Female start-up CEO just had a baby – reflects on going back to work after one week

Three weeks ago, I gave birth to a baby. After a long and sometimes challenging pregnancy where I was nervous a lot of the time, I am both relieved to hold a healthy boy in my arms and totally smitten with him. We joke around here — and now I’m on record in the New York Times saying …

Switzerland – Silicon Alps – joins the start-up ecosystem

Ah, Switzerland. The land of chocolate, cow-bells, skiing and prices that make you want to cry. A place that has built a global brand on providing a safe, risk-free haven for other people’s money and not being disruptive or belligerent. Clean, orderly and wonderfully peaceful — yes, the clichés are true. Not then, you might …

Top 3 Reasons To Choose Airbnb Over Hotels

Airbnb is disrupting the hotel industry. As of February 2012, 5 million guest nights have been booked worldwide since the site’s launch in 2007, with a 500% growth in the past year and accommodations in over 19,000 cities.     I’ve now stayed at two properties (one in San Diego and one in Santa Barbara) and …

Tony Hsieh: Delivering Happiness to Downtown Las Vegas

Beyond the casinos, past the clubs, over the glittering, multi-million dollar hotels that light up the Las Vegas Strip, beat the quiet drums of innovation and progress. Change is afoot. Las Vegas is on the verge of a renaissance, thanks, in part, to the fantastical vision and persuasive passion of Zappos CEO and Delivering Happiness …

President, Congress pass bill to allow venture capital funding via crowd sourcing

Earlier this month, President Obama sign the JOBS bill into law with strong bipartisan support, and no this isn’t the one you’re thinking of. This one is designed specifically for funding start-ups with a particular focus on crowd funding (i.e. Kickstarter). Explained by author and professor, Jeff Jarvis: The JOBS bill being signed by President Obama today …

Google Ventures – venture capital funding through data

A fascinating article in Fast Company profiles Google Ventures, the company’s venture capital division. Like everything the search giant does they are aiming big with delusions of changing the entire VC industry with data as the vehicle. They start out with some interesting facts: Despite the mythology that has built up around venture capital, it …

Hello, Silicon Beach – the burgeoning tech scene in Los Angeles

What could be better than beautiful weather, beaches, and your favorite scrappy start-up? Two cities in Los Angeles are slowly becoming hubs of technology, Santa Monica and Venice. In the spread out landscape of Los Angeles these two cities are adjacent close-knit urban areas, with ample office space, coffee shops, restaurants, and apartments. But, not …

Baseball's thriving start-up, MLB Advanced Media, could determine the future of TV sports

Launched in 2000, MLB.com was funded by the clubs in an agreement that had them each investing $1 million a year over four years. The cost was targeted at $120 million. To the joy of the owners and MLB, the Website started generating excess revenue in only the second year of its existence, allowing them …

Baseball’s thriving start-up, MLB Advanced Media, could determine the future of TV sports

Launched in 2000, MLB.com was funded by the clubs in an agreement that had them each investing $1 million a year over four years. The cost was targeted at $120 million. To the joy of the owners and MLB, the Website started generating excess revenue in only the second year of its existence, allowing them …

Too many deal sites out there, we need an aggregator – Yipit.com

I’ve already bought movie tickets, a whale watching tour, chocolate, and a Christmas gift. You could say I’m addicted to deal sites, or you could say I’m a “super user”. I subscribe to several of them and have this complex filter/label/folder system running in my Gmail account. No longer. Now, I just visit Yipit.com and they …