• December 13th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Turntable.fm’s Top Priority: “Nail Product & Fix Anything That Is Not Working”

    In episode I of Chris Dixon’s Founder Stories interview with Turntable.fm’sBilly Chasen, Chasen said most of his investors backed Turntable’s transition from Stickybits to Turntable, with the exception being an investor who simply wasn’t a fan of the music space.

    In this episode, Dixon says a lack of understanding – or lack of enthusiasm for music startups has been a common theme in the VC community, but thinks the mindset might be changing thanks to companies like Spotify and Pandora. Chasen agrees – and takes a bit of mystery out of how Turntable navigates music rights before fielding questions about Turntable’s plan to monetize. → Read More

    December 11th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Turntable.fm’s Billy Chasen On Closing Stickybits: “None Of Us Used The App”

    When we first invited Billy Chasen to join us on Founder Stories he was working hard to make his startup, Stickybits a success. Turns out it never took off. But like many founders, Chasen bounced back and found better luck elsewhere. In this case it’s with Turntable.fm – a platform where people play DJ online and share music with others in virtual rooms.

    Having recently raised $7-million from investors that include Union Square Ventures and First Round Capital, we thought it would be interesting to catch-up with Chasen and hear how it all went down. → Read More

    November 30th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Mayor Bloomberg: “Make Sure You Are The First One In There Every Day & The Last One To Leave”

    In his final Founder Stories interview with host Chris Dixon, Mayor Bloomberg begins by offering advice to those wrestling with a career decision – becoming an entrepreneur or joining a bigger company.

    Having tasted both worlds, Mayor Bloomberg points out “big companies have more structure but you have a little more security. Small companies, a lot less structure but a lot higher payoff.” While he thinks transitioning from a bigger company to a smaller company is easier than the opposite, he notes “if you have a vision and want [to strike out on your own], do it.” He honestly admits however, “I don’t know whether I would have had the courage to go do it if I hadn’t gotten fired.” → Read More

    November 29th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Mayor Bloomberg On Success: If “Having Access To The Best & The Brightest Is The Difference, This Is The Place To Be.”

    In episode II of Mayor Bloomberg’s interview with Founder Stories host Chris Dixon, the two start off by discussing Mayor Bloomberg’s desire to strengthen the economic foundation of New York City by attracting top scholars in applied sciences.

    While many universities can secure the funds necessary to make it work in NYC, the high cost of living poses greater challenges for founders of more modest means. Addressing the issue Mayor Bloomberg notes, if “low rent and low taxes is the difference between you being successful or not successful, you don’t have a business. If the having access to the best and the brightest is the difference, this is the place to be.” → Read More

    November 28th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) How Michael Bloomberg Got His Start: “I Brought You A Cup Of Coffee”

    Before he became the three-time Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg made billions running the financial information company bearing his name. But it might never have happened if he hadn’t been fired from Wall Street during the early days of his career. The Mayor and Bloomberg LP founder dropped by our TechCrunch studio to discuss all this and how he is working to turn New York City into a high tech hub with Founder Stories host, Chris Dixon.

    After leaving Salomon Brothers, Mayor Bloomberg started his own business because “nobody offered me a job, I was probably too proud to go look for one, and I said well why not start your own company.” → Read More

    November 27th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Bump’s David Lieb: “Stop Thinking & Just Go Build It”

    Bump co-founder, David Lieb launched an app that’s secured roughly $20 million in funding and has been downloaded approximately 60-million times. In his final Founder Stories interview with host Chris Dixon, Lieb predicts the next hot sector, discusses hiring employees and dishes out advice for future founders.

    He’s seen too many founders suffer from “analysis paralysis” and urges entrepreneurs to “stop thinking and just go build it.” Recognizing that if his team had overanalyzed Bump, it never would have gotten off the ground. → Read More

    November 26th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Bump’s David Lieb: “We Want To Build That New UI Layer For The Real World”

    Seeking a way to reduce friction while exchanging contact information, David Lieb and his two co-founders launched Bump – a service that allows users to trade personal data (and an array of items spanning calendar events to music samples) by simply tapping their smartphones together.

    In part II of his Founder Stories interview, Lieb notes there is bigger picture at play than just swapping content. He tells host, Chris Dixon, “there is a lot of time spent figuring out how I interface with this [smartphone] to go access the virtual world, but nobody has really spent a lot of time thinking, well I am using this phone in the real world, what do I want to do in the real world, and how do I want to interact with other people and things in the real world, and that is the problem that we want to solve, we want to build that new UI layer for the real world.” → Read More

    November 25th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Bump’s David Lieb On Getting To 60 Million Downloads

    In his first Founder Stories interview with host Chris Dixon, Bump co-founder and CEO, David Lieb relates how he conceived the idea for Bump one week into business school at the University of Chicago. He met co-founder, Jake Mintz at the same time and along with their third co-founder, Andy Huibers began building on “nights and weekends” during ”the fall of 2008.” By spring of 2009 Bump launched, and has since been downloaded more than 60-million times, he says. → Read More

    November 20th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Mick Mountz: East Coast VC’s “Are Willing To Look At More One-Off Type Opportunities”

    In episode II of his Founder Stories interview with host, Chris DixonKiva Systems founder, Mick Mountz discusses traversing the country in search of capital shortly after launching his company almost a decade ago.

    With plans to disrupt the picking, packing and shipping industry, Moutz went shopping for investors on Sand Hill Road and found none. He says “they were retrenching at the time… and not only were they not making investments, I was coming in with a hardware investment and they were like, you are going to need $100-million to get anywhere near cash flow positive, they just wouldn’t touch it.” → Read More

    November 18th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Mick Mountz, Kiva Systems: “We Have Been Growing At Over 100% A Year”

    After electronically ordering a shredder for your files following a pivot and a case of bottled water to wash away lessons learned, you may have set in motion one of Mick Mountz’s Roomba like robots to fetch the items for you in a warehouse that uses his Kiva Systems technology. The interconnected hardware and software package is designed to streamline the process of picking, packing and shipping e-commerce products for delivery.

    A former Webvan employee, Mountz saw an opening to create efficiency after noticing warehouses were geared towards transporting bulk items of similar products to retail stores, but not designed “to get one red, one green and one blue in a box.” → Read More

    November 10th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Livestream’s Max Haot: Gannett Gave Us $10 Million (And Possibly Saved The Company)

    In part II of Chris Dixon’s Founder Stories interview with Livestream co-founder Max Haot, Hoat offers his analysis of what he encountered while attempting to secure funding between roughly 2007 and early 2008. At the time, Haot feels VC’s were hovering over technology that allowed people to digitally record events and watch the action on their own time.

    However, as presidential candidates crisscrossed the country during the ’08 election, Livestream caught a break thanks to an invite from Gannett who started using Livestream (then known as Mogulus) to broadcast the activity. Pleased with the results, Haot says Gannett invested $10-million and delivered a bundle of cash that arrived just in time. → Read More

    November 8th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Livestream’s Haot: “We Had The Right Product But The Wrong Vision”

    Livestream co-founder Max Haot says 30-million monthly unique viewers depend on Livestream for coverage of events ranging from Occupy Wall Street to f8. This year Livestream expects to more than double its 2010 revenue to $12.5-million and is rolling out enhancements that include a rewind in real-time option along with social media features.

    It’s a far cry from five years ago when Livestream was operating under a completely different name and was focused on owning a completely different space. Chris Dixon dives into the backstory in this episode of Founder Stories. → Read More

    November 5th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Houston: “In 18 Months, You Are Going To See Little Dropbox Buttons Everywhere”

    By any measure Drew Houston and his Dropbox team are having a hugely successful run. In Houston’s final Founder Stories episode with TechCrunch editor, Erick Schonfeld, Houston says he plans to maintain this momentum by focusing on mobile, and just about everything else.

    Houston says Dropbox has secured a new agreement with HTC, where it “is going to be baked into tens-of-millions of [Android] phones” and like Facebook, Dropbox plans to stamp its product on everything. “In 18-months you are going to see little Dropbox buttons everywhere.” → Read More

    November 1st, 2011

    (Founder Stories) How Dropbox Got Its First 10 Million Users

    Dropbox co-founder Drew Houston has one of the hottest startups in the game. With $257.2 million in funding and a $4-billion valuation it’s poised to triple an already impressive user base of 45-millon. So when did Houston know he was sitting on something pretty? Erick Schonfeld finds out in episode III of Drew Houston’s Founder Stories interview. → Read More

    October 29th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Houston On Pitching Dropbox: “Tom Cruise In Minority Report Is Not Carrying Around A Thumb Drive”

    Dropbox co-founder, Drew Houston recently sat down with TechCrunch Editor, Erick Schonfeld to discuss the origins of Dropbox – a service that allows users to upload and access their files from virtually any device, anywhere. With $250-million in funding and 45-million users, Dropbox is shaking up the world of digital storage.

    The roots of Dropbox were planted when Houston was a student at MIT. “You could sit down at any of tens-of-thousands of computers on campus and not only your files but your whole environment was just in front of you and kind of followed you around.” Then graduation hit and Houston says he was thrown “back to the stone age.” → Read More

    October 26th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Baseline’s Steve Anderson: “The Signaling Issue Is Real”

    When startups are choosing investors for their seed round, it is important to pick ones who will stick around for the long run. Otherwise, they may run into what Founder Collective co-founder Chris Dixon calls “signaling risk.”  The risk of getting a high-profile investor in your seed round is that they might not follow on in later rounds, and that sends a signal to other investors that there might be something wrong with the company. Dixon discusses signaling risk in this episode of Founder Stories with Steve Anderson of Baseline Ventures. → Read More

    October 25th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Baseline Ventures, Steve Anderson: On Why He Invested In Heroku And Weebly

    In part II of Chris Dixon’s interview with Baseline Ventures founder, Steve Anderson, Anderson discusses two of his more successful investments: Heroku and Weebly. Weebly is a startup he led an investment in back in 2007 that helps consumers make websites. Most recently, Weebly launched a professional service to help designers create pages for clients.

    Weebly may not be a household name just yet, but it’s getting there. Anderson tells Dixon last year “10% of all websites created on the internet were created on Weebly.” Additionally Weebly has purchased new office space and received a large $45 million round from Sequoia Capital (Anderson notes previous investments totaled $760,00). → Read More

    October 23rd, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Instagram-Backer Steve Anderson: Forget The Billion-Dollar Exits

    Steve Anderson’s Baseline Ventures has a portfolio that includes Instagram, Heroku, and Weebly. (Earlier this month, Baseline was part of a $1-million seed round in Crashlytics).  It took him only four weeks to raise $100 million for his curernt fund. In this episode of Founder Stories with host Chris Dixon, Anderson discusses investing in Instagram and what led him to become Baseline’s founder in 2006.

    Anderson tells Dixon that after working for companies including Microsoft, eBay and Starbucks he was ready to strike off on his own. However, he lacked the roughly half-million to start his company and was not interested in trading a sizable chuck of his ownership (40-50%) to secure financing from a Sand Hill Road VC. → Read More

    October 10th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Birchbox: On The Second Wave Of Ecommerce

    Wrapping his interview with Birchbox founders Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp, Chris Dixon tosses out some interesting statistics.

    Roughly “92% of commerce is still offline and actually Amazon only has 6% of the online.” Dixon believes the first online wave of commerce revolved around hard goods (tickets, books and dvd players) and we are potentially entering a second wave where soft goods (beauty products) have an opportunity to claim more of the space.
    → Read More

    October 9th, 2011

    (Founder Stories) Birchbox: Helping People “Find What They Didn’t Know They Wanted”

    In part II of Chris Dixon’s interivew with Birchbox founders Hayley Barna and Katia Beauchamp, Dixon asks if Birchbox fits into what could be considered the trend of subscription commerce.

    Beauchamp believes they do. Barna meanwhile points out “there are a lot of different flavors” of subscription. In comparison to Diapers.com, Barna says Diapers solves “convenience” and “replenishment” while Birchbox offers a way for people “to find what they didn’t know they wanted.” → Read More

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    Crunchbase

    Funky Moves — Received £332k in Unattributed funding
    5.29.2012
    Funky Moves — Company added to CrunchBase
    5.29.2012
    Partech International — Invested in Sensee.
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    Compliance11 — Acquired by Compliance11, Inc..
    11.15.2012
    Facebook — Went public with stock symbol NASDAQ:FB.
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    Compliance11 — Acquired by Compliance11, Inc..
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    FounderMatchup — Acquired by CoFoundersLab.
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    GlobalEnglish — Acquired by Pearson for $90M.
    5.25.2012
    Chick Approved — Acquired by Lockerz.
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    Funky Moves — Received £332k in Unattributed funding
    5.29.2012
    Sensee — Received €17.5M in Unattributed funding from Partech International, Orkos Capital, and IDInvest Partners
    5.29.2012
    Rosslyn Analytics — Received Unattributed funding from IQ Capital Partners
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    The Etailers — Received €400k in Unattributed funding from Caixa Capital
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    OptoNova — Received Unattributed funding from Almi Invest
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    Partech International — Invested in Sensee.
    5.29.2012
    IDInvest Partners — Invested in Sensee.
    5.29.2012
    Orkos Capital — Invested in Sensee.
    5.29.2012
    5.29.2012
    Caixa Capital — Invested in The Etailers.
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    Facebook — Went public with stock symbol NASDAQ:FB.
    5.18.2012
    Funky Moves — Company added to CrunchBase
    5.29.2012
    Sensee — Company added to CrunchBase
    5.29.2012
    The Etailers — Company added to CrunchBase
    5.29.2012
    OptoNova — Company added to CrunchBase
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    Infrafone — Company added to CrunchBase
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    PocketHound — Product added to CrunchBase
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    http://www.pingola.co.il/ — Product added to CrunchBase
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    http://www.pingola.ru/ — Product added to CrunchBase
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    AnB — Product added to CrunchBase
    5.28.2012
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