startup

Startup SpringCoin aims to help those in debt

If one Y Combinator startup is successful, it might have just gotten a bit easier to get out of debt.

SpringCoin (formerly DebtEye), opens its online doors this morning with the noble intention of helping you, or possibly someone you know, get out of debt. No, SpringCoin won't pay your bills for you, but through a combination of its "smart-learning software" and human expertise, it will provide a detailed plan to get yourself out of debt.

SpringCoin isn't without competition, though. ReadyForZero, a fellow Y Combinator alum that also boasts an investment from Dave McClure of … Read more

As it scales, Instagram shows restraint in all the right places

I was prepared to hate Mat Honan's latest feature on Instagram, the popular vintage-filter-photo app for Apple's iPhone. But to his credit, the Gizmodo writer made a little business problem immensely fascinating.

Honan tells a story of how Instagram blew up without blowing up--that is, scaled to 15 million users without losing uptime, industry credibility and each of its 10 employees' minds. The key is that Instagram shunned a Web interface, or a second or third app platform to support, and kept innovating in the narrow space in which they exist: a single photo-sharing app for iPhone users.… Read more

Startup Secret 31: Always be closing

"Never stop raising money."

--James Joaquin, partner, Catamount Ventures

What is the real job of a startup CEO? To get most companies to escape velocity--that is, to the point where they are actual companies, to the point where you, as CEO, can go on vacation and not worry yourself sick about the company surviving until you get back--you need to make sure your baby has funding to make it to your next milestone, and then beyond.

Your seed investment won't be sufficient. Why not? Because no smart investor is going to give you enough funding to make … Read more

Romo the smartphone robot raises $1.5M, seeks world domination

Here's a novel way to pitch potential investors: "Do you realize how young we are? Do you realize that we're going to f**k up big time?!"

And yet, that's exactly how Keller Rinaudo, the 24-year-old co-founder and CEO of robot maker Romotive, began his meetings with investors last fall. The upshot: Success way beyond what he had ever imagined.

Rinaudo recently closed a $1.5 million first round of funding, three times what the company set out to raise when it began looking for backers. Among the investors are Zappos founder Tony Hsieh, the … Read more

Startup Secret No. 30: You and your puny mind

"Bigger."

--Jason Calacanis, CEO, Mahalo and ThisWeekIn

Entrepreneurs often think big. But they rarely think big enough, Jason says. "If it's not beyond your conception, it's too small."

We were talking about Weblogs Inc., a network of blogs that Jason launched in 2003 and sold to AOL in 2005, when it had 90 titles, including Engadget, Autoblog, and TUAW.

That wasn't enough? "It could have been bigger," he says. The challenge was not operational. The structure was there. He could have hired up the management to run a larger network. The … Read more

Startup Secret No. 29: Who's your Robin?

"Consider the dynamic duo."

--Steve Jurvetson, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson

Jobs and Woz. Yang and Filo. Elison and Miner. Strong companies often have not just one founder, but a pair of them. And they're usually very different.

Steve Jurvetson says it's not just that two people can compliment each other's skillsets. He says the bigger gain is that having two different people at the top of a company sets up a culture of diversity and (usually) respect that pervades the entire business.

If you care about the evolution of your business, this is worth … Read more

Andreessen on $1.5B fund: 'The opportunities seem very large'

The team of Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, a duo since the go-go Netscape days of the mid-1990s, is on fire.

Today, their 3-year-old venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, announced that it has closed its third fund--this one, $1.5 billion, brings the total amount they've raised to $2.7 billion, which isn't bad for a time when VC returns have been lackluster, at best.

Andreessen Horowitz now has stakes in 90 consumer and enterprise businesses, including some of the hottest names in tech: Zynga, Facebook, Twitter, Airbnb, Foursquare, Box, Groupon, Fab, Uber, and on and on. … Read more

Startup Secret No. 28: Woo your mentor-to-be

"Get in late, get out early"

--Larry Chiang, CEO, Duck9

Larry writes and talk a lot about working with mentors and about mentoring. His advice for sucking up to someone who you think can help you and winning their attention: Follow the standard advice for fiction writers. Enter your scenes once they're underway, and leave before they're done.

"Getting in late means asking a potential mentor a question based on existing advice that they have doled out already. For example, you would ask me: Hey, I saw your stuff on 'Getting a Legendary Internship,' and … Read more

Andreessen Horowitz raises $1.5 billion VC fund

One of the most prominent venture capital firms in the online world has raised a huge sum of cash.

Andreessen Horowitz (or a16z, as it's sometimes called) announced today that it has raised $1.5 billion for its Fund III. The venture capital firm has now raised a total of $2.7 billion since its founding in June 2009.

Last week, the New York Times reported that Andreessen Horowitz was looking to raise $1.5 billion to continue in its venture capital endeavors. At the time, the company declined to comment.

Today was the day to lay it all … Read more