The gig economy as a driver of innovation

 If you are reading this article, chances are you have taken an Uber, are familiar with Upwork and maybe even sold something on Etsy. Business models that fall under the “gig economy” umbrella have been proven for business-to-consumer and peer-to-peer markets because they make it possible to crowdsource products and services from huge communities of people. Read More

http://ift.tt/1UMaqBX The gig economy as a driver of innovation http://ift.tt/1Y7vkZM

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Reserve acquires mobile payments startup Dash

{rss:content:encoded} Reserve acquires mobile payments startup Dash http://ift.tt/21XpCdW http://ift.tt/1ZRMEU7 April 01, 2016 at 10:56PM  Restaurant reservation startup Reserve announced today that it has acquired Dash. When you make a reservation through Reserve, the app already handles payment (including splitting the bill), but by acquiring Dash, it will be able to integrate with point-of-sale systems like Micros and Aloha. The company wasn’t just attracted by Dash’s payment technology. In a blog post, Reserve… Read More

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Reserve acquires mobile payments startup Dash

 Restaurant reservation startup Reserve announced today that it has acquired Dash. When you make a reservation through Reserve, the app already handles payment (including splitting the bill), but by acquiring Dash, it will be able to integrate with point-of-sale systems like Micros and Aloha. The company wasn’t just attracted by Dash’s payment technology. In a blog post, Reserve… Read More

http://ift.tt/1ZRMEU7 Reserve acquires mobile payments startup Dash http://ift.tt/21XpCdW

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Slack’s growth is insane, daily user count up 3.5X in a year

 Plenty of startups have tried and failed to make enterprise software sexy, but Slack made it viral. Its growth rate is unheard of. Both Slack’s daily user count and its paid seat count are up 3.5X in just a year. Tons of people have still never heard of it, but with this momentum, they probably will soon. What the growth means for Slack is network effect. Each person who joins makes… Read More

http://ift.tt/1RRSZPA Slack’s growth is insane, daily user count up 3.5X in a year http://ift.tt/1RCRe3c

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Slack’s growth is insane, daily user count up 3.5X in a year

 Plenty of startups have tried and failed to make enterprise software sexy, but Slack made it viral. Its growth rate is unheard of. Both Slack’s daily user count and its paid seat count are up 3.5X in just a year. Tons of people have still never heard of it, but with this momentum, they probably will soon. What the growth means for Slack is network effect. Each person who joins makes… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/1RRSZPA Slack’s growth is insane, daily user count up 3.5X in a year Josh Constine http://ift.tt/1RCRe3c
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Palaround lets anyone build their own Tinder-like app

 Palaround began its life as one of what’s now many companies attempting to be the “Tinder for finding friends” – a list that now includes Tinder’s dating app rival, Bumble, in fact. But recently, the startup began rolling out a new product focused instead on bringing the Tinder swipe model to private organizations. A pivot from the earlier general purpose… Read More

http://ift.tt/1N13Uih Palaround lets anyone build their own Tinder-like app http://ift.tt/1VgHqAL

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The 5 top startups from Y Combinator Fellowship’s Virtual Demo Day

 Pre-natal genetic testing, VR drones, and fracking nanoparticles were a few of the products featured in Y Combinator’s first Virtual Demo Day. They come from the YC Fellowship, a program designed to let the startup school help idea- or prototype-stage companies, beyond the full-fledged businesses in its main accelerator. The 8-week full-time fellowship mostly offers remote guidance,… Read More

http://ift.tt/1X3Xuol The 5 top startups from Y Combinator Fellowship’s Virtual Demo Day http://ift.tt/21X9Cso

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Palaround lets anyone build their own Tinder-like app

{rss:content:encoded} Palaround lets anyone build their own Tinder-like app http://ift.tt/1VgHqAL http://ift.tt/1N13Uih April 01, 2016 at 08:53PM  Palaround began its life as one of what’s now many companies attempting to be the “Tinder for finding friends” – a list that now includes Tinder’s dating app rival, Bumble, in fact. But recently, the startup began rolling out a new product focused instead on bringing the Tinder swipe model to private organizations. A pivot from the earlier general purpose… Read More

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The 5 top startups from Y Combinator Fellowship’s Virtual Demo Day

{rss:content:encoded} The 5 top startups from Y Combinator Fellowship’s Virtual Demo Day http://ift.tt/21X9Cso http://ift.tt/1X3Xuol April 01, 2016 at 08:49PM  Pre-natal genetic testing, VR drones, and fracking nanoparticles were a few of the products featured in Y Combinator’s first Virtual Demo Day. They come from the YC Fellowship, a program designed to let the startup school help idea- or prototype-stage companies, beyond the full-fledged businesses in its main accelerator. The 8-week full-time fellowship mostly offers remote guidance,… Read More

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Palaround lets anyone build their own Tinder-like app

 Palaround began its life as one of what’s now many companies attempting to be the “Tinder for finding friends” – a list that now includes Tinder’s dating app rival, Bumble, in fact. But recently, the startup began rolling out a new product focused instead on bringing the Tinder swipe model to private organizations. A pivot from the earlier general purpose… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/1N13Uih Palaround lets anyone build their own Tinder-like app Sarah Perez http://ift.tt/1VgHqAL
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Managed By Q, the digital office administrator, raises $25 million

 Less than a year after raising a hefty Series A, Managed By Q is today announcing the raise of a $25 million Series B round led by GV, with former TechCrunch writer MG Siegler joining the board. Managed By Q is a service that handle all the extra responsibilities that come along with running an office. From re-stocking toilet paper and soap to office cleanings to a fresh paint job on the… Read More

http://ift.tt/1UIszjT Managed By Q, the digital office administrator, raises $25 million http://ift.tt/1X3N9ca

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Slack is work chat’s runaway train, raises $200M at $3.8B

 The Slack rocketship won’t slow down. The business messaging startup has raised $200 million at a $3.8 billion post-money valuation, the company confirms to TechCrunch. The round was led by Thrive Capital, with participation by GGV, Comcast Ventures and Slack’s existing investors, including Accel, Index Ventures and Social Capital. This brings the total funding for the… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/1nPFMcZ Slack is work chat’s runaway train, raises $200M at $3.8B Katie Roof,Josh Constine http://ift.tt/1M6MQfW
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CHKN, letting you build and raise creatures, is betaworks’ latest game

 betaworks doesn’t often launch games, but when they do, it tends to stick. Just take Dots, for example, which ended up spinning out of betaworks as its own game studio. Today, the startup studio is launching its second game in the form of CHKN. Imagine that Minecraft had a baby with a Tamagotchi from the 90s and you’ll have a pretty clear idea of how CHKN works. It’s a… Read More

http://ift.tt/25AUtSf CHKN, letting you build and raise creatures, is betaworks’ latest game http://ift.tt/236qCyZ

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Krablr pivots to crab pricing messaging app for millennials

 Krablr started off as a promising real-time crab pricing engine for amateur fishermen. After a long beta period and a $5 million round with Sequoia leading the round and Scranton Angels also investing, the startup is pivoting to focus on millennials going forward. Read More

http://ift.tt/1VYjKle Krablr pivots to crab pricing messaging app for millennials http://ift.tt/1pQUot0

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John Borthwick, Naveen Selvadurai, and Heather Hartnett to school us on startup studios at TC Disrupt NY

 Some of the most influential and successful companies in the game have come out of startup studios. Just look at Giphy, Reserve, and Operator. But what makes a startup studio successful? At Disrupt NY in May, we aim to find out. Betaworks’ John Borthwick, Expa’s Naveen Selvadurai, and Human Ventures’ Heather Hartnett will be joining us for a panel called “How A… Read More

http://ift.tt/1MH5USe John Borthwick, Naveen Selvadurai, and Heather Hartnett to school us on startup studios at TC Disrupt NY http://ift.tt/1RtV4z3

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Yammer co-founder Adam Pisoni raises $4.5 million for Abl Schools

 A co-founder and former CTO of Yammer, Adam Pisoni, quietly raised a $4.5 million first round of venture funding for his new education tech startup in January. This week, he revealed what Always Be Learning Inc., known as Abl Schools, is working on. Read More

http://ift.tt/1X36JVN Yammer co-founder Adam Pisoni raises $4.5 million for Abl Schools http://ift.tt/1VYgyWE

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Kik CEO Ted Livingston to discuss the future of mobile messaging at Disrupt NY 2016

 Messaging is the hot topic of 2016, which is why we’re tremendously excited to announce that Ted Livingston, the co-founder and CEO of popular chat app Kik, is confirmed as a speaker at our upcoming TechCrunch Disrupt event in New York from May 9-11. We’ve already revealed a number of prestigious participants for Disrupt — including Union Square Ventures founder… Read More

http://ift.tt/1pQrAAS Kik CEO Ted Livingston to discuss the future of mobile messaging at Disrupt NY 2016 http://ift.tt/1M5VhrY

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Reddit’s missing ‘warrant canary’ suggests classified data requests from feds

 Reddit issued its annual transparency report Thursday morning, listing the amount and type of data requested by various authorities. There’s plenty of interesting info, but perhaps most interesting is what’s not there: the site’s “warrant canary.” Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/1NMqlsQ Reddit’s missing ‘warrant canary’ suggests classified data requests from feds Devin Coldewey http://ift.tt/25zoqCn
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Snapchat is wonky or down for some after Chat 2.0 boosts interest

{rss:content:encoded} Snapchat is wonky or down for some after Chat 2.0 boosts interest http://ift.tt/1PImJqp http://ift.tt/1q6SJAb March 31, 2016 at 11:54PM  Snapchat isn’t working correctly for many users, with Stories failing to load or snaps not sending. The outage comes just days after Snapchat released its big Chat 2.0 update that brought stickers and other new features, but possibly more traffic than the service could handle. DownDetector shows an increase in problem reports over the past few hours. Users also appear to be… Read More

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Snapchat is wonky or down for some after Chat 2.0 boosts interest

 Snapchat isn’t working correctly for many users, with Stories failing to load or snaps not sending. The outage comes just days after Snapchat released its big Chat 2.0 update that brought stickers and other new features, but possibly more traffic than the service could handle. DownDetector shows an increase in problem reports over the past few hours. Users also appear to be… Read More

from Social – TechCrunch http://ift.tt/1q6SJAb Snapchat is wonky or down for some after Chat 2.0 boosts interest Josh Constine http://ift.tt/1PImJqp
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DraftKings and FanDuel strike a deal with NCAA to suspend all college contests

 DraftKings and FanDuel, the two largest providers of daily fantasy sports in the U.S., have simultaneously announced that they reached a deal with the NCAA to temporarily suspend college sports on both platforms after this weekend’s March Madness tournament ends. While the contests weren’t necessarily a large portion of each platform (NCAA contests constitute just three percent… Read More

http://ift.tt/1VWgsPn DraftKings and FanDuel strike a deal with NCAA to suspend all college contests http://ift.tt/22SUz94

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