Betabeat

Trouble in Paradise: Jetsetter’s Founder and CEO Steps Down

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on May 15, 2012 at 5:28 pm PT

Drew Patterson has stepped down as founder and CEO of Jetsetter, the high-end luxury discount sales travel site owned by Gilt Groupe.

Why Kayak Co-Founder Doesn’t Hire People From the Travel Industry

I believe that the top creative people are at their peak when they see something for the first time.

– Kayak CTO and co-founder Paul English, talking about nontraditional hiring at Fast Company’s Innovation Uncensored

Tipping Point?

At this rate, Pebble is going to raise $34 million before the jig’s up and Kickstarter should just secede from the Union and start minting their own currency. Maybe cfundrs or crowdsies™ or something.

– Nitasha Tiku, on Betabeat, talking about the Pebble watch, the most-funded project ever on Kickstarter, which has raised $4.6 million

Gilt Groupe CEO: Restructuring Rumors Overblown, IPO Still on Track

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 11, 2012 at 9:58 am PT

Kevin Ryan is denying rumors this morning that the luxury e-commerce company is undergoing a massive restructuring; nearly all of its 900 employees and business units remain intact.

News Byte

Social Shopping Engine The Fancy Raises $10 Million From French Fashion Giant PPR

Peter Kafka in Commerce on November 8, 2011 at 9:55 am PT

The Fancy, one of a slew of start-ups trying to marry shopping with social … stuff, has found a deep-pocketed fan. French fashion conglomerate PPR — the people behind brands like Gucci and Alexander McQueen — is pouring $10 million into the start-up, reports Betabeat. Here’s a reminder, from a year ago, about what founder Joe Einhorn is trying to do.

Why Betaworks Broke Up the Band

Peter Kafka in Media on September 15, 2011 at 7:08 pm PT

Andy Weissman jumps from the incubator/holding company to become a full-time investor at Union Square Ventures. That wasn’t the plan a few months ago.

News Byte

Facebook, Twitter Finally Link Up – Via New York Office Sublease

Peter Kafka in Media on March 18, 2011 at 7:49 am PT

The last we heard about Twitter’s New York office was that Twitter did not have a New York office, just a place in New York where people go to work. But now that place that is not an office is going to move–to Facebook’s old office. Twitter will be subleasing Facebook’s old midtown space, which is just down the street from Facebook’s new midtown space, reports BetaBeat.