Aardvark

The Landscape Around Google's Hiring Binge

Liz Gannes in Social on November 19, 2010 at 2:38 pm PT

After a year or two of stagnancy, the Google employee count is growing rapidly again. According to a source, a Google engineer recently ended a counteroffer war with Facebook by accepting $6 million worth of Google stock to keep her job there. But the growth spurt and retention efforts seem forced, and unlikely to be the perfect formula to keep the company at the top of the Web heap.

Ask Adds to Consensus: Social Is the Way to Compete With Google

Liz Gannes in Social on November 9, 2010 at 1:00 pm PT

IAC’s Ask.com is giving up the ghost on algorithmic search and Web crawling. Rather than continuing to wilt on search or competing directly with Google, IAC said today it is changing strategy to Q&A search. That will strike 130 engineering jobs in New Jersey and China, according to Bloomberg.

"Super Angel" Aydin Senkut Talks About VCs, Start-Ups and Shaking Up Tech Investing

Kara Swisher in News on August 23, 2010 at 7:11 am PT

While in Vancouver last week, BoomTown got some time to chat with Aydin Senkut about his recent announcement of a new $40 million investment fund, which is part of a “super angel” trend in Silicon Valley. In many ways, the concept of a super angel was pioneered by well-known tech investor Ron Conway, but now the market is getting very crowded with others.

Question: How Many Q&A Services Does the Web Need?

Peter Kafka in Media on July 27, 2010 at 4:00 am PT

Add one more: Ask.com, the search engine you never remember to use, tries yet another strategy.

Hunch Gets It Right, Adds a $10 Million Series B Round Led by Khosla Ventures

Peter Kafka in Media on March 12, 2010 at 1:40 pm PT

The crowdsourced recommendations site led by Caterina Fake and Chris Dixon gets a big vote of confidence from a high-profile investor.

Confirmed: Google Acquires DocVerse in Office Faceoff With Microsoft [UPDATED]

Kara Swisher in News on March 5, 2010 at 11:12 am PT

Continuing its acquisition spree, Google has snapped up DocVerse, a start-up that allows users of Microsoft Office documents to collaborate in real-time on the Web, several sources said. Sources said the price was in the $25 to $30 million range. It’s yet another shot across Microsoft’s software bow by Google, so the brewing war over the cloud between Google and Microsoft just become a lot more interesting.

Series Seed Documents Legal Guru Ted Wang Speaks! (Plus Get Your Free Term Sheet Here)

Kara Swisher in News on March 4, 2010 at 5:30 am PT

BoomTown finally got to meet Silicon Valley lawyer Ted Wang today, which was kind of a thrill since most tight-lipped attorneys run in the other direction when they see me coming. But Wang–who works for Fenwick & West and is a popular legal adviser to a spate of digital start-ups, such as Facebook, Aardvark, Twitter and many others–has a lot to talk about with the launch of a new Web site called Series Seed Documents earlier this week. It’s a laudable effort at simplifying the complex–especially since most lawyers mostly like to complexify the simple.

Series Seed Documents–With an Assist From Andreessen Horowitz–To Help Entrepreneurs With Legal Hairballs

Kara Swisher in News on March 1, 2010 at 9:03 am PT

Series Seed Documents, templated term sheets for entrepreneurs to use for seed-stage deals, will be launched today, part of an effort by Silicon Valley lawyer Ted Wang and pushed by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The point: So new entrepreneurs don’t waste time and money negotiating often unnecessarily complex term sheets.

Weekend Update 2.20.10–Set It and Forget It Edition

Drake Martinet in News on February 20, 2010 at 3:33 pm PT

We’re all about value and ease of use at AllThingsD. That’s why, if you keep reading right now, you’ll get all of the following. You’ll get the Walt’s Personal Technology column with the full line of Mossberg’s Mailbox and Mossberg Solution accessories. You’ll also get a full installment of Boomtown, complete with the snark and analysis you rely on. But wait, there’s more!