Topic: Union Square Ventures

Y Combinator, TechStars: Investor Mentorship and Leverage Outweigh Capital

Has investor mentorship, leverage, and brand value become more important to start-ups than seed money?READ»

Serious Questions for Super Angels

In the beginning, there were angel investors. And it was good. As individual angel investors made more and more investments, they became super angels. One day a super angel woke up and thought to himself, "Gosh, I could do a lot more investments if I had a fund." And so the super angels became micro-VCs (or "institutionalized super angels").READ»

iFive: BP's Photoshop Disaster, Apple Is Evil, Robot Car Trip to China, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Freebie, Cow Wash!

While you were sleeping, innovation was reviewing its quality-control policy down at the factory, before jumping in a robot-controlled van and heading out to the car wash.1. What is it about BP and its ongoing relationship with the ...READ»

Amazon's Former Chief Scientist on Influence, Twitter's Fake Audience, and iPad Sex Appeal

Andreas Weigend knows how to influence people. As the former chief scientist at Amazon, Weigend helped implement a series of ingenious tools to help customers "make better decisions," from recommended purchases and one-click ...READ»

Foursquare Checks in to Almighty Security Row, Loyalty to Users Questioned

Given the tribulations that both Facebook and Twitter have suffered recently over the thorny subject of privacy, one would think that other social media sites have learned from the big guys' mistakes. Foursquare, however, has just ...READ»

Venture Capitalists Explain Foursquare's Juiciness, Join Sharing Revolution They've Funded

Foursquare has, as rumored, raised a chunk of venture cash that'll let it expand its business significantly, and fast too. But what exactly is so hot about this hot-topic location-based game tech? Unusually we have VC insight on the ...READ»

Foursquare Scores $20 Million From Venture Capitalists

Foursquare announced today that they've secured $20 million in additional funding from venture capitalists, including Silicon Valley veterans Andreessen Horowitz.READ»

The 10 Most Creative Small Businesses

Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business represent the best and the brightest in innovation and creation, but the companies they rep aren't all powerhouses--yet. Here are 10 of the most creative small business drawn ...READ»

How Startl Is Hacking Education From the Outside In

What would happen if you took the principles of a startup incubator like Y Combinator and applied it to improving education? A new philanthropic venture called Startl aims to find out. The non-profit startup accelerator is being ...READ»

Why You Should Start a Company in... New York

In this series, we talk to leading figures in their communities about what makes them tick. Here, part two of our five-part series.READ»

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To Sell or Not to Sell: Silicon Valley Acquisitions Market Heats Up

That is the question in Silicon Valley as the acquisitions market heats up. And with it, another head scratcher: Are acquisitions good for anyone?READ»

Finding Your Social Media Curators: 11 People Who Could Make Your Twitter Experience More Interesting

One of the most redeeming qualities of the social media landscape revolves around the unique ability microblogging (eg. Twitter, Facebook status updates, Blog comments) offers in the creation of "Thought Viruses." Everyone knows you ...READ»

Why People Explore New Technologies

I think a lot about how people get and share information, how technology impacts those experiences, and what organizations need to consider (and do) when trying to communicate or engage or direct an audience towards taking some ...READ»

How To Hack Harvard

College tuition has risen more than any other component of the cost of living for the last 18 years. But in the Internet era, information is free and ubiquitous. To the extent education is a knowledge industry, it would seem ...READ»

How Does Customer Support for Free Services Work?

Twitter, Digg, Facebook, Google, FriendFeed - there is no scarcity of networks and services that are free to users who enjoy a connection to the World Wide Web today. What happens when one of these services we have come to rely on experiences a problem? How does customer support for free services work? READ»

Internet for Everyone

  Yesterday, at the Personal Democracy Forum in new York, a coalition of media, policy, and advocacy experts launched a new initiative that calls on Congress and the president to act in the public interest by enacting a ...READ»

Ning's Infinite Ambition

It isn't just a site where users can build their own social networks -- Ning is a model of how to create a perpetual growth machine.READ»

• 9 Social Networks That Aren't for Everyone
• Virtuous Circles

Working Together

Teams often include offsite workers, business partners, clients, even suppliers. How can you communicate with them effectively and bring them all together in one spot? By using Internet technologies that foster collaboration.READ»

Working Together Made Easy

Internet technologies have made exchanging and sharing information easier for small and medium businesses. Discover how some businesses are leveraging these tools to boost communication and productivity.READ»

Man vs. Machine

Serial Webmeister Jason Calacanis survived the dotcom bust and went on to sell Weblogs Inc. to AOL for $25 million. He says his new search engine--powered by people, of all things--will give Google a run for its money. We almost believe him.READ»