iPhone App Free…For One Day”
Sequenom Getting Aggressive in Bid to Buy Exact Sciences
San Diego diagnostics firm Sequenom (NASDAQ:[[ticker:SQNM]]) says it plans to acquire all shares of cancer test maker Exact Sciences’ common stock (NASDAQ:[[ticker:EXAS]]), despite a rejection from Exact’s board of directors to Sequenom’s recent buyout offer. Sequenom proposes to buy each share of Marlborough, MA-based Exact for $1.50 worth of Sequenom common stock, a total value … Continue reading “Sequenom Getting Aggressive in Bid to Buy Exact Sciences”
Boston-area Software Firms Hitch Their Wagons to Salesforce; Say Ride Can Be Rough But Profitable
“Platform” is such an overused buzzword in the software world that my ears start oozing cerebrospinal fluid every time I hear it. But my reaction notwithstanding, history does include a few genuine examples of devices or programs developed by one company that became critical platforms for new products from a host of others. The Windows … Continue reading “Boston-area Software Firms Hitch Their Wagons to Salesforce; Say Ride Can Be Rough But Profitable”
Smoothing Out Jittery Internet Video, Elemental Technologies Looks to Reinvent How You Watch
If you’re like most people, you’re viewing a lot more videos on your computer or mobile device these days. But say you want to watch CNN’s live coverage of the U.S. presidential inauguration next week on your BlackBerry, iPhone, or laptop. You might not be able to—or you might get a jittery, unclear picture—because of … Continue reading “Smoothing Out Jittery Internet Video, Elemental Technologies Looks to Reinvent How You Watch”
Cubist and Alnylam Tackle RSV, Exact Sciences Fends Off Sequenom, An FDA Panel Backs GTC Biotherapeutics’ Goat-Milk Drug, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News
New England’s life sciences firms unveiled some big deals and big plans this week. —Satori Pharmaceuticals raised $22 million from investors including InterWest Partners, Prospect Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates, and PureTech Ventures (which launched the firm). The Cambridge, MA-based startup told Luke about its vision of becoming the first company to stop the progressive … Continue reading “Cubist and Alnylam Tackle RSV, Exact Sciences Fends Off Sequenom, An FDA Panel Backs GTC Biotherapeutics’ Goat-Milk Drug, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”
Boston-Power Lands $55M Fourth Round To Fuel Production of Longer-Lasting Lithium-Ion Batteries For Laptops, Vehicles
Boston-Power has closed a $55 million fourth round of financing to fund its expansion—including ratcheting up production of its longer-lasting lithium-ion batteries for laptops—and to boost efforts to break into the promising market to supply batteries for e-bikes as well as hybrid and electric vehicles, the company revealed this morning. The financial jolt comes on … Continue reading “Boston-Power Lands $55M Fourth Round To Fuel Production of Longer-Lasting Lithium-Ion Batteries For Laptops, Vehicles”
Play Hard Sports, Inc. Secures $8,000,000 Series B Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=68e39efb-6d8e-4b9d-abaf-29bf131f5180&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2009 Company Name Play Hard Sports, Inc. Mailing Address 16 Chestnut Street Foxboro, MA 02035 Company Description Play Hard Sports, Inc. (Play Hard) is the first casual sports network in North America focused exclusively on developing, publishing and distributing exceptional sports games and entertainment across the Internet. Play Hard is … Continue reading “Play Hard Sports, Inc. Secures $8,000,000 Series B Funding Round”
Boston-Power, Inc. Obtains $55,000,000 Series D Funding
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=ca4eeefc-d836-476d-a1ea-c01e37e43ef5&Preview=1 Date 1/14/2009 Company Name Boston-Power, Inc. Mailing Address 2200 West Park Drive Westborough, MA 01581 Company Description Boston-Power, Inc. ™ is an emerging portable power company answering the call for safer, longer lasting Lithium-ion batteries – today. Website http://www.boston-power.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $55,000,000 Transaction Round Series D Proceeds … Continue reading “Boston-Power, Inc. Obtains $55,000,000 Series D Funding”
Biogen Idec Parkinson’s Drug Hits Goal in Pair of Mid-Stage Trials
Biogen Idec had some encouraging word for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease this morning. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:BIIB]]) said its experimental drug for the disease reached its goal of demonstrating effectiveness in a pair of mid-stage clinical trials, although it didn’t go into detail about how good the data really was. The … Continue reading “Biogen Idec Parkinson’s Drug Hits Goal in Pair of Mid-Stage Trials”
InforSense Gets New CEO, $5M
InforSense, a business intelligence software maker based in Cambridge, MA, and London, England, said today that founding CEO Yike Guo has stepped down, becoming chief technology officer, while David Bennett, the company’s former executive vice president of worldwide sales, has been promoted to CEO. At the same time, the company said it has secured an … Continue reading “InforSense Gets New CEO, $5M”
Targanta Gets $42M Buyout Offer From NJ Drug Firm
Targanta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:[[ticker:TARG]]), the Cambridge, MA-based biotech firm that saw its value sink last month after the FDA decided not to approve its lead antibiotic oritavancin as a treatment for MRSA and other infections, has agreed to be acquired by drug maker The Medicines Company, the proposed buyer says. The Medicines Company (NASDAQ:[[ticker:MDCO]]) said yesterday … Continue reading “Targanta Gets $42M Buyout Offer From NJ Drug Firm”
Kepha Closes $100M Fund
Waltham, MA-based Kepha Partners, founded by former Highland Capital partner Joe Tango, will announce today that it has closed fundraising on its first investment fund, totaling $100 million, according to a report in Mass High Tech. Kepha, which has already invested in early-stage tech firms in the Boston area such as AutoVirt, Azuki Systems, and … Continue reading “Kepha Closes $100M Fund”
Ze-gen Energized by Middle East Conglomerate in $20M Series B
Ze-gen has tapped a new investor in the Middle East to help raise $20 million in a Series B round of financing, looking to use the capital to commercialize its method of converting solid waste into gas for power plants. The Boston-based company’s new investor, Waroz Holding Company (a unit of Oman-based industrial conglomerate Omar … Continue reading “Ze-gen Energized by Middle East Conglomerate in $20M Series B”
WebLayers Raises $3M, Hires CEO
WebLayers, a Cambridge, MA-based provider of software to govern IT policies of service-oriented architectures, says it has raised $3 million in an equity financing and tapped former Lotus Development CEO Jeff Papows to be its president and chief executive. The equity round, which has a contingency for additional funds, included participation from Ascent Venture Partners, … Continue reading “WebLayers Raises $3M, Hires CEO”
Boston Journalists Launch GlobalPost.com, Alternative to Traditional Media’s Shrinking International Coverage
Declaring that “quality journalism in America is threatened more profoundly today than at any time in our history” by the accelerating death throes of the traditional newspaper and TV news businesses, two veteran Boston-area journalists yesterday launched GlobalPost, an online-only source for on-the-ground international news of the sort that’s increasingly scarce in the mainstream media. … Continue reading “Boston Journalists Launch GlobalPost.com, Alternative to Traditional Media’s Shrinking International Coverage”
Massachusetts’ Life Sciences Czar Talks Strategy Amid Squeeze on State Spending and Stingy Financial Market
A lot has happened since Xconomy’s last in-depth interview last summer with Susan Windham-Bannister, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the agency in charge of the state’s 10-year, $1 billion stimulus plan for its life sciences industry. For one, the state Legislature cut the agency’s annual budget for operations and research grants … Continue reading “Massachusetts’ Life Sciences Czar Talks Strategy Amid Squeeze on State Spending and Stingy Financial Market”
Ze-Gen Lands $20,000,000 New Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=55bf8b21-f1b3-40ed-a867-39561445315b&Preview=1 Date 1/13/2009 Company Name Ze-Gen Mailing Address 70 Franklin Street, Second Floor Boston, MA 02135 Company Description Ze-gen is a leading developer and integrator of waste gasification technology which converts construction and demolition waste (C&D) and municipal solid waste (MSW) into near zero-emissions synthetic natural gas (syngas) and electrical energy. Website … Continue reading “Ze-Gen Lands $20,000,000 New Funding Round”
Chiasma Inc. Garners $11,000,000 Series B Funding Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e84e7fd0-3026-4a23-9d0b-aedbb366f909&Preview=1 Date 1/13/2009 Company Name Chiasma Inc. Mailing Address P.O. Box 395 Georgetown, MA 01833 Company Description Chiasma develops innovative solutions for the non-invasive delivery of protein drugs. Chiasma’s technology enables drugs to be administered into the bloodstream without the need for injections Website http://www.chiasmacorp.com Transaction Type Venture Equity Transaction Amount $11,000,000 … Continue reading “Chiasma Inc. Garners $11,000,000 Series B Funding Round”
Weblayers, Inc. Garners $3,000,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=da4b0c14-7850-4b55-b12d-c8a05be6cff8&Preview=1 Date 1/13/2009 Company Name Weblayers, Inc. Mailing Address 125 Cambridge Park Drive Cambridge, MA 02140 Company Description WebLayers automates what has traditionally been a manually intensive process to employ governance; we provide enforcement across the entire lifecycle; and give you the visibility to identify and resolve issues earlier. With SOA Governance, … Continue reading “Weblayers, Inc. Garners $3,000,000 New Round”
InforSense Receives $5,000,000 New Round
Feed Type Link http://www.venturedeal.com/Search/SearchResultTransactionDetail.aspx?TransactionId=e513e5ee-cb48-4083-bc31-665c592b8663&Preview=1 Date 1/13/2009 Company Name InforSense Mailing Address 222 Third Street Cambridge, MA 02142 Company Description InforSense was founded in 1999 to commercialize pioneering, award-winning technology in the fields of High Performance Computing and Large Scale Data Mining developed at Imperial College, London. InforSense is a private company based in London, UK … Continue reading “InforSense Receives $5,000,000 New Round”
Exact Sciences to Sequenom: No Deal
Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:[[ticker:EXAS]]), a Marlborough, MA-based maker of cancer diagnostics, is searching for a better deal than the one it was offered last week by San Diego-based diagnostics firm Sequenom (NASDAQ:[[ticker:SQNM]]). This afternoon, Exact said its board of directors unanimously rejected Sequenom’s bid to acquire the company for $1.50 per share worth of Sequenom common … Continue reading “Exact Sciences to Sequenom: No Deal”
Tempest in a Tea Kettle: CO2Stats Founder Caught in Frenzy Around Environmental Costs of a Google Search
(Jan. 14, 2009—Further updated and corrected with comments from the Sunday Times of London and Alex Wissner-Gross—see below) Updated and corrected, see below: I just got off the phone with Alex Wissner-Gross, co-founder of Cambridge, MA-based CO2Stats (the recent Y Combinator alumnus firm is run out of an apartment here in Kendall Square), who is … Continue reading “Tempest in a Tea Kettle: CO2Stats Founder Caught in Frenzy Around Environmental Costs of a Google Search”
Gap Will Employ Kiva Robots
Kiva Systems in Woburn, MA, said today that Gap Inc. Direct, which handles online orders for clothing chains Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Piperlime, will install Kiva’s robotic fufillment system in its warehouses. As we explained in an April 2008 profile, Kiva’s robots are designed to speed the movement of merchandise around a warehouse … Continue reading “Gap Will Employ Kiva Robots”
Bill to End Non-Compete Agreements Filed on Beacon Hill
Massachusetts Representative Will Brownsberger filed a bill today calling on the state legislature to outlaw the non-compete agreements that prevent many Massachusetts residents who leave their employers from finding work at similar companies. The brief bill, entitled “An Act to Prohibit Restrictive Employment Covenents,” would amend Section 19 of Chapter 149 of the General Laws … Continue reading “Bill to End Non-Compete Agreements Filed on Beacon Hill”
The State of the Robotics Industry in New England
The New England Venture Capital Association sponsors a breakfast seminar on industry trends and investment opportunities in the robotics business. Speakers include Tom Hopcroft, executive director of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council; Charles Remsberg, CEO of Hocoma; David Kelley, CEO of Bluefin Robotics; Bob Quinn, President of Talon Robotics Division, Foster-Miller; Ted Acworth, CEO of … Continue reading “The State of the Robotics Industry in New England”
Boston-area Venture Capital: Looking Back on 2008 and Looking Forward to 2009
The venture capital panel is an annual feature of the January Speaker Series at the Vilna Shul, Boston’s center for Jewish culture. Speakers will include: Larry Bohn, Managing Director, General Catalyst Partners Jonathan Seelig, Managing Director, Globespan Capital Partners David Aronoff, General Partner, Flybridge Capital Partners More information here.
Boston Company Adorns Basketball Stadium, Sees Bright Future in Giant LED Displays
A Boston startup called A2aMedia announced today that it has been selected by the Miami Heat basketball team to install a giant LED video display, some 3,400 square feet in area, on the side of the team’s arena in Miami. Consisting of a new kind of see-through, woven metal mesh invented by German architectural supply … Continue reading “Boston Company Adorns Basketball Stadium, Sees Bright Future in Giant LED Displays”
GreenFuel Hit By Big Layoffs—Nearly Half Staff Let Go This Morning
GreenFuel Technologies, the Cambridge, MA-based algae farming company that was seemingly rebounding from technical setbacks and massive layoffs in the summer of 2007, has this morning laid off close to 50 percent of its staff. We received a tip about the layoffs this morning, and they were confirmed by CEO Simon Upfill-Brown in a telephone … Continue reading “GreenFuel Hit By Big Layoffs—Nearly Half Staff Let Go This Morning”
Genzyme, Isis Begin New Drug Trials
Genzyme (NASDAQ:[[ticker:GENZ]]) and Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ISIS]]) say the biotech firms have begun two new late-stage clinical trials and have started screening patients for a third new study of cholesterol-lowering drug mipomersen, aiming to ratchet up the amount of data on patients treated with the drug over the next 18 months. Luke caught up with Cambridge, … Continue reading “Genzyme, Isis Begin New Drug Trials”
Forma, Novartis Strike Drug Deal
Forma Therapeutics, a Cambridge, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, reports it has struck a license and option agreement with Swiss drug giant Novartis, through Forma investor Novartis Option Fund. Novartis will pay Forma an upfront fee and potential payments of more than $200 million, providing Novartis the option to license from Forma drugs that inhibit … Continue reading “Forma, Novartis Strike Drug Deal”
Alnylam Shoots for the Moon in 2009, Predicts Two More Deals To Come
Somebody forgot to tell Alnylam Pharmaceuticals the economy is in the tank. The Cambridge, MA-based biotech company said it expects to sign two more partnerships this year with big drugmakers to develop its proprietary technology and that it expects to ring in 2010 with a war chest of about $435 million still left in the … Continue reading “Alnylam Shoots for the Moon in 2009, Predicts Two More Deals To Come”
MIT MBA Student: Amazon and Microsoft Are Hiring, Google and Yahoo Aren’t Yet
Want to know who’s hiring the top young business talent around town? Just ask Saleem Hussain, an MBA student from Boston. In a brutal market for tech industry jobs, he gave me a fresh perspective on the next-generation talent pool and where it’s headed, in terms of both big companies and startups. Hussain is a … Continue reading “MIT MBA Student: Amazon and Microsoft Are Hiring, Google and Yahoo Aren’t Yet”