Y Combinator, one of the oldest and most prestigious startup incubators in Silicon Valley, announced a change to its funding structure Monday, taking control of the VC investments made in each of its startup classes, and adding more facetime with local investors. Read more »
Where can you find a place to look for genealogy advice, Lucius Malfoy costume ideas, a recipe for pomegranate sauce, and Navy SEAL training all at once? Rewarder, a social site reminiscent of TaskRabbit or Kickstarter, launches with $7 million to fulfill your dreams. Read more »
Education startup Codecademy — which promises to help anyone learn to program with its game-like online courses — is stepping up to the international market with a $10 million round of funding from new backers including Index Ventures and Kleiner Perkins. Read more »
BetterWorks, one of the most known startups to emerge from LA seems to have hit an air pocket. The company which was started by super angel, Paige Craig is said to have laid off close to thirty people and is looking at making some dire choices. Read more »
More than perhaps anyone else in Silicon Valley, SV Angel’s Ron Conway knows how important free expression on the Internet can be for fledgling technology companies to grow and prosper. So it’s probably not a surprise he’s against the proposed PIPA and SOPA bills. Read more »
Anti-SOPA protesters are taking their cause to the streets on Wednesday, with protests scheduled in New York and San Francisco. We will cover the event in San Francisco, which will feature Ron Conway as a headline speaker, with a live video stream. Read more »
The key to success in startups is making sure you’re young, experienced and not the only founder. That’s the takeaway from a new survey being conducted by SV Angel of successful startups that have gone on to or are projected to have big exits. Read more »
As legendary investor Ron Conway has pointed out in a strongly-worded email to some of the super-angels who were at a recent secret meeting, the most important part of the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem is the entrepreneur — something certain angels seem to be forgetting. Read more »
Many Y Combinator startups from this summer’s class already have money in the bank, and many hit up the same angel investors. I conducted an informal survey of investors at YC’s Demo Day to ask how many of the companies they had already invested in. Read more »
For iPhone users, wading through a sea of fitness and weight-loss applications can be confusing and time-consuming — and, much like adhering to the latest diet craze, it’s often hard to stick with using the application once you download it. Los Angeles-based startup Global Fitness Media […] Read more »
Silicon Valley’s smartest investor, Sequoia Capital, is telling its companies to tighten their belts. Super-angel Ron Conway is telling his portfolio of startups to batten down the hatches, cut jobs, and get ready for the worst. The credit crunch is hitting tech land like the proverbial Category 5 hurricane. Continue ReadingRead more »
Lately we’ve been discussing the many reasons why taking smaller, angel-sized investments instead of larger venture capital stakes often makes more sense for startups in a wobbly, exit-bereft market like the current one. Today, Ron Conway, the well-known founder of the Silicon Valley-based Angel Investors LP […] Read more »
Founders Gary Swart and Stephen Pieraldi presided over the Venture Capital and Seed Financing Workshop at GigaOM’s recent Structure 08 conference . This week, the pair sat down with Found|READ to share additional lessons from their careers in fundraising. Swart is CEO of oDesk, a staffing […] Read more »
The passing of Tim Russert, a man I greatly admired, came as the result of a massive heart attack, an event that cannot be predicted. Having suffered a heart attack myself earlier this year, I know this firsthand — the heart is no match for the […] Read more »
Last night at a holiday party hosted by super angel, Ron Conway, I ran into Shawn Fanning, who in the past started Napster and Snocap, and talked to him about his most recent start-up, Rupture. Angel investors like Conway and Joi Ito have invested in the […] Read more »