Netscape Communications

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

Kara Swisher in News on March 22, 2011 at 12:50 pm PT

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

Kara Swisher in News on December 1, 2010 at 3:53 am PT

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.

Hire Like It's 1999: Kleiner's Doerr Finally Lands Meeker After 11 Years of Trying (and It's About Time)

Kara Swisher in News on November 29, 2010 at 12:46 pm PT

Wall Street’s star Internet analyst Mary Meeker considered leaving Morgan Stanley in New York for Silicon Valley’s Kleiner Perkins 11 years ago. Today, she finally joined the legendary venture firm today as a partner in the digital arena. It’s a much-needed hire, given Meeker’s deep well of experience and the critical need for the still-lagging-behind-hotter-VCs Kleiner to wade more definitively into more current tech trends that she knows well.

Tonight the Lights Go Down on Netscape's Silicon Valley HQ

Kara Swisher in News on August 26, 2010 at 12:04 pm PT

With a flick of the switch today at 5 pm PT, a critical chapter in Silicon Valley will finally go dark. That’s when AOL officially moves out of the legendary HQ buildings of Netscape Communications in Mountain View, Calif.–along Ellis Street and East Middlefield Road–to new, snappier digs it is subleasing from Google in Palo Alto on Page Mill Road. Sigh–BoomTown hates change.

RealNetworks Founder Glaser Becomes a VC at Accel–The Venture Firm That Backed Him 15 Years Ago

Kara Swisher in News on May 25, 2010 at 8:50 pm PT

Rob Glaser, the founder of RealNetworks, is joining Accel Partners as a part-time venture partner. Ironically, it was Accel that first funded the digital media pioneer, leading a critical $5.7 million round for RealNetworks in 1995. Glaser said in an interview this afternoon with BoomTown that he will focus on digital media, as well as social and mobile start-ups, especially in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest area where he lives and where he founded RealNetworks.

Facebook Scribe David Kirkpatrick Talks about Zuckerberg's World (Which We All Just Live in)

Kara Swisher in News on April 26, 2010 at 5:34 am PT

While at the press conference at Facebook’s f8 developers confab last week, BoomTown checked in with David Kirkpatrick, author of the soon-to-be-released book, “The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World.” Pretty good timing for the former Fortune magazine writer, since the social networking site seems to be barreling through on its goal of being at the center of the digital universe, now reaching 500 million users worldwide with a $25 billion private-market valuation. As the author of book about AOL when it was in its ascendancy, we’ll see about that–but this book should be a great read.

Andreessen Horowitz's Ben Horowitz Talks About Fat Start-Ups, Being a New VC and What's Hot and Not!

Kara Swisher in News on April 16, 2010 at 8:08 am PT

Yesterday, BoomTown motored down lovely I-280 to meet with (relatively) newly minted VC Ben Horowitz, the other half of the high-profile venture firm, Andreessen Horowitz. Started last summer by the pair–who have worked together since they met not-so-cute at Netscape Communications, with co-founder Marc Andreessen flaming worker bee Horowitz in an email–it’s a $300 million fund that has plunked itself in the middle of just about every hot thing in Silicon Valley and beyond of late. But Horowitz wants to make sure you know there is a difference between hot and good.

BoomTown's 1998 Rob Glaser Profile: A Web Pioneer Does a Delicate Dance With Microsoft

Kara Swisher in News on January 14, 2010 at 11:48 am PT

BoomTown did an interview last night with outgoing RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser after the announcement yesterday of his departure from the company he founded and led for 16 years. That will be posted later today, but here is a profile I wrote about Glaser when I was covering the Internet for The Wall Street Journal. It’s from Feb. 12, 1998, and focuses on Glaser’s decidedly complicated relationship with his former employer, Microsoft.

Fred Davis to Join CBS's Quincy Smith at New Silicon Valley Boutique Bank Venture

Kara Swisher in News on December 9, 2009 at 10:26 pm PT

Fred Davis, the well-known entertainment and digital media lawyer, will join CBS Interactive head Quincy Smith at a new banking and advisory firm in Silicon Valley, according to several sources. Along with Davis, sources added, Smith is collecting a high-profile group of advisers to the still-unnamed firm, including Danny Rimer of Index Ventures, former Netscape CFO Peter Currie, and David Golden, EVP of former AOL CEO Steve Case’s Revolution LLC.

Exclusive: CBS Digital CEO Smith to Leave to Start a Silicon Valley Advisory Firm (First Customer? CBS)

Kara Swisher in News on October 28, 2009 at 10:00 am PT

Quincy Smith, the high-profile CEO of CBS Interactive, is planning on leaving his job at the media giant in January to start an advisory firm in Silicon Valley, according to several sources. But, in an interesting twist, Smith will remain an adviser to CBS under a multiyear contract, sources added, making it his first client. Apparently, Smith will focus intently on authentication issues for the company.