Gridstore Raises $12.5 Million In Series A Financing For Grid-Based Scale-Out Storage

gridstore_logo

Gridstore has raised $12.5 million in Series A funding for its scale-out storage offering. The round was led by GGV Capital and Onset Ventures along with participation from existing investors. The investment brings the company’s total venture funding to $15 million.

Gridstore offers a software-based storage system that provides a simple “building block,” method for scaling out storage. Gridstore makes the claim that it brings the era of mainframe style monolithic storage and its disruptive forklift upgrades to an end. It does this by virtualizing storage over a distributed grid environment.

As blocks are added, the size of the virtual storage pool increases.  An unlimited number of virtual controllers means that the storage pools can be allocated appropriately. The controller essentially gets distributed, allowing for more bandwidth as additional storage blocks are added.

Gridstore poses another threat to the legacy storage providers such as EMC, IBM and NetApp. Those providers’ monolithic systems are built on architectures of another age. These systems have been modernized to some extent but have roots that date back 10-30 years. They were designed to manage software solutions, not the scaling amount of data that companies these days have to manage.

The company offers a “pay as you grow,” solution. A customer adds more blocks to the grid as it sees fit. They never have to over-provision and pay for capacity they do not use.

Gridstore represents a new generation of storage providers that are causing considerable market disruption. Gridstore’s challenge comes down to scaling out its offering. Big storage providers may not have cutting edge technology but they do have sales and marketing channels that they can use to sell their newest offerings, often which are sold to customers often willing to stay with a trusted established vendor.


What Would Paul Graham Do? — A Search Engine That Teaches You The Ways Of Y Combinator’s Boss

WWPG

“When should I raise money?” You might not be able to ask startup sage PG in person, but new search engine “What Would Paul Graham Do?” will point you towards the YC co-founder’s most relevant essays and Hacker News comments.

In this case, you’d be directed to “A Fundraising Survival Guide”, and “The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups”. The site turns Graham into a one-man Quora.

Adnan Akil, one of the guys behind WWPGD said on Hacker News “It’s really just a tool we built for ourselves to get information from a specific trusted source. It helps that he has a huge catalog of work to draw from.” You can explore Graham’s library of essays here.

That’s not to say WWPGD is going to give the real Paul a run for his money. HN user riffraff notes that questions like “How to grow a userbase” or “How do I find find a mentor” don’t produce any results.

It’s got more than just entrepreneurship advice, too. It can accurately teach you how to live like Paul, or even run into him. Graham himself commented on Hacker News saying “It appears to work. I asked it where to go for lunch, and the first reference to lunch it found was Oren’s Hummus.” That’s one of his favorite restaurants in downtown Palo Alto.

Maybe that was one of the motives for Akhil and WWPGD co-creator Kevin Wu. We’ve seen lots of spunky young technologists building “Here’s why you should hire me” apps and pulling other stunts to land dream jobs. Maybe their search engine will fast-track them to a spot in PG’s Winter 2013 Y Combinator class.

Here’s some recent gems from Graham’s collection of essays:

Black Swan Farming — on why the best angel investments are great ideas everyone thinks are crazy.

Startup = Growth – defining the word “startup”

Frighteningly Ambitious Startup Ideas — a list of seven big areas ready for disruption

[Image Credit: GigaOm]


Teen’s iPod Exposes Violence And Racial Profiling In NYPD’s Stop & Frisk Interrogations. Watch The Video

Alvin Arrested

“What am I getting arrested for?” said Alvin, a 17-year old New Yorker. “For being a fucking mutt”, the NYPD officer can be clearly heard saying on the recording from Alvin’s iPod, the only known audio from the 1,800″Stop & Frisk” interrogations New York Police do each day.

Here’s the video containing police interviews and the recording that demonstrates the power mobile devices give citizens to keep law enforcement in check.

A disclaimer. TechCrunch respects the men and women of the NYPD and hasn’t verified all the facts in the video. It was edited by the left-leaning The Nation, America’s longest continuously published weekly magazine. It’s a respected but not unbiased news source. In some cases, stop & frisks may be justified, and this is not a condemnation of the program as a whole, but a critique of how a few officers acted in a specific situation.

The video features anonymous interviews with veteran NYPD officers. They detail how police captains said “we’re gonna go out there, and we’re gonna violate some rights”, and that officers won’t be promoted if they do perform controversial stop & frisks.

But the video hinges on the secret recording Alvin started just before his street-side interrogation began. When Alvin asked why he was stopped the officer said “for being a fucking mutt”, referring to Alvin’s apparently mixed heritage and skin color. One officer later yells at Alvin, “Dude I am gonna break your fucking arm and then I’m gonna punch you in the fucking face.”

The aggression from the officers could not have been simply recounted and conveyed later. Distant video from a bystander’s full-sized camcorder likely wouldn’t have captured the audio so clearly, if at all. It was the fact that Alvin was recording the encounter himself on his mobile device that brings the NYPD’s practices into focus.

Mobile devices capable of taking video recordings or downloading police monitoring apps like Stop and Frisk Watch from the New York Civil Liberties Union are getting cheaper and more accessible.  With any luck, awareness that recordings like Alvin’s can be made will usher in a new age of accountability amongst those in positions of authority. It doesn’t suffice to look both ways before acting inappropriately anymore.

Long ago, the United States granted its citizens the right to bear arms to defend themselves. In the modern age, though, it might be the right to bear phones that protects our liberty.




ZocDoc CEO Cyrus Massoumi On Making Medicine More Tech-Savvy, One Appointment At A Time [TCTV]

Screen shot 2012-10-15 at 3.47.50 PM

ZocDoc is certainly not the new kid on the startup block. The company, which is best known for making a web-centric booking platform for medical appointments, originally launched way back in 2007 at the TechCrunch 40 conference — the earliest iteration of what is now known as Disrupt.

But despite its long history, ZocDoc has refrained from launching new products, opting instead to focus on scaling out the reach of its flagship scheduling offering to an audience that includes medical providers in 31 metro areas in the United States. That is, until last week, when ZocDoc started rolling out “Check-In,” a new feature that lets patients fill out medical forms online prior to their doctor’s appointments.

This was a pretty big step forward for ZocDoc, as CEO and founder Cyrus Massoumi tells us, it signifies a shift in the company’s larger strategy — ZocDoc plans to roll out more new services in the months ahead. So while Massoumi was visiting San Francisco last week from ZocDoc’s native New York, it was great to have him swing by TechCrunch TV to give us an in-person rundown of all that’s happening with his company.

Watch the video embedded above to hear Massoumi talk about why ZocDoc went so many years without a new offering, how the Check-In launch is going so far, how it views the competitive landscape, how the upcoming election could impact the company, and much much more.


Google Opens The Doors A Bit Wider For Gmail Results Within Its Main Search Experience, Adds Google Drive And Calendar

flight-Google-Search-520x195

A few months ago, Google announced a new field trial for a search experience that rocked my world. Basically, you could search within your emails by using the regular old Google.com, if you were logged into your account. For me, this has been awesome for finding flight information and meeting requests within my email, of which I have a lot.

Today, the company announced that the field trial would open up a little wider, as well as include items stored on your Google Drive and Calendar. Here’s what the company had to say:

We’ve gotten very positive feedback from those of you testing it out — such as this note: “The Gmail results feature is awesome! The fact that it’s all integrated into one screen is huge.” Many testers have requested being able to find Drive files as well — as one of you put it, “It would be awesome if I could search my google drive from google search as well ”.

So starting today, you can sign up for a new and expanded field trial that makes it easier to find your stuff across Google, whether you’re searching on Google.com or searching in Gmail.

For some, this seems a bit creepy, but when you remember that Google isn’t “looking” at your email or files, and this is completely opt-in, it’s pretty cool actually. Not only is it a time-saver, but it makes complete sense, since Google is optimizing and unifying its experience over all products. I haven’t had a chance to play around with the Google Drive portion yet, but I imagine that if I’m looking for something having to do with my wedding, or weddings in general, this will play a pivotal role in me not getting yelled at for being out of sorts.

Just click here to join the trial, and let us know what you think about getting email and Drive results in your regular search experience on Google.


Tweetie Creator Loren Brichter’s Next Act: Atebits 2.0 To “Make Fun And Useful Things” [Like Games]

Atebits 20

Tweetie creator and UX prodigy Loren Brichter has just announced a new project, Atebits 2.0. Atebits was the name of his previous company that was bought by Twitter in 2010. He announced as well that his first project will be a game.

In November 2011, Brichter left Twitter to work on other projects. Now we finally know what he has been up to, and it seems to be a return to his previous endeavours.

Brichter invented the pull-to-refresh interaction in iPhone apps as well as other popular UX mechanisms. For example, users could swipe on a tweet in Tweetie 2.0 in order to reveal a series of actions. That interaction became widely popular as well.

Twitter owns a patent for the pull-to-refresh interaction, but the company has stated that it wouldn’t use it defensively thanks to the Innovator’s Patent Agreement. That is why even Apple started implementing pull-to-refresh in iOS 6 Mail’s app.

Brichter was the driving force behind Twitter’s first apps. The first Twitter app on the iPhone was a rebranded version of Tweetie 2. Later, Twitter released its own iPad and OS X apps with most of the development led by Brichter. Yet, Brichter’s work has now disappeared from Twitter’s apps with recent redesigns. The iPhone and iPad apps were redeveloped from the ground up, and the OS X app has been neglected for over a year.

Even though Atebits was acquired by Twitter, Brichter uses the same name once again. It looks like he is legally allowed to do that. Tweetie wasn’t his only app. He has worked on messaging app Textie and on OS X painting app Scribbles.

According to his personal Twitter account, his new game has been in review for 11 days.

Day 11. Waiting for Review.


Loren Brichter (@lorenb) October 15, 2012

Here’s the full blog post:

In 2007 I left Apple and started my own company. In 2010 that company was acquired by Twitter. Today I’m giving it another shot. Say hello to atebits 2.0.

My goal is simple. Make things. Fun things, useful things, new things, improved things. Some may be popular, some may be failures. But I love creating, so that’s what I’m going to do.

The first thing will be an app and that app will be a game. Can’t wait to share it with you.

Let’s wish him good luck.


The Voice Gets A Mobile Karaoke App, Thanks To StarMaker

thevoicechairs

If you’ve ever watched The Voice on TV and thought, “Hey, I could do that,” well, now you’ve got your chance to show off your singing skills in a new iOS app, The Voice On Stage.

The app was developed by a San Francisco startup called StarMaker, and its CEO Jeff Daniel stopped by The TechCrunch office to show it off. You just turn on the app, select the song that you want to sing, and then off you go. The app scores you based on the accuracy of your singing, and it can also auto-tune your voice as you sing. The basic functionality is the same as StarMaker’s own karaoke app, but it has been given a Voice-themed facelift. For example, during a song, the app shows judges with their backs turned toward you, and if you do well, they turn their chairs around as the song progresses — just like in the show.

There’s a social component too. You can collaborate on songs with other players, or compete against them. And when you’re finished singing, you can share the recording on Facebook or Twitter. The app is free, but it only makes a few songs available initially — if you want to access the full library, you have to pay a $1.99 weekly subscription fee (there’s a discount if you subscribe for longer time periods).

And if singing into your iPhone or iPad feels a little awkward to you, Daniel said you’ll also be able buy a special dock from Philips, so you can actually sing into the app with an actual microphone.

The Voice On Stage looks like a lot of fun, but what’s most impressive is the fact that a relatively unknown startup managed to land deal with The Voice — and only a month after StarMaker launched a similar American Idol app. The key, Daniel said, was to convince Talpa Media Holdings (which owns The Voice) that the startup could create “an authentic representation of the television show.” That’s not easy, which is why there hasn’t been an official Voice iPhone app until now. (Another startup we cover, Smule, has also released its own karaoke apps, including one in partnership with Glee.)

Daniel added that he’s hoping to take the partnership further. For example, he said the app could be turn into a feeding group for the show — in other words, The Voice could hold contests within the app, and the winners could audition for the show itself.

Even prior to these high-profile partnerships, Daniel said StarMaker attracted a significant following, with 4 million app installs and 35 million song recordings made by users.

You can download the new Voice app here.


Keen On… The Daily Dot: Does The Internet Really Need A Daily Newspaper About Itself? [TCTV]

Screen Shot 2012-10-15 at 10.05.53 AM

If New York has The Times and San Francisco The Chronicle, then the digital world has The Daily Dot – the first online newspaper exclusively dedicated to news about the Internet. Backed by the Los Angeles based investor Nova Spivack, the Daily Dot was founded in August 2011. As CEO Nick White told me, the “core job” of the Daily Dot is to “tell the story of the Internet.” And, so far, they seem to be doing a fairly credible job. Indeed, with $3 million “committed” in funding, over a million uniques a month, a staff of around 15 editors, White claims that the Daily Dot is covering news “relevant” to users. Perhaps. But, as White acknowledged to me, the free paper needs to get to three or four million monthly uniques by the end of its second year if it is to generate the advertising revenue necessary to become a viable business. So the bigger question remains: Does the Internet really need its own daily newspaper? Or is the Daily Dot just one more online journalistic start-up doomed to failure?


GoodBlogs Allows Companies To Effortlessly Maintain A Blog About Their Industry To Drive Traffic

goodblogs

When it comes to maintaining a corporate blog, you may consider writing general thoughts on your industry and talking about more subjects rather than using it solely for your company’s announcements. It will drive traffic, and potential customers, to your website. That is what GoodBlogs is all about — except that you don’t have to hire a blogger.

Over the past couple of months, content marketing is a phrase that started to appear. As search engine optimization results in half-baked content that doesn’t work on social networks, a new strategy was needed. That’s why quality content became a requirement to drive a lot of traffic quickly.

Strangely, Digg was a big inspiration for the project. “The problem with Digg is that they don’t have any original content. They just link out to other people’s content. If they had original content I think they’d be a lot more successful. But nobody is going to take the time and energy to create that content for nothing… What if when an article was voted to the homepage the person who wrote it got paid? Then I bet a ton of people would submit original content,” said Jason Trout, co-founder of GoodBlogs.

GoodBlogs first used that idea to create a niche website called The Flaming Vegan and saw incredible social traffic. That is when they chose to provide the platform as well as their process to other companies.

For $3,100, GoodBlogs will start accepting blog posts on a niche subject written by random knowledgeable people. For example, a wine company will look for posts from oenophiles. Then, readers can vote and a couple of posts will land on the front page of the blog every day. If that happens, the blogger gets paid $10.

With that process, GoodBlogs doesn’t have any problem finding writers and attracting readers, and a company could benefit from the increase in traffic. The co-founders, Jason Trout and Peter Awad, are based in Decorah, Iowa with other employees working remotely. The company received angel funding and is ready to open blog on fishing for a fishing company, micro-brewing for a home brew supply company or knitting for a yarn company.


A Streamin’ Box for the TiVo and iOS Crowd

The TiVo Stream. Photo by Alex Washburn/Wired

Ever wish you could take your TiVo to go? Not the box, mind you, just all your recordings of Community, The Walking Dead, and, admit it, Downton Abbey.

Traditionally, making shows mobile meant dropping $25 on TiVo’s Desktop Plus software, then transferring recordings to your PC and transcoding them to a smartphone- or tablet-friendly format. Talk about a time-suck.

The little, black Roku-style box plugs into your router, then streams or downloads shows from your TiVo to your iPod, iPad, or iPhone.

TiVo Stream eliminates a lot of the suck. The little, black Roku-style box plugs into your router, then streams or downloads shows to your iPod, iPad, or iPhone. It’s a sweet little accessory for anyone already assimilated into the Apple and TiVo ecosystems, but it’s not without some frustrating limitations.

For starters, it works only with late-model TiVos, namely the Premiere, Premiere 4, Premiere XL4, and Premiere Elite. What’s more, your supported model of TiVo must be connected to your router via Ethernet or MoCA; Wi-Fi won’t cut it. The Stream itself also plugs into your router, so here’s hoping you’ve got ports to spare.

That part of the setup went easily enough in my house, but the software side seemed to take forever. After firing up the free TiVo app (which was already in permanent residence on both my iPhone and iPad), my unit required a 20-minute firmware update right out of the box, followed by a lengthy connection and activation process that started and restarted over and over — and required at least one trip into the deepest recesses of my TiVo’s menus. All told, it took nearly 45 minutes for my Stream to go from box to streaming.

Thankfully, it was worth the wait. TiVo wisely built Stream’s features into the existing TiVo app. For any given recorded show, you could always tap “Watch Now” to start it playing on your TiVo; Stream adds a “Watch on iPhone/iPad” option that streams the show to your iDevice.

There’s also a download option that gives you a choice between “best” and “standard” quality, the latter is more than sufficient for iPhone viewing and passable for iPads. You’ll need to budget space and time accordingly: A typical half-hour show at standard quality requires about 300MB of storage and 5 to 15 minutes to download. (My results varied wildly.) A two-hour movie at best quality might eat 2.5GB and upward of an hour.

The moral of the story: Plan ahead if you want to stock your device for your morning commute or a long trip. And keep your iThingie on its charger, because the app can’t download a video in the background; it needs to stay active and open. That’s a fairly major hassle TiVo would be wise to address, as it prevents you doing anything else with your screen for the duration. The good news is you don’t have to futz with any power settings; the app keeps your device awake when it’s performing a download.

The bad news is that some content — such as a movie recorded on a premium channel like HBO — is copy protected and therefore can’t be downloaded. That’s not TiVo’s fault, but it’s still annoying. At least you can stream the copy-protected stuff.

Whether you download or stream, you’ll enjoy a decidedly TiVo-like experience, with 8-second replay and 30-second quick-skip buttons, a scrubber, and an “Info” button that reveals deets about the show. You can also switch over to your TV mid-playback, picking up at the exact spot you left off on your smaller screen. Another huge perk: a Closed Captioning toggle for those with hearing concerns (or those who like to watch TV in bars).

The box can stream live TV (“Hey, the game’s on!”), but only by starting a recording first. That’s likely to leave you with a lot of partial recordings you’ll need to clean up later, especially if you channel-hop. And that’s not much fun, given that it takes a good 10 seconds to switch from one “live” show to another.

For all its limitations, the Stream works really well at slinging content from big screen to small. It’s a bit irksome that your TiVo can’t do that without a pricey add-on box, but there’s obviously some complex on-the-fly transcoding happening here. Still, here’s hoping the TiVo 5 builds these capabilities into the box. And here’s hoping Stream support comes to Android in short order; why should iOS users have all the fun?

WIRED Streams and downloads TiVo recordings to your iOS device. Extremely good video quality. Supports up to three simultaneous streams from a single DVR. Integrates nicely with existing TiVo app.

TIRED Not cheap. Lengthy setup process. Copy-protected recordings can’t be downloaded. Downloads take time and require your mobile device to stay on. Can’t stream live TV in the traditional sense. Works only with late-model, Ethernet-connected TiVos. No Android support yet.

8 Pieces of Flair for Your iPad

<< Previous | Next >>
Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover

Even if you had all the money in Guam, you couldn’t buy every iPad accessory on the market. E-tailers’ virtual shelves are awash in keyboards and stands and cases and speakers and bags. And, big surprise: A lot of those add-on tchotchkes are cheap, worthless junk.

But there are some accessories that are truly smart and useful, things that extend the iPad beyond its lot as a luxury item, or turn it from a niche product into something with a broader purpose. Here are some of our favorites.

Above:

Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover

When I started researching external keyboards, everyone online was raving about this $100 Ultrathin. And when Logitech sent me a review unit, I understood why — it’s far nicer than every other Bluetooth keyboard out there.

Paired with your favorite productivity apps, it immediately transforms your iPad into a suitable laptop replacement. The keys are very comfortable, with just the right amount of travel. All the common keyboard shortcuts work as expected, and at the top, there are special keys for controlling media playback and for cutting and pasting. Where the Esc key would normally be, there’s an iOS home button. It’s a little weird using a keyboard without a trackpad or a mouse, but the interaction language of iOS bridges that mental gap for you at least a little bit — when you’re using an iPad, it’s already natural to reach up and touch the screen.

The iPad mounts into a little slot just above the keys (it fits both the iPad 2 and 3) where it’s held in place with a magnet. To tote it, you slap the plastic magnetic hinge against the iPad and close the whole assembly like a notebook. The keyboard really is thin — it’s about the same thickness as your iPad, so it looks like you have two iPads sandwiched together, face to face. — Michael Calore

WIRED Comfortable, fast typing — the best of the keyboards we’ve tested. Charges over USB, and the battery lasts forever between charges. Hinge mounts and releases effortlessly. Thin and neat.

TIRED Can’t use it with other cases like a Smart Cover. The plastic hinge feels flimsy, and it rattles. Smooth bottom slides around on desks and tables. Made for landscape mode, and a little iffy in portrait mode.



<< Previous | Next >>

All Photos: Alex Washburn / Wired

A Touch of Gray

Photo courtesy Ford Motor Company

In about five years, the entire Lincoln product range will be revamped. The company’s familiar, fleet-friendly rides will be replaced with more distinctive vehicles. The makeover starts this fall with the mid-size MKZ sedan, but for the time being, the full-size, Ford-Taurus-based MKS is Lincoln’s flagship baguette.

Introduced in 2008 and refreshed this year, the MKS represents an interim step in Lincoln’s brand revitalization. Amid all the transformations, Lincoln is relying on the MKS to be the car that keeps a satisfied smile on the sun-wrinkled faces of its core customers: loyal (read “aging”) Town Car buyers, and the not-to-be-ignored livery services operators who’ve wheeled us to and from the airport for two decades.

The MKS is surely not a Town Car, but it has the trunk size and rear seat volume to suffice as a replacement. Yes, its rear leg room (38.6 inches) and trunk room (19.2 cubic feet) don’t match the voluminous LTC. But whatever yoga-stretch space you give up, you win back in tranquility, thanks to increased sound deadening. If you choose the EcoBoost option, you also get active noise-cancellation, similar to what’s found inside your Bose headphones.

The previous model’s aluminum-dominated dash has been replaced by one with more subtle brightwork and wood accents. The instrument cluster is lifted straight from the Ford Fusion, but the center stack is new. It’s here you’ll find the new SYNC with MyLincoln Touch technology, which is accessed by a large touchscreen. The MyLincoln Touch variation on Ford’s SYNC system is standard on all MKS trim levels. You also get the voice-command system, along with the parking-assist and lane-keeping nannyware systems. I prefer these off, and I’m assuming I’m not alone — with all the various audio and visual proximity warnings, driving feels like an arcade game.

As for MyLincoln Touch, even for a Gen-Xer like myself, it’s less than intuitive. I was unaware the climate control fan speed could be altered by sliding a finger across the lower “ridge” in the center stack until a Lincoln rep clued me in. As with other functions on and off the touchscreen, these gestures require the right amount of pressure. The MKS’ buyer demographic will surely require a thorough briefing on all the touch-sensitive controls at the dealership before setting sail.

Photo courtesy Ford Motor Company

The shape of the MKS has always been loaf-like, but for 2013 it has been considerably re-dressed, from the front fascia and HID headlamps all the way back to the new exhaust tips and LED tail-lamps. I like the added character lines in the hood, and the new grille is better, but it gives the front-end a bit of a Phyllis Diller look. (MKS buyers will get the reference.) Like the Taurus, the MKS is crossover-big. I parked my tester next to a Mazda CX-7, and though the Japanese steel is larger, I was struck by how similar in size the two appear. Twenty-inch rims often make a car look out of scale, but they suited the MKS EcoBoost well.

Lincoln’s stack of ‘bot-ware is abetted by a continuously controlled damping system, which monitors and adjusts suspension settings up to 500 times per second.

The 2013 MKS receives other refinements, of course: a new powertrain, new suspension technology and a new interior. The base 3.7-liter V6 and the all-wheel drive EcoBoost 3.5-liter versions offer more power, the latter engine now up to full Taurus SHO-spec with 365 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque.

Ride and handling benefit from the application of Lincoln’s “Drive Control,” which lets you tailor all the important parameters: ride firmness, throttle response, shift feel, steering response and traction control. Lincoln’s stack of ‘bot-ware is abetted by a continuously controlled damping system, which monitors and adjusts suspension settings up to 500 times per second. There’s also a torque vectoring control system, which dials out understeer by applying brake force to whichever front wheel is experiencing less grip during turns.

The result is some accomplished handling for a 4,500-pound sedan — if you select the firmer “Sport” suspension mode. Unfortunately, this requires punching the five-way button on the left side of the steering wheel through seven sub-menus to reach the suspension selections. Happily, your chosen settings stick until you change them again. If Lincoln is headed in a younger, hipper direction, why can’t it offer a more obvious and sporting-minded three-way dial on the shifter quadrant?

Leave the suspension on “Sport” whether the six-speed transmission is in drive or sport, and the MKS stays confident and tidy even when approaching the limits of grip. With the suspension in “Normal” or “Comfort” mode, and the MKS grows progressively sloppier to the point where it reminds one of a crossover … or a Town Car.

With a sticker just south of $43,000 for the base model (and almost $50,000 for the EcoBoost), the MKS resides in a segment with some more accomplished, much sexier competitors. Lincoln says it has made conquests of domestic and imported competitors, but that list must be relatively short. From both a dynamic and arguably technological standpoint, the MKS splits the difference between what Lincoln has been and what is seeks to become. Real progress will begin to be measured with the MKZ’s arrival.

WIRED The 3.5-liter EcoBoost almost makes this a “Hot Rod Lincoln.” More character than a Town Car. Trunk room aplenty for the wife’s checked baggage.

TIRED The tall, Wonderbread-like profile. Poor rear visibility. MyLincoln Touch needs a touch-up. So-so fuel economy. Nearly $50K?

Gillmor Gang: Rocks In A Can

Gillmor Gang test pattern

The Gillmor Gang — Danny Sullivan, John Borthwick, Kevin Marks, Keith Teare, and Steve Gillmor — bemoan the political dregs of the finally-engaged election before working our way back into the tech waters we’d abandoned. It doesn’t seem like we’ve yet connected the social realtime moment with the issues of the day, preferring instead to count the tweets and let the media avoid the substance.

But just when all hope seems crushed in a sea of SuperPAC money and Jobs nostalgia, we finally remember what one of us said about imagining the future. In turn, we make the effort to ask the interesting questions, merge the technology and the business moment, and otherwise till the ground for the next wave of innovation. Bring on the Mini.

@stevegillmor, @borthwick, @dannysullivan, @kteare, @kevinmarks

Produced and directed by Tina Chase Gillmor @tinagillmor


Kleiner Perkins On The Past, Present And Future

Convo

Forty years ago, Eugene Kleiner and Tom Perkins set out to disrupt the then nascent venture capital industry. Kleiner, who was one of the founders of Fairchild Semiconductor, and Perkins, who was a member of Hewlett-Packard’s early computer hardware division, raised $8 million to invest in startups. Flash forward four decades, the firm has over $7 billion under management and is one of the most successful venture firms in the world.

Investments in iconic technology giants like Google, Amazon, Compaq, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Netscape, Sun, Symantec and others helped put Kleiner on the map. Kleiner, like every VC firm and investor on Sand Hill Road, has been actively looking for the next Google, with investments in Path, Square, Spotify, Klout and others. The firm is also debuting a new timeline feature today, here, which includes key milestones in the firm’s investments such as Google IPO, Genentech IPO, launch of products like Square and Nest thermostat.

But there have been a few bumps in the road for the firm over the past year. Two of the company’s recent seminal investments, Zynga and Groupon, have performed dismally in the public markets. The firm has been embroiled in a heated and very public discrimination case in which Partner Ellen Pao is suing Kleiner Perkins over gender discrimination (Kleiner Perkins declined to comment on the case for legal reasons).

Despite recent challenges, the firm is continuing to attempt to do what it does best — find and bet on the next wave of innovative ideas in technology. We sat down with Kleiner’s General Partner Ted Schlein, who has been at the firm for nearly 20 years, General Partner Chi-Hua Chien, and new General Partner Mike Abbott to discuss the firm’s past, present and future.

If Kleiner’s original founders saw the firm and its strategy today, how would they react? How has the firm’s investment strategy and mission evolved?

TS: Tom Perkins came back to Kleiner in the past year and talked about founding principles. What was remarkable was that founding principles from 40 years ago are the same principles under which we operate today. Basically that’s the highest value of service for entrepreneurs, to invest in an ethical and moral manner, and to figure out investments in large and growing marketplaces. Another tenet for us is to create long-term relationships with entrepreneurs. We go by the motto “someone you don’t invest in today, might be your best investment tomorrow.” Instilling these principles in every partner has been the key to our longevity.

CC: I’ve been here for five years and the unique thing about Kleiner Perkins’ approach is that we are company builders first, not financiers. There are a lot of VCs out there that just want to be investors. I think what Tom Perkins and Eugene Kleiner espoused was that money is a tertiary element to the table. We’re about giving entrepreneurs value added services, and figuring our what they need to be successful.

MA: I think there has been a renewed focus on digital investments compared to 10 or even five years ago. And I think this is where I see the largest and most meaningful companies being built. We’re all company builders, and I think the most impactful companies in the world are coming out of the digital space on both the consumer and enterprise sides.

TS: Venture firms are an ever-evolving organism. Faces change, roles change and there are no longer three or five people sitting around the table; it’s more. The approach to venture hasn’t changed dramatically but the people have.

CC: When we invest in a company, we don’t think about our relationship with that company as one with just one of our partners. Startups feel comfortable that they can build relationships with multiple partners, and every one of us brings different skills to the table.

What are some of the things that differentiate Kleiner from the other VC firms on Sand Hill Road?

TS: Our network is a key differentiator. We have direct contacts at tech companies and other companies at the highest levels. Hundreds of connections between our portfolio companies and connections within the Kleiner network are made every year.

CC: We have partners who are board members or have contacts at every important tech company and platform company that is driving consumer web, mobile, software, enterprise, and more.

MA: I’ve gotten a lot of exposure to the top firms in a lot of ways, as an entrepreneur, VC, and more. What specifically is unique to Kleiner Perkins is that when an entrepreneur gets financing from KP, the whole firm looks at how to provide an advantage to that person and startup. It’s recruiting, communications, PR, contacts on business development for sales and partnerships, and product development.

And each general partner helps each other with opportunities they are working on. For example, for Path, Bing Gordon was the primary partner on the deal. But then Chi-Hua got involved to help founder Dave Morin. I also work with Dave on the product side. This collective group effort is very unique.

What’s the biggest change Kleiner has seen in the investing world in the past 40 years?

TS: The availability of capital now. When Kleiner Perkins was founded in 1972, you would have to look hard to find a VC. You could name five or six VC firms and that’s it. And our first fund was only $3 to $5 million. Not only has the availability of capital increased by quite a bit, but the kinds of capital provided are more diverse. People are differentiating what kind of capital is out there. One effect of having this abundance of capital in the market is that innovation reaches marketplaces faster.

CC: In the venture environment over the past five years, everybody could write a check. But it’s what you do after you write the check that really matters now. It’s what can you do to help entrepreneurs succeed? We want to be first phone call whether the news is good news or bad news, and we want to be a valuable advisor to our startups and companies.

MA: I also think the strategy which VCs find dealflow has changed considerably. Now we have to get out and build bridges and connect, whereas before deals just came in.

What has changed in the company’s investment thesis?

TS: What really changes for us every five years or so are the markets we are addressing and how we go after these markets. We always need to stay on the top of where markets are heading and we can’t be too late to figuring this out. Our success is being able to identify trends and markets and make early bets. This is what differentiates VC firms.

What was the firm’s most important investment over the past 40 years?

TS: What differentiates Kleiner Perkins over the past 40 years is being able to identify massive trends over past 40 years, whether it’s creation of the PC market, the Internet, commerce, or biotechnology. There are seminal investments in these markets for us. For example, Genentech created the biotech industry. Compaq and Lotus Development are two companies that are iconic with the PC era. Fast forward to the adoption of Internet, and Netscape showed the world what one could do with the Internet. Amazon showed us how we could buy things on the Internet. Google showed us how we could find things. We’ve bet on companies at the beginning of massive trends and have been able to make them a sustainable reality.

CC: Another example is mobile. When the iPhone launched in 2008, there was no SDK or launch of an app store at the time. But we believed that there would be an enormous ecosystem around this product so we launched the $100 million iFund. I had actually just joined Kleiner at the time, and my friends on Sand Hill road thought we were crazy and that apps wouldn’t turn into anything big. But clearly it did.

TS: When we started the iFund, people thought it was bizarre. At the time, the iPhone had only sold 3 million units, and there was no development platform, but we took a bold calculated chance on market trends, and took risks and that’s what venture is all about— it’s taking a calculated, thoughtful risk.

CC: It’s not yet clear who will become the Google or the Amazon of mobile, but we’ve invested in every technology that counts. There’s inMobi (a mobile ad network), shopkick (mobile commerce), Twitter (communication), Spotify (music) Square (payments) and Path (mobile social networking).

What company do you wish Kleiner had invested early in? What’s the one that got away?

TS: Facebook. At a higher level, we want to be part of any company that will be iconic.

(Editor’s note: Kleiner did invest in Facebook, but didn’t invest in the company until 2011).

CC: In any innovation wave, there will be one or two companies that create lasting value. With social, we bet on Twitter and then Friendster. We identified the right trend, but we didn’t pick the right horse with Friendster.

What’s Kleiner’s biggest challenge right now?

MA: It’s how do you get the mindshare of entrepreneurs. Ten years ago, when I was fundraising for my startup and did a Series A, I had to bang on the doors of every VC for them to listen to my pitch. VCs stayed mostly on Sand Hill Road. That has changed completely. We have to get out, meet entrepreneurs, spend time in San Francisco, spend time at universities, events and more.

What do you look for when evaluating entrepreneurs for potential investments?

MA: I look for what’s the motivation for why they want to start a company. Is the connection with the idea deep? You can smell if motivation is money. You can also sense a fear of failing in entrepreneurs as well.

What’s your view on Kleiner making Seed, Series A or late-stage investments?

TS: We’ve mostly done incubations and Series A investments through our main venture fund, and every so often we do B or C rounds, which is done through a different fund. We created the Digital Growth Fund, which Mary Meeker runs, for these later stage investments

Is everyone treated the same, regardless of the amount invested or owned?

TS: No. It is about setting expectations of entrepreneurs so they know they are getting what they expect from the investment.

As you know VC is not only about betting on companies but also about investing in entrepreneurs. What are the biggest changes that you’ve seen in people, whether that be entrepreneurs or investors?

TS: Entrepreneurs have gotten younger.

CC: I was just talking to Mike Arrington (TechCrunch founder and CrunchFund founder and partner) about this. Publications like TechCrunch have altered our market because the flow of information is faster and everything is more transparent. What you do after you invest is less important than what you do before. Investments are now printed in TechCrunch with pre-money valuation and terms of deal.

MA: I agree that entrepreneurs have gotten younger.

TS: The widespread information in the industry has caused a fundamental change. Investors have to react faster. The era where we could take five months of due diligence is over because the industry is moving too fast.

And this sense of urgency is heightened among entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are impatient, but in a good way. They can get their businesses going a lot more quickly these days and you don’t need as much capital.

Tell me about the CEO Summit. You had JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Vice President (and current KPCB partner) Al Gore and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. That’s quite a lineup.

TS: We have been doing this for twenty-some years. Our main purpose is to bring CEOs together into a setting where we can accomplish a few goals, network and help each other. Establishing relationships between our CEOs is valuable. Agendas differ from year to year but we usually have something that is focused around leadership and management. We try to work hard on giving our entrepreneurs a global vision, because they are so heads-down on developing products and getting them out the door. We want CEOs to walk away with the feeling that their minds have been expanded, they’ve learned new skills, and met new friends.

What is the brand and image that you want Kleiner Perkins to carry on for the next 40 years?

TS: I hope it’s a similar brand and image we have today. Kleiner Perkins is about the entrepreneur. You go to Kleiner if you want help build a significant company. I hope that’s what we are doing 40 years from now.

CC: I joined the firm because it had a reputation for being the best partners in the industry. I hope we can continue to be the best partners to help entrepreneurs pursue bold ideas and build huge companies.

MA: It will be interesting to see how the next 40 years evolve. I think there will be continual shifts around venture capital. And there will be more and more emphasis in venture on how to provide scalable services for startups.


Pinterest’s Attribution Program Grows: Dreamstime Joins To Help End Battle Over Watermarked, Copyrighted Images

pinterest-logo6

Dreamstime, a stock photo site with 5 million users and 140,000 contributors, has become the latest professional photography service to resolve its legal issues regarding the pinning of copyright-protected, watermarked images shared on Pinterest. The solution incorporates an attribution line, which now appears beneath the photo in question and links back to the photo’s page on Dreamstime.com. This is the same solution that Pinterest offers to other members of its “attribution program,” including Flickr, YouTube, 500px, Etsy, and others.

Following user outcry, says Dreamstime CFO Noelle Federico, the company created an API per Pinterest’s specifications in order to operate with the service’s existing suite of tools for attribution. Pinterest also confirms that partners do have to implement at least a simple API on their end, as opposed to merely adding some provided code to their website in order for attribution to properly work.

Federico says complaints about Pinterest first appeared on Dreamstime’s forums in mid-May, and soon, hundreds of photographers had chimed in, angry about their watermarked images being posted to Pinterest but not linking back to the photo’s page on Dreamstime. Company executives examined the problem and found that Pinterest users were able to post the watermarked image with a URL that pointed elsewhere – like a blog, for example.

This is not a new concern for Pinterest. Although the company already offered “opt out” code to website admins, it recognized the better solution was not to prevent pinning, but rather to enable pinners to properly credit the media they shared. In response to backlash from content creators, like those at Dreamstime, angry that users were pinning their content without proper attribution, Pinterest launched its attribution program in May with with partners Flickr, YouTube, Behance and Vimeo.

Pinterest later expanded the program in June to include Etsy, Kickstarter, Slideshare, and SoundCloud. On content pinned from these sites, attribution now appears below the media and is hyperlinked. Many of those initial partners’ user bases are a mix of both consumers, amateurs, and professional content creators, while others are mainly communities of professional content creators.

Still, there aren’t very many stock photo sites listed as using the attribution tools. Behance, Flickr and 500px are used by pros, but if you look at images pinned from several of Dreamstime’s competitors, like Shutterstock or iStockPhoto for example, you’ll see they are not participating in the attribution program. Shutterstock is basically just watermarking its photos with its name and ID number at the bottom, while istockphoto images are only identified by their watermark and, again, non-hyperlinked text.

Pinterest tells us that it’s now talking to “several other sites” who are interested in joining the program, but those deals have not been finalized yet. Presumably, Dreamstime’s competition will have to make their own decisions about attribution, as well. For now, those at Getty for example, aren’t concerned about Pinterest – but when Pinterest starts making money, that may change.

Dreamstime says it’s happy with the solution for the most part, but some photographers are still worried because clicking the image will still link elsewhere, attribution or not. As for Pinterest, the company thinks they have to draw the line somewhere. “We believe content creators should have choice, which is why we offer the attribution program and ‘no pin’ code,” a spokesperson says. “We can’t control if someone right-clicks on an image and saves it to their blog. This is a limitation of the Internet.”