Boston-based PowerInbox, which we first covered in August and then showcased at our Tech Cocktail Boston mixer in September, has just launched an API (in beta) that is a marketer’s dream. Anyone from developers to publishers can add ecommerce, videos, photos, real-time updates and more right in the body of email messages. Founder and CEO…
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Most of us have lamented our Facebook addiction one time or another, but it turns out that this addiction may be passive. In a February 3 study called “Why most Facebook users get more than they give,” Pew Research shows that the majority of users consume more content than they produce. Pew explains this strange…
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With the cost of a Super Bowl XLVI being about $3.5M, advertisers pulled out all the stops this year with a combination of ads that not only entertained viewers, but also made use of mobility and social media to influence preference for the brand, just as we suggested prior to the big game. So what…
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I’m a native New Yorker, so I am pretty psyched that the Giants are playing in the Super Bowl today. Still, I have to admit – I watch the Super Bowl for the commercials – but I really look forward to the game because it’s a great excuse to cook some awesome food and open…
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Entrepreneurs tend to have really interesting back stories, but I’ll go out on a limb and say it’s super rare to meet one who went from attorney to retail manager to entrepreneur. “I started working at Best Buy because I kept asking my little brother for discounts,” said Will Fuentes, CEO and co-founder of Lemur…
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Imagine this: you wait too long to buy a plane ticket to Austin for SXSW, and now you need to drive 1,500 miles or so. From, like, Washington, DC. But that’s OK, you just recruit friends who also waited too long to buy their tickets and turn it into a road trip – a mobile…
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An amazing thing happens when you are socially connected. When your Facebook friends expand from the cities you have lived in to your past jobs, or you find yourself in a complete life change that pushes you to meet new people, you want to get past the online to meet people in person…a novel concept…
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Plink, a Facebook Credits-based loyalty program that rewards Facebook users for their offline purchases, officially launched yesterday. The concept isn’t new: Sign your credit or debit card up on their website, make a purchase from one of the participating restaurants or retailers, and start earning rewards. What makes Plink different is the blending between offline and…
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If you are just starting a business or creating a new product line or service offering, I bet you’re struggling to come up with a name for it. That’s not surprising—good branding is hard work. It takes dedicated time, thoughtfulness, and research. Here are three sure-fire ways from an intellectual property perspective that can really…
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Tech Cocktail has been a supporter of the Startup America Partnership since its inception early last year, and now the organization is getting ready to celebrates its first anniversary (next week)! How time flies. It’s been exciting to watch the organization blossom and roll out various programs for entrepreneurs, from Startup Illinois, the first state to launch a program…
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When Jay Chahil started working in DC, he’d go out to lunch with coworkers every day – like most young professionals. “I began to realize that everyone else was pretty much doing the same thing and missing out on meeting new people. I also noticed a lot of people eating alone,” he said. “I wanted…
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Conversion is king, at least in the land of online sales. You can run all the multivariate and A/B testing in the world, but when it comes to turning a prospect into a customer, there’s no replacement for a salesperson’s ability to overcome a buyer’s hesitations. Chat& makes this possible. With features such as live…
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This morning Viddler announced some major changes to how their video platform is going operate moving forward, including a simpler interface, removal of extraneous features, and providing more in-depth enterprise solutions for small to large businesses. This transition began earlier last year when Viddler decided to conclude personal account sign ups. Due to a host of…
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It’s Friday. Your plans just fell through. It’s 8pm – the night isn’t getting any younger. You’ve worked hard all week, and you’re determined play. You don’t know what to do. More accurately, you don’t know what there is to do. Sponto does. This DC-headquartered, location-based social networking mobile app allows users to see what…
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Pinterest is extremely addicting – maybe moreso than Facebook for some people. But if you use it regularly, I bet you are frustrated by at least one of the following problems: frequent 502 errors, show-stopping bugs, lack of privacy settings, and inability to use it on your iPad. Meet Juxtapost, a simple-to-use social discovery website…
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As our world gets smaller, online communities are becoming more and more ubiquitous. I’m not talking about huge social networks like Facebook, which target everyone, but more focused communities that target a specific niche. We just ran a post on Scoutzie a couple of hours ago, which brings together mobile designers in one place –…
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There are a number of startup accelerator and incubator programs in the United States. We are fans of these programs (not to be confused with... Read More
Two months after the iPad 2 debuted in March, around 40% of users surveyed said their iPad was their primary computer, up from around 30%... Read More
With our Startup Mixology Conference coming up next week followed by our classic Tech Cocktail DC Summer mixer which will showcase a handful of early-stage... Read More
Coming off of one of our biggest Tech Cocktail mixer events in Chicago this past week, which showcased 14 early-stage start-ups, we thought it would... Read More