Voices

Silicon Valley Straps on Pads

The San Francisco 49ers have a long tradition of borrowing ideas from Silicon Valley. Their legendary former coach, Bill Walsh, famously modeled his meeting techniques after those used by technology CEOs. But in the last few months, the 49ers have developed a more aggressive approach to tapping into the tech industry’s best minds: They’ve started hiring them.

YouTube Co-Founders Hit Up Google Ventures and NEA for AVOS Series A

If there’s one thing the co-founders of YouTube don’t need, it’s money.

Voices

Seeking “Second” Life After Facebook

While high-profile exchanges like Second Market Inc. and SharesPost Inc. have become the face of secondary-market trading, dozens of investment funds and vehicles have quietly emerged to buy such stock. But as Facebook, the eight-year-old darling of pre-IPO investors, prepares for a high-profile listing in May, the market is at a crossroads.

Pixazza Changes Name to Luminate, Launches Image Apps Platform

Pixazza is dead. Long live Luminate.

Gideon Yu Leaves Khosla Ventures to Sign On With 49ers

Venture capitalist Gideon Yu is leaving Khosla Ventures and plans to join the front office of the San Francisco 49ers as its Chief Strategy Officer, according to multiple sources.

Video: Pixazza's Bob Lisbonne Talks About "AdSense for Images"

Recently, BoomTown took a walk down digital Memory Lane with Bob Lisbonne, CEO of Pixazza, the photo-tagging service that has nicknamed itself “AdSense for images.” That’s because Lisbonne used to be a big wheel at Netscape Communications. We talked about the old days, of course, but more about the new days and his business focused on putting all kinds of advertising within online images.

Exclusive: Silicon Valley Go-To Guy Peter Currie Joining Twitter Board

According to sources close to the situation, well-known Silicon Valley power player Peter Currie is joining the board of directors of Twitter. It’s an interesting choice to bring the well-regarded moneyman to the microblogging start-up, and could indicate an intent to push to an IPO eventually. With much hot start-up experience, Currie is also suited to helping Twitter sort through its current funding round.

Exclusive: Meebo Raises $25M More

Meebo has nearly completed a $25 million round of funding led by Khosla Ventures, with Khosla partner Gideon Yu becoming a board observer. This is the Web-sharing toolmaker’s Series D round, and will be announced by Khosla in a speech at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco this afternoon. Existing backers such as Sequoia Capital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson are also participating in the round, which brings Meebo to total funding of more than $60 million.

Exclusive: Digg Publisher and Chief Revenue Officer Departs for Start-Up

Chas Edwards, the publisher and chief revenue officer for Digg, the social news discovery service, is leaving the San Francisco company, according to sources. The exec, who came to Digg in May of 2009 from Federated Media, will move to a start-up called Pixazza, a photo-tagging site for advertising, “by enabling consumers to simply mouse over images to learn more and see related products.”

What's Up With Foursquare, Doc? Try a Bridge Investment, Facebook Talks and More!

Memo to Dennis Crowley: BoomTown has not forgotten you! In fact, I have been tracking the popular social location service he helms the way Elmer Fudd chases Bugs Bunny, since my last update in April. And there’s a lot of stuff up, doc.

Weekend Update, 4.04.09

Facebook: Don't Be Evil

Pop Quiz: If Skype=Hype, Then Facebook=?