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White House helps tech startups make advanced parts
It's one thing to come up with a clever product idea, but it's something else to actually build it; it can be tough to find the materials you need, let alone the tools to put everything together. That's where a new round of White House initiatives might just lend a helping hand. As part of its open data efforts, the administration is upgrading its research data site so that startups can easily find government manufacturing and research facilities; the Department of Energy and NASA have outlets dedicated to working on clean energy and aeronautics, for example. The project will eventually surface government-backed patents and other manufacturing info that's frequently tough to track down.
White House will host its first Maker Faire later this year
Many will tell you that Maker Faires inspire entrepreneurs, and the White House certainly agrees -- it wants to foster that inventive spirit across the US. Accordingly, it just unveiled plans to host the first-ever White House Maker Faire later in 2014. Details of the competition are coming later, but the government is already encouraging builders to share their creations through both email and Twitter. The upcoming Faire is part of a broader initiative that will encourage support for maker spaces and startups. We wouldn't expect the event to create the next Elon Musk, but it might just give indie gadget designers the exposure (and potentially, funding) they crave.
BBC Radio 4 show highlights challenges for 'appreneurs'
The entrepreneurs among you who develop iOS apps might want to check out the podcast of this weekend's The Bottom Line show on BBC Radio 4. In a roundtable discussion titled "The App Industry," Evan Davis spoke with three iOS developers about the challenges of being an "appreneur" -- an entrepreneur who deals in the world of apps. This segment was a fascinating look inside the heads of three iOS developers and what it takes to not only make a good iOS app, but get that app recognized by Apple. Most interesting for me was their candor in talking about how easy (and not so easy) it is to work with Apple to try to get your app promoted on the App Store and the challenges of running a financially successful app business. The developers Davis spoke with were Professor Anthony Steed, co-founder of Chirp; Max Whitby, co-founder and CEO of Touch Press (maker of The Elements for iPad and Solar System for iPad); and Barry Meade, co-founder of Fireproof Studios (maker of The Room). Readers can listen to the episode for free online and download it for free on iTunes via The Bottom Line's podcast.
Google forms the Glass Collective to invest in eye technology entrepreneurs
Google believes that it's naive to build a wearable technology like Google Glass and expect successful businesses to simply materialize from thin air; those firms will need a financial nudge, too. Accordingly, Google is forming the Glass Collective to invest in projects centering on its eyewear. The partnership will see Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers unite on seed funding for those US-based startups which show promise in areas like communication and navigation. The group hasn't named any targets for its cash, but it's obviously very early days for both Glass and the Collective -- Google needs more developers in the field before it can shower companies with support. Update: According to TechCrunch, Google mentioned during the event that it hopes to get Glass hardware into developers hands "in the next month." Since it started preregistering folks at last year's I/O event, we'd also hope they will arrive in time for this year's Google I/O and inevitable skydive-to-stage live stream.
New TechCrunch app combines the best of TechCrunch and CrunchBase
TechCrunch took its popular iPad app, shrunk it down and ported it to the iPhone. The essential research app for tech entrepreneurs shares the same features as the iPad version, but has a UI that's optimized for the iPhone's smaller screen. You can read breaking news stories, follow what top journalists are saying about hot tech topics and browse CrunchBase for information on startups, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. There's also a new video feature that'll let you watch TechCrunch TV. The iPhone version of TechCrunch is bundled with the iPad version in a universal app that's available now for free from the iOS App Store.
Why entrepreneurs look to Steve Jobs for guidance (and why they shouldn't)
There's something about the juxtaposition of Apple stories and religious imagery that hits Wired magazine's design team right where they live. In 1997, the magazine's notorious 101 Ways to Save Apple story was represented on the cover by an Apple logo circled in a martyr's crown of thorns; this month, cover subject Steve Jobs is graced with both an angel's halo and a pair of devil's horns. (If we get to a cover of Tim Cook, Jony Ive and Scott Forstall dressed as a minister, a rabbi and an imam, I'm canceling my subscription.) Ben Austen's story, about the impact Steve's legacy has on today's entrepreneurs, is worth a read. Whether they take the Jobs story as a model for business behavior -- don't accept anything but the best, push people as hard as you have to, rules are for the other guy -- or as a cautionary tale, there's no figure in business as compelling or polarizing as Apple's co-founder. Austen got takes on Jobs from Square engineer Tristan O'Tierney, Box founder Aaron Levie, StackExchange's Jeff Atwood and Metafilter's Matt Haughey, among others. Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson told Austen he thinks many of his readers are drawing the wrong lessons by focusing on the abrasive nature of Steve's personality, rather than the true keys to his success. Isaacson published a corrective essay in the Harvard Business Review (paywall) covering 14 core characteristics that helped make Steve (and Apple, and Pixar) successful. For company founders, managers and leaders who take Steve Jobs as their model, my observation is this: Yes, Steve Jobs maintained the loyalty of his closest colleagues and got incredible work out of a vast enterprise while, it is generally believed, treating people like shit. You may think that this is an approach worth emulating, but you should also remember that you're not Steve Jobs, and you may not get away with it the way he did.
Charles Walton, father of RFID technology, dies at 89
We have some somber news to bring you today: Charles Walton, the man who pioneered the rise of RFID technology, has died at the age of 89. The Cornell-educated entrepreneur garnered more than 50 patents over the course of his career, but it only took one to cement his legacy -- a 1973 patent for a "Portable radio frequency emitting identifier." It may not have been the first RFID-related invention, but Walton's breakthrough would prove to be foundational, spawning many similar patents, including ten from the creator himself. It all began at the Army Signal Corps, where Walton worked after studying electrical engineering at Cornell and earning a Master's degrees in electrical engineering and economics of engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology. In 1960, he accepted a position at IBM, where he conducted research on disc drives before founding his own company, Proximity Devices, in 1970. It was at Proximity where many of Walton's patents came to life, including his initial design, which he developed alongside the Schlage lock company and eventually licensed to other firms, as well. He would go on to earn millions from his technology, though as Venture Beat points out, he may have been a bit too far ahead of the curve. Many of Walton's patents expired by the time RFID devices caught on with big spenders like the Department of Defense and Wal-Mart, thereby excluding him from any subsequent windfall. But that didn't seem to bother him too much, as evidenced in a 2004 interview with Venture Beat: "I feel good about it and gratified I could make a contribution."
The Kinect Accelerator contest gives 10 startups a great start
Microsoft and TechStars, a company that provides mentors and funding to potential startups, will support 10 entrepreneurs in their Kinect-based ventures with a three-month innovation incubation contest dubbed The Kinect Accelerator. The program is for commercial applications of Kinect technology, and after a "competitive screening process," each of the 10 startups will receive $20,000, office space, an Xbox dev kit, the Windows Kinect SDK and all the resources of Microsoft BizSpark. After three months, each team will present at an Investor Demo Day to potentially garner more funding and media attention. You can apply for The Kinect Accelerator right here through Jan. 25. TechStars is helping Microsoft with the Accelerator and will get a 6 percent stake in the startups. Microsoft has really run with this Kinect-hacking boom, which is good; perhaps it realized that Kinect is truly a sweeping media application that can also do gaming, as opposed to a gaming system that also supports other media. As much fun as we have with Dance Central 2, the idea of yelling at our entertainment systems to play music, watch TV and surf the net is still much more appealing than any fly-step-out combos.
Turn your Kinect hack into a startup with Microsoft's Accelerator program
Wanna turn your Kinect hack into, um, money? Microsoft can help you out, now that it's teamed up with TechStars to launch the Kinect Accelerator -- a program designed to turn Kinect-based ideas into real world startups. To participate, innovators must first apply to the Accelerator before the January 25th deadline. Ten applicants will then be accepted to a three-month incubation program, and rewarded with $20,000 in seed money. To participate, however, you'd have to relocate to Seattle for the duration of the program, scheduled to kick off this Spring. Plus, if you manage to bring your company to market, you'll have to set aside a six percent common stock stake for TechStars, which is both funding and spearheading the initiative. For more details on how to apply, hit up the source link below.
Robert Galvin, former chairman and CEO of Motorola, dies at age 89
We're very sorry to report that Robert W. Galvin, former chairman and CEO of Motorola, died this week in Chicago at the age of 89. Over the course of his nearly three-decade tenure at the helm, Galvin oversaw Motorola's transformation from a mid-level radio and walkie talkie manufacturer into one of the world's leading electronics makers. In the process, he cemented his legacy as one of the industry's most forward-looking executives. The Marshfield, Wisconsin native first joined the company as a stockroom apprentice in 1940, and would go on to spend his entire career there (save for a tour of duty in World War II). He was named chairman and chief executive in 1959, following the death of his father and company founder Paul Galvin. Under the younger Galvin's stewardship, Motorola expanded the depth and breadth of its operations, moving into emerging markets and focusing much of its efforts on the burgeoning cellular industry. Galvin spearheaded this transition, which saw Motorola introduce the first commercial cellphone in 1973, and the first cellphone network in the early 1980s. When he first took control, Motorola's annual sales stood at around $290 million. By the time he retired as chairman in 1990, however, that figure had ballooned to $10.8 billion. Galvin went on to serve on the company's board of directors until 2001 and, though he may have departed, his impact certainly won't be forgotten anytime soon. "We will continue to honor Bob Galvin's legacy here at Motorola Mobility," said current chairman and CEO Sanjay Jha. "He was committed to innovation, and was responsible for guiding Motorola through the creation of the global cellular telephone industry." Robert "Bob" Galvin is survived by his wife of 67 years, four children, 13 grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
Google shutters Slide, founder Max Levchin moves to greener pastures
It's been barely a year since Google acquired Slide for a cool $200 million, but today comes news that the Mountain View crew has decided to dissolve its social apps unit, and that renowned entrepreneur Max Levchin will be leaving the company to "pursue other opportunities." Sources close to the matter told All Things D that the decision was announced at an internal staff meeting yesterday afternoon, and that most of Slide's 100 employees will likely shift over to YouTube. A Google spokesperson later confirmed that the unit will in fact be shuttered, but didn't reveal further details of where the displaced employees will land, saying only that the majority will remain onboard. Google didn't offer a concrete explanation for the decision, though Slide had been acting as a largely autonomous and peripheral branch, and was never fully integrated into the company's larger social team. Its apps, moreover, never really took off, and are due to be phased out over the course of the next few months -- including tools like SuperPoke Pets, Disco and Photovine. And then, of course, there's Levchin -- the man who founded the company just a few years after co-founding PayPal, and who currently serves as Yelp's chairman of the board. His immediate plans remain unclear, though we and the rest of the tech world will certainly be keeping a close eye on him, wherever he lands next.
Snail Mail My Email outsources your emotions to foreign hands
We bet the Britney Spears' classic Email My Heart would take great offense (and potential intellectual property beef) to Ivan Cash's startup, Snail Mail My Email. The 25-year old entrepreneur and lover of the quaint, soon-to-be anachronistic form of communication quit his advertising day job in favor of an out-of-pocket, handwritten transcription service. That's right, Cash and his global network of volunteers painstakingly re-create your digital salvos with the flourish of awkward and potentially illegible penmanship for free. Before you rush to overwhelm his servers with epic, misspelled ravings, pay close attention to that 100 word limit -- do-gooders' hands get tired, ya know. It's a quirky approach to letting that special someone know you care, and a great way to say, "I hope while you're reading this you're no longer drooling or pooping in your pants." (Their words, we swear!)
NetSecure Kudos Payments announced for Canada, is the half-circle to Square
Canada may be moving to polymer-based currency, but mobile payment services like Square -- which cater to classic plastic -- haven't yet taken time to trek to the Great White North. NetSecure is looking to offer similar convenience to the region with its new Kudos Payments service, which just so happens to ship with a shockingly curvy swiping dongle. Similar to Square, it creates a secure 'point of sale' without a hard-wired transaction terminal, and charges a slightly higher 2.9-percent fee to users' accounts for each exchange. Kudos has iOS, Android, and Blackberry apps to tap into the functionality and, even a version for Mac and PC -- in other words, you and yours should be suitably covered. Any roving entrepreneurs who are interested in the service will be able to snag the $49.99 kit free of charge from the company's website for a "limited time," which may or may not expire before Google decides to open its own Wallet a few miles kilometers north.
Microsoft shutters Pioneer Studios, we pour one out for J Allard
It's been about a year since he left Microsoft, but the J Allard era came to a more definitive close yesterday, with the shuttering of his brainchild, Pioneer Studios. Microsoft opened the incubation lab more than three years ago as an entrepreneurial space where designers could toy around with new consumer technologies. The tragically shelved Courier tablet was first developed within Pioneer's exposed brick walls, where Allard and his Alchemy Ventures team also worked on the Xbox, Zune and Windows Phone 7. Now, however, a Microsoft spokeswoman has confirmed that the downtown Seattle office is no longer occupied, telling CNET that many of the lab's employees have either left, or moved on to different positions within the company. Pioneer co-founder Georg Petschnigg left Microsoft in April to pursue an "undisclosed new venture," while fellow godfather Jonathan Harris is still at Redmond, where he serves as "principle experience director," according to their respective LinkedIn profiles. The spokeswoman didn't offer a specific reason for the decision, but in a now-ominous video posted to Microsoft's developer site back in October, Petschnigg acknowledged that the unit's innovative spirit would frequently lead to dead ends. "Often times our work just doesn't go anywhere," he explained, adding that Pioneer would only pursue projects expected to bring in more than $100 million a year. "That's one of the perils of being an entrepreneur." See the full video after the break.
White iPhone conversion kits land teenage entrepreneur in hot water
Since Apple's apparently having trouble making a white iPhone 4, a 17-year-old entrepreneur decided to do it himself. Fei Lam purchased white iPhone parts directly from Foxconn, the overseas factory that manufactures many of Apple's products, including the iPhone. He put up a website, WhiteiPhone4Now, that offers conversion kits consisting of the front and back plate plus home button; you can currently buy the complete kit for US$279. Since August, Lam has sold more than US$130,000 in conversion kits, which Lam says will help him pay for college. It sounds like a typical, all-American success story...but of course, someone higher up is trying to smack him down. Lam says he has received an email from a "private investigator" accusing him of selling stolen goods. "They are some kind of anti-counterfeit/trademark firm, which sounds ridiculous, similar to what Apple is bringing up to remove White iPhone 4 Listings on eBay. I don't know how this legal stuff works." Assuming this isn't all just a huge publicity stunt on Lam's part, the idea that these white iPhone 4 parts were "stolen" seems ludicrous -- maybe not from a legal perspective, but definitely from a common sense perspective. Sure, Apple may technically own those parts, and sure, Foxconn technically doesn't have the right to sell those parts to a third-party without Apple's consent. But considering that Apple's not releasing a white iPhone 4 until Spring 2011, if ever, it's fairly likely those parts were just going to end up at a Shenzhen landfill anyway. I say let the kid sell some conversion kits; at almost $300 a pop, he's probably not going to sell more than a few thousand anyway. And besides, it's not like Lam is hurting Apple's bottom line in any way: conversion kit buyers had to buy an iPhone 4 on their own in the first place. Apple, if you really are going after this poor guy, then in the spirit of the Beatles, just let it be.
CD Projekt co-founders named 'Entrepreneurs of the Year'
Michal Kicinski and Marcin Iwinski, co-founders of Polish video game publisher and distributor CD Projekt, were recently recognized by financial firm Ernst and Young, who named the pair Poland's "Entrepreneurs of the Year" as part of a contest the firm holds in 50 countries across the globe. The two were chosen for the success of their start-up company (which has become the largest games distributor in Poland) and for their first foray into game development, The Witcher, which has sold more than one million copies worldwide. In June, the pair will face off against finalists from the other 49 countries in an entrepreneurial battle royale -- the winner of which will earn the coveted "World's Best Entrepreneur" coffee mug. How prestigious!
Leadership in EVE Online applicable to real-world ventures
EVE Online has been getting increased mainstream media coverage. Recently the New York Times covered EVE's Council of Stellar Management (CSM) summit in Reykjavik, as well as the self-styled 'bad guy' alliance Band of Brother's initiative to annihilate their rivals in New Eden, wiping them from New Eden's star maps. A new MMO article at Forbes takes a close look at the corporate paradigm of EVE Online, both in-game and out. The piece touches on the views of Goonswarm alliance leader and CSM delegate Sean Conover (aka Darius Johnson, CEO of Goonfleet) and the real-world CEO of CCP Games, Hilmar Veigar Petursson. The Icelandic CEO states: "There isn't a lot of difference between what you can apply within the game and out of it... It's more about social skills than gaming skills. It's very hard to stay on top."
