New episodes in show "Vator TV Interviews" on sevenload

Interview with ex-Googler and Brizzly founder

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:23:53 +0000

Video "Interview with ex-Googler and Brizzly founder" from VatorTV

How a bunch of ex-Google Reader guys are building a social media reader, using Twitter and FacebookBrizzly, a popular new Twitter and Facebook app, just went into public beta this November and closed a $600,000 round. I recently had a chance to sit down with Brizzly founder and CEO Jason Shellen to talk about his new startup.

How to get funded by Howard Hartenbaum

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:52:15 +0000

Video "How to get funded by Howard Hartenbaum" from VatorTV

Forbes Midas List VC and partner at August Capital says it's a good time to investIt's often said that startup founders should choose their venture capitalists wisely because the partnership is like a marriage. The two sides have to work together and stick it out with one another for better or worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until... a funding gap or exit do they part.

How will Aha Mobile make money?

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:25:03 +0000

Video "How will Aha Mobile make money?" from VatorTV

Interview with Robert Acker, CEO of Aha Mobile, a provider of road information on the goAha Mobile is one of the many iPhone app makers racing to be the killer platform for a new "augmented reality" era. Augmented reality, as defined by Tim Chang, a venture capitalist at Norwest Venture Partners, is about making the physical world accessible around you. For now, Aha Mobile wants to make information you need while driving - like nearest gas station, coffee shop, road congestion - readily accessible. Additionally, Aha Mobile connects fellow drivers with one another, allowing them to share road rage and stories, and giving listeners another form of talk radio to entertain themselves with.In my second-part interview with Robert Acker, CEO of Aha Mobile, a young startup that received $3 million in financing from Venrock this ... [http://vator.tv/n/c1a read more]

Kevin Hartz's Eventbrite democratizes events

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:23:14 +0000

Video "Kevin Hartz's Eventbrite democratizes events" from VatorTV

From yoga classes to Turkey Trots, Eventbrite's business is adding up to billionsIt's no secret that traditional businesses continue to be under assault and consumers are increasingly empowered on the Internet. It's particularly noticeable in traditional media, where consumers are producing a large part of material consumed and in many cases, creating a whole new genre of content and displacing certain jobs, notably editors. In like vein, consumers are producing a whole new category of tickets available and accessible and at the same time supplanting some jobs, notably event managers. That's thanks to Eventbrite. As Kevin Hartz, CEO and founder says, he's "democratizing tickets," giving anyone the ability to easily create, organize, market and sell tickets to an event - from a yoga class, Turkey Trot to a conference. While some of ... [http://vator.tv/n/c0b read more]

Is brand loyalty back in vogue?

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:31:49 +0000

Video "Is brand loyalty back in vogue?" from VatorTV

Social media may usher in a new era of brand loyalty. Are we going back to the future?Brand loyalty is back in vogue, according to marketing thought leader, Yak Gertmenian (co-founder of Social Method and former Buddy Group director). Why? Because of social media and the limitless

Howard Hartenbaum on Swoopo and Pixazza

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:30:29 +0000

Video "Howard Hartenbaum on Swoopo and Pixazza" from VatorTV

August Capital VC shares his investment thesis on his two investmentsSince Howard Hartenbaum joined August Capital in 2008, he's led two key investments - Swoopo and Pixazza.

Celebrity Brooke Burke on her mommy startup

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:54:53 +0000

Video "Celebrity Brooke Burke on her mommy startup" from VatorTV

Modern Mom founder's goal is to create a hub for moms and kidsMany people may know Booke Burke as a model, host of Wild On, and winner of the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars. But she's also an entrepreneur and mother of four. Burke is the co-founder of Modern Mom with co-founder Lisa Rosenblatt (wife of Richard Rosenblatt, CEO and co-founder of Demand Media). It's an ideal partnership as both Brooke and Lisa have seven children among themselves, making them pretty good mommy experts. Additionally, Demand Media's Demand Studios creates original content for Modern Mom.

Can't make money off apps on social networks

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:23:11 +0000

Video "Can't make money off apps on social networks" from VatorTV

Angel investor Aydin Senkut on where he'd invest and sectors he'd avoidAydin Senkut, an early-Google employee-turned angel investor, is becoming known as one of the more prolific seed-to-early-stage investors in Silicon Valley, having invested in 40 companies since 2006. His portfolio consists of some well-known consumer Internet companies, such as Mint, which was recently sold to Intuit for $170 million, Aardvark, Disqus, Dogster, BrightRoll and Rapleaf.

Making money off of matchmaking on Facebook

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:41:20 +0000

Video "Making money off of matchmaking on Facebook" from VatorTV

Can Facebook-funded Thread take a piece of the billion-dollar online dating business?Playing matchmaker online can be a lucrative business. Hundreds of dating sites are raking in a total of a $1 billion dollars each year, with popular sites, like Match.com, eHarmony, Yahoo Personals and Plenty of Fish, taking the lion's share. But there's always room for newcomers who design a different offering for today's generation.One such newcomer is Thread, whose co-founder and CEO Brian Phillips would describe his rationale for starting the online dating site that leverages Facebook like this: "Not everyone is on dating site... But the best people are all on Facebook." See my first interview with Brian, in which he explains how Thread works as an online dating site on top of Facebook.In this second part of our ... [http://vator.tv/n/ace read more]

The venture capital industry isn't broken

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:19:49 +0000

Video "The venture capital industry isn't broken" from VatorTV

Foundation Capital Charles Moldow views on the financiers of innovationThis year has been one in which the venture capitalists and their business model have been called into question.The venture industry is heading into a perfect storm of problems, according to one writer. Union Square Ventures Fred Wilson says there's a venture capital math problem. A number of venture capitalists have chimed in as a chorus, saying it's broken. Many say there are too many venture capitalists, and that it's not good for America and that the industry is undergoing a substantial reduction in size.Charles Moldow, a venture capitalist at Foundation Capital, weighed in with his thoughts about the venture industry. He doesn't think it's broken, but he doesn't believe it'll change in five years. What will happen between now ... [http://vator.tv/n/ba3 read more]

Demand Media's IPO ambitions

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:34:11 +0000

Video "Demand Media's IPO ambitions " from VatorTV

CEO Richard Rosenblatt on his new media's financing future, and his Godly goalsWhen you listen to Richard Rosenblatt, CEO and co-founder of Demand Media, explain his company's mission, it has a sort of Google-esque ring to it. Google's missions is simple: to organize the world's information. "We want to publish the world's content," said Richard, in a recent interview with me, at the Web 2.0 conference.If search is the primary online conduit to finding knowledge, then Demand wants to be the deliverer of that information and the beneficiary of all those clicks from billions of people seeking answers. So far, so good. Since launching in 2006, Demand has grown to publishing 4,000 pieces of bite-sized nuggets of daily content - pumped out with scientific precision - that now attracts 80 million unique ... [http://vator.tv/n/b6e read more]

Demand Media's scientific approach to news

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:34:02 +0000

Video "Demand Media's scientific approach to news" from VatorTV

CEO Richard Rosenblatt is creating an assembly-line approach to content creationImagine an assembly line, of title creators, writers, fact-checkers, editors, etc. all lined up and working on one article or video. Each person touches a piece of content in a sequential manner using optimally-planned logistics.That's the methodology behind Demand Media's content creation. And, it's getting noticed.

How to hook this angel: Aydin Senkut

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:03:45 +0000

Video "How to hook this angel: Aydin Senkut" from VatorTV

Investor in Mint, Aardvark, Disqus is still looking to place betsAydin Senkut, an early-Google employee-turned angel investor, is becoming known as one of the more prolific seed-to-early-stage investors in Silicon Valley, having invested in 40 companies since 2006. His portfolio consists of some well-known consumer Internet companies, such as Mint, which was recently sold to Intuit for $170 million, Aardvark, Disqus, Dogster, BrightRoll and Rapleaf. Aydin, who's taken a hiatus from investing since he's become a new father to son Henry, plans to continue investing this year. So far he's invested in 10 companies, including Practice Fusion, Crowdflower, Weatherbill, Outright, Foodzie and Bump Technologies. He plans on investing in a couple more startups before the year is up.So, what is he looking for and at what valuation?He's looking for small, ... [http://vator.tv/n/b39 read more]

How do you get funded by Foundation Capital?

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:07:11 +0000

Video "How do you get funded by Foundation Capital?" from VatorTV

GP Charles Moldow explains why he invested in Pixazza, Project Fair Bid, Powerset, Xoopit and moreIn the past couple years, exits have been tough to come by. Yet Charles Moldow, General Partner, Foundation Capital, has managed to get a few executed. Charles has taken the lead on roughly 10 investments since joining Foundation in 2005. Four of them - Xoopit, Powerset, Weblistic and AdWhirl - were sold in the past couple years. Powerset was sold to Microsoft for roughly $100 million, Xoopit was sold to Yahoo for $20 million, Weblistic sold to Spot Runner for about $20 million as well, and AdWhirl was sold to AdMob for an undisclosed amount. In this interview, Charles talks about what Foundation, and, specifically, he invests in. Charles invests across the board - early to late stage. But he's ... [http://vator.tv/n/ab1 read more]

IPO market is leading indicator for M&A

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:06:52 +0000

Video "IPO market is leading indicator for M&A" from VatorTV

Foundation Capital's Charles Moldow says buyers still have their claws inThere are a few positive signs that mergers and acquisitions are on the upswing. Intuit bought Mint for $170 million recently. Facebook bought FriendFeed for $50 million and Yahoo bought Xoopit for $20 million. But while buyers may be open to stock transactions, it'll be another six months before the M&A market rebounds to more healthy levels of activity, according to Charles Moldow, General Partner, Foundation Capital. And, the prices on acquisitions will depend largely on whether public market investors have any appetite for IPOs, Charles said. "The biggest challenge is that the buyers know that there aren’t a lot of alternatives," said Charles. Until the IPO market comes back, the lack of alternatives will keep a lid on activity ... [http://vator.tv/n/ae3 read more]

Mint CEO unveils global expansion plan

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:47:18 +0000

Video "Mint CEO unveils global expansion plan" from VatorTV

Aaron Patzer tapped to run Intuit's entire personal finance division, targets foreign markets.In this segment, Aaron Patzer, CEO of Mint.com, shares the inside story of his company's acquisition and his plans for the next three years at the helm of Intuit's personal finance division. Mint.com is a personal finance tool with a beautiful user interface that saw astronomical growth from the time it launched at TC 50 in 2007. In two years, it has gained over 1 million users. On September 13, 2009, Mint announced its acquisition by Intuit for $170 million. VatorNews caught up with Patzer at the Vator.tv and The Funded's Juice Pitcher event last night, where Patzer gave a presentation on the cost side of building a business.

Making money off of local services

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:47:06 +0000

Video "Making money off of local services" from VatorTV

Aloqa CEO on the four business lines of his mobile discovery serviceThumbtack recently won the people's choice award the Juice Pitcher event. It seems the audience liked Thumbtack because its goal is to bring local service providers together with consumers. Thumbtack isn't alone, many startups are trying to make money by bringing these two sides together. Aloqa, a mobile discovery service, is trying to get local service providers, like plumbers, to be matched with consumers. Aloqa is hoping to capture lead-generation dollars for that.

Bonobos - lifting butts and revenue

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:46:55 +0000

Video "Bonobos - lifting butts and revenue" from VatorTV

CEO and co-founder Andy Dunn on building an online pants store to $6 mln in sales a yearIn this segment, Bambi Francisco interviewed Andy Dunn,. CEO of Bonobos, a two-year-old Manhattan-based designer and retailer of casual and dress trousers and polo shirts for men. BF: Are you expanding to female clothing at some point?

Share 'road rage' on Twitter with Aha Mobile

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:46:35 +0000

Video "Share 'road rage' on Twitter with Aha Mobile" from VatorTV

Traffic iPhone app goes national and launches Twitter and Facebook sharingIf you ever wanted to share your “road rage” while in a traffic jam and broadcast it to all of your Facebook friends and Twitter followers, now you can. Aha Mobile, which makes a free iPhone app to let you know information around you while your driving – road congestion, nearest gas stations, coffee shop, etc. – just released on Wednesday a national version of its newly-launched service, plus a way to share experiences on the road with social network buddies by simply talking into the iPhone. “People are always leaving traffic reports [on their Twitter and Facebook accounts],” said Robert Acker, CEO of Aha Mobile, a young startup that received $3 million in financing from Venrock this past spring. ... [http://vator.tv/n/ae5 read more]

NComputing wants to wire America's schools

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:28:17 +0000

Video "NComputing wants to wire America's schools" from VatorTV

The thin-client virtualization startup has captured 15% of the K-12 education market in two years.President Obama has earmarked billions of stimulus dollars for education technology. If the education system holds true to form, that money will be summarily devoured, leaving the bureaucracy hungry for seconds. The problem is that short-term windfalls can easily go to short-term programs. On the other hand, investing in long-term technology infrastructure can require ongoing IT support, which means a minor glitch turns a classroom into a digital graveyard. Virtualization startup NComputing thinks they have a solution. The two-year-old startup provides thin-client virtualization that enables up to 30 screens to run off a single computer, at a cost of $70 per station. The company has sold millions of stations to schools internationally, including 180,000 in Macedonia schools and 50,000 Andhra ... [http://vator.tv/n/a73 read more]

Aloqa - a new mobile recommendation engine

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:28:02 +0000

Video "Aloqa - a new mobile recommendation engine" from VatorTV

CEO Sanjeev Agrawal on how Aloqa helps you discover who and what's around youAloqa is a mobile services company that recommends Facebook friends around you and things to do. It recently raised $1.5 million in venture funding from Wellington Partners and angel investors. This past July, Aloqa was awarded the people's choice award at VentureBeat's MobileBeat conference. Aloqa launched as an Android app, but has since expanded to Blackberries and as early as the end of this month, the company's services should be available on the iPhone. Essentially, the Aloqa service wants to help in the discovery process by recommending places - events, restaurants, movies, friends - to people while they are on the go. Their goal is to have a number of venues and vendors on their service, creating their own presence ... [http://vator.tv/n/a55 read more]

Jim Fowler on the business of Jigsaw

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:27:51 +0000

Video "Jim Fowler on the business of Jigsaw" from VatorTV

User-generated directory on track (yet again) to double sales this yearThis is the second part of a three-segment interview with Jim Fowler, CEO of Jigsaw, a fast-growing, user-generated business directory. (See interview No. 1)Jigsaw has been profitable for the past three quarters and its revenue has been doubling for the past four years. Despite the economic slowdown, Jim doesn't see sales slowing. He predicts 2009 will prove to be another healthy year in which revenue will double, again.What's the business model? Jigsaw has several revenue lines. Individuals pay a monthly fee of some $20 a month for access to names. But the big bucks come from corporations paying hundreds of thousands in annual licenses to access Jigsaw's entire database of 15 million records. Currently, Jigsaw has nearly 1,000 corporate customers. ... [http://vator.tv/n/a67 read more]

Bonobos seeks to be the Zappos of pants

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:27:40 +0000

Video "Bonobos seeks to be the Zappos of pants" from VatorTV

CEO Andy Dunn introduces polo shirt line and says the retailer is on track to hit $5-$6 mln in salesIn the old days (or pre-commercialization of the Internet), the idea of buying clothes, particularly pants, without the tactile experience of trying them on probably seemed a tough concept to grasp. But that's slowly changing. Bonobos, a two-year-old Manhattan-based designer and retailer of casual and dress trousers for men is proving that buying pants online is something men really enjoy doing. After all, they're not exactly the type that like to go to malls. The trick was coming up with trousers with a great fit. The pants have been selling so well (12,000 in the first year of operation), the company this week is launching its new Polo line of shirts selling for $69.But the signature items at Bonobos are ... [http://vator.tv/n/a71 read more]

How do you leverage Facebook for dating?

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:07:04 +0000

Video "How do you leverage Facebook for dating?" from VatorTV

Interview with Brian Phillips, CEO of Thread, an online dating site on top of FacebookAlmost three years ago, I wrote a piece called "Online dating vs. social networks." The premise was that social networks were a better place to find dates. In December 2008, Brian Phillips and his friends from PayPal and YouTube came together and basically thought the same thing. He and his co-founders started Thread, an online dating site that leverages the voluminous data on Facebook.

The difference between Aloqa and Loopt

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:06:29 +0000

Video "The difference between Aloqa and Loopt" from VatorTV

How will people use location-based discover, and how Aloqa stacks up against competition "We're bringing together your whole context," said Aloqa CEO Sanjeev Agrawal, in this second segment of a four-part interview I had with him recent. Sanjeev was responding to a question I asked about the difference between Aloqa, Loopt and Google Latitude.

Symark buys BeyondTrust

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:06:16 +0000

Video "Symark buys BeyondTrust" from VatorTV

Turnaround guru and Symark CEO John Mutch offers advice for Vator entrepreneursAs mid-stage startups make their way through the funding freeze, many entrepreneurs are faced with the task of redirecting their team towards new goals--sometimes changing the entire business model. They might take a page from John Mutch's handbook.

Can Picwing be a Flickr or Photobucket?

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:32:14 +0000

Video "Can Picwing be a Flickr or Photobucket? " from VatorTV

Vator Box and Javeline Venture Partners Noah Doyle take a look at the young photo-printing serviceDuring Noah Doyle's recent vacation, his wife lost about 4,000 pictures she had created a photo album on one of the leading photo-sharing sites and lost their photos. To this end, there's a lot of room for innovation in the crowded, yet promising photo-sharing space. In this Vator Box, Noah, managing partner at venture firm Javelin Venture Partners, helps us analyze Picwing, a young company whose goal is to become the easiest way to print photos online.

Andy Klein on DPOs or do-it-yourseslf IPOs

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:30:40 +0000

Video "Andy Klein on DPOs or do-it-yourseslf IPOs " from VatorTV

The pioneer of the most celebrated IPO says it's tough to take companies public on the NetAbout 15 years ago, Andy Klein - then a securities attorney - wanted to raise funds for his tiny Manhattan brewing company, Sping Street Brewing. Andy, who currently is CEO of his new company, Spotzer, decided to use a little-known vehicle called Regulation A, which allows companies to raise up to $5 million by soliciting directly to the public.

What Vantage Point wants to fund

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:30:24 +0000

Video "What Vantage Point wants to fund" from VatorTV

Marc van den Berg is planning on a few, big investments in energy efficiency and storage.He invests in every cleantech sector from biofuels to solar, but at the moment, Marc van den Berg has a few industries squarely in his sites; if you run a startup in energy storage or energy efficiency, especially in lighting, HVAC ("heating, ventilating, and air conditioning" aka climate control) or green building materials, you may want to talk to Marc. Oh—and there’s one other requirement for pulling down an investment: you need to be willing to take huge chunks of capital. Unlike IT, greentech investment will have relatively few winners, van den Berg says, and a green VC needs to support a company along a much longer and more costly runway. That means a few lucky winners will take in ... [http://vator.tv/n/a44 read more]

Javelin Parnters on early-stage opportunities

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:30:10 +0000

Video "Javelin Parnters on early-stage opportunities" from VatorTV

VC partner Noah Doyle explains why JP invested in Nexenta and Sense NetworksIn this segment, Bambi Francisco continued her discussion with Noah Doyle, venture partner at Javelin Venture Partners. (See Interview I: What Javelin seeks to fund). BF: You've invested in nine companies and have raised 70 million dollars for your fund. How many companies are you expecting to invest in over the next couple of years?ND: This fund will include at least 18 to 20 companies, and possibly more than that. BF: You'll be investing that in the next year or several years? ND: It's going to be in the next year and a half.BF: You will be looking for at least nine more companies in 18 months. What is the deal flow like out there? Are companies getting better?ND: It's ... [http://vator.tv/n/a3a read more]

Cornell Prof backs Adeo Ressi's term sheet

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:27:40 +0000

Video "Cornell Prof backs Adeo Ressi's term sheet" from VatorTV

"It's hard to see why all these quirks make any sense, except fooling naïve entrepreneurs"Adeo Ressi’s on a mission to save entrepreneurs from the “atrocities of investors.” Yesterday, he published his “ideal term sheet”—an attempt to standardize VC deal terms that’s getting a lot of play in the WSJ, TechCrunch, Fred Wilson,

Fark partners with Digger to organize content

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:27:07 +0000

Video "Fark partners with Digger to organize content" from VatorTV

Fark tries to unambiguate its headlines to drive more users to its aggregated newsFark has become a pioneering publisher as it taps Digger – a semantic technology-based organizer of content – to help re-categorize its millions of aggregated news stories. Unlike other traditional news sites, Fark’s appeal is its very ambiguous headlines, such as “High School math teacher arrested on ‘What is 210 = 210?’”

Tim Chang wants to fund the future of gaming

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:26:39 +0000

Video "Tim Chang wants to fund the future of gaming" from VatorTV

The up-and-coming Norwest Partner also predicts VC consolidation and the rise of super angelsIn the not-too-distant future, Tim Chang sees a brave new world of online “gaming-as-a-service”: cloud-based, free-to-play, frictionless distribution, all monetized through advertising, virtual goods and premium subscriptions. And to help build it, he's looking to fund everything from a vertical gaming cloud to "Paypal 2.0" microtransaction processing, next-gen publishers, new platforms, service layers, and technology enablers. I spoke with Chang last week outside the Norwest offices on University Ave in Palo Alto. Below are his thoughts on the coming consolidation in the VC world, why he thinks gaming is a bright spot on an otherwise cloudy horizon, and what the new online entertainment utopia will look like. MB: The recession has hit the VC industry hard. People are saying either ... [http://vator.tv/n/a18 read more]

Jigsaw - the Wikipedia for business cards

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:21:21 +0000

Video "Jigsaw - the Wikipedia for business cards" from VatorTV

Co-founder and CEO Jim Fowler on rebuilding the database for business informationIn this segment, Bambi Francisco interviewed Jim Fowler, co-founder and CEO of Jigsaw, a leading provider of business card and company data services that leverages user-generated content contributed by its community of some one million members.BF: Your company is a user-generated business directory and you're really trying to how improve business contacts are maintained. Please elaborate on that. Is that a fair assessment of your company? JF: It's actually a company and contact data. If you really think about the foundation stones of everyday B2B base. It really starts with company core records and company business card records and these are the two records that every company that sells B2B has to use in order to drive growth of their ... [http://vator.tv/n/a01 read more]

What Javelin Venture Partners seeks to fund

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:06:30 +0000

Video "What Javelin Venture Partners seeks to fund" from VatorTV

Noah Doyle, VC at the early-stage venture firm, seeks to put $250k to $2mm to workBambi Francisco sits down with Noah Doyle, Managing Director, Javelin Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm, focusing mainly on digital media, Internet commerce, mobile and healthcare IT.BF: In the past several years, there's been a number of seed stage and early stage venture firms emerge, such as Start At Spark, Techstars in Denver and Y Combinator. They've been filling a void and that is for really early, early stage. What about Javelin? What is the void you are filling at Javelin? ND: We really started the firm specifically to fill the void at the seed to early Series A range. Today it costs less to start a business and Vator.tv is a great example of that. Doing interviews and ... [http://vator.tv/n/9e8 read more]

The drive and culture behind Siri

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:06:11 +0000

Video "The drive and culture behind Siri" from VatorTV

CTO and co-founder: 'Let's get used to insane over-achievement'Everyone entrepreneur is driven by something - either a sense of passion, a sense of determination, a sense of a new world. At Siri, CTO and co-founder Tom Gruber, is driven by a sense of "insane over-achievement." And, it is an insane idea that drives everyone to do their best at Siri, Gruber said.

Got hacker coverage?

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:06:02 +0000

Video "Got hacker coverage?" from VatorTV

With Twitter getting the hack kicked out of them, who's next and what can you do about it?I recently had a chance to sit down with Bryan Costello, CEO of Costello and Sons, an insurer who covers the tech industry and its venture capitalists.

How to PR your way out of the downturn

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:05:55 +0000

Video "How to PR your way out of the downturn" from VatorTV

What are the key communications challenges & opportunities facing businesses today?I recently caught up with

Why search engines are far from smart

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 23:59:03 +0000

Video "Why search engines are far from smart" from VatorTV

Tomasz Imielinski of Ask.com says search engines should be able to say, 'I don't know the answer'In this segment, Bambi Francisco interviewed Tomasz Imielinski, executive vice president of Global Search and Answers for Ask.com. BF: What's the marginal gain semantic technology is bringing to the search experience? TI: Ideally, it would be the shorter distance between the query and the answer. Today, you often have to re-phrase your query. The choice of keyword or order is important. You do this many times because the choice of keyword is important. The people who are good at search are the ones who can re-phrase and get the answer. This shouldn't happen where the search engine is shifting the job to the user so the value is clear that this is a needed product. The answer should just come ... [http://vator.tv/n/9be read more]

John Battelle on conversational advertising

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:33:22 +0000

Video "John Battelle on conversational advertising" from VatorTV

Founder of Federated Media gives insight into how advertising and publishing models are evolvingIn this segment, Bambi Francisco interviewed John Batelle, founder and CEO of Federated Media. They discussed how the Internet is changing the publishing landscape. BF: John, if you had to write a headline and lead graph about what's happening in

How Siri assistant plans to make money

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:03:31 +0000

Video "How Siri assistant plans to make money" from VatorTV

Free service plans to take fees from partners for delivering services to usersIn this segment, Bambi Francisco interviewed Tom Gruber, co-founder and CTO of Siri, a company that recently came out of stealth mode, and is a virtual assitant on the iPhone. BF: We were going to talk about the business model. It's a great application as soon as it launches. It's going to be a free application but you have to make money somehow. So how is Siri going to make money? TG: The great thing is that when you're in a mobile situation with your phone, and the virtual personal systems exist to help you do things such as things you want to do online or offline. For example, if you want to get tickets to a concert, game, make ... [http://vator.tv/n/961 read more]

Evolution of radio and Music Genome Project

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:45:02 +0000

Video "Evolution of radio and Music Genome Project" from VatorTV

Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy shares a history lesson about radio, and current subscription modelsIn this segment, Bambi Francisco interviewed

Ooyala personalizes the new media experience

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:44:33 +0000

Video "Ooyala personalizes the new media experience" from VatorTV

"Our goal is not just to build a publishing platform but to build a personal media platform."In part two of my interview with

Ooyala sees growth in the crowded market

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:00:02 +0000

Video "Ooyala sees growth in the crowded market" from VatorTV

CEO and Co-founder Bismarck Lepe says "We think we can have up to 300,000 customers today."It was a bad news week for online video businesses with Maven Networks and Joost, but it's not all doom and gloom and when you look at the financials of nine of the leading companies, as Will Richmond pointed out, they have collectively raised $64M in funding in Q2 '09 and a total of $219M has been raised by 26 companies over the last three consecutive quarters. Other good news reported by Dan Rayburn is that Brightcove profitable and cash flow positive. Dan says, "While this is a big deal for Brightcove, it's an even bigger deal for the industry and is validation that companies in this market can in fact create scalable, profitable businesses." Techcrunch also noted, Joost, Meet ... [http://vator.tv/n/939 read more]

John Battelle on Federated Media's CEO search

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:08:51 +0000

Video "John Battelle on Federated Media's CEO search" from VatorTV

...and why owning properties to nurture publishing partners is a considerationIn this interview, John Battelle, CEO and founder of Federated Media, talks to Bambi Francisco about his search for a new CEO, and why he'd consider owning properties to have a deeper relationship with publishing partners.Here are some highlights from the interview, partly edited.BF: How's the CEO search going? Do you have a short list? And, what qualifications are you seeking?JB: Not yet. We’re still early in the process. There’s a lot of people we want to talk to. As for the person we're seeking, FM has gotten to a certain size and scale. There is a set of skills you need to have in order to grow a business from where we are mid-eight figures to where we want ... [http://vator.tv/n/92e read more]

Is semantic technology helping ads? Hardly

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:08:47 +0000

Video "Is semantic technology helping ads? Hardly" from VatorTV

Former president of IAB, Greg Stuart, says semantic technology isn't close to improving targeting"The promise of semantics is to bring a level of intelligence [to advertising]," said former Interactive Advertising Bureau President Greg Stuart. "It’s not quite there... advertising based on semantic technology isn't even close to improving targeting."I ran into Stuart at the 2009 Semantic Technology conference. Stuart was on a couple panels discussing semantics as it applies to advertising and publishing. Stuart also headed the IAB, an organization that creates standards for the online advertising industry.

Yahoo vs. WolframAlpha vs. Bing?

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:30:39 +0000

Video "Yahoo vs. WolframAlpha vs. Bing?" from VatorTV

Andrew Tomkins, Chief Scientist of Yahoo Search on how semantic technology has improved searchBambi Francisco was recently at the 2009 Semantic Technology Conference where she interviewed Andrew Tomkins, Chief Scientist of Yahoo Search. Among the questions asked was how is Yahoo's search positioned against the newcomers WolframAlpha and Bing?Here's the interview, partially edited. BF: At the end of the day, the purpose of semantic technology within Yahoo Search is to really improve search results and the search experience. So how has it really improved Yahoo Search?AT: It's been pretty dramatic so far. Yahoo has been pretty aggressive in doing semantic technology through a couple of programs. The primary one in terms of getting data in is something that we call "Search Monkey." What we have been doing is developing a set of vocabulary ... [http://vator.tv/n/903 read more]

Why Siri - a virtual assistant - is possible

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:09:48 +0000

Video "Why Siri - a virtual assistant - is possible " from VatorTV

Siri co-founder and CTO Tom Gruber on turning your iPhone into a personal conciergeWe're a long way from Ask Jeeves, the butler assistant that helped you search and find stuff on the Web. Siri, which recently came out of stealth mode, is a virtual assitant on the iPhone. Sure, it's not super sophisticated to be able to organize your child's birthday party. But it's the closest thing to a real assistant that you can talk to that I've ever seen.The free iPhone app, which applies speech-to-text and text-to-intent technology to Web services, such as Yelp, OpenTable,

Why Siri - a virtual assistant - is possible

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:06:38 +0000

Video "Why Siri - a virtual assistant - is possible " from VatorTV

Siri co-founder and CTO Tom Gruber on turning your iPhone into a personal conciergeWe're a long way from Ask Jeeves, the butler assistant that helped you search and find stuff on the Web. Siri gets us closer to a real butler or assistant that you can talk to. Siri, which recently came out of stealth mode, is a virtual assitant on the iPhone.

With Iran on razor's edge, Fark takes sides

rss@sevenload.com (VatorTV) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:59:56 +0000

Video "With Iran on razor's edge, Fark takes sides" from VatorTV

CEO Drew Curtis on the rationale behind the green bandIt's not surprising to see bloggers take sides on the alleged vote-rigging in the Iranian elections. But media outlets typically try to remain objective. Not in the case of Fark, the not-news site. A couple days ago, the Farkers - headed by founder and CEO Drew Curtis - decided to put a green band around the letter "K" in Fark. The green band shows support for Hussein Mousavi, who on June 13, 2009, was defeated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran in a disputed presidential election.