AllThingsD » Voices

Suing Facebook? Best of Luck.

Ronald Barusch — Fri, 25 May 2012 20:44:32 +0000

By Wednesday, after just three days of trading, several lawsuits had been filed against Facebook complaining about the adequacy of its prospectus disclosure. However, at least so far, there is no indication that anything is wrong with that prospectus.

It is true that much has been made (including by me) of reported changes made by certain research analysts in their estimates of future performance. Let’s come back to that after we look at the facts on the prospectus.

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SpaceX Capsule Joins to Space Station

Andy Pasztor — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:40:59 +0000

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. made history Friday by attaching the first private spacecraft to the international space station, a move that ultimately could change the economics and politics of U.S. space exploration.

The unmanned Dragon capsule’s halting, painstakingly slow final movements toward the station, where it was grabbed by a robotic arm at 9:56 a.m. Eastern daylight saving time, represents a first-of-its-kind achievement in the annals of space science. Until the Southern California company, known as SpaceX, succeeded in attaching the capsule to the space station, only governmental agencies had attempted such a rendezvous.

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Some Facebook Underwriters Helped Short Sellers

Tom Lauricella, Jenny Strasburg and Jonathan Cheng — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:00:43 +0000

As traders at Morgan Stanley were frantically trying to shore up Facebook Inc.’s share price following the company’s initial public offering, other managers on the deal were helping short sellers bet that the newly minted stock would fall.

Trading desks at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., two of the firms that helped Morgan Stanley underwrite the IPO, were among those lending out Facebook shares that hedge funds needed for short sales, according to people familiar with the matter.

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Story Telling

Eric Johnson — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:59:02 +0000

We’re at the end of the lifespan of the current generation of consoles, so the focus has been on the depth of story. When the new generation of hardware comes out, people will revel in the graphics and story will be swept aside again.

– Shadowrun creator Jordan Weisman

My Other Phone Is a Phone

Beth Callaghan — Thu, 24 May 2012 23:30:29 +0000

A new study from Forrester Research on technology adoption by urban Chinese consumers also illustrates the power of the mobile Internet in China. Out of more than 3,600 people surveyed, 71 percent use their phones to go online at least once daily. Their e-commerce-related activities are outlined in the chart below, but what it doesn’t show is also interesting: Fully one-third of the consumers surveyed own two or more active mobile phones.

Chart/data courtesy of Forrester Research

Litigation Arises Over Dish's Ad-Skipping DVR

Shalini Ramachandran and John Jannarone — Thu, 24 May 2012 22:45:49 +0000

Dish Network Corp.’s battle with the major TV broadcasters over the satellite company’s new ad-skipping device has moved into the courts.

On Thursday Dish sued the four major broadcast networks in federal court asking for a “declaratory judgment” that a controversial ad-skipping feature on its new digital video recorder doesn’t infringe copyright.

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SpaceX Capsule Reaches Milestone With Space Maneuvers

Andy Pasztor — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:49:43 +0000

A private unmanned spacecraft appeared to complete a series of maneuvers around the international space station flawlessly on Thursday, clearing the last major hurdle before a historic docking attempt planned for Friday.

The tests demonstrated that sensors, navigation equipment, communications links and computer-controlled propulsion systems aboard the Dragon capsule were working properly.

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Some Big Firms Got Facebook Warning

Gina Chon, Jenny Strasburg and Anupreeta Das — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:15:47 +0000

Capital Research & Management wanted to buy into the Facebook Inc. initial public offering. But days before the IPO, an underwriting bank on the deal warned the big investment firm about Facebook’s dimming revenue prospects.

The Los Angeles firm, armed with information from a May 11 “roadshow” meeting with underwriters and Facebook, along with similar estimates of its own, slashed the number of shares it intended to buy. The night before trading began, a Capital Research manager told a banker at Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter, that the deal’s pricing was “ridiculous,” according to a person familiar with the situation. Some Capital Research fund managers didn’t buy into the IPO at all, say people familiar with the matter.

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[mer-i-tok-ruh-see]: An elite group of people whose progress is based on ability and talent rather than on class privilege or wealth.

Eric Johnson — Thu, 24 May 2012 06:59:50 +0000

It’s a meritocracy. I have no doubt that there are pockets of issues. I can only speak about Sequoia, we have quite a few women partners.

– Sequoia Capital partner Greg McAdoo, answering a panel questions at TechCrunch Disrupt about whether there’s sexism in the venture capital industry

A Brief Rant About Recapitulation (Comic)

Voices — Wed, 23 May 2012 23:45:25 +0000

Here is the latest comic from our Joy of Tech friends at Geek Culture, Nitrozac and Snaggy. Joy of Tech appears three times a week in the Voices section of this site.

Pandora's Loss Widens, but Sales Jump

Tess Stynes — Wed, 23 May 2012 23:21:29 +0000

Pandora Media Inc. on Wednesday reported a wider loss for its fiscal first quarter on higher costs, but its revenue jumped 58 percent and the Internet radio company raised its outlook.

Its shares rose 11 percent to $11.45 in after-hours trading.

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Twenty Things About TaskRabbit Founder Leah Busque

Beth Callaghan — Wed, 23 May 2012 22:19:53 +0000

TaskRabbit founder Leah Busque was a software engineer in Boston (with a well-documented B.S. in computer science) when the concept of “service networking” occurred to her. Not quite four years later, her San Francisco-based company has 40 employees. By answering 20 of the questions that make up Ten Things About Me, she offers a little insight into what it takes to make that kind of thing happen.

What was your favorite TV show as a kid?
Star Trek: Next Generation.

What qualities do you like in a person?
Conviction, Energy, Inventiveness.

What qualities do you dislike?
Indecisiveness, Dispassionate, Inertia.

Name one thing you will regret never having done (if you never do it).
Go on a sub-orbital space flight.

Do you still buy CDs or rent DVDs?
No, streaming all the way!

What would you be doing if you were not in your current job?
Dancing classical ballet.

What is your greatest achievement to date?
Building a platform that empowers people to do the things they love.

iPhone, Android or BlackBerry?
iPhone.

If you could meet any historical or fictional person, who would it be?
Neil Armstrong, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Amelia Earhart.

What site/app do you check first when you wake up?
Path.

What was the last thing you fixed?
I fixed myself a sandwich today ;)

What was your first computer?
The one my husband, Kevin, built for my family and me in high school.

What was your biggest mistake?
Making mistakes is part of building a company – the important thing is focusing on what you’ve learned from them.

Do you have a dog or cat or other pet?
The inspiration of TaskRabbit, my Yellow Lab, Kobe!

What’s your favorite mode of transportation?
My Honda Metropolitan 49cc Scooter!

What was the last book you read?
The Hunger Games trilogy.

If you could have any superpower, what would you choose?
Super speed!

Name your favorite guilty pleasure.
Tequila.

What do you drive/ride?
A Mini Cooper.

Who was your biggest influence growing up?
Sarah Sabatini, my high school math teacher.

Obama’s Silicon Valley Connection Cools

Danny Yadron — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:32:54 +0000

President Barack Obama returned Wednesday to Silicon Valley to collect at least $3 million in campaign donations from the center of the tech world.

But campaign-finance records suggest the industry no longer views Mr. Obama, who famously employed the Internet to mobilize supporters, with the same excitement — though he still outshines presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

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Lenovo's Quarterly Net Climbs 59 Percent

Paul Mozer — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:55:06 +0000

Lenovo Group Ltd. bucked the tough times in the personal-computer business with a 59 percent rise in fiscal fourth-quarter net profit, and the company said it expects profitability to improve as it increases its efforts in consumer gadgets such as smartphones.

The world’s No. 2 PC maker by shipments after Hewlett-Packard Co. said its world-wide PC shipments rose 44 percent in the quarter ended March 31, compared with a 5 percent industrywide increase. Its profitability has outpaced that of rivals Dell Inc. and HP as the Chinese company has targeted fast-growing emerging markets while its two rivals have revamped their businesses to move away from low-margin PC production. The global PC industry has taken a hit in recent years as users have increasingly traded their computers for smartphones and tablet computers.

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Investors File Suit Against Facebook, Underwriters

David Benoit — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:57:19 +0000

Three Facebook Inc. investors filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, alleging the company and its underwriters failed to properly disclose changes to analysts’ forecasts made at the underwriting banks.

The suit follows reports that analysts at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut their revenue forecasts on Facebook amid the investor roadshow, a change that wasn’t widely disseminated.

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For AOL, a Costly Gamble on Local News Draws Trouble

Keach Hagey — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:00:12 +0000

Patch.com, a network of small-town news sites owned by AOL Inc., has emerged at the center of a tug of war over the Internet company’s future.

The high cost of running the local-news sites has fueled a campaign by dissident investor Starboard Value LP against AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong’s strategy of investing heavily in online content.

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Now I Wanna Sell This Record Directly to the Fans

Eric Johnson — Wed, 23 May 2012 06:59:45 +0000

What has a record company ever done for me but humiliate and torment and drag me down?

– Iggy Pop, on why he decided to sell his new album himself

Inside Fumbled Facebook Offering

Shayndi Raice, Anupreeta Das and Gina Chon — Wed, 23 May 2012 00:46:17 +0000

Less than three days before Facebook Inc.’s initial public offering, Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman decided to boost the number of shares the company would offer investors by 25 percent, said people familiar with the planning. His main adviser at lead underwriter Morgan Stanley assured him there was plenty of demand, they said.

That decision by the 41-year-old Facebook executive may have doomed any real chance the social-networking company had that its shares would jump when trading began — a hallmark of successful IPOs. On Tuesday, the second full day of trading, Facebook shares fell $3.03, or 8.9 percent, to $31, after falling 11 percent on Monday. Investors are blaming the downdraft on the last-moment expansion of the offering.

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Nasdaq Points Up Regrets in Launching Facebook IPO

Jenny Strasburg and Jacob Bunge — Tue, 22 May 2012 22:55:47 +0000

A senior Nasdaq Stock Market official told customers Tuesday afternoon that it would have pulled the plug on Facebook Inc.’s initial public offering had it known the full extent of the technical problems that plagued its systems.

On a conference call with brokers after Tuesday’s close, Eric Noll, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.’s head of transaction services, said the exchange “by no means would have gone forward” with the much-watched Facebook debut if it had known problems would disrupt a “normal trading day.”

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Smaller Than Mark Zuckerberg

Beth Callaghan — Tue, 22 May 2012 22:38:08 +0000

Facebook’s IPO may have lacked “sizzle,” but it did make at least one thing pop. Below, Greg Voakes illustrates some of the things that are now eclipsed in size by the newly minted fortune of Mark Zuckerberg.

Created by: MBAOnline.com

Plan for U.S. "Entrepreneur’s Visa" Moves Forward

Corey Boles — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:41:42 +0000

A bipartisan group of senators will introduce legislation Tuesday that would seek to make it easier for foreign students who hold post-graduate degrees in math, science or engineering from American colleges to remain in the U.S. after they finish their studies.

The legislation would also create an entrepreneur’s visa to allow people who start new businesses and create jobs to remain in the country.

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Best Buy's Profit Falls 25 Percent

Joan E. Solsman and Mia Lamar — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:32:01 +0000

Electronics retailer Best Buy Co. posted a 25 percent drop in fiscal-first-quarter earnings that reflected restructuring costs and weak sales.

However, the company, which showed strength in online sales and its mobile-phone segment, affirmed its full-year outlook.

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Alibaba Regains Control

Loretta Chao — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:30:14 +0000

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s deal to buy back shares from Yahoo Inc. gives the Chinese e-commerce company the control it craves to grapple with mounting domestic competition and logistical challenges.

The deal marks the unraveling of one of the most celebrated tie-ups between Western and Chinese Internet companies, which gave a boost to Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma in the partnership’s early days but became strained in recent years.

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Private Spacecraft Lifts Off Toward Space Station

Andy Pasztor — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:30:45 +0000

The first private spacecraft aiming to dock with the international space station blasted off from Florida early Tuesday with split-second precision, but the biggest tests for the mission are still days ahead.

The predawn skies around Cape Canaveral filled with the bright glow and deep rumble of Space Exploration Technologies Corp.’s Falcon 9 rocket lifting off the pad, carrying an unmanned Dragon spacecraft on a highly anticipated test flight scheduled to last about two weeks. Within three minutes, the Falcon 9 reached a velocity of 10 times the speed of sound, with the first stage dropping off and the second stage continuing to speed toward orbit.

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And If You Hang Around a Barbershop Long Enough …

Eric Johnson — Tue, 22 May 2012 07:12:48 +0000

… you sit by a cesspool long enough, you are bound to get shit on you.

– From a post on Digiday, entitled “Confessions of a DSP Salesperson”