News Byte
Lauren Goode in News on May 16 at 5:26 am PT
Fab.com, the shopping Web site that raised $40 million late last year in a Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz, has revamped its site to highlight more social features, including the ability to filter its live shopping feed by category, buy straight from the feed and see what Facebook friends are buying. Fab has also removed its Google+ button in favor of a Pinterest pin. The company claims four million members in the 10 months since its launch.
Kara Swisher in News on May 7 at 1:37 pm PT
There is a growing feeling that the social communications companies are on a product collision course, with a possible troubled or perhaps more attractive result.
I break down a product the same way I break down a character I’m going to play. I try to get inside the mind of that person — the user, the consumer — and figure out why they’re doing something and what they want from it.
– Ashton Kutcher‘s investing philosophy
Kara Swisher in News on February 1 at 5:50 am PT
Mr. Kutcher really wants to know what’s what this fine IPO-awaiting morning.
A collection of over 8 million followers is not to be taken for granted. I feel responsible to deliver informed opinions and not spread gossip or rumors through my twitter feed. While I feel that running this feed myself gives me a closer relationship to my friends and fans I’ve come to realize that it has grown into more than a fun tool to communicate with people.
— Ashton Kutcher, posting on his blog about turning over administration of his Twitter account to his staff after making an uninformed tweet about Joe Paterno’s firing from Penn State
Peter Kafka in Media on October 28, 2011 at 6:00 pm PT
Google announces deals with “Modern Family” star Sofia Vergara and a bunch of other famous people to make stuff for the site. Next up: Signing on advertisers.
Tricia Duryee in Commerce on October 25, 2011 at 12:01 am PT
Zaarly has secured $14 million in financing; as part of the round, it has added former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, now chief executive at Hewlett-Packard, to the board.
Kara Swisher in Media on September 2, 2011 at 6:16 am PT
It’s a giant, filthy mud puddle of conflicts of interest in Silicon Valley, but everybody’s in the cesspool, it seems.
Kara Swisher in Media on August 31, 2011 at 9:00 pm PT
Vanity Fair magazine put out its high-profile “New Establishment” list of the top 50 people — and guess who made the cut from tech?
Tricia Duryee in Commerce on August 12, 2011 at 7:13 am PT
It turns out the most effective way to sell something on Twitter is through celebrity endorsement.
