Startup One Stop

Good morning, All,

If technology had a mantra, it would be that you’re only as good as your last innovation. Now, imagine being a so-called tech wunderkind or leader, like Larry and Sergei or Mark Zuckerberg, or even Jeff Bezos, and being under that kind of pressure.

Hot off the presses: Facebook released Slingshot (yeah, well, it seems that Snapchat acquisition didn’t quite work out) and Amazon released Fire, their long-expected entré into the smartphone market that’s not likely to ignite any mass exoduses from the Apple platform. Kindle was something of a game changer. Fire? Not so much. Not yet, anyway. No YouTube on the phone? We’re sure that no one is taking that as being a glaring omission on Bezos’s part. Pay attention and eyes right. More to come, you can count on it. Bezos wants to be a media mogul – he already owns the WaPost - and tech always demands more, more, more. Read More...

Good morning,

All, Or so contended economist Dr. Joel Segall. We understand. Uber recently raised $1.2B, which put the company value at $18.2B – making it worth more than Hertz and Avis, combined. Uber is an app. The company owns no cars. Their ‘drivers’ get no employee benefits, since they are not employees, nor does Uber cover their insurance, liability or otherwise. Taxi drivers all over the world have been protesting the arrival of ride sharing services like Uber.

Uber isn’t truly creating massive numbers of jobs- but it is creating income for people who need it. And jeopardizing the livelihoods of many others. On the other hand, there are a finite amount of cabs on the street in NYC, and they all change shifts at the same time – right around rush hour, for the record. A license costs about $250k, and then there’s the cab itself, which costs $800k+. What’s wrong with this picture? Read More...

Good morning, All,

You might have noticed that there seems to have been a proliferation of co-working spaces, especially in New York. Co-working spaces are the new black. Both General Assembly (which is no longer a co-working space, but that’s where they started) and AlleyNYC have investments from VCs. Which doesn’t mean that they’re going to invest in you or in your company, and not all co-working spaces are the same, so choose wisely if/when you decide to take up residence in one and some things to consider:

1. Most spaces allow you to work out of the space for a day as a try out. Take advantage of the opportunity. Read More...

Good morning, All,

Google Glass. Google drones. Google WiFi. Android TV. Now Google cars, which are being touted as cute, cuddly things that could change transportation forever. No steering wheel. No gas pedal. No brakes. No driver. No owner, other than Google. It basically sounds like public transportation, reimagined. Just get in and it’ll take you from Point A to Point B. We do realize that it’s a prototype, but no brakes? What happens when someone in front of you stops suddenly? Or a kid suddenly runs out into the street after a ball? Oops. But it’s like Google Glass: a shiny new thing dangled in front of you, that you’re not likely to get any time soon, (in the case of Google Glass) what, with its $1500 price tag, no matter that they cost $80 in materials to produce. Google Glass is a limited application technology at best, and despite the fact that Google doles them out slowly, making them only periodically available, making them a precious commodity. In the meantime, you don’t notice any bidding wars on ebay, do you? There’s your yardstick.

We do understand that it's early days for driverless cars, but has Google lost it's mojo? Where is Google TV? Read More...