Content Marketing Tips from Experts at First Round Capital and Andreessen HorowitzCamille Ricketts is the Head of Content and Marketing at First Round Capital. Sonal Chokshi runs the editorial team (part of the marketing operation) at a16z. Founder of $110 million startup CrowdFlower: I'm forever grateful to Travis KalanickIf you've bought something on eBay, searched a home improvement store's website, listened to music on Spotify, or watched a video on YouTube, you've come in contact with CrowdFlower. "People don't realize it, but you touch CrowdFlower every day," says founder and chief data scientist Lukas Biewald with more than a little pride. Today CrowdFlower employs more than 100 people, has "tens of thousands of users and thousands of customers," including Autodesk, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Cisco, Github, Mozilla, VMware and others. [ Business Insider ] Uber is selling shares at two different prices because it canThe latest Silicon Valley head scratcher: How can Uber, one of the most sought-after startup investments, sell shares at two separate valuations? Short answer: because it can. Slightly longer answer: because it’s selling on a secret marketplace, and you can distort almost anything when fewer people are subject to the deal. But who’s losing and who’s winning here? First, the context: Uber has become all too familiar with misdeeds and misbehaviors, as it weathers multiple scandals and lawsuits. [ Re/Code ] Facebook’s coming blockchain problemMuch has been written about the Russia-Facebook advertising scandal of 2017. The episode has revealed the first (and maybe only) achilles heel for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. His profit-making machine depends on being one of the two main outlets (the other being Google) where the world spends its $500 billion+ in advertising dollars. Yet, as we saw earlier this year with Google’s YouTube video issues, brands are willing to forego the potential massive reach of these platforms when they are associated with things they find unsavory. In the YouTube case, brands didn’t trust Google to keep their reputations intact. [ VentureBeat ] Israeli Startup Develops 'Ultimate Truth Machine' - Claims Assad Wasn't Behind Chemical Attack Who shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17? Does Donald Trump wear a wig? Israeli entrepreneur Saar Wilf says his company Rootclaim knows the answers to these and many more questions – with a probability of close to 100% . China’s manufacturers are enabling a new model of startup incubationThe current chronology Silicon Valley hardware startups typically follow is slow and disordered. But that could change with a new incubation model emerging from an unlikely group: China’s global hardware manufacturers (OEMs). Usually, when launching a hardware business, startups make prototypes, then raise capital so they can fund production. They then often turn to China, where they begin the arduous process of identifying and trying out multiple suppliers, manufacturers, and logistics companies. After a time-consuming and, frankly, painful process of speed-dating, fraught with miscommunication, startups will choose their partners. These relationships are transactional in nature, which means, right from the onset, there is a fundamental misalignment of interests between volume on the supply side and quality, brand equity, and sustainable growth on the startup side. Without pushing large volume, startups are unable to command quality from the supply chain. Eventually a product is produced and brought to market, though it’s not always the intended, original design.[ VentureBeat ] Why Randi Zuckerberg Thinks Techpreneurs Are “Missing Out” On the SouthRandi Zuckerberg, the technology executive and entrepreneur behind Zuckerberg Media, doesn’t do things in the traditional way. A strong advocate for STEM education, particularly for females, Zuckerberg has firsthand experienced being an outlier — she describes how, in her early days in Silicon Valley, she was often the only woman in a room full of tech executives or investors. She’s since launched a slew of endeavors, including a book and TV show, aimed at getting young girls interested in science or technology. [ hypepotamus ] GitHub, the 'Facebook for programmers,' has quietly built up an enterprise business that accounts for half its $200 million in salesHow Famed Butcher Pat LaFrieda Ditched Wall Street And Built A $200 Million BusinessThis VC shares 3 important factors to consider when investing in AI startupsVenture capital firm Draper Esprit will invest $100 million into seed funds to help them after Brexit10 startups to compete in Girls in Tech Amplify contestSilicon Valley Vs. Wall Street: Can the New Long-Term Stock Exchange Disrupt Capitalism?Silicon Valley’s high-tech denizens complain the public stock markets are marred by a narrow focus on short-term earnings and profits. Now they are actually doing something about it, by launching a new framework for corporate governance, investing and trading called the Long-Term Stock Exchange. Backed by top Valley figures such as venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, the LTSE says it plans to seek regulatory approval by the end of this year to become the newest U.S. stock exchange. |