Silicon Valley

Stories 141 - 160 | << Prev   Next >>

Auction-Rate Troubles Hit Silicon Valley Startups

Private companies hurting for cash

(Newser) - A freeze in the market for a type of securities known as auction-rate securities may cause big cash-flow problems for many Silicon Valley startups. A number of private companies have large chunks of cash tied up in the securities, reports the Wall Street Journal. Now, buyers have dried up and...

Facebook Poaches COO From Google
Facebook Poaches COO From Google
Mar 4, 2008 3:35 PM CST

Facebook Poaches COO From Google

Social networking site recruits big gun to stem growing pains

(Newser) - Facebook has hired the Google VP who handles virtually all advertising sales in a bid to ease the hiccups the rapidly expanding networking site is encountering. New COO Sheryl Sandberg, one of Silicon Valley's top female execs, denied that Google's plummeting stock price motivated the move, the Wall Street Journal...

HP Planning Revamp of Its Famed R&D Lab

It wants to bring ideas to market faster, without killing pure research

(Newser) - Hewlett Packard is reorganizing its HP Labs in an effort to move more of the projects from the famed idea generator to market—and add to the company’s bottom line—more quickly,  Therese Poletti writes at MarketWatch. But even as HP looks for more commercial results from its...

Making a Marriage of Convergence
Making a Marriage of Convergence
Mar 3, 2008 12:13 PM CST

Making a Marriage of Convergence

A Hollywood agency, Silicon Valley VCs and AT&T partner to invest in digital media

(Newser) - In an unusual partnership, a Hollywood talent agency is teaming up with two Silicon Valley venture capital firms and AT&T to invest in Southern California digital media startups. The William Morris Agency announced the fund on Monday, in which AT&T is a limited partner. The focus is online...

Come See the Softer Side of Microsoft

Company tries more cooperative approach to lure Yahoo execs

(Newser) - Yahoo executives, take note: Microsoft is trying to shed its bully reputation in Silicon Valley in favor of a kinder, gentler, hands-off approach to the smaller start-ups it acquires, the San Jose Mercury News says. Company officials want it known that this isn’t your older brother’s Microsoft—the...

Despite Fed, Silicon Valley Bullish on Economy

Many tech workers not seeing US slump

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke’s report to Congress on monetary policy offered a grim outlook on the economy, but ABC News sees some signs that good news may be around the corner: workers in Silicon Valley, a national economic bellwether, feel good about their prospects. Rising exports, the recently-passed stimulus package and...

Silicon Valley Deletes Middle-Income Jobs

Jobs rise in region overall, partly due to international influx

(Newser) - Silicon Valley is bleeding middle-income jobs, the New York Times reports. Clerks, secretaries, service reps and others earning $30,000 to $80,000 a year fell from 52% to 46% of workers from 2002 to 2006, according to a new report. The trend threatens the region's upward-mobility track, one author...

Startups in Silicon Valley Tighten Belts

Many girding themselves against possible recession

(Newser) - Companies in Silicon Valley are slowing spending and stockpiling funds to prepare for a possible recession, with many startups raising safety-net cash from investors. Venture capitalists, who raised more funds last year than any year since 2001, continue investing, reports the Wall Street Journal, despite a recent survey that found...

Move Over, Silicon Valley
Move Over, Silicon Valley
Feb 8, 2008 4:40 PM CST

Move Over, Silicon Valley

Seattle's start-up culture takes off as entrepreneurs, VCs flood Emerald City

(Newser) - Baby Bills, Jeffs, and Sergeys—start-ups founded by veterans of Microsoft, Amazon, and Google and nicknamed for their founders—are sprouting up around Seattle as the city becomes the next hot technology incubator, the New York Times reports. With the University of Washington playing the role Stanford does in Silicon...

Google for Barack, Microsoft for Hillary

Obama leads Silicon Valley donations; Seattle giant's workers skew toward Clinton

(Newser) - Barack Obama leads presidential hopefuls in Silicon Valley donations, but Hillary is tops among Microsoft employees, Reuters reports. Residents of the valley that Google, Yahoo, and Apple call home are interested in change, one analyst said: "It is absolutely the case that Obama is seen as different, and therefore...

Tech Pioneers Try Parallel Startups
Tech Pioneers Try Parallel Startups
Jan 29, 2008 4:06 PM CST

Tech Pioneers Try Parallel Startups

Some entrepreneurs place multiple bets, launching 2 companies at once

(Newser) - With the cost of startups falling, more and more entrepreneurs are hedging their bets by developing two or more projects at once. Joshua Rosen, who is planning to launch two different companies at technology conference DEMO tomorrow, lets MarketWatch take a look. “We see a lot of serial entrepreneurs,...

Economic Worries Propel Silicon Valley Deals

Oracle and Sun Microsystems may be only tip of the iceberg

(Newser) - Recent acquisitions by Sun Microsystems and Oracle could be the opening round of new Silicon Valley deal-making, the Wall Street Journal reports, as tech companies worried about a US economic slowdown seek to strengthen their positions. Smaller companies struggling to stay afloat are tempting targets; bigger fish also want to...

Oracle Wins BEA With Sweetened $8.5B Bid

Deal for business software maker closes after Ellison bumps price

(Newser) - Business software maker Oracle continued its yearlong buying spree, closing a contentious deal with middleware maker BEA Systems after raising its offer to $8.5 billion, or $19.38 a share, Bloomberg reports. In October, Oracle offered BEA $6.7 billion, or $17 per share, and was rejected. Instead BEA,...

Oracle Blasts Forecasts With 35% Profit

Software maker rides spending spree to another big quarter

(Newser) - Database software-maker Oracle surprised analysts today, reporting its income surged 35 percent in the second quarter to $1.3 billion, thanks to the success of new programs and customer-support contracts. Experts had expected sales of approximately $5.03 billion, Bloomberg reports, but the company boasted sales of $5.36 billion—...

In 'Smartphone Valley,' Telecom Boom Calls

Computing birthplace draws new industry to Californian shores

(Newser) - Silicon Valley is being reborn as a telecom hub, as phone companies jockey for computing technology and battle to compete with Apple and Google. Nokia, which opened a major research center in Palo Alto last year, has named its first Golden State-based technology chief. It's one of several firms rushing...

Being a Tech CEO Means Having to Say You're Sorry

Apologizing seen as key skill in Silicon Valley

(Newser) - Saying "sorry" has become a necessary skill for tech execs, Forbes reports—from AMD's CEO, who apologized yesterday for delaying its latest chip launch, to Facebook's founder, who begged forgiveness after an advertising program violated users' privacy. The frequency of technology leaders' public contrition testifies to the power of...

Yahoo VPs Dropping Like Flies
Yahoo VPs Dropping
Like Flies
OPINION
Dec 14, 2007 5:18 PM CST

Yahoo VPs Dropping Like Flies

And that's a good thing, argues Kara Swisher on All Things Digital

(Newser) - "This slimming down is a good idea, given Yahoo’s VP obesity," writes Kara Swisher in All Things Digital. She says it's not clear who's behind the departures of numerous execs from the notoriously top-heavy company, nor who jumped and who was pushed out. But a source called...

Green Tech Boosts Heartland
Green Tech Boosts Heartland
Dec 13, 2007 8:10 PM CST

Green Tech Boosts Heartland

Advances no longer limited to America's coastal cities

(Newser) - Green-tech venture capital is still concentrated in coastal urban centers, but middle America is catching up. Silicon Valley, Massachusetts, and Washington state are among the top five hotspots, but so is Texas and the nation's agricultural heartland, reports CNET, which tracked the money fueling startups and university research.

Valley Tech Giants Ditch Cubicles for Open Space

Some people miss them... for a little while

(Newser) - Silicon Valley giants like Intel, Cisco, and Sun, are experimenting with ditching cubicles to improve productivity. Execs at the companies say that the typical office gray maze isn't ideal anymore for the modern, connected workplace. "Collaboration has been shown to spark innovation and speed product to market," says...

Inventor Takes On Spam, Fatal Blood Cancer

Spam comes first, says Steven Kirsch of his short life expectancy

(Newser) - Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steven T. Kirsch will save his own life right after he’s done eliminating spam email, he says. Kirsch has a rare form of blood cancer with a 5-7 year life expectancy, but he says, “I just look at it as a problem…you have four...

Stories 141 - 160 | << Prev   Next >>