Web News

MySpace, like all nightclubs past their prime, has hit its expiration date. The recent exit of CEO Owen Van Natta is a sign of a bigger problem: News Corp's disinterest in digital media. Rupert Murdoch has moved on to the latest shiny shiny: tablets & eReaders.

We are all told to never judge a book by its cover, but let's face it, when we find ourselves at an ugly website, we automatically make assumptions about the quality of the services that site provides. A topic we have begun to cover more often, and one which we strongly believe in, is the importance of design for startups. In the last several weeks we've provided tips and best practices for sign-up buttons and registration processes , as well as an inside look into at Boxee's user experience overhaul . Sponsor
According to Silicon Valley angel investor Dave McClure, design needs to be one of the top priorities for Internet startups, not an afterthought. These days, as McClure explains in a recent BusinessWeek.com article , the technical expertise it takes to engineer a basic back-end framework is at a much more accessible level than it was in years past, so payroll dollars can be better spent on masterful designers. "It's actually pretty easy to write a Web-friendly ...

When it comes to media, one important idea is starting to become clear: Content isn’t a product anymore, it’s a service. Because for consumers, content is less and less a thing they buy and more a thing they experience.

In the words of legendary investor Mark Suster, "Entrepreneurs don't noodle, they do." While it's important to be analytical in your decision making, it's also important to act when opportunities arise. Yesterday over drinks with some investors and entrepreneurs, I marveled at the difference between the life of a startup founder and the life of an investor. Founders manage multiple staff and stakeholders with heavy emphasis on operational issues. Meanwhile, investors manage multiple portfolio companies across a number of industries. The common trait amongst both is decisiveness. Sponsor
Suster's recent blog post speaks to the value of being able to make a quick decision. For investors, not only are most investment pitches met with the answer "no", but investors recognize that some of their portfolio companies will not offer the anticipated returns. The ability to be decisive while also factoring in a margin of error is exactly what keeps both worlds running smoothly. ...