The Ostrich Pillow, a cloth helmet for helping people nap at their desks, has more in common with the Snuggie than with a gadget like the iPhone. Yet, technophiles have been inexplicably drawn to it. The pillow hat, with holes...
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Why Technophiles Snuggled Up to the Ostrich Pillow
The Anti-Algorithm: Fuzz Enters Web Radio Market With Human DJs
Nobody knows what Jeff Yasuda’s online music startup is up against better than Jeff Yasuda. The 40-year-old San Francisco entrepreneur has spent more than five years trying to crack the market and along the way has suffered through numerous fits...
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Photograph by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Patrick Collison is CEO of online payments startup Stripe, which is expanding into Canada.
Payments Startup Stripe Expands to Canada in Challenge to PayPal
(Updates with PayPal declining to comment.) Stripe, an online payments startup backed by Peter Thiel, is expanding into Canada to ramp up competition with EBay’s PayPal and widen its merchant base in a country with few options for transactions over...
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Photograph by Pete Saloutos
Tech companies are mapping the insides of stores to help smartphone users find where products are shelved.
Mobile Maps Focus on Helping Lost Shoppers Find the Right Aisle
While mobile maps have made it easy for people to find their way to a store or shopping mall, the options are limited once they’re inside. Now, a new breed of cartographers are venturing indoors to help consumers find where...
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Photograph by L. Shaefer
Brad Garlinghouse said startups are raising venture capital at high valuations, picking numbers for the purpose of “chest-pumping.”
Valley Veteran Brad Garlinghouse Sees Signs of Tech Bubble
Even as Facebook and Zynga shed more than half their value in the public market, Silicon Valley veteran Brad Garlinghouse sees signs of a technology bubble. The former executive at AOL and Yahoo said startup founders are raising venture capital...
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Photograph courtesy TransluSense
Mark Collins, left, and Jason Giddings agreed to a $3 million investment on a glacier in the Swiss Alps.
After Raising Money on Kickstarter, Side Project Lands Another $3 Million
(Updates to add comment from Kickstarter in last graph.) When Jason Giddings posted his idea on Kickstarter in November to build a glass keyboard and mouse controlled by multi-touch gestures similar to the iPad, he didn’t even have a name for it. The...
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Photograph courtesy of The Melt
Over the next five years, Jonathan Kaplan expects to have 100 buses selling The Melt's grilled cheese sandwiches.
The Melt Puts Its Grilled Cheese Sandwich Shops on Wheels
Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jonathan Kaplan caused some head-scratching in the tech world last year when the creator of Flip Video announced his next venture would be grilled cheese sandwiches. Fifteen months and five San Francisco Bay Area stores later, Kaplan...
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