Line, the messaging app from Asia famed for its cutesy yet expressive emoji-like stickers, is on track to hold 2016’s largest tech public listing. The company today announced pricing for its dual Japan-U.S. IPO, which could raise as much as $1.14 billion. Read More
The U.S. television network USA had the mother of all surprises in stock for fans of its award-winning TV show Mr. Robot. Completely unannounced, the network released the first 40-odd minutes of the first episode of its second series on social media in the middle of a Facebook Q&A. The preview was released about an hour ago – a full three days before it was scheduled to air on… Read More
Whatever one thinks of his ideology, Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson may be the pro innovation candidate that Silicon Valley has been waiting for. Read More
As VR becomes a force in the gaming world (and other sectors), I can’t help but draw the evident parallels between the emergence of 3D-console gaming and quasi-nascent VR. Though some remain skeptical about VR, it will become a widely adopted technology that can drive adoption of other technologies, just like 3D-gaming technology did. Read More
We’ve passed a significant milestone in consumer adoption of virtual reality and augmented reality — although it’s clear that we’re a few models away from a truly refined VR/AR experience. However, with VR and AR poised to become a mainstream force, it’s the opportune time to think about how kids will interact with these technologies. Read More
Police arrested more than 200 people marching down the side of the road in Baton Rouge, Louisiana last night, according to several reports, including a strong voice in the Black Lives Matter movement, Deray Mckesson. Mckesson, who is very active on social media and police reform projects, was taken into custody Saturday night while walking down the side of the road and filming the protest… Read More
Sam Cervantes is a quiet-seeming guy who speaks earnestly about his line of work. When I visited his Brooklyn 3D printer factory in 2013, workers in an assembly line were busy putting together Solidoodle printers. An army of assembled printers whirred as they lay down layers of melted plastic to make parts for the next set of machines. Read More
Remember Google Glass? How could you not? Born with great fanfare just four short years ago, the device quickly became the object of derision. People who wore them were “Glassholes.” There were hyper-privacy concerns related to wearing a head-mounted camera, and even the Glass Explorer program, which limited availability, seemed to contribute to the disdain people felt. Read More
OMG Digital, a West Africa-based startup founded by Prince Boakye Boampong and Jesse Arhin Ghansah, is on a mission to bring relatable content to African millennials. The two are currently participating in Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator, with the hopes of becoming the BuzzFeed for Africa, or, a media site known for highly shareable content.
OMG Digital launched its entertainment… Read More
Insurance may be widely perceived as a sleepy backwater when it comes to innovation in technology, but that’s about to change. Whether the transformations to come — which we expect to impact the industry on a number of different fronts — end up bolstering a particular insurer’s future or undermining it depends on whether they seize the opportunity to reinvent their… Read More
VR will be big, AR will be bigger (and take longer). But as in most early-stage tech markets, growth will be curved, not straight. There will be a few billion dollars of revenue this year, a progressive ramp in 2017 and a hoped-for inflection point in 2018 (when AR could deliver that magic combination of hero device, long battery life, cellular capability, strong app ecosystem and telco… Read More
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) — more commonly referred to as drones — are on the cusp of a major commercial trial that has the power to save thousands of lives. This pilot [program isn’t taking place in the Bay Area or Boise or Boston. Instead, it will take place 7,200 miles away — in Rwanda. Read More
What if you could control a computer screen with just your eyes? Well that’s the vision of Eyefluence, a Silicon Valley-based startup that is working on technology for hands-free navigation. The team has been working on prototypes, testing it out with augmented reality glasses equipped with cameras that can assess where you’re looking at any given time. Users can click on icons with… Read More
It’s Halvening!!! Bitcoin just experienced a major milestone in its short little lifespan. The reward for mining a block (a block = a ledger of transaction data) was just cut in half from 25 bitcoins to 12.5 bitcoins. This means that assuming a price of $650 per coin, going forward miners will make ~$8,125 per block they mine, compared to $16,250 before the halving. But… Read More
But before we go sagely nodding about the coming Augmented Reality revolution the Poképoaclypse foretells, maybe it’s best to take a step back and examine the components of Pokémon Go’s success, and its potential pitfalls. 1. Pokémon The franchise upon which Pokémon Go is based is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time. It has sold upwards of 279 million… Read More
If you think Google has a controversial reputation at this point in its business evolution, buckle up because things are really stepping up a gear — as its machine learning DeepMind division pushes for access to publicly funded healthcare data. Read More
Many things have sought to capture your undivided attention, but that might be the ghost of a goal in today’s reality. We’re less attentive than goldfish; even our best and brightest can’t focus; and we’re more likely than ever to be paying less than full attention in even circumstances where distraction can be deadly. Read More
PostGhost was a nascent website that archived the tweets of the famous, rich, and important. The site got popular for finding and storing the deleted Tweets of politicians and even Lindsay Lohan who plead with the English PM to #remain. “We created the website postghost.com to provide the public with a more accurate history of public statements made by the most influential public figures… Read More
If you’re in a startup or even plan to sue one, Chaos Monkeys is the book to read. Antonio Garcia Martinez is a former physics major turned Wall Street quant turned startupper and he’s an amazing writer, able to encapsulate in a few words an era of greed, avarice, and ridiculous button-down-shirt/sweater vest combos. The world in which Garcia Martinez operated wasn’t pretty.… Read More
Over the past 10 years I’ve been on the first cap tables of three startups for which I’ve been responsible for closing their capital-raising efforts. I’ve raised money from the smallest angel investor to the biggest European VC funds and some of the world’s largest corporate investors. My present role has me on the other side of the table, assessing the pitches of… Read More
