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5 startup ‘rules’ entrepreneurs should ignore

May12
by on May 12, 2014 at 3:45 pm
Posted In: Analysis and Opinion, Around the Web, Entrepreneur

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Amit Kumar is the Head of Small Business at Yahoo. As a mentor for 500 Startups and former CEO of Lexity (acquired by Yahoo in 2013), I’m often asked how to build a successful business. In many cases the entrepreneurs, I work with are launching startups with hefty goals of changing an industry – or in some cases the world. With these types of aspirations, there are certainly rules that can help startups get there, but these rules don’t necessarily work for all entrepreneurs. There are important distinctions to consider between startup founders and small business owners, who tend to…

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The White List tracks which early-stage startups are attracting investors’ interest

May12
by on May 12, 2014 at 3:38 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

Tracking investor interest is one way of keeping tabs on the most interesting new startups. The White List is a recently-launched project that attempts to do just that by looking at the companies that “several hundred” ‘influential’ (as determined by Twitter, AngelList and LinkedIn) investors connect with on Twitter and AngelList. While this may seem a pretty imprecise way of finding out who these investors actually want to put money into, it’s certainly shaping up as an interesting list of early-stage startups. You can see which companies are added to The White List by following its Twitter account. ➤ The White List

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Pinterest pushes Promoted Pins experiment into the next phase with paid tests for brands

May12
by on May 12, 2014 at 3:21 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

Way back in September, Pinterest revealed what could prove to be a major step towards monetization: Promoted Pins. They look and feel like standard pins, except they’re clearly marked as ‘Promoted’, which ultimately means a brand will pay for your eyeballs to see them. Following a seven month experiment, Pinterest has enlisted a “small group of brands” to carry out a full paid test of the feature within the search and category feeds. Pinterest says that the selection of brands will help them ensure the Promoted Pins are “tasteful, transparent, relevant and improved based on your feedback”. It’s still early…

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Dance music duo commandeer fans’ smartphones to create a synchronized orchestra of sound and light

May12
by on May 12, 2014 at 2:49 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, Shareables

Dance music duo Booka Shade created an orchestra of phones at a Berlin gig last Friday, after inviting 600 clubbers to hold their smartphones in the air sporadically throughout the 45-minute performance. Enabled through a partnership with Vodafone, which helped create a special app for the show as part of its Firsts program, fans became part of an interactive experience guided by cues on giant screens around the arena, telling the audience when to hit ‘Go’ on their phones. The app then transformed devices into synchronized projectors of sound and light that worked in tandem with the music being played…

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Classic Valve games Half-Life 2 and Portal 2 are now available on the Nvidia Shield

May12
by on May 12, 2014 at 2:40 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web

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Two of the most iconic titles from renowned game developer Valve are now available on the Nvidia Shield. As of today, you can pick up Half-Life 2 and the original Portal for $9.99 each in the Google Play store. Both games were released as part of The Orange Box, a compilation that also featured the popular team-based shooter Team Fortress 2. Half-Life 2 continued the adventures of silent protagonist Morgan Freeman, exploring the mythical City 17 and escaping the evil Combine’s clutches. It introduced the notorious Gravity Gun, and pioneered the modern-day first-person shooter with relatable characters, stunning environments and…

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