scale

Federated Media Buys Lijit Networks

Kara Swisher in Media on October 4, 2011 at 5:00 am PT

A medium-sized online advertising company buys a smaller one.

Exclusive: Former AOLers Steve Case and Ted Leonsis Raising $400 Million Growth Equity Fund

Kara Swisher in News on March 10, 2011 at 11:58 am PT

Steve Case and Ted Leonsis are bringing their old AOL band back together once again, this time by raising a $400 million growth equity fund. The pair, the legendary top execs who rocketed AOL to the top of the Internet business in the 1990s, are now making the rounds in New York and elsewhere to pitch their new investment vehicle, sources said.

Another Yahoo SVP Departs–This Time, Techie Cheryl Ainoa

Kara Swisher in News on March 10, 2011 at 11:15 am PT

Yahoo is losing another longtime senior exec, this time Cheryl Ainoa, who has been SVP of the company’s Global Service Engineering unit. Ainoa, who was one of Yahoo’s top women executives, announced her resignation to her team earlier this week. She is apparently departing for a job at another Silicon Valley tech company.

Google’s Eric Schmidt Shows Off Movie Studio, a Tablet Video-Editing App

Ina Fried in Mobile on February 15, 2011 at 8:58 am PT

Speaking at Mobile World Congress, the Google executive says that contrary to critics, devices are actually improving human connections. His talk is just getting started. Click here for live coverage from Mobilized’s Ina Fried.

Finding the Scale of the Rest of the World Lacking, Early Designer Rejoins Facebook

Liz Gannes in Social on February 14, 2011 at 5:00 am PT

Aaron Sittig, who left Facebook after being the company’s lead designer for five years, is now back at the mother ship, having rejoined in January with the title “product architect.”

Arianna Huffington on Her New AOL Job: "I Want to Stay Here Forever"

Peter Kafka in Media on February 7, 2011 at 5:55 am PT

“I want this to be the last act of my life,” says AOL’s new content boss. CEO Tim Armstrong’s translation: It’s a “multiyear contract”

You've Got Arianna: AOL Buys Huffington Post for $315 Million in Cash and Stock, Appoints Huffington Editor in Chief

Kara Swisher in News on February 6, 2011 at 9:01 pm PT

In a bold and definitive move, AOL is paying $315 million, mostly in cash, to buy the Huffington Post, one of the Web’s most prominent news and opinion sites. As part of the deal, Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington–who was derided by some when she co-founded the left-leaning site in 2005 with investor and well-known communications exec Kenneth Lerer–will become editor in chief of a new unit that has purview over all of AOL content properties. The deal was signed just this afternoon.

Is Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 the Bing of Smartphones?

Kara Swisher in News on October 12, 2010 at 9:00 am PT

When Microsoft introduced its refurbished search service called Bing two years ago–at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference, in fact–there were a lot of raised eyebrows about whether it could make any headway into a market in which it was a mere pip-squeak. And, while it has been a costly effort, few can dispute the fact that the innovative, interesting and cleverly marketed Bing is a perceptual and perhaps even actual hit for the software giant. Now, can Microsoft do the same with Windows Phone 7, which was launched yesterday?

Taking the Mystery Out of Scaling a Company

Ben Horowitz, Co-founder and General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz in News on August 2, 2010 at 12:23 pm PT

If you want to build an important company, then at some point you have to scale. People in startup land often talk about the magic of how few people built the original Google or the original Facebook, but today’s Google employs 20,000 people and today’s Facebook employs over 1,500 people. So, if you want to do something that matters, then you are going to have to learn the black art of scaling a human organization.

Liveblogging Yahoo's Second-Quarter Earnings Call: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Flat Revenue?

Kara Swisher in News on July 20, 2010 at 2:22 pm PT

After announcing its second-quarter earnings this afternoon, after the markets closed, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and CFO Tim Morse held the usual conference call. Here’s BoomTown’s liveblog of the upbeat performance, which still could not hide the troubling revenue weakness.