10 posts and columns on grade

Exclusive: Chegg Buys Cramster

in News on December 8, 2010 at 12:02 am PT

According to sources close to the situation, online textbook rental company Chegg has acquired Cramster, a social online homework help platform. The Cramster purchase is one in a series of start-up buys that Chegg has been making of late, part of a strategy to be a central place for student needs.

Exclusive: Chegg Raises $75 Million in Additional Funding from Asian Firm

in News on September 26, 2010 at 8:55 pm PT

Chegg, the online textbook rental service, has raised another $75 million from Asia-based Ace Limited, according to sources. Ace seems to be nonexistent on the Internet, although sources said it is a Hong Kong-based investment firm. The round comes after a huge Series D investment in late 2009, which already brought Chegg’s funding to a whopping $144 million.

Chegg's Dan Rosensweig Talks About the Next Wave of Online Textbook Rentals and More!

in News on August 19, 2010 at 12:58 pm PT

Earlier this week, BoomTown went down to Santa Clara, Calif. to the offices of Chegg, the online textbook rental leader, to pay a visit on longtime Silicon Valley exec Dan Rosensweig. Today, in a bid to expand its offerings beyond books, Chegg said it had acquired Courserank, a Mountain View, Calif. start-up that helps students “share their course schedule, take classes with their friends, read and write reviews on classes and professors as well as find out how professors grade.” Here’s the video.

The One-Year Report Card of Yahoo’s Carol Bartz–Moxie: B+

in News on February 2, 2010 at 9:15 am PT

You were expecting an A+, right? Because of all the cursing and tough talk and uber-sassy assistant and loyal sidekick, Judy. And especially, the use of elaborate barnyard metaphors from Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz’s growing up in Wisconsin to describe the Internet giant’s current state of affairs. But the colorful exec has been a lot more circumspect than you might realize–more Taylor Swift than Lady Gaga.

The One-Year Report Card of Yahoo's Carol Bartz–Deal-Making: Incomplete

in News on January 25, 2010 at 9:24 am PT

Sorry for the break in grading Yahoo’s Carol Bartz on her one-year anniversary as CEO. But BoomTown was swanning around the Sundance Film Festival in Utah this weekend, went partying with those boozy Hollywood types and ended up in Provo with the crazy gals from “The Runaways”! I wish! Actually, running away from issuing any grade for deal-making for Bartz is a pretty good way to put it. Because today, after much thought, I have to give the Yahoo leader an incomplete for deal-making.

The One-Year Report Card of Yahoo’s Carol Bartz–Product Innovation: D From Readers, A From Sheila and C- From BoomTown

in News on January 20, 2010 at 1:05 am PT

Yesterday, BoomTown asked a question on Twitter about what grade people thought I should give Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz for product innovation, because I was torn about what the grade should be. One main reason: Bartz inherited a company that has been suffering from a serious and chronic case of product constipation, after many years of leading the Web in new and innovative offerings. With every other Web competitor innovating wildly in 2009, the lack of spark from Yahoo has become worrisome.
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The One-Year Report Card of Yahoo’s Carol Bartz–Financials: C+

in News on January 15, 2010 at 11:48 pm PT

Yesterday, BoomTown began grading the performance of Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, after she gave herself a B- for overall performance for the one year since she took over the troubled Internet giant. But I decided to be more specific, splitting the grades into five categories: Management, financials, product innovation, deal-making and moxie. For management, I gave Bartz an A-, which some thought was too generous and others thought should have been an A+. Which means, it was just about right! Today, let’s look at financials–by which I mean Yahoo’s fiscal performance and its stock price. In this regard, Bartz only gets a C++ (it’s a techie joke, get it?).
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The One-Year Report Card of Yahoo's Carol Bartz–Management: A-

in News on January 14, 2010 at 8:04 am PT

Yesterday, BoomTown wished Carol Bartz a happy one-year anniversary as CEO of Yahoo. And today, it is time to shamelessly judge her tenure! First up: An evaluation of her decisive management style and tough-talking leadership.
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Happy One-Year Anniversary, Carol! Party Today, Because BoomTown's Grading Begins Tomorrow.

in News on January 13, 2010 at 8:00 am PT

In an interview with Bloomberg last week, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz gave herself a “B-minus in her first year.” The anniversary of her arrival at Yahoo is, in fact, today. (Her first words as CEO at a press conference a year ago? “Yahoooo!” and “Friggin’.”) Predicted Bartz: “You’re just going to see Yahoo bloom more.” That’s nice, especially since BoomTown loves flowers! But, ever the stickler, it is incumbent on this Yahoo-obsessed column to weigh in on grading too, starting tomorrow and drilling down a lot more specifically on Bartz’s overall performance in 2009.
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Voices

App Watch: Registering for Class on the iPhone

in News on September 28, 2009 at 10:39 am PT

Stanford University was one of the first academic institutions to come out with an iPhone app last October. Now Stanford has debuted an upgrade, dubbed iStanford, which lets students search for courses, add or drop them and see their grades.