Jeetu's shared memory
With 14 co-founders, iPhone app maker finds a buyer in Gist #swsea
Posted at www.techflash.com
Learn That Name is not your typical entrepreneurial success story. Conceived on a whim at Startup Weekend last August, the mobile application was built by a group of 14 co-founders during the 54-hour coding marathon. But the iPhone app — which won top honors at the event for a quiz game that tests one’s memory on LinkedIn contacts — has already achieved a big success.
Tonight, one of the key creators of the idea confirmed that the startup (if you can even call it that) has been acquired by Seattle-based Gist. Terms weren’t disclosed. But co-creator Eric Koester tells us that all 14 co-founders who played a role in the development of the project will get a “nice little payday” as a result of the acquisition.
It’s probably a good thing Koester spends his days working as a corporate attorney at Cooley Godward, since managing the expectations of 14 people during acquisition talks sounds like a potential nightmare. In fact, Koester said that many of the people who participated in the creation of the idea went their separate ways after Startup Weekend concluded.
That was to be expected, he said. But a core group kept building out the technology, while others worked on possible business development relationships.
That included the continued development of the iPhone app, as well as a Palm OS app and Flash app.
“That’s probably the blessing and the curse of building a technology/product/business at Startup Weekend — throwing 14 people at a project gets a pretty good product done in a short time frame, but it is hard to keep a team of that size together and focused thereafter,” he said. “So I think in the end we are all very pleased with the result — the technology and all of the apps get a long-term home at a company that we think shares our ultimate aim … and we can nicely wrap up the (Learn That Name) experience in a bow.”
(Interestingly, it caused a bit of a stir last year when Learn That Name’s iPhone app won, since Startup Weekend was hosted on Microsoft’s campus).
Learn that Name and Gist were hoping to hold the acquisition news until the kickoff of the next Startup Weekend in Seattle, which begins this Friday at the Adobe campus in Fremont. But word leaked out earlier tonight via TechCrunch.
As part of the acquisition, the Learn That Name game has been integrated with the Gist iPhone application. Koester said.
“We all think it is a great fit,” added Koester. “Both companies/ideas were designed to help you know who you know better.” In fact, Koester said they were working on an integration with Gist when the Seattle startup approached them about a possible deal.
Koester, who calls himself a “Startup Weekend junkee,” will be back at the drawing board this weekend in Seattle. In fact, he tells us that he came up with a new idea just the other day in the shower. “I am kinda excited to see if I can help build something again, ” he said.
I am sure given the recent success, there will be plenty of attendees who will be seeking Koester and crew out.
Here’s Koester’s pitch from last fall.
And here’s the Gist blog post on the deal.
Posted at www.techflash.com
Learn That Name is not your typical entrepreneurial success story. Conceived on a whim at Startup Weekend last August, the mobile application was built by a group of 14 co-founders during the 54-hour coding marathon. But the iPhone app — which won top honors at the event for a quiz game that tests one’s memory on LinkedIn contacts — has already achieved a big success.
Tonight, one of the key creators of the idea confirmed that the startup (if you can even call it that) has been acquired by Seattle-based Gist. Terms weren’t disclosed. But co-creator Eric Koester tells us that all 14 co-founders who played a role in the development of the project will get a “nice little payday” as a result of the acquisition.
It’s probably a good thing Koester spends his days working as a corporate attorney at Cooley Godward, since managing the expectations of 14 people during acquisition talks sounds like a potential nightmare. In fact, Koester said that many of the people who participated in the creation of the idea went their separate ways after Startup Weekend concluded.
That was to be expected, he said. But a core group kept building out the technology, while others worked on possible business development relationships.
That included the continued development of the iPhone app, as well as a Palm OS app and Flash app.
“That’s probably the blessing and the curse of building a technology/product/business at Startup Weekend — throwing 14 people at a project gets a pretty good product done in a short time frame, but it is hard to keep a team of that size together and focused thereafter,” he said. “So I think in the end we are all very pleased with the result — the technology and all of the apps get a long-term home at a company that we think shares our ultimate aim … and we can nicely wrap up the (Learn That Name) experience in a bow.”
(Interestingly, it caused a bit of a stir last year when Learn That Name’s iPhone app won, since Startup Weekend was hosted on Microsoft’s campus).
Learn that Name and Gist were hoping to hold the acquisition news until the kickoff of the next Startup Weekend in Seattle, which begins this Friday at the Adobe campus in Fremont. But word leaked out earlier tonight via TechCrunch.
As part of the acquisition, the Learn That Name game has been integrated with the Gist iPhone application. Koester said.
“We all think it is a great fit,” added Koester. “Both companies/ideas were designed to help you know who you know better.” In fact, Koester said they were working on an integration with Gist when the Seattle startup approached them about a possible deal.
Koester, who calls himself a “Startup Weekend junkee,” will be back at the drawing board this weekend in Seattle. In fact, he tells us that he came up with a new idea just the other day in the shower. “I am kinda excited to see if I can help build something again, ” he said.
I am sure given the recent success, there will be plenty of attendees who will be seeking Koester and crew out.
Here’s Koester’s pitch from last fall.
And here’s the Gist blog post on the deal.
How the Gist Acquisition of Learn That Name Came About—Old-Fashioned Networking | Xconomy
Posted at www.xconomy.com
How the Gist Acquisition of Learn That Name Came About—Old-Fashioned Networking
Gregory T. Huang 3/18/10
Between social media, company blogs, and TechCrunch, there is less room for traditional journalism these days. By the time you hear a company’s announcement and actually think about it, talk to the people involved, and have time to write something with any depth, it’s on to the next thing. But I want to take a minute to discuss a local deal from yesterday.
Gist, a Seattle company backed by Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital and Foundry Group in Colorado, has acquired Learn That Name, a locally-created mobile application that helps you associate names with photos in your LinkedIn contacts. It uses a fast-paced, quiz-style game to test your recognition of your contacts’ faces. The idea is to help people network more effectively face-to-face (how refreshing). Meanwhile, Gist makes online software to help business people keep up with news and information about their contacts, to make their professional networking more efficient. The company is led by CEO and founder T.A. McCann.
Learn That Name was created by a team of 14 entrepreneurs at Startup Weekend in Seattle last August. (There’s another Startup Weekend happening in Seattle this weekend, hosted by Adobe.) Shortly thereafter, the team was selling its software in the iPhone app store and working to get it on other mobile devices. They all had day jobs, and although the acquisition price hasn’t been leaked, it’s safe to say each member of the team got a nice payout but won’t be retiring anytime soon.
Eric Koester, an attorney at Cooley Godward Kronish who helped lead Learn That Name, related some thoughts about the deal via e-mail: “When we were picking the LTN tagline while at Startup Weekend (our tagline was ‘Know the People You Know’) someone said that we should pick another tag line because Gist’s tag line is ‘Know More About Who You Know.’ We ultimately decided not to change our name and then as luck would have it, six months later that company we were worried about asking us to change our tag line acquires us. I guess in hindsight it makes sense, but was the farthest thing from our minds.”
It sounds like Gist saw some real value in integrating Learn That Name’s software into its own iPhone app. “I give T.A. [McCann] and Steve Newman [Gist's chief technology officer] all the credit for making this happen,” Koester says. “They really went out on a limb to work with us. Initially the goal was just to try and build an app that used Gist contacts rather than LinkedIn contacts. As we started that process, they figured that we actually were a good fit for their broader purpose and realized it was better to maintain the technology in-house rather than have us try and do it. So they really deserve the credit for working with a small startup (if you can even call it that).”
And, as with most deals in Seattle, there was some fortuitous face-to-face networking done over a cup of coffee. “As far as how this all transpired, it was actually totally by accident,” Koester says. “T.A. and I had coffee to talk about a panel presentation I wanted to run by him. So we met to talk about that. At the end of the conversation, T.A. asked me how sales were going or how our app was doing, then he said that we should really try and find a way to work together. From that suggestion, the idea was born to build a Gist version.”
Posted at www.xconomy.com
How the Gist Acquisition of Learn That Name Came About—Old-Fashioned Networking
Gregory T. Huang 3/18/10
Between social media, company blogs, and TechCrunch, there is less room for traditional journalism these days. By the time you hear a company’s announcement and actually think about it, talk to the people involved, and have time to write something with any depth, it’s on to the next thing. But I want to take a minute to discuss a local deal from yesterday.
Gist, a Seattle company backed by Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital and Foundry Group in Colorado, has acquired Learn That Name, a locally-created mobile application that helps you associate names with photos in your LinkedIn contacts. It uses a fast-paced, quiz-style game to test your recognition of your contacts’ faces. The idea is to help people network more effectively face-to-face (how refreshing). Meanwhile, Gist makes online software to help business people keep up with news and information about their contacts, to make their professional networking more efficient. The company is led by CEO and founder T.A. McCann.
Learn That Name was created by a team of 14 entrepreneurs at Startup Weekend in Seattle last August. (There’s another Startup Weekend happening in Seattle this weekend, hosted by Adobe.) Shortly thereafter, the team was selling its software in the iPhone app store and working to get it on other mobile devices. They all had day jobs, and although the acquisition price hasn’t been leaked, it’s safe to say each member of the team got a nice payout but won’t be retiring anytime soon.
Eric Koester, an attorney at Cooley Godward Kronish who helped lead Learn That Name, related some thoughts about the deal via e-mail: “When we were picking the LTN tagline while at Startup Weekend (our tagline was ‘Know the People You Know’) someone said that we should pick another tag line because Gist’s tag line is ‘Know More About Who You Know.’ We ultimately decided not to change our name and then as luck would have it, six months later that company we were worried about asking us to change our tag line acquires us. I guess in hindsight it makes sense, but was the farthest thing from our minds.”
It sounds like Gist saw some real value in integrating Learn That Name’s software into its own iPhone app. “I give T.A. [McCann] and Steve Newman [Gist's chief technology officer] all the credit for making this happen,” Koester says. “They really went out on a limb to work with us. Initially the goal was just to try and build an app that used Gist contacts rather than LinkedIn contacts. As we started that process, they figured that we actually were a good fit for their broader purpose and realized it was better to maintain the technology in-house rather than have us try and do it. So they really deserve the credit for working with a small startup (if you can even call it that).”
And, as with most deals in Seattle, there was some fortuitous face-to-face networking done over a cup of coffee. “As far as how this all transpired, it was actually totally by accident,” Koester says. “T.A. and I had coffee to talk about a panel presentation I wanted to run by him. So we met to talk about that. At the end of the conversation, T.A. asked me how sales were going or how our app was doing, then he said that we should really try and find a way to work together. From that suggestion, the idea was born to build a Gist version.”
Shared Items – March 18, 2010
- New weapon: Chilli hand grenade to tackle terrorists
March 17, 2010
- Gist Acquires Startup Weekend App ‘Learn That Name’ #swsea
March 17, 2010 – Wohoo!
- New weapon: Chilli hand grenade to tackle terrorists
- Gist Acquires Startup Weekend App ‘Learn That Name’ #swsea
March 17, 2010
March 17, 2010 – Wohoo!
Gist Acquires Startup Weekend App ‘Learn That Name’ #swsea
Wohoo!
Posted at techcrunch.com
Every few weeks (and sometimes even more often than that), dozens of techies gather together for regional Startup Weekends — fast-paced code writing frenzies where entrepreneurs and developers conceive of and build a new application in less than 60 hours (and lose quite a bit of sleep in the process). Many of the apps die off soon thereafter, but some of them live on. And now they’re becoming acquisition targets: Learn That Name
, a game that uses your LinkedIn contacts to help you remember the names of your business acquaintances, has been acquired by Gist. Terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed, but the LTN guys say they’re “very, very happy” with the result.
Learn That Name was built last August at a Microsoft-sponsored Startup Weekend and won top prize (which was amusing, because it was built for the decidedly non-Microsoft iPhone). The app’s idea came from lawyer Eric Koester, who was inspired to create it after he failed to remember someone’s name earlier during the event. A team of 14 people came together to build the app that weekend, and since then, a subset of the original LTN team has continued working on it, releasing an updated iPhone version, Palm WebOS app, and Flash app.
The deal is for LTN’s tech assets, and the proceeds are being split among the 14 original team members. Going forward, the standalone iPhone and Palm applications will still be available, and the game is also integrated into Gist’s own iPhone application, which you can find here. The Gist version will tap into Gist’s database of contacts (the original uses LinkedIn).
For those that haven’t used it, Gist offers services that help you keep tabs on the people in your professional network. The service’s web interface allows you to see past messages and attachments from each contact, news about their company, and their recent messages on services like Twitter. Gist also offers an Outlook plugin that shares similarities with Xobni. Given the business oriented nature of Learn That Name, this seems like a good (and fun) fit.
Given the success of the Learn That Name team, it will be interesting to see if more Startup Weekend teams continue working together following the conclusion of their events.
Wohoo!
Posted at techcrunch.com
Every few weeks (and sometimes even more often than that), dozens of techies gather together for regional Startup Weekends — fast-paced code writing frenzies where entrepreneurs and developers conceive of and build a new application in less than 60 hours (and lose quite a bit of sleep in the process). Many of the apps die off soon thereafter, but some of them live on. And now they’re becoming acquisition targets: Learn That Name, a game that uses your LinkedIn contacts to help you remember the names of your business acquaintances, has been acquired by Gist. Terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed, but the LTN guys say they’re “very, very happy” with the result.
Learn That Name was built last August at a Microsoft-sponsored Startup Weekend and won top prize (which was amusing, because it was built for the decidedly non-Microsoft iPhone). The app’s idea came from lawyer Eric Koester, who was inspired to create it after he failed to remember someone’s name earlier during the event. A team of 14 people came together to build the app that weekend, and since then, a subset of the original LTN team has continued working on it, releasing an updated iPhone version, Palm WebOS app, and Flash app.
The deal is for LTN’s tech assets, and the proceeds are being split among the 14 original team members. Going forward, the standalone iPhone and Palm applications will still be available, and the game is also integrated into Gist’s own iPhone application, which you can find here. The Gist version will tap into Gist’s database of contacts (the original uses LinkedIn).
For those that haven’t used it, Gist offers services that help you keep tabs on the people in your professional network. The service’s web interface allows you to see past messages and attachments from each contact, news about their company, and their recent messages on services like Twitter. Gist also offers an Outlook plugin that shares similarities with Xobni. Given the business oriented nature of Learn That Name, this seems like a good (and fun) fit.
Given the success of the Learn That Name team, it will be interesting to see if more Startup Weekend teams continue working together following the conclusion of their events.
New weapon: Chilli hand grenade to tackle terrorists
Posted at The Times of India
The DRDO scientists had already carried out trials for the hand grenades mixed with the world’s hottest chilli and so far the tests have been satisfactory.
Posted at The Times of India
The DRDO scientists had already carried out trials for the hand grenades mixed with the world’s hottest chilli and so far the tests have been satisfactory.
Shared Items – March 17, 2010
- Facebook is most visited site – edges out Google for a week
March 17, 2010
- Facebook is most visited site – edges out Google for a week
March 17, 2010
Facebook is most visited site – edges out Google for a week
Posted at money.cnn.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Facebook topped Google to become the most visited U.S. Web site last week, indicating a shift in how Americans are searching for content.
Web analysis firm Experian Hitwise said Monday that the social networking site surpassed Google to take the No. 1 spot for the week ended March 13.
“It shows content sharing has become a huge driving force online,” said Matt Tatham, director of media relations at Hitwise. “People want information from friends they trust, versus the the anonymity of a search engine.”
Facebook accounted for 7.07% of U.S. Web traffic that week, while Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) received 7.03%. The study compared only the domains Facebook.com and Google.com — not, for example, Google-owned sites like Gmail.com.
Though the traffic levels were close, Facebook’s year-over-year growth far outpaced Google’s that week. The number of visitors to Facebook spiked 185% compared with the same period last year, while Google’s traffic climbed just 9%.
“It’s definitely a big moment for Facebook, even though they beat by a small margin,” Tatham said. “We’ve seen it coming for quite a long time.”
Facebook had never before beaten Google over a full weeklong period, though it has been the most visited site on recent holidays: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Facebook was also the top site on the weekend of March 6-7.
But Tatham noted that when he added up traffic on all Google properties like Google Maps and YouTube, the company’s sites comprised 11.03% of visits. Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) was second with 10.98%.
Google.com had been the No. 1 site each week since Sept. 15, 2007, when ironically it passed another social networking site, MySpace.com, in order to take the crown.
Of course, the MySpace connection could be a bad omen for Facebook. MySpace enjoyed dominance on the social networking scene for years until it saw traffic plummet following Facebook’s rise.
“By nature, the Web is ever-changing,” Tatham said. “The Internet can be a fickle crowd.” 
Posted at money.cnn.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Facebook topped Google to become the most visited U.S. Web site last week, indicating a shift in how Americans are searching for content.
Web analysis firm Experian Hitwise said Monday that the social networking site surpassed Google to take the No. 1 spot for the week ended March 13.
“It shows content sharing has become a huge driving force online,” said Matt Tatham, director of media relations at Hitwise. “People want information from friends they trust, versus the the anonymity of a search engine.”
Facebook accounted for 7.07% of U.S. Web traffic that week, while Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) received 7.03%. The study compared only the domains Facebook.com and Google.com — not, for example, Google-owned sites like Gmail.com.
Though the traffic levels were close, Facebook’s year-over-year growth far outpaced Google’s that week. The number of visitors to Facebook spiked 185% compared with the same period last year, while Google’s traffic climbed just 9%.
“It’s definitely a big moment for Facebook, even though they beat by a small margin,” Tatham said. “We’ve seen it coming for quite a long time.”
Facebook had never before beaten Google over a full weeklong period, though it has been the most visited site on recent holidays: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Facebook was also the top site on the weekend of March 6-7.
But Tatham noted that when he added up traffic on all Google properties like Google Maps and YouTube, the company’s sites comprised 11.03% of visits. Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) was second with 10.98%.
Google.com had been the No. 1 site each week since Sept. 15, 2007, when ironically it passed another social networking site, MySpace.com, in order to take the crown.
Of course, the MySpace connection could be a bad omen for Facebook. MySpace enjoyed dominance on the social networking scene for years until it saw traffic plummet following Facebook’s rise.
“By nature, the Web is ever-changing,” Tatham said. “The Internet can be a fickle crowd.”
Justin.tv’s Live Video Broadcasting Architecture
Posted at High Scalability
by Todd Hoff
The future is live. The future is real-time. The future is now. That’s the hype anyway. And as it has a habit of doing, the hype is slowly becoming reality. We are seeing live searches, live tweets, live location, live reality augmentation, live crab (fresh and local), and live event publishing. One of the most challenging of all live technologies is that of live video broadcasting. Imagine a world in which everyone becomes a broadcaster and a consumer of video streams, all in real-time (< 250 msec latency), all so you can talk and interact directly without feeling like you are in the middle of a time shift war. The resources and the engineering needed to make this happened must be substantial. How do you do that?
To find out I talked to Kyle Vogt, Justin.tv Founder and VP of Engineering. Justin.tv certainly has the numbers. Their 30 million unique monthly visitors even outshine YouTube in the video upload game, reportedly uploading nearly 30 hours per minute of video compared to YouTube’s 23. I asked for an interview after listening to an interview with Justin Kan, another Founder of the eponymously named Justin.tv. Justin talked about how live video was fundamentally different than YouTube’s batch video approach, where all the video is stored on disk and replayed later on demand. Live video can’t be made by pushing video faster, it takes a completely differently architecture. Since the YouTube Architecture article is the most popular article ever on this site, I thought people might also enjoy learning about live side of the video world. Kyle was unbelievably generous with his time and insight into how Justin.tv makes all this live video magic happen, going way beyond the call, providing a tremendous number of juicy details. Anyone building a system can learn something from how they run their business. I can’t thank Kyle enough for putting up with my never ending prodding.
Posted at High Scalability
by Todd Hoff
The future is live. The future is real-time. The future is now. That’s the hype anyway. And as it has a habit of doing, the hype is slowly becoming reality. We are seeing live searches, live tweets, live location, live reality augmentation, live crab (fresh and local), and live event publishing. One of the most challenging of all live technologies is that of live video broadcasting. Imagine a world in which everyone becomes a broadcaster and a consumer of video streams, all in real-time (< 250 msec latency), all so you can talk and interact directly without feeling like you are in the middle of a time shift war. The resources and the engineering needed to make this happened must be substantial. How do you do that?
To find out I talked to Kyle Vogt, Justin.tv Founder and VP of Engineering. Justin.tv certainly has the numbers. Their 30 million unique monthly visitors even outshine YouTube in the video upload game, reportedly uploading nearly 30 hours per minute of video compared to YouTube’s 23. I asked for an interview after listening to an interview with Justin Kan, another Founder of the eponymously named Justin.tv. Justin talked about how live video was fundamentally different than YouTube’s batch video approach, where all the video is stored on disk and replayed later on demand. Live video can’t be made by pushing video faster, it takes a completely differently architecture. Since the YouTube Architecture article is the most popular article ever on this site, I thought people might also enjoy learning about live side of the video world. Kyle was unbelievably generous with his time and insight into how Justin.tv makes all this live video magic happen, going way beyond the call, providing a tremendous number of juicy details. Anyone building a system can learn something from how they run their business. I can’t thank Kyle enough for putting up with my never ending prodding.
Jeetu Mirchandani
