By Staff Writer –

From what I’ve noticed, the founder of a successful startup is usually stubborn as hell. He won’t listen to people who tell him that his idea sucks or when someone says that it is impossible.

The successful entrepreneur surrounds himself with people and investors who are good mentors. And the startup guy’s vision is so strong, it burns.

You know how you can tell if someone has drive? It works the same way with startups. It begins with finding a partner you can trust. Identifying a market before anyone else does and then going after it, very aggressively. Then the challenge is building out your team without losing sight of your initial vision.

But who am I to say what works. I’ve never run a company, other than my freelance business. But I’ve met serial successful entrepreneurs over the past few years. The important thing is, they hold onto the dream and meet the people they need to meet in order to achieve that dream. And that usually means working on Saturdays.

Twitter is a good example. It rose from obscurity last year, the moment celebrities adopted it. The co-founder Jack Dorsey built a tool for all of us to use, with the idea that it would be a basic utility that could be used the same way water is essential to our very existence.  Dorsey built something people can’t live without (well, sort of). He built a new way of communicating and in moments of national disasters, its use became obvious.

Some people still don’t get the use of it and it’s clear that they don’t get it when they say they aren’t into it because they don’t want to update the world with details about what they had for breakfast.

Entrepreneurs are obsessed with technology, a little cocky about their idea, and are good with people. They network like crazy. Their drive is unreal. The ones that make it don’t stumble during their elevator pitch. In fact, their 30-second-spot comes out so naturally, you’re sold on the idea by the end of it.

Remember, behind every product you use, a person had to take that idea and make it a reality. When you build up a tolerance to people telling you that you are crazy for thinking of such a ridiculous idea, then you’re likely well on your way to success.

The profile of a successful entrepreneur is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

Mark Coatney did such a good job with Newsweek Tumblr, he is now leaving the magazine for the startup blogging website, Tumblr.

In Coatney’s Tumblr blog, he wrote:

One of the reasons I’ve long been interested in online journalism is in the ways it can be, in a way no other medium can, a two-way communication between writer and reader; Tumblr is one of the best ways I’ve seen to accomplish that.

My new job, basically, will be to take the lessons I’ve learned at Newsweek and bring them to other media outlets. The mission is to show how this platform can be key to connecting journalists and readers, making the process more engaging and conversational. The approach will be the same that I’ve taken in creating the Newsweek Tumblr: That the most important thing for any publisher is to first be a full, participating member of the community, and that the main focus should be on meeting the needs of that community, not self-promotion.

The site has followers like Facebook and Twitter, but the quality of the content is the focus not the eyeballs. Other media sites use Tumblr too:

• The New Yorker
• The New York Times
• The Huffington Post
• The Atlantic
• Rolling Stone
• Mediaite

Coatney told Mediaite in an email interview:

So the value for other media platforms is that, yes, Tumblr is a way to tie into an audience that is super engaged, and has the tools to interact with your content in an easy, fun way.

Tumblr allows journalists and media organizations to engage their readers. I have to admit, the Newsweek Tumblr is quite sexy and its numbers show it. With 112,000 followers, the magazine was reeling in 100,000 to 200,000 readers a day.

Tumblr is close to 1.5 billion page views per month. So now at Tumblr headquarters, Coatney can give the Newsweek Tumblr treatment to other media organizations.

I already had a personal Tumblr page, but now I just set up another one to keep track of my writing and to connect with my readers.

Newsweek Tumblr journalist takes job at Tumblr is a post from: TechStartups.com

Stefanie spoke yesterday at the TWTRCON in New York. Stefanie is known in Twitter as @StefanieatDell. The company had a soft launch of a customer service account called @DellCares in May to answer questions and resolve issues.

“Dell’s evolution on Twitter has been driven by the realization that social media has centralized the customer service experience,” says Stefanie, noting that PR, marketing, and customer service are pieces to the bigger picture. When Dell started using Twitter a few years ago, it was the wild wild west. They simply had no strategy.

But now they do. And it’s paying off. Last year, the company reported a social media Return on Investment of more than $3 million.

The Guardian previously reported a high figure:

Today it nearly doubled that figure, saying in total its global reach on Twitter has resulted in more than $6.5m in revenue – adding that @DellnoBrasil made nearly $800,000 in product revenues, and @DellHomeSalesCA more than $150,000.

Although $6.5m sounds impressive, when you compare it with the net revenue of $12.3bn Dell reported in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 it becomes clear that this is only a drop in the ocean; however, the companies investment in social media is not only about sales.

Regardless of your social media strategy, one thing was clear from being at this Twitter conference. You’ll feel naked without your computer and Tweetdeck. I did, but at least I had my iPhone.

@StefanieatDell talks about Dell’s social media strategy on Twitter is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

I attended Internet Week’s Sources Go Direct panel to hear what Gawker’s Nick Denton, venture capitalist Fred Wilson, and Ground Report’s Rachel Sterne had to say about “Sources Go Direct.”

What exactly does Sources Go Direct mean, you  are probably wondering.

Dave Winer was the moderator. He previously pulled together the panel for “Sources Go Direct” for the following reasons:

We want to provide excellent examples to show that the web is about more than traditional journalism, that a new kind of communication is emerging. 

Examples include: Nate Silver, Fred Wilson, Simon Johnson. The ultimate STGD is Paul Krugman. 

We’re also looking for a contrarian, someone who says that sources can’t or won’t go direct, but do it with respect.

The contrarian was Denton.

If you know the name Fred Wilson, you’re probably familiar with his blog.

There is an unwritten rule he won’t out confidential information of companies he invests in or blog about what companies are doing if they come to him to share their idea. The blog has allowed him to tell entrepreneurs what only venture capitalists talked about behind closed doors. Wilson says the “venture world was clubby. I reacted well [to the shift by starting the blog].”

He blogged about how one portfolio company, MongoBD, was getting traction — but relied on the crowd to agree or disagree.  The comments gave him the feedback he needed — assuming most of the people leaving comments weren’t just trying to suck up.

Winer brought up Wilson’s controversial blog post about Twitter. Wilson had written:

Much of the early work on the Twitter Platform has been filling holes in the Twitter product. It is the kind of work General Computer was doing in Cambridge in the early 80s. Some of the most popular third party services on Twitter are like that. Mobile clients come to mind. Photo sharing services come to mind. URL shorteners come to mind. Search comes to mind. Twitter really should have had all of that when it launched or it should have built those services right into the Twitter experience.

Wilson ends with saying he is disappointed in the mainstream media’s coverage of companies he invests in. “They don’t really get to the nut of the issue,” he says.

Denton was firm about publishing remaining the same. People stating their agenda in a blog is not different than the old time practice of people have been putting out press releases for ages.

He says Julia Allison was “a grand social experiment”. Gawker basically made Julia Allison famous on the Internet after writing a series of articles about her until people started to care about her next move.

It’s not as easy to become an Internet star anymore, the panel concluded.

Here are some other ways the blogs have changed.

There are more blogs than ever.

Experts can now voice their opinion on blogs.

The “gate keepers” like Michael Arrington of TechCrunch often miss reporting on companies like Twitter and Google until they get wildly popular — but still, startups think it’s important to get mentioned on the blog. Recently, blogs have grown into media companies and have the chance to buy exclusive access to information (like the iPhone-Gizmodo incident).  And tech reporters can become mouth pieces for companies like Apple.

The opinionated blog trend has spread into other types of mainstream media too. You have the shift happening in TV too, says Denton. CNN’s ratings dropped, while the personality driven shows (Rachel Maddow and Glenn Beck) have built an incredible following.

As for the new ways of communicating on the web, everyone seemed to have different opinions about that.

The panel was recorded and should be available here, but I don’t see anything up yet. I’ll update the link as soon as it is up.

Internet Week: Sources Go Direct is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

Frustrated Facebook users have thrown a digital hissy fit over the latest brouhaha brewing over privacy. Tens of thousands of people pledged to Quit Facebook on Monday, but many got cold feet (or forgot to follow through).

But Facebook isn’t the only company under heat. The Congress is looking in to the privacy practices of Facebook and Google. And the security of iTunes is so weak that anyone who downloads their favorite jingle is at risk for cyber crime — where hackers can easily steal money from their bank account or credit card.

“This type of fraud is becoming more common,” Ben Smyth of Birmingham University told the Daily Mail. Many times, fraudsters pose as customers who forgot their password and can find the answers to the security questions by looking at the person’s Twitter or Facebook.

While Facebook’s practices seem to be invading privacy, many startup companies want to tap into the trend of sharing information.

As long as people see a benefit to dishing out their personal details, they will. A startup company called WeShop keeps track of how much a customer spends and what they buy — in exchange they can distribute their email addresses to interested parties.

Startups like Bluefly would tap into WeShop’s database.

Bluefly wants to target customers’ shopping tastes. For instance, when someone buys something that they need for prom, Bluefly would send email messages directly to the customers alerting them of a sale on formal dresses. The New York Times reports:

“Everyone’s kind of working on different angles of how we give the consumer more ways to target what they want, to ask for what they want, and get it,” said Bradford Matson, chief marketing officer of Bluefly.com. “This notion of how people shop is changing very quickly.”

Awesome. Not. This reminds me of those people who stand on the street asking me if I want to buy this or save on that. Only now, I will get notifications through email. Good thing, I can choose to opt out.

Image: flickr

Congress looking into privacy practices at Facebook and Google, startups eye opportunity is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer –

Fast Company’s Infographic of the day is The 140 Most Influential People on Twitter. Clearly this diagram is a play on the 140 characters on Twitter. And of course the founders Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone are at its core.

Tech movers and celebrities also made of the Twitterverse of influential peps. It didn’t take long for Conan O’Brien to follow someone at random and bring her instant fame (sort of).

Information Architect’s project Cosmic 140 set out to illustrate Twitter influentials by their #name #handle #category #activity #influence. The company also included when and what their first tweet was. According to the Cosmic 140, this is how they came up with the 140 top Tweeters:

We analyzed the data in our Web Trend Engine (30gigs), got a sneak peek into the top 100 list from the Max Planck Institute PDF Twitter research team (200KB), we talked to Twitter directly, and we asked our audience to make sure that we get international tweeters in there as well.

The poster is $99, a bit pricey in my opinion.

Top 140 influential Twitter users is a post from: TechStartups.com

Snac is a startup that wants you to digest information in snack sized amounts.

Want access to the web in 2 seconds to check sports scores, stock, or the latest tweets, but only have an old school phone?

Well Snac might be able to help with that: It plans on letting non-smart phone users have access to the web and all its goodness.

While iPhone and Android apps are popular, Snac’s CEO Mark Caron expects widgets for regular cell phones will take off this year.

A widget is sort of like an app, in that it will allow you to access your Twitter or Facebook account, but it can run on a regular phone and does not require as much energy to run.

Caron thinks widgets development will catch on this year because it is easy to code for. “Next year, you will see millions of widgets out there,” says Caron. “It’s an open standard. Anyone can create the widgets,” he adds. Once the standard is set, by the whole sale applications community, engines like Snac can execute the widgets.

“An iPhone app is a 5 megabyte file and is resource intensive. Widgets are a different experience. It’s about quick access, not about the wow factor,” says Caron. Widgets are constantly updated and only require 200 kilobytes. “We are focused on efficiency. Widgets run without too much memory and don’t drain the battery quickly,” he says.

Watch the demo, although I must warn you it’s very infomercial-like.

He believes the widgets will help advertisers reach their customers. Caron points out that typically iPhone app loses 90 percent of their customers. And mobile websites only get 2 unique visitors a month.

“The trouble is with discovery. In the app store, Apple decides what they want to feature. It’s very hard for service companies to get preferential treatment in that environment,” Caron says.

Establishing the standard is key. Caron has worked in the mobile space for 20 years and helped pave the way for text messages! He was leading a company introduce the idea of inter carrier text messages. So if Caron’s instincts are correct, we will see an explosion of widgets soon!

Snac makes regular phones smarter with quicker access to the web is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer –

Twitter just bought the two-person startup, Cloudhopping, to help expand their reach to SMS users around the world. The Seattle based company will help Twitter keep up with the mobile version of the service.

According to the company’s blog:

To help us further grow and scale our SMS service, we are happy to announce the acquisition of Cloudhopper, a messaging infrastructure company that enables Twitter to connect directly to mobile carrier networks in countries all over the planet.

Twitter also recently bought Atebits, the developer of the Twitter app for the iPhone. And in 2008, the company bought Summize, to integrate search. We should expect more acquisitions like these: Buying talent and products are much easier to do than building them internally.

The Cloudhopping acquisition is an important one, as SMS continues to be the major tech in developing world — not the web. And it’s the best way for Twitter to increase reach.

In Africa, text messages are helping the fight against malaria in Africa. Just one tweet can make a difference. For World Malaria day, Twitter joined Malaria No More and The Cause Foundation. Tweeting your pledge for a $10 donation will buy a bet net to protect against malaria.

Wired reports:

Using a mix of text messages, Google Maps and cloud software, organizers of a pilot program backed by IBM, Novartis and Vodafone believe they saved hundreds of lives in a few short months on the malaria-wracked African continent. Simply by tracking inventory in remote areas with greater efficiency, the anti-malaria groups were able to increase the chances that any given clinic would have life-saving medicine on hand by 300 percent.

Image: flickr/ @Twitter

Twitter acquires Cloudhopping is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

I wrote about how all your tweets will be archived by The Library of Congress. I wrote that piece from the perspective of a Twitter user. But in reality, there are so many people who still think Twitter is stupid and pointless and refuse to blurt out their thoughts on the microblogging service.

When I sent the Library of Congress story to my  not-on-Twitter friend, he said:

Interesting piece, but interesting because of how unmoored and utterly clueless we’ve become as a society. What’s next, recordings of all our farts?

This is so the Emperor’s New Clothes it’s mind boggling! What utter nonsense! It’s like saying we could really understand a culture and a moment in time by keeping a record of everyone’s conversations, or letters and postcards. And school reports and traffic and parking citations.

So? We could tell where everyone ever went too, if we could keep the impressions of every footprint made since, say, March 2006.

How unbelievably bereft of thoughtfulness! We really are in the age of drooling on ourselves as we stagger around in a collective coma. THAT might be worth tweeting!

A non-tweeter’s thoughts about the tweet collection: What’s next, recording our farts? is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer –

If you’re on Twitter, you’ve probably already seen this scroll down your Twitter feed: The Library of Congress will be saving your tweets. The library of tweets will be massive. Twitter now has 106 million users, who collectively send out about 55 million tweets a day, according to Marketwatch.

The first tweet will be from co-founder Jack Dorsey: “just setting up my twttr,” which was sent out on March 2006. It will take until the fall to gather up four years of tweets. Don’t worry about your tweets being saved instantaneously because it will take 6 months for your tweets to enter the library’s collection.

At first, it’s hard not to have a knee-jerk reaction to news that everything you’ve ever tweeted will be saved. But then you pause, and try not to think selfishly about this and consider what this means for history. For one thing, now we can record what celebrities had for lunch to more useful things like insights into the daily lives of politicians.

The Library of Congress’ blogger Matt Raymond writes:

I’m no Ph.D., but it boggles my mind to think what we might be able to learn about ourselves and the world around us from this wealth of data.  And I’m certain we’ll learn things that none of us now can even possibly conceive.

Just a few examples of important tweets in the past few years include the first-ever tweet from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey (http://twitter.com/jack/status/20), President Obama’s tweet about winning the 2008 election (http://twitter.com/barackobama/status/992176676), and a set of two tweets from a photojournalist who was arrested in Egypt and then freed because of a series of events set into motion by his use of Twitter (http://twitter.com/jamesbuck/status/786571964) and (http://twitter.com/jamesbuck/status/787167620).

And while The Library of Congress is hoarding all the tweets, Google will go ahead and give you a way to search them — that way you can create an instant replay of how people reacted to historical events. But don’t worry about all of your Facebook status updates being saved for all to see — there are just too many privacy loopholes to jump through to make Facebook part of public history.

Warning: All of your tweets will be archived by The Library of Congress is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer –

On March 18th, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York put a group of comedians against random Chatroulette players in front of a live studio audience. One man who thought he was “exposing” himself to a girl was in for a surprise when the camera lights went on and the spotlight was shown on a packed room of people, watching and laughing at him.

That is our version of Hester Prynne’s scarlet letter “A.” Except it’s totally anonymous.

These days, everyone talks about building a brand on the Internet, but TechCrunch raises the red flags of what happens when a person’s online reputation goes sour:

Sure, we’ve evolved a legal infrastructure to deal with libel, slander and defamation. Those laws worked well in an era of the printing press, and sort of stretched to cover radio and television. But they are as ineffective against the Internet as copyright laws are in battling music piracy.

Other services like Reputation Defender have launched to try to help people manage their online reputations.

But now startups are coming out and letting people rate people. TechCrunch called this the Yelp for people. I find this disturbing. That said, Yelp has been under some legal heat lately.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

“It appears there is a pattern of repetitive, systematic wrongful conduct targeting small businesses in an effort to sell Yelp’s advertising package[s] and/or services,” [attorney Ronald] Marron said in an email.

Yelp Chief Executive Jeremy Stoppelman, who had previously rejected claims made in the first lawsuit, responded to the second claim in blog post on Thursday, saying the allegations are false, easily refuted and are “borne from a lack of understanding of how Yelp works.”

There have been of course other startups that have tried this before (but failed).

As anonymity becomes more popular than defining your identity online, the information we find could potentially be more negative. Part of the reason why Chatroulette took off was because there was no consequence to your actions. You can just act as you please, until you get bored or grossed out, and hit next. According to a recent poll, Chatroulette is beating the grandfather site, Hot or Not, at its game.

Soon, we will need people scores as often as we request credit scores. If you want to protect your reputation, Forbes suggests that you check your reputation on a regular basis. Make sure your positive Google search results push any negative reviews back. And that you take proactive steps by buying your domain name, so somebody else doesn’t have the chance to.

Image: UCB

The Internet version of the scarlet letter is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer –

I’m rising early to be a guest on Danny Boome’s new show! I’ll be talking about all things DNA: ancestry, diet, and dating. Stay tuned!

Rise and shine with Danny Boome’s new live interactive web based morning show!  At 8:00am on Thursday, March 18^, 2010 Crash Bang Boome Productions will launch its newest show“ Danny Boome’s Morning Glory”

For the next 4 weeks, Danny will be hosting Morning Glory’s 8-episode pilot season.  Every Thursday and Friday between 8am-8:30am, get your day started with Danny and his special guests.  With advice and ideas from lifestyle and professional specialists, you’ll be prepared to handle every wine pairing, gardening and financial challenge that comes your way.

Subscribe to the show on Ustream.tv for exclusive access to Danny Boome’s Morning Glory:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/danny-boome-s-morning-glory

To follow Danny and the Morning Glory Show on social networks:

Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/DannyBoome

Twitter HashTag: #dbmorningglory

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/dannyboome

YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/dannyboome

Our Website:  http://www.dannyboome.tv/news/morning-glory

New Morning Show: Danny Boome’s Morning Glory is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer –

I use the location-based service Foursquare, but most of my friends don’t — which kind of defeats the purpose. I don’t check in that often. Right now, I only know a handful of social media elite who are regulars.

But Foursquare is quite popular at South By Southwest. People are using Foursquare to alert others at the conference of their location. Enter the land of Foursquare (in the land of social media nerds).

Viral video creator Ryan Geist has used Foursquare in LA, but never like he has been using it in Austin. “It has helped people find unofficial parties and is adding transparency to the quality of events. Events are getting votes via check ins. There is no actual voting required,” says Geist, who is off to the Foursquare party tonight. Check back tomorrow for the inside scoop.

According to The New York Times:

“Just as people had to get into the habit of tweeting, they’ll have to learn the habit of checking in,” [Josh Williams, co-founder of Gowalla, a location game].

Speaking of Twitter, there was a line to get out of Evan Williams keynote! The talk must have been boring.

Williams introduced At Anywhere, a service that allows news sites or other sites to give Twitter comments without having to go back to Twitter. But most people just wanted to know about Twitter’s business model. And is it just me, or was it kind of strange watching a straight news report about Twitter?

Foursquare and Twitter at South By Southwest is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer –

I’ve never been to South By Southwest Interactive conference, but everyone who has been says it is ammmaaaazing.

The SXSW conference starts on Friday. But the newbies should know, there are rules. Don’t confuse your internet fame with being a celebrity. And don’t post everything you do on Twitter or everywhere you go on Foursquare.

To get a glimpse at what SXSW is like, listen to Loic Le Meur, Founder and CEO of Seesmic on the show, The Road to SXSW 2010:

Robert Scoble says to only plan on attending one meeting a day. Why? Because you’ll be hung over from the night before. Schoble also suggests checking into Foursquare and trolling Twitter to find out where the “hot” parties are.

Location is everything, but Foursquare isn’t your only option. You can try Loopt or Gowalla to find events around you.

And to ease your iPhone signal worries, AT&T is preparing for worst. To avoid inadequate service, AT&T is setting up temporary cell towers to take on the extra load.

Launch business ideas at South By Southwest is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

Happy, snowy Friday. Do you feel like having some self help ideas for your business? Here are some things that happened this week.

10 entrepreneurs who created companies valued at $50 million talk about their biggest mistake.

Scientists turn body movement into electricity.

Start-ups get $3.5 billion in an attempt to boost innovation in the states.

Bits blogger Nick Bilton talks about the three Fs: Facebook, Farmville, and Foursquare.

Why New York isn’t the best place for a start-up.

100 things entrepreneurs should know.

Anyone building an app? How to deal with Apple.

Online video is hot in China: Chinese search engine Baidu raises $50 million for Oiyi, its online video site.

Approved. Facebook patents The News Feed. What does this mean for Twitter and other social networks?

Apple pulls sexy iPhone porn apps from its store. Prude and unfair?

Unhappy? You’ll have to wait until you’re 74 to be content, scientists say.

Cybercriminals are after Twitter users again. Don’t click on shady links people!

Image: flickr/ veesees

Roundup of Start-up News is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

The “Embargoes” video is hilarious! It might be too insider baseball for anyone who doesn’t blog about tech start-up companies. Seriously, the embargo thing situation happened to me last week.

If you are a PR rep for start-ups, you’ll identify with the PR guy in the video. When PR people contact me, some take the time to tell me they discovered me on Twitter and others flatter me by complimenting my name or some other arbitrary thing they’ve Googled about me.

So last week, a PR rep sent me a press release that sounded interesting, so I interviewed the CEO. I was going to post the story, until the PR guy told me that I had to wait until Tuesday. Ummm, ok. And then on Tuesday, he told me I have to wait until Wednesday. I might still write about the company.

Just an FYI to all PR people out there — it’s important to discuss the embargo issues before you set up an interview with a reporter.

In the video:

PR guy: I’m just checking you got the email I sent.

Reporter: When did you send it?

PR guy:  5 minutes ago

Reporter: Oh, I get a lot of email.

PR guy: Shall I send it again?

Reporter:  No, what did it say?

PR guy:  I’d love to tell you, but you’d have you agree to the embargo first.

Reporter:  Ok, whatever.

[Skip to end]

Reporter:  Yes I’ll honor the embargo for the rest of my working life as I have no intention of writing about your new revolutionary software for social media companies that will change the way social media marketing is done forever. So yes, I’ll honor the f*cking embargo.

I just noticed Xtranormal at the end of the video. The company wants to bring movie making to everyone. All you have to do is type and it turns your words into an animation. I just tried the Sarah Palin Live video and made her read out “This embargoes video is hilarious.”

Xtranormal is pretty clever. It’s worth exploring if you want to tap your creative side today.  But be mindful of what you post on Facebook. Don’t get fired like this guy.

Why Start-ups Shouldn’t Set Embargoes (Video) is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

The State Department sent eBay CEO John Donahoe, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, and Ashton Kutcher, among others as tech delegates to a Russian Tech Conference.

Black Book magazine pokes fun at Ashton Kutcher for being an American representative at the conference:

Good on him for the foundation. But is posting pictures of himself in silly Russian hats and tweeting pictures of his wife’s ass really what we want our frenemy country to think being “active in social media” means?

Here’s a (tweet) shot of their trip so far.

Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) tweeted:

Russia is building their own silicon valley. And they want help. If we rebuilt it today what would we do differently? #rustechdel

Jared Cohen (@JaredCohen), a member of Secretary Clinton’s Policy Planning Staff, tweeted:

Great meeting with Russian Minister of Economic Development. Ministry and #RusTechDel discussed areas for collaboration on innovation

Jack Dorsey (@jack) tweeted:

In all of these delegations one question consistently arises: how and where do we start? And why? #RusTechDel

My name in Russian http://yfrog.com/33fv9fj

Jason Liebman (@jasonliebman), CEO and Co-founder of Howcast Media, tweeted:

@plusk responding to a question about how technology can be used to fight human trafficking #rustechdel #aym http://tweetphoto.com/11756185

Nothing like a happy meal in russia . It was inevitable #rustechdel http://tweetphoto.com/11775885

In previous trips, the tech group helped the government digitally restore artifacts that were looted from the national museum. And after their trip to Mexico, a SMS hotline was created so people could report crimes without the chance of being caught.

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Tech Leaders Tweet From Russian Tech Conference is a post from: TechStartups.com

That’s right. She picked it up over the weekend from QVC!

Vizio got a soft launch of their new WiFi Internet App TV’s out the door and with QVC. Of all the retailers that I would have expected them to court, it wasn’t the aged matriarch. I would have put money on the Fry’s posse. I guess it’s good thing that I didn’t.

I’ve been lusting after these new Vizio TV’s since CES and following their supposed release into the wild through Costco and watching every electronics site for the slightest hint that they would be arriving. Nothing.

I hit up Vizio’s site last night and followed a link to their Twitter account. There a re-tweet led me to a QVC employee with a vague mention of selling “Vizio’s VIA TV” . . .hmmm.

Hit up QVC and hope to God that I’m not about to be besieged by Spanks wearing cougars and find that they were hocking the coveted devices. And they blew them out!

Amazon added them to their site shortly after on the 15th but aren’t shipping them for 3-4 weeks. These sets are truly game changing electronics. Forget 3D . . . connect us all to the web!

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Got a Vizio Internet App TV Yet? No? Your Nana Does is a post from: TechStartups.com

Who are they?

They are the ones that are lurking, listening in that don’t have a vested interest in being a publisher. They have no concern over writing the missives that get re-tweeted and linked to.

The most important Twitter users are those that have an ear to the ground and use the information provided by vocal users for business.

This use could be as simple as metrics for marketing or product sales or as complex product development or predictive modeling. These users aren’t on the grid as having the most followers or even caring about about new features.

These users are in the news rooms of mainstream media, college labs and the kitchens of internet connected families. They find terms that matter to them based on their interests and follow them – not people.

At CNN last year on a ‘behind the glass’ to the left of the main news desk there in the open with an operator (a well dressed woman) sat in front of an Apple Cinema display. On that display was the standard black, grey and white install of Tweetdeck set to full-screen mode with over nine columns open. This was before the Rick Sanchez got hip.

That is how listening gets done by Twitter users all day long. Twitter power publishers that are tweeting all day long have columns for their interests as well. I know I do and I’m not a power publisher.

There is so much data flowing in this manner that Tweetdeck developed a syncing system for columns between computers and mobile devices. Users needed it because they great complex groups to listen in on divergent streams based on interest.

When the metrics begin coming to light from Twitter or third parties that are monitoring the consumption of data through Twitter it will drastically change the way that we view the internet and engagement. The same goes for Facebook, though it is much more participatory and Google Buzz much the same. But these two suffer from a lack of outside development and validation of any numbers that they may produce.

Twitter is the harbinger of many things to come for online communication, but if it is anything in this current iteration of spreading information to the masses, it is the greatest information filtering system ever designed for public consumption.

Why?

Because it is left in the hands of people to filter. It’s not prescribed by a developer or an algorithm that sorts it. The users are in control of what they receive as long as it is in the system. I will admit the that the publishers matter . . . but the most important Twitter users are on the sidelines taking it all in, their way.

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The Most Important Twitter Users is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

Foursquare is making deals. The location-based mobile app just partnered with Zagat, the restaurant guide. The New York Times partnered with Foursquare for the Olympic games. And got Lucky magazine in on the deal, just in time for New York Fashion Week. This way, party-goers can find out where the nearest (best) places to grab a drink or discover other venues that were exclusively picked by the magazine’s editors.

If the predictions are true, there really will be a location land rush this year. Buzz buzz buzz buzz. That’s right, Google Buzz is in on the location game too.

Initially, Buzz initiated a knee jerking reaction from people. And understandably, many people have complained that we already have too many social networks — why do we need another one?

Fortunately for many of us, gmail is already a big part of our life and so is Google search — and Google maps. Buzz is just another way of sharing things with people we already connect with through email, so the infrastructure is already there.

Salon reports:

Gmail, Google Maps and, of course, the Google search engine are already second nature to millions of people. We should be paying less attention to how Buzz matches up to Facebook and Twitter in isolation, and much more to how Buzz might leverage all the other pieces of Google that we already use.

Nice. Google buzz integrates the similar features of Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and email all in one spot. Google not only wants to take on social networks, but be every smart phone user’s guide to the world.

This will make sharing at work much easier, especially if your work place blocks Facebook access. Curious about how Buzz would work on your phone? Check it out:

I guess I should probably send out my first Buzz now.

Image: flickr/ dpstyles™

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The Location Land Rush Is Here, Thanks To Foursquare and Google Buzz is a post from: TechStartups.com

Startup Bubble Motion announced a new product called Bubbly for those that want to create tweets with their voice and have them sent back to them as SMS and audio.

The product is aimed at those that don’t have access to the internet like developing countries but it could have a great implication for the blind. They too can share their every whim . I kid. I love the Twitters.

Bubbly is a simple application that users can put on speed dial with a couple numbers and leave a voice Tweet. It will be sent to those that follow the user and any replies or other voice Tweets can be listened to in same manner.

After working for a company that was integrated with a huge telephony system it has been a surprise not to see more applications like this popping up. There have been a few attempts here in the States but most of them still had a heavy web presence. They didn’t simply go after the most ubiquitous device but the most accomplished users.

I would have to say that Bubble Motion could be on to something could change the way that many interact with Twitter. It could also impact Twitter to get new users online with the service as well.

Bubbly is also going about this the right way by engaging and partnering with carriers. I thought years ago that Verizon or AT&T would have scooped up Twitter and found a way to integrate it. Maybe Bubbly is more the telco speed.

Social networking for entire user base
Bubbly requires no sign-up, no handheld client, and no special plan to use.  Users can use their phone numbers as their user name (or an alias if they’d like), so users can subscribe to any phone number they want.

Via [GigaOm]

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A Voice for Twitter on Mobile from Bubble Motion is a post from: TechStartups.com

Mashable has a great post this morning that lays out Facebook’s history in one infographic.

You can see a snippet of the graphic on the left here. I’m not going to try to steal their page views on this one, Mashable deserves them. So does the designer that put this together.

The graphic follows the last 6 years of Facebook’s growth mixed with statistics that cover the highlights and interesting snippets that have made up their history.

Of course, missing from this is the court case and subsequent judgment for $65 million dollars.

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Facebook History Info Graphic Style is a post from: TechStartups.com

Will I take a swipe at it? You bet.

Google should have paid whatever Twitter was asking to be bought out.

Buzz is a great product and something Google can hang its hat and near future success for competing with Facebook and Twitter – in 2007.

Three years ago this would have been one of the hottest products in Google’s arsenal and one that would have gained usage from the less than nerdy like my wife. But instead she has Facebook and Twitter to keep her company now.

Me, I know better. As a nerd this is too little too late in this incarnation. Buzz is further along than Wave at this release party but still suffers from all the same nerd-centric growing pains. These new products from Google aren’t innovative at all. They have nifty features for handling user interface components but they perform the exact same messaging functions that every other social network app on the planet does and less.

Most other social networks are tied into all of the others in an attempt at openness and portability. Not Buzz. Google doesn’t want to play with Facebook or update your Twitter account. They developed a product that exists within a product set that more akin to a corporate intranet than an internet web app for the masses.

If users want closed systems then why are all the social sites open? I can tell you why. This was all hashed out around 2007 when the first round of early adopters began to use these services and couldn’t move their data or friends between networks.

As a result the platforms opened up to developers to build third-party apps that could integrate data or become part of the larger system. It helped to build the infrastructure for these social networks to bypass Google. Which they did and they have kept on going.

Google has turned into the uncle that you meet at family reunions that is just a little too old to be cool any longer and has a little less hair than he used to back in the day. But that isn’t his real problem. What holds him back the most is that he doesn’t realize that the glory days have passed him by. However, there it’s nothing that a psychologist and a stylist couldn’t cure.

Google should hurry up and get those.

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So . . . This Google Buzz Thing is a post from: TechStartups.com

Eric Schmidt might have said in a tweet that “Hell has indeed frozen over.” That in response to their Super Bowl ad.

It might have had to freeze over for them to run an ad like this but they did it because they are feeling the heat from all sides of the search and social web.

If you’re paying attention Google is about to put on a clinic in brand rehabilitation by taking the offensive with the public at large and win the nerds back at the same time.

It is no surprise that Google is being proactive. They are a company filled with the super smart. They like analysis, solving problems and delivering solutions. My guess is that about 6 months ago Google number crunchers had a keen eye on the growth of Facebook as it began to skyrocket along with unemployment.

They, like others, ran those numbers and did some projections and saw that Facebook was going to overtake them for page views. At the same time Bing was going crazy with ads online, television and outdoor. You add Twitter to this mix and you have a cocktail for diminishing page views, searches and mind share.

Google hit the holidays hard this year buying up all the wifi it could for travelers. If you got close to an airport or an airplane like those cutting through the skies with Virgin America logos you were treated to free wifi via Google. Logos and mind share included.

They began an onslaught of having their various product teams release update after update and released the Nexus One. This new push smells of desperation. Google is desperate to be cool again. And that isn’t going to happen.

They are a tech behemoth that has grown way beyond the ideals the that their founders and early employees espoused. And that is okay. They have a massive identity crisis and much of these acts are something akin to what a tween would do to test their boundaries.

Today’s announcement for a social app is just another misguided decision to try to sit at the table with the cool kids. After working hard at DNS, URL shortening and putting plenty of other smaller independent startups on the ropes they should just buy Twitter. No matter what the cost. Because they will not be able to recreate its success.

Google will release a half-baked nerd centric application for Gmail users that falls short of being complete and will suffer the same fate as all of their other attempts at connecting users within their applications. It is very frustrating as a user of their applications to see these product executions fall short.

Also, the threat from Facebook launching email and search are enough that Google should be focusing on that instead of microblogging and in app messaging. Before Google buys 50 million people wifi again they should head back to the drawing board and decide just what type of company they are. Google needs some serious work to not become the next Microsoft just as quickly as they became the Microsoft, if you know what I mean.

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Google Feeling the Heat is a post from: TechStartups.com

By Staff Writer – Boonsri Dickinson (@boonspoon)

I was at a coffee shop eavesdropping on someone’s job interview. The guy was trying to get a job as a marketing strategist, but everything he said was so vague. I doubt he will get the job. I got bored listening to his breakthrough marketing strategy. But ironically, I did have a copy of Rebecca Skloot’s book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, on the table.

The story of immortality and a woman’s tissue sample is gripping, but without Skloot’s marketing outreach — her jump to the bestseller list on Amazon.com wouldn’t have happened as quickly and it quite possibly might not have happened at all. The book is now No. 4 in the nonfiction books — Skloot certainly played her cards right.

Before the launch of the book, I saw Skloot’s tweets and her Facebook updates about her book. Now a number of magazine publications have published lengthy excepts, including one in O, the Oprah magazine. She was even Publishers Weekly’s cover girl, accompanied with a profile story of her called The Making of a Bestseller.

Every science journalist longs for a gripping narrative. Pam Weintraub found one in her book, Cure Unknown: Inside The Lyme Epidemic. Sometimes when I sat in Weintraub’s office when I worked at Discover magazine, we would talk about how it’s very important to find a narrative story.

Skloot began working on her book at 27 (my age now) and it took her 10 years to publish it. That said, I’m looking for a narrative I can tell.

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How Rebecca Skloot Built Up Momentum To Create A Bestseller is a post from: TechStartups.com