Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘boic’

With Square Stand, Jack Dorsey & Co. reimagine the cash register

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on May 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

They say all revolutions start out small. Jack Dorsey’s Square is no different.

It started off with a modest card reader, turned into a little app and now the company has developed and launched Square Stand, a point of sale system that reinvents the idea of cash register with help from Apple’s iPad and Square’s software, allowing the San Francisco-based company to further spread its wings in the payments business. And if there were any doubts that the company was going after payments incumbents such as NCR and Verifone, Square Stand puts it to an end.

SquareStandLaunches

The company announced the Square Stand at an event in a coffee shop near its offices this morning. Square Stand, simply put, is a point of sale system that allows merchants (big and small) to plug in their iPads (2 or 3, but not the 4th generation) into a stand that comes with a swivel base (so they can turn it around for you to sign for your purchase), a credit card reader and a USB hub that can in turn allow merchants to plug in everything from a scanner to a printer (for printing receipts), a cash register (the Square Stand doesn’t hold cash, just works with other devices) and even the backend ordering system into the stand. In February this year, Square introduced its Business-in-a-Box package, but this is a much simpler and is targeted at larger establishments including restaurants.

When asked why the company was making the initial device with support for only the iPad 2 and iPad 3, Dorsey pointed out that a majority of their customers were using these two devices and as a result they had to make sure they provided the biggest support. The support for iPad 4 (the newest model available, sold as just “iPad”) will come in subsequent models. The company had launched Square Register for iPad app in March 2012 and has made subsequent upgrades to the app.

Sexy cash registers?

SquareStand_Swipe_300dpi

“We have taken something that is ugly and mechanical and made it look like a consumer product that is very sexy,” said Dorsey, chief executive of the four-year-old Square, which is based in San Francisco and has raised $340 million in funding from the likes of Khosla Ventures, Citi Ventures, Starbucks, Visa and Chase. The company is part of a growing number of players including eBay and GroupOn that are looking to reinvent the offline retail business.

Square showed off its grander ambitions when it hinted at its desire to take on the likes of Foursquare and Yelp. Square said that as of today it is processing over $15 billion in payments on an annualized basis, excluding Starbucks, up from processing $5 billion on annualized basis a year ago.

Weighing in at about five pounds, the stunningly beautiful device is pristine white and is made of moulded plastic. The USB and other accessories (called the Toolkit) are perfectly matched to the stand. It will used by 13 merchants in 30 locations. The package is going to cost $299 and and is available for pre-order.

When I first saw the Square Stand, it elicited an involuntary gasp. From packaging to the final product, it is something one would expect from the Apple dream factory; but in saying so, I don’t do justice to Dorsey and his design team. While there are many companies who are following the Apple aesthetic, to me Square Stand represents a perfect harmony of hardware, software and service. (For more on beautiful design of connected devices make sure to check out our RoadMap event in November in San Francisco; to get early access to tickets that will go on sale this Summer go here).

Digital receipts and mobile payments are the way of the future, but Square also recognizes that people pay with cash and credit cards, the company said at the press conference Tuesday morning. The support for third party peripherals will make this into an ecosystem. It will be on sale in July at Best Buy and other retailers.

Do small merchants care enought about how their point-of-sale devices look and will they spend money to replace their existing systems? “More important than how it looks is how it works. It is about making it work simply,” Dorsey said Tuesday.

Completing the sale

The Stand has been under development at Square for quite sometime. Dorsey said that reinventing the register and rethinking the whole retail experience has been part of company’s thinking from its earliest days. If the Square’s original card reader made it possible for mom-and-pop businesses to access the credit card payment infrastructure, with the launch of this device, Square can start to look at tapping into the big brick-and-mortar commerce ecosystem.

“Whenever people got Square (Register) on iPad, the first thing they needed was a stand. So we made one, and one that works seamlessly in a way that allows merchants to move people through the queue really quickly,” Dorsey said. “We wanted to build hardware that was high quality.” The speed of processing payments has been a key driving force behind the design of this device, Dorsey explained.

Square is one of the handful of companies that understands that there is a lot of money to be made in building this new kind of retail system. And it might have started out small, but now it doesn’t have much choice to get real big, real fast. After all it has to live up to is massive $3.25 billion valuation.

Read Full Post »

Hangtime Looks To Be The Watercooler For Events At SXSW And Beyond

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Article from Techcrunch.

 

OK, so maybe we said it would be hard for an app to break out at SXSW this year. But that isn’t stopping several startups from trying.

One startup called Hangtime, from serial entrepreneur Karl Jacob, is looking to be the comprehensive Rolodex of events at SXSW and beyond.

It pulls in events from Facebook that you have permission to see, ranks them by overall popularity, popularity among your friends and distance among other factors.

When you open the app, you can use Facebook to find friends and pull in hundreds of events. You can say you’re “interested” in going to them by clicking a button in the app. The idea is to get people to interact without necessarily committing to going to something.

“People don’t necessarily know what they are going to. Nobody likes to commit,” he said. “So we had to make it lightweight and make it super easy for people to share things with each other, but not commit.”

In Hangtime, there’s a way to say you’re publicly interested in an event, and then there’s a way to privately share an event with a friend.

hangtime-3“That creates this bifurcation,” he said. “It’s a lightweight way of saying that you’re interested in something — but behind the scenes.”

Hangtime follows a long line of events-related startups like the now-defunct Plancast and another startup Sosh that try to help people figure out what to do on nights and weekends.

Jacob says that other events startups might have just been too early on the market.

“The biggest mistake in the past in the core event discovery space was that we had a data problem,” he said. But he said now that social platforms like Facebook have solidified, it’s become a nicely centralized source of data.

In fact, the issue now is that there’s too much data and there needs to be better personalization and recommendations, he argues.

“A hallmark of these mobile applications is that they shouldn’t require work,” Jacob said. “They shouldn’t require you to enter in things. You have to give people a good experience out of the box.”

To get that, Jacob used a pretty ingenious seeding and testing strategy.

The company bought ads on Facebook targeted at colleges in the Midwest, such as the University of Missouri-Columbia and others in Arizona, Nebraska and Alabama. They want to see if they could remotely seed an app on a college campus and have it grow organically.

So they bought Facebook ads targeted at freshmen who wanted to find out what was going on on campus. Once a few people joined, they could pull in publicly shared events on Facebook and offer a better first-time experience to others who joined. When they felt the retention metrics were good and that they could predictably make the app popular on college campus after college campus, they decided to launch it publicly.

hangtimeThe app has an Open Graph integration that puts a box on your Timeline of events you’ve been invited to and publicly expressed interest in. Whenever you interact with a Hangtime post on Facebook and like it, the person who submitted it will get a notification.

That early testing helped set up a good base for SXSW this week. As of Friday, Hangtime already had 2 million invitations for at least 1,700 SXSW events with 285,000 RSVPs.

Next on the roadmap is improving personalization. Currently, Hangtime ranks events by overall popularity and timing by the hour, which means events that are more socially relevant but later in the day can show up lower in the feed.

“We’re in the process of building machine learning systems that literally take what you’re seeing and present new events that are more to your liking,” he said.

The 10-person company has $3.5 million in funding from investors, including SV Angel, Charles River Ventures, Greylock, Intel Capital, Interwest, 500 Startups, Crosslink Capital, Freestyle Capital, Ignition Venture Partners, Science Inc., Disney’s Tugboat Ventures and Webb Investment Network along with angels like Path CEO Dave Morin, Facebook alum and Pinterest monetization head Tim Kendall, Zynga’s Mark Pincus, One Kings Lane’s Ali Pincus and Data Collective’s Matt Ocko.

Jacob previously founded Keen, which was sold to AT&T in 2007 under the name Ingenio, and Dimension X, which was acquired by Microsoft. He was also CEO of Wallop, a social-networking company that eventually pivoted into making covers for smartphones and BlackBerrys under the name Coveroo.

Read Full Post »

Remembering the Long, Strange Trip of Groupon’s Now-Fired Chief

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Article from NYTimes.

With Andrew Mason’s forced resignation from Groupon on Thursday, the career of one of the most unusual corporate chieftains has ended.

And what an eclectic journey it has been for the onetime darling of Silicon Valley, which ascended with blinding speed, then crashed just as quickly.

Though Mr. Mason’s departure from the four-year-old company he founded had been speculated about for some time — certainly in light of Groupon’s poor financial performance since its initial public offering — the exit was finalized only on Thursday morning, according to people briefed on the matter.

It was little surprise, coming after yet another disappointing quarter, in which the company missed analyst estimates and posted revenue guidance that also fell short of expectations. The company’s stock slid 24.3 percent on Thursday, to $4.53.

That valued Groupon at just $3 billion — after the company went public in late 2011 at a $12.7 billion valuation.

After meeting Thursday morning, Groupon’s board requested that Mr. Mason resign. He agreed.

Mr. Mason will be replaced on an interim basis by an “office of the chief executive” formed Thursday morning, made up of Eric Lefkofsky, Groupon’s chairman and co-founder, and Ted Leonsis, the board’s vice chairman.

Mr. Mason will still have some presence at the company: He currently owns about 7 percent of Groupon’s stock, and controls a much larger percentage of its voting power.

Mr. Lefkofsky bid Mr. Mason farewell in a fairly standard corporate statement: “On behalf of the entire Groupon board, I want to thank Andrew for his leadership, his creativity and his deep loyalty to Groupon. As a founder, Andrew helped invent the daily deals space, leading Groupon to become one of the fastest growing companies in history.”

In typical fashion, Mr. Mason described the circumstances a bit more trenchantly. Here’s an excerpt from a letter he sent to company employees on Thursday, which he posted online “since it will leak anyway”:

After four and a half intense and wonderful years as C.E.O. of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding – I was fired today.

He also references “Battletoads,” a cult video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System that a small minority of DealBook remembers as being sometimes absurdly difficult.

A Pittsburgh native who graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in music, Mr. Mason rarely ever seemed like the corporate type. He originally created Groupon as part of a bigger Web venture, focusing on daily deals as the most commercially viable part of that start-up.

Even then, he was known for his quirky humor. Three years ago, Mr. Mason made a video for a fictional “Monkey for a Week” lending service.

As Groupon grew, Mr. Mason’s peculiar demeanor sense of humor continued to garner attention. His grooming came up at least once, as Silicon Valley denizens pondered whether he’d hit a tanning salon before appearing at a TechCrunch conference in 2010 with a prominent bronze glow.

And in 2011, Mr. Mason had an unusual way of not responding to a question by All Things D’s Kara Swisher that he didn’t want to answer: with a “death stare.”

Groupon's I.P.O. roadshow video presentation.Groupon’s I.P.O. roadshow video presentation.

By that fall, as the daily deals giant was preparing to go public, Mr. Mason took on a more professional cast. In a video to prospective investors, the Groupon chief executive looked a bit more professional, complete with slicked-back hair and a dark suit and tie.

It was a persona he settled into post-I.P.O., usually delivering sober financial information in his public appearances.

But other parts of the run-up to Groupon’s I.P.O. in late 2011 were hardly laughing matters. The company took fire for introducing controversial accounting measures in its prospectus, which critics contended masked losses and unfairly diminished a need to spend heavily on marketing.

The Securities and Exchange Commission queried the company over its financial information in a series of letters that were eventually made public.

In August of 2011, Groupon announced that it was dropping the metric.

Two months later, the company revised its prospectus again to further clarify additional financial reporting measures, as well as to include an internal e-mail from Mr. Mason that was subsequently leaked to the press.

Even after going public, Groupon still ran into the occasional issue. It restated quarterly results last year after disclosing a “material weakness” in its internal accounting controls.

For all those troubles, Mr. Mason accepted responsibility.

“From controversial metrics in our S1 to our material weakness to two quarters of missing our own expectations and a stock price that’s hovering around one quarter of our listing price, the events of the last year and a half speak for themselves. As CEO, I am accountable,” he wrote in his letter…

Read more here.

Read Full Post »

“Terminating/Restructuring Prohibitive Real Estate, License, Payables & Contingent Liabilities”

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , on February 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Gerbsman Partners has been involved with numerous national and international equity sponsors, senior/junior lenders, investment banks and equipment lessors in the restructuring or termination of various Balance Sheet issues for their technology, life science, medical device, solar and cleantech portfolio companies.
These companies were not necessarily in Crisis, had CASH (in some cases significant CASH) and/or investor groups that were about to provide additional funding. In order stabilize their go forward plan and maximize CASH resources for future growth, there was a specific need to address the Balance Sheet and Contingent Liability issues as soon as possible.

Some of the areas in which Gerbsman Partners has assisted these companies have been in the termination, restructuring and/or reduction of:

Prohibitive executory real estate leases, computer and hardware related leases and senior/sub-debt obligations – Gerbsman Partners was the “Innovator” in creating strategies to terminate or restructure prohibitive real estate leases, computer and hardware related leases and senior and sub-debt obligations. To date, Gerbsman Partners has terminated or restructured over $810 million of such obligations. These were a mixture of both public and private companies, and allowed the restructured company to return to a path of financial viability.

Accounts/Trade payable obligations – Companies in a crisis, turnaround or restructuring situation typically have accounts and trade payable obligations that become prohibitive for the viability of the company on a go forward basis. Gerbsman Partners has successfully negotiated mutually beneficial restructurings that allowed all parties to maximize enterprise value based on the reality and practicality of the situation.
Software and technology related licenses – As per the above, software and technology related licenses need to be restructured/terminated in order for additional capital to be invested in restructured companies. Gerbsman Partners has a significant track record in this area.

About Gerbsman Partners

Gerbsman Partners focuses on maximizing enterprise value for stakeholders and shareholders in under-performing, under-capitalized and under-valued companies and their Intellectual Property. Since 2001, Gerbsman Partners has been involved in maximizing value for 76 Technology, Life Science and Medical Device companies and their Intellectual Property,, through its proprietary “Date Certain M&A Process” and has restructured/terminated over $810 million of real estate executory contracts and equipment lease/sub-debt obligations. Since inception, Gerbsman Partners has been involved in over $2.3 billion of financings, restructurings and M&A transactions.
Gerbsman Partners has offices and strategic alliances in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Orange County, Europe and Israel. For additional information please visit www.gerbsmanpartners.com.

Read Full Post »

February Cupcake Digital Update – Special Partnership Announced with National Fire Prevention Association

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Dear Friends,

In my most recent update I mentioned that I would be making a special announcement.

It is with great pleasure I not only present of our latest, delightful App, Wubbzy’s Fire Engine Adventure, but also announce the start of our partnership with the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA).
.
You may learn more about the App and to view the it’s trailer by visiting:
http://www.cupcakedigital.com/apps/wubbzys-fire-engine-adventure/

fir2

This partnership includes:
·      A paid sponsorship of the Wubbzy’s Fire Engine Adventure App itself during National Fire Prevention Week (Sunday, 10/6 – Saturday, 10/13); and,
·      A commission for Cupcake to produce an App dedicated to fire safety featuring Sparky the Fire Dog.

To read the first in a series of press releases about our partnership please visit:
http://www.cupcakedigital.com/blog/the-nfpa-and-sparky-the-fire-dog-partner-with-cupcake-digital/

To highlight this association, Wubbzy’s Fire Engine Adventure includes a special learning section providing children and caregivers with important fire safety information. It is a strong proof point of our belief in “the power of play” and its ability to drive awareness and educate children about very important causes such as fire prevention.

sparkyThis content is a further enhancement to our mission of incorporating educational opportunities and Common Core State Standards into all our Apps.

In the months to come we will be making other exciting partnership announcements regarding additional licenses we will be “on boarding” and cause-related sponsorships.

I would encourage you to download the application by visiting http://www.cupcakedigital.com/apps/wubbzys-fire-engine-adventure/
and click on the store icon of your choice (iTunes, Amazon, Google Play or Nook).

Give it a test drive, and write a review about it.

As this is a special partnership for us, please do take a moment to post or write about it on your social networks, blogs etc., and encourage your friends, family and loved ones to do the same.

Thank you again for your continued support.

Sincerely yours,

Brad Powers
Chairman

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »