Branson's Next Mobile Act: An Investment In Mobile Payments Startup Square
Richard Branson is no stranger to investing in mobile media: among his more notable moves have been establishing *Virgin Mobile* years ago,… Read more at paidContent »
Andy Bechtolsheim & Drew Houston to speak at GigaOM RoadMap
We are adding two new speakers — Andy Bechtolsheim and Drew Houston — to our lineup for the GigaOM RoadMap, our conference that will look at how connectedness changes everything from how we live, work, create and consume. It is being held on November 10 in San Francisco. Read more »
Twitter/Square co-founder Jack Dorsey to speak at RoadMap
Jack Dorsey, co-founder of the Internet’s two hottest companies, Square and Twitter, will be a keynote speaker at our GigaOM RoadMap conference, to be held on November 10 in San Francisco. Dorsey is one of the technology luminaries who will talk about the impact of connectedness. Read more »
Dorsey dangles the Apple carrot for Twitter devs
How do you make amends with a development community after taking away some of their tools and rendering at least a few of their products unusable? Try offering them the keys to a much bigger kingdom, for starters: namely, the sizeable pool of iOS device owners. Read more »
So was the Twitter Town Hall better than a regular one?
After having a YouTube Q&A and a Facebook session, the Obama administration upped the ante with a Twitter town hall on Wednesday. While it wasn’t exactly a dramatic step towards transparency and openness, it was probably a little better than a traditional town hall. Read more »
Square gets $100M, valued at $1B
One thing is clear: Investors love Square, the payments company co-founded by Jack Dorsey, the co-creator of Twitter. The veteran venture capital firm of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is leading the $100 million investment in the company that is said to be valued at $1 billion. Read more »
It’s Obvious: Ev Williams and Biz Stone, together again
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone is leaving the company to join former CEO Evan Williams and former lead developer Jason Goldman in a new venture called Obvious. For the team that helped create Twitter and Blogger, expectations for their new project are going to be pretty high. Read more »
Square Hopes to Kill Cash Register With Square Register
Not two years after introducing the world to its little mobile credit card reader, Square is looking to write the obituary for the modern cash register–along with every location-based, daily deal and mobile payment app in existence with its new Square Register and Card Case. Read more »
Why Did PayPal Buy Fig Card? Find Out
The word is that once upon a time, eBay’s PayPal tried to buy Jack Dorsey’s Square. Today, the company announced that it is buying small Boston-based mobile-payment startup Fig Card. It seems the upstart and the incumbent are on a collision course. Read more »
Instamagic: The Story of a Red Hot App [Video]
It has been a magical few months for Instagram, a mobile photo-sharing startup. It has grown from nothing to more than 3.2 million users, and raised $7 million in funding. In this video, co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom shares the story of Instagram. Read more »
The Vision Thing: What Twitter Needs to Learn From Apple
Twitter seems to be a company in turmoil — not just on the product side, but on the management side as well. What it needs more than anything is a consistent and tangible vision for what it wants to become, and someone who stands for that vision. Read more »
Can Jack Dorsey Help Twitter Find Its Way?
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is taking on an expanded role at the company, in what seems to be an attempt to show that Twitter is putting more emphasis back on the product after some recent mis-steps. Can Dorsey help put things back on the right track? Read more »
The Smart Value of Dumb Money for Startups
There was a push and pull throughout the TechCrunch Disrupt conference this week about the role investors play in Internet startups. Sometimes, it’s worth it to find an investor who’s willing to invest at a big valuation and leave a company alone. Read more »
Amidst Rising Competition, Square Launches
Square, a mobile payments startup co-founded by Twitter creator Jack Dorsey, launched today. It allows anyone to accept payments via mobile phones such as the iPhone and Android-based devices. But the company needs more than hardware to keep ahead of competitors such as VeriFone. Read more »
Are You Ready for iEconomy?
Jack Dorsey’s Square, Incase, Verifone and now Mophie — these companies have developed credit card readers and are turning the iPhone/iPod touch platform into a new kind of economic engine. All they have to do is get Apple to play ball and get consumers savvy about it all. Read more »
