SoundCloud’s Push To Be The YouTube Of Audio

Berlin-based SoundCloud has 38 million registered users and $45 million in venture funding. CEO and Cofounder Alexander Ljung is positioning his company to be the Web’s go-to platform for all things audio.

Want Job Stability? Get Creative

More than ten years after the publication of his groundbreaking work of urban theory, “The Rise of the Creative Class,” Richard Florida is sticking to his assertion that the rising creative class is an engine of economic and cultural growth. 

Why Industry-Hopping Isn’t the Answer to Your Growth Problem

There’s a long-standing corporate myth that some industries are simply easier to succeed in than others. This is why, when sales are lagging in their market, it can be hard for industry leaders to resist the temptation to jump into a hot new industry - whether or not it’s in familiar territory.

But a new study by Booz & Company advises against the “industry hop.” Why? The data, drawn from an analysis of shareholder returns from more than 6,000 companies in 65 industries across the world over a decade, show there simply are no better industries.

Breakthrough Innovation and Organic Growth

Jeff DeGraff discusses the business models of organic or green companies and why companies such as Apple, Pixar and Genentech are usually the companies that follow this model and are at the forefront of innovation.

Green (Create) Characteristics:

- Visionary thinkers

- Big-picture thinkers and experimenters

- Surrounded by diverse people

- Quick and charismatic

- Short attention span / unfinished projects

- Reliance on predictions and forecasts

- Ignore rules (hard to manage)

- Unique/ Individual/ Different

- Embrace diversity and work with outside organizations

- Constant novel / new experimentation

- Inattention to detail

Green (Create) Optimal Environments:

- Multiple stimulating projects

- Flexible (and free of direction and management)

- Unorthodox work schedule

- “Greenhouse” funds in budget

- Independent and group scenarios

How to Build a Great Company, Step by Step

Join Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur-turned-educator Steve Blank in a lively discussion with Dan’l Lewin of Microsoft. This program will introduce best practices, lessons and tips that have swept the startup world, offering a wealth of proven advice and information for entrepreneurs of all stripes. Hear about a tested and proven Customer Development Process, helping get it right —and how to “get, keep, and grow” customers.

Garage-Built Start-Ups Include HP, Apple, Google, And Now Ahhha

CEO Matt Crowe moved to Silicon Valley with $27 to his name and in 17 months has built a money-making start-up which is on track to attain profitability by the end of the summer.

Why Visa Is a Tech Company at Heart

The credit giant, which runs more than 90 billion transactions a year, taps mobile technology to reach new, developing markets.

Thiel-backed Mithril Capital targets growth-stage tech ventures

If you thought Peter Thiel would be well settled with the millions he has made investing in Facebook, Path, Spotify and SpaceX, you would be wrong. Known for his disruptive views on education, Thiel continues to invest in technology, but this time he is taking a different route.

“Mithril”, known from J. R. R. Tolkien’s ‘Lord of The Rings’ as a metal that is stronger than steel that does not tarnish, was the inspiration behind what he hopes to achieve with his new venture. Launched in conjunction with his colleague from Clarium Ajay Royan, this $400 million fund will focus and profit from the next ARM (mobile chips), FANUC (industrial robotics) or SAS Institute (business intelligence software). In this interview, Mithril discusses the new fund which is geography agnostic and focused on the growth stage with CNBC in the Beyond Pix Studios. 

The Decline of the US Print Media | Listening Post

In 1972, a bungled burglary at the Democratic Party’s office in Washington triggered one of the most famous political scandals in history.

Watergate led to the resignation of Richard Nixon, the only US president ever to do so, and launched the Washington Post into the media hall of fame thanks to the work of two of its reporters on that story.

Since then the names of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward have been synonymous with quality investigative journalism. But 40 years later, times have changed. Some say that the Post is a shadow of its former self and that while the paper made its name speaking truth to power — it has now merely become a function of it.

Listening Post’s Marcela Pizarro takes a look at the legacy of the Washington Post, the decline of the US printed press and the challenges for investigative journalism in a digital age.