The Daily Dose

At the ninth edition of 500 Startups’ demo day, 30 startups took to the stage vying for investment and a mention in the tech press. Underneath the rock star claims and hyperbole about changing the world, there were some gems that hit the stage in Mountain View. Today, the companies ranged from child care to bitcoin. As Silicon Valley tries to expand beyond the build-an-app and hope Facebook/Google/Apple/etc buy’s it business plan, start ups have become more eclectic. But shiny rocks, onesies and solos don’t automatically equal solid business plans or something you might find interesting. So after sitting through…

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Instagram Bolt launched today with a catch; you have to be in New Zealand, South Africa or Singapore to install. An unusual rollout strategy, but it’s the first time I’ve ever been in one of the rollout countries for an app like this! Bolt’s premise is pretty similar to Snapchat: send images to your friends with very low friction. After a pretty simple signup process (that makes sure you’re in a launch country by requiring your phone number) and asking you to take a selfie for your profile photo, you’re thrown straight into the camera. From there, it’s as simple as taking…

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