You have a business idea, and you’re ready to put your plan into action. But, wait a minute. You’re not sure what to call it! Is it a startup or a small business? our infographic explains the difference:
Startups
Virtual Skinny: When Life Hands You Lemons …
4.25.2016
Good to Know: Make Lemonade aka the title of Beyonce’s latest album released exclusively on Tidal over the weekend and nearly broke the Internet. It’s coming to iTunes soon. Side note: Know the difference between Rachael Ray and Rachel Roy before making the decision on whether to fire off emojis of lemons and bumble bees.
THE SKINNY
When You’ve Got A Brilliant Idea …
Frustrated with public transportation? Not to worry, Tesla founder and all-around genius Elon Musk says he’s got a solution.
Please, Tell Us More …
At a conference in Norway, Musk hinted at autonomous vehicles aka self-driving cars as the answer to curbing cities’ density problem. Think a hybrid between Uber and public buses.
When Mums The Word…
Musk didn’t want to spill too much tea but did say that these new vehicles would take people to their intended destination rather than bus stops. Cities around the globe like Lausanne, Switzerland, and Zhengzhou, China are already testing out something similar.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
When You Throw Out the White Flag …
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is stepping away from its fight with Apple. Late last Friday, the DOJ backed out of its NY suit against the iPhone maker. Apparently, it no longer needs the court’s help in forcing Apple to break into the iPhone involved in a drug-related investigation. It simply got the passcode from someone else. This comes after the U.S. government paid over US $1 million to unlock another iPhone in the San Bernardino situation. And, that’s what we call being resourceful, folks. #MondayMotivation
When You Want to Make Peace, Not War …
Beyoncé’s hubby, Jay Z, isn’t the only one looking to make peace. Rivals Microsoft and Google are calling a truce. Both companies agreed to stop throwing regulatory shade at each other. Moving forward, they’d like to compete on their products and not by legal complaints. Microsoft has even withdrawn existing regulatory complaints. #FairEnough
When You Don’t Quite Have the Numbers …
Director of U.S. National Intelligence James Clapper piped up to some reporters and put us on notice. His team is looking into just how many innocent people are getting swept up in the government’s Internet surveillance aimed at foreign suspects. Clapper’s comments aren’t unprovoked. A group of 14 lawmakers in the U.S. House of Reps put in the request.
THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’
In the U.S., it’s illegal to take a pic of your election ballot. Snapchat wants to make “ballot selfies” a legal thing. In official court docs, the company told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit that states banning pics in the election box is a First Amendment violation. In other words, a “ballot selfie” is simply free expression.
Speaking of elections, U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is taking his campaign to California. First stop? The Bay Area where he’ll talk business, trade, and economic growth. Trump should expect a tough crowd.
Area 120 is Google’s soon to be in-house, startup incubator, intended to stop entrepreneurial employees from peacing out on it.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doesn’t want you to text and tweet, and it’s going after Twitter users that brag about doing just that.
Tweeting and Uber-ing is just fine, but you’ll probably soon have to tip your Uber driver.
The Virtual Skinny: That’s The Spirit!
12.21.2015
Good to Know: The first website popped up 25 years ago. To say that we’ve come a long way is an understatement. That was then.
THE SKINNY
iS iT toO laTE TO sAY Sorry?
The U.S. Democratic presidential candidates met up Saturday night in New Hampshire for their third debate. Bernie Sanders apologized to fellow candidate Hillary Clinton for a data breach incident that happened days beforehand. Clinton appreciated it. Now, it’s all water under the bridge.
Wait, What Happened?
If you missed the drams late last week, here’s a quick re-cap. People from Sanders’ campaign got their hands on confidential voter information from Clinton’s camp. A software glitch is to blame for the exposure. It’s alleged that somewhere between 1 and 4 staffers from Sanders’ campaign saw the info. It wasn’t a full-on public disclosure so things could’ve been much worse.
When Someone Says You Can’t…
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) stepped in and banned Sander’s campaign from using the voter information until it cleared things up. This didn’t go over well, and Sander’s campaign hit back with a federal law suit against the DNC. The campaign said the committee had no right, and its actions would cost the campaign about $600k/day in donations. Ultimately, the DNC and Sander’s campaign settled the issue. Looks like everyone’s moved on.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
When Something’s Definitely Not A Good Idea …
Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down with 60 Minutes last night. Cook took the time to drive home the point that governments asking tech companies to weaken encryption measures on their devices is a terrible idea. With increasing terrorist attacks, intelligence agencies and law enforcement are asking tech companies to build “backdoors” into their technology just for them. Not possible, says Cook. “Backdoors” work more like general admission tickets than VIP passes. In other words, this type of access to communications wouldn’t just be for law enforcement but for anyone savvy enough. Hillary Clinton seems to agree …
Things Are About to Get Real Serious …
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is taking things to the next level with last year’s Uber data breach. DOJ is launching a criminal investigation into who illegally downloaded names and license numbers of about 50K Uber drivers. Employees from Uber’s U.S. rival Lyft aren’t exempt from DOJ’s investigation. The situation is a bit complicated and has many moving parts. Lyft says it’s looked into the matter, and none of its employees are involved.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race…
While everyone (including venture capitalists) pays attention to Silicon Valley (SV) for the next big startup, Utah aka ‘Silicon Slopes’ has been playing the long game. It’s given us people and companies like Pixar co-founder Ed Catmul, Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, and even WordPerfect (talk about throwback). Who knew that Utah had a strong tech game? The state likely goes under the radar because its startups are more enterprise-focused than consumer-focused. SV startups seem to have no problem raising money from venture capitalists, but the story’s very different in Utah. Utah-based startups have to prove themselves for years (at times an entire decade) before they ever see a dime from investors. But, those who choose to invest in ‘Silicon Slopes’ startups probably won’t be disappointed in their returns.
THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’
If you ordered holiday gifts from e-commerce site Jet.com, it’s likely your package won’t make it in time for Christmas day. Blame it on shipping delays.
Workers in Amazon’s German warehouses are on strike till December 24. They’re not happy with their pay and working conditions.
In more Amazon news, it’s rolling out 5 new original programs. Also, just last week, Netflix debuted a new documentary Making of a Murderer. Critics love it, and it’s being dubbed Netflix’s version of Serial. With online content like these, it’s hard being in the TV biz these days, folks.
The Twitter account of probably the most hated man in pharma, Martin Shkreli, was hacked yesterday.
Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO of local recommendations site Yelp, says Google only cares about its alleged monopoly and not about its users. #Harsh
Speaking of harsh … If you’re having a hard time getting that job offer, don’t worry. Earlier this month, Twitter software engineer Jonathan Kuperman launched rejected.us for computer programmers to share their employment rejection stories. Even if you’re note a programmer, you’ll still be inspired. #NeverGiveUp #DontEverGiveUp
The Virtual Skinny: It’s Enough Now …
12.3.2015
Good to Know: Most of you will likely get new devices as holiday presents this year. Not sure what to do with your old ones? Amazon, Gazelle, and Best Buy have stellar recycling or trade-in programs in the U.S.
THE SKINNY
Something Becoming Routine Isn’t Always A Good Thing…
In fact, it can be a very bad thing. Yesterday, a horrible mass shooting took place in San Bernadino, California and claimed the lives of 14 innocent people. Per usual, U.S. politicians immediately took to Twitter to send their “thoughts and prayers.” It didn’t go over well with the American public.
aN uNEXPECTED RESPONSE …
The hashtag #thoughtsandprayers started trending on Twitter but not in the way you think. Americans tweeted their frustrations with the U.S. Congress’s inaction on gun control. Their message: Simply tweeting about “thoughts and prayer” won’t change anything. The controversial front page of today’s NY Daily News pretty much sums it up.
Speak Up or DO SOMETHING
This latest tragedy is just another example of the increasing role Internet and tech companies are playing to either help force difficult political debates or help take action against domestic and global terrorists. For instance, earlier today, five tech companies including Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Google, and Microsoft told France that they would “define and establish an offensive strategy of counter-discourse that will specifically target the online activities” of terrorist group ISIS.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
Break Me Off A Piece of that…
If Yahoo’s board decides to sell the company’s Web business, it looks like almost everyone and their Moms want a piece of the action. Potential buyers range from private equity firms to media and telecom companies like Verizon Communications (they bought AOL earlier this year), Time Inc., and even News Corp. (owner of Wall Street Journal). Not everyone’s jumping on the Yahoo bandwagon. Chinese Internet company Alibaba is not interested. Decisions should be made by the time the company’s marathon board meeting ends tomorrow. The suspense!
THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’
German banking startup Number26 is going after Europeans with aversions to traditional banking. It’s expanding across Europe to service countries like France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Slovakia and Spain.
When a potentially better product is on your heels, you have to act quick! Global bank Goldman Sachs is creating its own version of “bitcoin” or virtual currency called SETLCoin. Trading securities and settling those trades may just get a bit easier and faster.
Spotify is world’s the #1 music streaming service, but Pandora isn’t going out like that. Pandora’s pretty popular in the U.S., but it’s putting in work to compete in a very competitive market. New strategy: Attack the Spotify-types’ “free” music model. Record labels are listening, but that message probably won’t go over well with consumers.
YouTube is forming closer ties with Hollywood. The online platform is wheeling and dealing (in a good way) to get rights for TV shows and movies to stream via its new YouTube Red Service.
Parking your own car is such a waste of time. Don’t worry! Startup valet-parking company Luxe has got you. Start saving your coins. Depending on the U.S. city, pricing could range from US $5-7 hourly or US$15 – US$30 daily.
The Virtual Skinny: #GivingTuesday
12.1.2015
Good to Know: Today is World Aids Day. If you’re on Snapchat today, your Snaps could go a long way. Bono’s RED organization, which fights AIDS, is partnering with Snapchat on special filters. Apply one of their three filters to your Snaps, and Bill and Melinda Gates will pump US $3 into RED for each Snap sent. #GivingTuesday
THE SKINNY
Shut It Down …
This past Sunday, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) bowed out of collecting American’s phone records.
Wait, What?
The NSA collecting phone records on millions of Americans was a thing until the USA Freedom Act came along. The act is the U.S. Congress’s solution to make things better after ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked info about the intelligence agency’s government surveillance practices. Part of the law requires that the NSA put an end to phone data collection in the name of protecting American’s privacy.
What’s the Catch?
Just because the NSA is ending this practice, doesn’t mean that it’s also getting rid of some of the data already collected. See, the nonprofit organization Electronic Frontier Foundation is currently suing the NSA over whether its phone program was even legal in the first place. The NSA says a case can’t be made unless it holds onto some previously collected data. So for now, the NSA won’t be hitting “delete” on that info. Those fighting for Americans’ privacy are concerned that the government will figure out ways around the law to continue collecting info about people’s domestic calls.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
You Always Have Options …
Getting financial institutions to lend money to people in emerging markets doesn’t quite work the same way as it would in “developed” worlds. Silicon Valley startups are on the case. These startups are looking at alternative data points collected via smartphones to help establish people’s creditworthiness in these markets. Makes sense since mobile banking and smartphone adoption in areas like South Africa (34%), Kenya (15%), and Nigeria (27%) are on the up and up. Companies are looking at things like what time of day people are making phone calls, their texting behavior, their Facebook network, etc. All of this sounds off privacy alarm bells for consumer advocates. But, looks like people aren’t worried about that. Philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network discovered that people in emerging markets will happily share that type of info in exchange for funds and lower interest rates. #Tradeoffs
It’s A Party, It’s A Party, It’s A Par-tay …
Turns out that Argentina produces some pretty creative hackers, and tech companies are interested. Rumor has it that business execs, government reps, contractors, etc. jetted off to the South American country this past October to scout out the talent during the 11th annual EkoParty, Latin America’s biggest hacking conference. Argentina’s hackers are turning their hobbies into profitable businesses by selling their exploitative tools as “spy tools” to governments like Iran. Sometimes, it pays to be bad.
THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’
It’s holiday season, which means online retailer Amazon is grabbing headlines. The e-commerce company has a new hybrid drone prototype expected to make deliveries in about 30 minutes. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration seems supportive and is trying to be more flexible with commercial applications of the technology.
Facebook’s shopping feed is off to a rough start with limited product selection and browsing options. In a nutshell, there’s quite a bit of room for improvement.
Mobile technology company NextBit is on a Euro tour with its new Robin Android smartphone. It’s all about the “cloud.”
Some Brazilians aren’t cool with people’s hateful online posts so they’ve come up with a deterrent. An Afro-Brazilian civil rights organization Criola is putting some of their fellow Brazilians’ offensive comments on blast via billboard displays in their neighborhoods. Yikes!
The Virtual Skinny: Keep It Short…
11.24.2015
Good to Know: The holidays can be stressful. Turns out getting on social media may only make things worse.
THE SKINNY
Adding Fuel to the Fire …
U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) are throwing in a bill of their own to heat up the U.S. immigration reform debate. It’s called the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2015. Grassley and Durbin want American employers to focus on hiring U.S. citizens first and forget about outsourcing certain jobs. Houston, we have a problem.
Back it up …
Quick background: This isn’t exactly what tech and Internet companies had in mind for immigration reform. These companies want the ability to bring in more foreign-born high-skilled workers like engineers to keep their businesses competitive. After all, there’s been talk about the U.S.’s shortage of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) workers. So, tech and Internet companies often have to look elsewhere to bring in talent.
What Do You Want From Me?
These companies want to up the available number of H-1B visas, which are work visas for foreign, high-skilled professionals. The demand for these visas is currently so high that the U.S. government resorts to a lottery system for H-1B applicants. In other words, qualifications don’t matter, it all comes down to luck. Groups like FWD.us, backed by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are pushing for “common sense” immigration proposals that focus on high-skilled immigration and immigrant rights.
Taking the Good with the Bad …
The bill wants to limit job outsourcing by targeting companies such as Indian outsourcing firms. But, it also has some redeeming points for the broader tech industry. For one, the legislation would make it easier for H-1B employees to switch employers without fear of losing their visa status. Win! The bill will likely go nowhere, but it’s putting immigration back on the map. With an election year coming up in the U.S. and campaigns moving full steam ahead, expect more immigration chatter.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
Is IT OR ISN’T IT?
Sports fantasy sites FanDuel and DraftKings will finally get their day in the New York Supreme Court tomorrow. On the agenda? Whether FanDuel and DraftKings’ services qualify as gambling. Since the alleged insider trading involving a DraftKings’ employee a couple of months back, the federal government and states have been on the companies’ backs. Tomorrow’s hearing is key because whatever comes out of New York on this issue could influence how other states deal with FanDuel, DraftKings, and other fantasy sports sites.
THE STREETS ARE TALKIN’
Social media company Facebook is in the business of giving away free Internet access. The company’s Internet.org initiative offers basic Internet access to emerging markets via a program called Free Basics. India’s got next.
Microsoft (MSFT) put out a report on the company’s diversity numbers. Slight improvement in racial and ethnic diversity within the company but not so much for gender diversity. The percentage of women at MSFT dipped 7.6% in the past year.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos tweeted for the first time. His side hustle, Blue Origin, successfully landed a rocket ship. Definitely tweet-worthy if you ask us.
Apple’s mobile payment and digital wallet service Apple Pay will be in China by February 2016. Chinese services like WePay and AliPay are already dominating the market. We’ll see if Apple Pay even stands a chance.
Lady Gaga’s ex manager Troy Carter helped her to stardom. Now, Carter wants in on tech talent. He’s launched an LA-based incubator called Smashd Labs.