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Why you should never tap friends and family for startup funds

Jun27
by on June 27, 2015 at 6:15 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Entrepreneur, family, Friends, funding

borrowingmoney
You’ve probably heard this line: “If you can’t raise money from angels you can raise from your friends or family.” In fact most young entrepreneurs raise money from friends and family, here is a quick breakdown of funding sources for startups from AngelBlog. I am writing this article to tell you from personal experience: raising money from friends and family is a VERY BAD IDEA. It may kill your startup and your relationships with friends and family. Think back to the time when you pitched your startup to family and friends. Did you sound a little like this guy in…

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24-hours with the Meizu MX4 Ubuntu Edition: I’m going to need some time to adjust

Jun27
by on June 27, 2015 at 4:36 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Gadgets, Insider

MX4_feat
I’ve been writing about Ubuntu smartphones and tablets on and off for the last few years. I’ve had the opportunity to pick Canonical’s founder Mark Shuttleworth’s brain on a few occasions too. One thing that’s always struck me is how long it’s taken to get Ubuntu mobile hardware onto retailer’s shelves. Canonical was talking about ‘Ubuntu for Android’ in 2012, and it’s only really just now that a device with hardware worth having has gone on sale running the Ubuntu OS. Even then, it’s not big name manufacturers making and selling the devices – BQ and Meizu; neither of which I’d heard…

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Forget Amazon Echo, ‘the creepy factor’ has put me off voice control completely

Jun27
by on June 27, 2015 at 2:50 pm
Posted In: Analysis and Opinion, Around the Web, Insider

AmazonEcho_voicecontrol
This post appeared in a slightly different, shorter form as part of our weekly newsletter – sign up now to make sure you don’t miss out!  This week, Amazon announced that its Echo smart assistant is now available to buy without an invite in the US. But just as the Echo is hitting Amazon’s shelves, and Cortana, Siri and Google Now are becoming truly useful, I’ve lost interest in voice control. The Echo costs $179.99 and promises to allow users to do handy ‘around the home’ things like pulling up recipes while cooking, checking the weather or get word definitions while you’re…

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Fluence makes it easy for musicians, artists, even tech startups to get feedback from experts

Jun27
by on June 27, 2015 at 2:15 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web

fluence
New technology makes it increasingly easy to produce and promote music, film and other creative works. The downside is that artists now face a vastly expanded field of competition so it’s no easier (and maybe even harder) to get noticed by key influencers with their overflowing inboxes. Fluence is a product that may have cracked that problem. A two-sided marketplace, Fluence gives artists an easy path to journalists, DJs, producers and other experts, while serving as a filter for the number of pitches those experts have to deal with. The magic ingredient? Money. While ‘pay for access’ models tend to leave a bad smell when applied to the world of emerging artists, it…

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BlackBerry adds private chat feature to BBM on iOS and Android

Jun27
by on June 27, 2015 at 1:24 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider

BBM_Feat
With the number of messaging alternatives available nowadays, the lure of BlackBerry’s ultra-secure BBM platform isn’t what it once was. Nonetheless, there’s a loyal stable of users who stand by the Canadian company’s messenger, and for these people, there’s an update available that brings with it private messaging and the ability to hide identity in chats, for a small cost. Once enabled, the private mode strips identifying information, like the sender’s name and profile picture. BlackBerry says the chats also close automatically after “a short period of time.” Where BlackBerry used to offer a ‘Timed and Retracted Control’ subscription, there’s now…

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