http://odeo.com/channels/2107866-Xconomy-Full-Podcast no Business + Technology in the Exponential Economy Business + Technology in the Exponential Economy Business + Technology in the Exponential Economy en 40 Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:00:17 -0700 Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:00:17 -0700 Business http://odeo.com/episodes/24287837-Biogen-Idec-Aims-to-Regenerate-Damaged-Nerves-Crack-Multi-Billion-Dollar-Market Biotech, Pain, Regenerative Medicine Luke Timmerman wrote: Biogen Idec’s scientists have a vision for regenerative medicine, and it has nothing to do with what’s been written and said about embryonic stem cells. Deep in Biogen’s pipeline, on the verge of entering clinical trials, are a pair of regenerative medicines that the company hopes will become trailblazers in the world of neurological diseases. I got the rundown on one candidate for multiple sclerosis back in August. Yesterday I gathered more about the other contender, neublastin, for neuropathic pain. This second candidate grabbed scientists’ attention a year ago, when Biogen researchers published experimental data in Nature Neuroscience with collaborators at the University of Arizona and Tufts University. They found that when rats suffered damage to a bundle of nerves that feed into the spinal cord, then got neublastin injections, the nerves grew back into the spinal cord and, importantly, restored t... Biotech, Pain, Regenerative Medicine Luke Timmerman wrote: Biogen Idec’s scientists have a vision for regenerative medicine, and it has nothing to do with what’s been written and said about embryonic stem cells. Deep in Biogen’s pipeline, on the verge of entering clinical trials, are a pair of regenerative medicines that the company hopes will become trailblazers in the world of neurological diseases. I got the rundown on one candidate for multiple sclerosis back in August. Yesterday I gathered more about the other contender, neublastin, for neuropathic pain. This second candidate grabbed scientists’ attention a year ago, when Biogen researchers published experimental data in Nature Neuroscience with collaborators at the University of Arizona and Tufts University. They found that when rats suffered damage to a bundle of nerves that feed into the spinal cord, then got neublastin injections, the nerves grew back into the spinal cord and, importantly, restored the rats’ ability to feel sensations in their paws and perform complex movements like grabbing onto objects. After a half-dozen shots over 11 days, the effectiveness endured for six months. This ability to restore function came after studies had already shown neublastin can relieve chronic neuropathic pain in animals. If anything like this can be repeated in people—always a big if—the business opportunity would be big. An estimated one in 100 people in the U.S., or about 3 million people, suffer from nerve dysfunction that causes neuropathic pain. This is the mysterious kind of pain many people suffer, like back pain, that doesn’t respond to conventional analgesic or narcotic pain relievers. Pfizer’s gabapentin (Neurontin) became a $2.4 billion drug in 2003 largely from treating this type of pain, even though it was never explicitly approved by the FDA for that purpose. “There’s a high level of excitement here. This is beautiful biology,” says Al Sandrock, Biogen’s senior vice president of neurology R&D, and an assistant clinical professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. “These are admittedly high-risk programs, but if we succeed in restoring nerve function, there are not many other people who are working on this.” Biogen has been eyeing this field for more than a decade. The company got an exclusive license to develop neublastin from NsGene, a Danish company that discovered the protein in 1998 from research into a family of proteins called glial-derived neurotrophic factors (GDNF). These proteins work to help keep nerve cells alive. Neublastin is particularly interesting, because it interacts with cells that sense pain and temperature changes, Sandrock says. When these “sensory neurons” get injured, people feel neuropathic pain, Sandrock says. One leading theory is that these pain-sensing cells turn hyperactive, which might explain why people feel back pain when sophisticated imaging tools like MRI can’t detect an obvious tissue injury. Another is that when these sensory neurons get damaged, the normal feeling of “touch” gets converted erroneously into a pain sensation, Sandrock says. Injecting a genetically engineered copy of the neublastin protein may work against this condition …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Biotech, Pain, Regenerative Medicine Luke Timmerman wrote: Biogen Idec’s scientists have a vision for regenerative medicine, and it has nothing to do with what’s been written and said about embryonic stem cells. Deep in Biogen’s pipeline, on the verge of entering clinical trials, are a pair of regenerative medicines that the company hopes will become trailblazers in the world of neurological diseases. I got the rundown on one candidate for multiple sclerosis back in August. Yesterday I gathered more about the other contender, neublastin, for neuropathic pain. This second candidate grabbed scientists’ attention a year ago, when Biogen researchers published experimental data in Nature Neuroscience with collaborators at the University of Arizona and Tufts University. They found that when rats suffered damage to a bundle of nerves that feed into the spinal cord, then got neublastin injections, the nerves grew back into the spinal cord and, importantly, restored the rats’ ability to feel sensations in their paws and perform complex movements like grabbing onto objects. After a half-dozen shots over 11 days, the effectiveness endured for six months. This ability to restore function came after studies had already shown neublastin can relieve chronic neuropathic pain in animals. If anything like this can be repeated in people—always a big if—the business opportunity would be big. An estimated one in 100 people in the U.S., or about 3 million people, suffer from nerve dysfunction that causes neuropathic pain. This is the mysterious kind of pain many people suffer, like back pain, that doesn’t respond to conventional analgesic or narcotic pain relievers. Pfizer’s gabapentin (Neurontin) became a $2.4 billion drug in 2003 largely from treating this type of pain, even though it was never explicitly approved by the FDA for that purpose. “There’s a high level of excitement here. This is beautiful biology,” says Al Sandrock, Biogen’s senior vice president of neurology R&D, and an assistant clinical professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. “These are admittedly high-risk programs, but if we succeed in restoring nerve function, there are not many other people who are working on this.” Biogen has been eyeing this field for more than a decade. The company got an exclusive license to develop neublastin from NsGene, a Danish company that discovered the protein in 1998 from research into a family of proteins called glial-derived neurotrophic factors (GDNF). These proteins work to help keep nerve cells alive. Neublastin is particularly interesting, because it interacts with cells that sense pain and temperature changes, Sandrock says. When these “sensory neurons” get injured, people feel neuropathic pain, Sandrock says. One leading theory is that these pain-sensing cells turn hyperactive, which might explain why people feel back pain when sophisticated imaging tools like MRI can’t detect an obvious tissue injury. Another is that when these sensory neurons get damaged, the normal feeling of “touch” gets converted erroneously into a pain sensation, Sandrock says. Injecting a genetically engineered copy of the neublastin protein may work against this condition …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-11,24287837 Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:00:17 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast stem cells, Boston, pain, Biotech, Harvard Medical School, Boston blog main, Pfizer, National blog main, Life Sciences, Biogen Idec, Novartis, Multiple Sclerosis, Regenerative Medicine, San Diego blog main, Gene Therapy, Geron, Ceregene, Johnson & Johnson, Neublastin, Al Sandrock http://odeo.com/episodes/24287838-Clean-Energy-Revenues-Climbed-53-in-2008-Forecast-Flat-to-Down-for-This-Year cleantech, energy, Solar Luke Timmerman wrote: The global cleantech industry stayed on a bull run despite a shaky economy in 2008, but the momentum is bound to slow down this year. That was the key finding from a report released yesterday by Portland, OR-based Clean Edge, a consulting firm. The three major clean energy sectors—solar photovoltaics, wind power, and biofuels—saw their combined revenues climb to $115.9 billion last year, a 53 percent boost from $75.8 billion in the previous year, according to Clean Edge’s annual report on industry trends. A decade from now, the firm predicts that the industry will triple again. But not without some pain along the way, starting this year. “Clean energy industry revenues will be level or down slightly in 2009,” says Ron Pernick, Clean Edge co-founder and managing director, on a conference call yesterday with reporters. With IPOs nonexistent, tight credit markets, a global recession, and at least a few months ... cleantech, energy, Solar Luke Timmerman wrote: The global cleantech industry stayed on a bull run despite a shaky economy in 2008, but the momentum is bound to slow down this year. That was the key finding from a report released yesterday by Portland, OR-based Clean Edge, a consulting firm. The three major clean energy sectors—solar photovoltaics, wind power, and biofuels—saw their combined revenues climb to $115.9 billion last year, a 53 percent boost from $75.8 billion in the previous year, according to Clean Edge’s annual report on industry trends. A decade from now, the firm predicts that the industry will triple again. But not without some pain along the way, starting this year. “Clean energy industry revenues will be level or down slightly in 2009,” says Ron Pernick, Clean Edge co-founder and managing director, on a conference call yesterday with reporters. With IPOs nonexistent, tight credit markets, a global recession, and at least a few months before the federal stimulus plan makes an impact, “2009 will be a year to get through,” Pernick says. One of the factoids from the 22-page report that caught my eye: Wind power is the leading clean energy sector, with $51.4 billion in global revenues last year, followed by biofuels with $34.8 billion, and solar power at $29.6 billion. Once you get past all the facts about the macroeconomic trends, this report included five specific trends to watch for in the years to come. Here they are: —“The grid goes online.” Clean Edge envisions more integration of information technology and energy this year, with all sorts of appliances like commercial refrigerators and residential washing machines being connected through the Internet to make them more efficient. (Seattle-based V2Green, acquired last year by GridPoint, was cited as a leader in this sub-sector.) —“Technologies Save Clean Energy for a Rainy (or Calm) Day.” The facts that the wind doesn’t always blow, and the sun doesn’t always shine—yet people need consistent juice—mean that someone needs to figure out how to better store energy for rainy days. The market for grid energy storage is worth an estimated $2.4 billion. One of the key headlines in 2008 came out of Oregon’s Built Environment and Sustainable Technologies Center, which assisted Oregon State University researchers in getting a $725,000 grant from the Bonneville Power Administration to research storing power from wind turbines. —“New Clean Energy Markets Emerge Around the Globe.” Countries like Serbia and Aruba started joining the cleantech industry in 2008. Even in this category, the Northwest has a local connection, through Portland, OR-based Iberdrola Renewables’ acquiring a 1.6 gigawatt wind portfolio from a Romanian company. —“Grid Infrastructure Grabs the Spotlight.” This is the transmission problem—how do you get immense wind power from the Great Plains to the cities where most Americans live? Transmission capacity “is the biggest short to medium term barrier to the continued rapid growth of utility-scale wind or concentrating solar power,” said Tom Starrs, CEO of Solar Energy Ventures, a solar and smart grid consultant in Portland, according to the report. —“Micropower Shows it is No Small Thing.” Microturbines, solar cells, fuel cells, geothermal energy from small, regional “micropower” grids only provide 6 percent of U.S. electricity, but that share will continue to grow, according to Clean Edge. The report didn’t single out any Northwest links to this trend, although we identified several players in this space in our cleantech cluster stories from last week. One example: Seattle-based AltaRock Energy raised $26 million in August from Vulcan Capital and Google, among others, to create geothermal energy reservoirs rather than rely on having to discover natural heat-energy sources. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail cleantech, energy, Solar Luke Timmerman wrote: The global cleantech industry stayed on a bull run despite a shaky economy in 2008, but the momentum is bound to slow down this year. That was the key finding from a report released yesterday by Portland, OR-based Clean Edge, a consulting firm. The three major clean energy sectors—solar photovoltaics, wind power, and biofuels—saw their combined revenues climb to $115.9 billion last year, a 53 percent boost from $75.8 billion in the previous year, according to Clean Edge’s annual report on industry trends. A decade from now, the firm predicts that the industry will triple again. But not without some pain along the way, starting this year. “Clean energy industry revenues will be level or down slightly in 2009,” says Ron Pernick, Clean Edge co-founder and managing director, on a conference call yesterday with reporters. With IPOs nonexistent, tight credit markets, a global recession, and at least a few months before the federal stimulus plan makes an impact, “2009 will be a year to get through,” Pernick says. One of the factoids from the 22-page report that caught my eye: Wind power is the leading clean energy sector, with $51.4 billion in global revenues last year, followed by biofuels with $34.8 billion, and solar power at $29.6 billion. Once you get past all the facts about the macroeconomic trends, this report included five specific trends to watch for in the years to come. Here they are: —“The grid goes online.” Clean Edge envisions more integration of information technology and energy this year, with all sorts of appliances like commercial refrigerators and residential washing machines being connected through the Internet to make them more efficient. (Seattle-based V2Green, acquired last year by GridPoint, was cited as a leader in this sub-sector.) —“Technologies Save Clean Energy for a Rainy (or Calm) Day.” The facts that the wind doesn’t always blow, and the sun doesn’t always shine—yet people need consistent juice—mean that someone needs to figure out how to better store energy for rainy days. The market for grid energy storage is worth an estimated $2.4 billion. One of the key headlines in 2008 came out of Oregon’s Built Environment and Sustainable Technologies Center, which assisted Oregon State University researchers in getting a $725,000 grant from the Bonneville Power Administration to research storing power from wind turbines. —“New Clean Energy Markets Emerge Around the Globe.” Countries like Serbia and Aruba started joining the cleantech industry in 2008. Even in this category, the Northwest has a local connection, through Portland, OR-based Iberdrola Renewables’ acquiring a 1.6 gigawatt wind portfolio from a Romanian company. —“Grid Infrastructure Grabs the Spotlight.” This is the transmission problem—how do you get immense wind power from the Great Plains to the cities where most Americans live? Transmission capacity “is the biggest short to medium term barrier to the continued rapid growth of utility-scale wind or concentrating solar power,” said Tom Starrs, CEO of Solar Energy Ventures, a solar and smart grid consultant in Portland, according to the report. —“Micropower Shows it is No Small Thing.” Microturbines, solar cells, fuel cells, geothermal energy from small, regional “micropower” grids only provide 6 percent of U.S. electricity, but that share will continue to grow, according to Clean Edge. The report didn’t single out any Northwest links to this trend, although we identified several players in this space in our cleantech cluster stories from last week. One example: Seattle-based AltaRock Energy raised $26 million in August from Vulcan Capital and Google, among others, to create geothermal energy reservoirs rather than rely on having to discover natural heat-energy sources. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24287838 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:35:51 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast energy, wind power, seattle, biofuels, solar, Cleantech, Seattle blog main, National blog main, Oregon State University, V2Green, GridPoint, Clean Edge, Iberdrola Renewables, Ron Pernick, Cloudworks Energy, Tom Starrs, Solar Energy Ventures, Bonneville Power Administration http://odeo.com/episodes/24287839-The-Death-of-the-Focus-Group-At-Invoke-Solutions-Apple-Vet-Makes-Market-Research-User-Friendly-for-the-Surveyors-and-the-Surveyed IT, market research, product development Wade Roush wrote: Focus groups are such a standard part of our market-driven culture that they’ve long since become the subject of parody. Decision-makers are seen as being afraid to act without consulting them; surely, no political party would pick a candidate, no legislator would introduce a big policy initiative, and no movie studio would green-light a big-budget film without focus-grouping it first. But while they may be ridiculed, the truth is that business organizations—especially consumer product companies—still spend quite a bit of money on focus groups. Such ensembles are considered a crucial way to identify products people will buy and weed out bad ones before they’re brought to market. The rise of the Internet, however, has created faster, cheaper alternatives to the classic eight-people-around-a-table-and-a-whiteboard scenario. Since 2000, Waltham, MA-based Invoke Solutions has been one of the companies run... IT, market research, product development Wade Roush wrote: Focus groups are such a standard part of our market-driven culture that they’ve long since become the subject of parody. Decision-makers are seen as being afraid to act without consulting them; surely, no political party would pick a candidate, no legislator would introduce a big policy initiative, and no movie studio would green-light a big-budget film without focus-grouping it first. But while they may be ridiculed, the truth is that business organizations—especially consumer product companies—still spend quite a bit of money on focus groups. Such ensembles are considered a crucial way to identify products people will buy and weed out bad ones before they’re brought to market. The rise of the Internet, however, has created faster, cheaper alternatives to the classic eight-people-around-a-table-and-a-whiteboard scenario. Since 2000, Waltham, MA-based Invoke Solutions has been one of the companies running online surveys that, in effect, let market researchers assemble focus groups that are hundreds or thousands strong. Until recently, Invoke’s surveys were still real-time affairs, conducted at scheduled times. Groups of researchers huddled in control rooms, administering questions, interacting with participants directly, and watching the data pour in. Last year, though, Invoke introduced a new “asynchronous” survey system called Engage that allows volunteers to participate in market studies at any time they choose. And in January, it enhanced the system with new reporting and analytics software that lets Invoke’s clients view and explore the results, via instant PowerPoint presentations and other types of visualizations, as they come in. Invoke’s president and CEO Ben Cesare, who came by Xconomy’s office a couple of weeks ago, says the response to the new reporting software has been “thrilling.” Within 60 days after Invoke rolled out the Engage Analytics tool, 120 Fortune500 clients were already using it, says Cesare, who joined the company in 2005 and became CEO a year later. The veteran of Apple Computer, Psion, and Agile Software says he’s “not a research guy”—meaning he isn’t steeped in the strategies of giant market-research firms like TNS or Ipsos. But he says he does understand “innovation that works, capturing the information that matters. That’s what I really care about, and that’s what attracted me to Invoke.” Cesare (pronounced like “Caesar”) argues companies need to embrace market research systematically, the same way they’ve embraced enterprise resource planning (ERP) or customer relationship management (CRM). In fact, he’s got his own three-letter term for what Invoke does—RDM, for research data management. During his visit, Cesare gave me the basic download about the venture-funded, 55-employee company (which raised a $7 million round one year ago) and its latest accomplishments in the young discipline of RDM. But I started out asking him about the competition—the old fashioned focus group. A greatly abridged version of our conversation follows. Xconomy: What’s wrong with focus groups? Ben Cesare: The problem with focus groups is that they are time-consuming and expensive and they give you a small sample size. You could spend a month and a half flying around to six cities and talk to eight people in each city and then find that only three of those eight do all the talking. Are you going to make a call based on the opinions of 18 people? We’ll put you in front of 1,000 people over a week at a fraction of the cost, and all the answers will be believable. There’s no groupthink, no bias in the room. You’re not traveling. X: So why do companies keep doing them? BC: You know the old saying—nobody ever got fired for buying IBM. There’s a lot of safety in the same old stuff. People will say, “I have to do my focus group, I have to look those eight people right in the eye.” I submit the opposite. My point of view is that people will …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail IT, market research, product development Wade Roush wrote: Focus groups are such a standard part of our market-driven culture that they’ve long since become the subject of parody. Decision-makers are seen as being afraid to act without consulting them; surely, no political party would pick a candidate, no legislator would introduce a big policy initiative, and no movie studio would green-light a big-budget film without focus-grouping it first. But while they may be ridiculed, the truth is that business organizations—especially consumer product companies—still spend quite a bit of money on focus groups. Such ensembles are considered a crucial way to identify products people will buy and weed out bad ones before they’re brought to market. The rise of the Internet, however, has created faster, cheaper alternatives to the classic eight-people-around-a-table-and-a-whiteboard scenario. Since 2000, Waltham, MA-based Invoke Solutions has been one of the companies running online surveys that, in effect, let market researchers assemble focus groups that are hundreds or thousands strong. Until recently, Invoke’s surveys were still real-time affairs, conducted at scheduled times. Groups of researchers huddled in control rooms, administering questions, interacting with participants directly, and watching the data pour in. Last year, though, Invoke introduced a new “asynchronous” survey system called Engage that allows volunteers to participate in market studies at any time they choose. And in January, it enhanced the system with new reporting and analytics software that lets Invoke’s clients view and explore the results, via instant PowerPoint presentations and other types of visualizations, as they come in. Invoke’s president and CEO Ben Cesare, who came by Xconomy’s office a couple of weeks ago, says the response to the new reporting software has been “thrilling.” Within 60 days after Invoke rolled out the Engage Analytics tool, 120 Fortune500 clients were already using it, says Cesare, who joined the company in 2005 and became CEO a year later. The veteran of Apple Computer, Psion, and Agile Software says he’s “not a research guy”—meaning he isn’t steeped in the strategies of giant market-research firms like TNS or Ipsos. But he says he does understand “innovation that works, capturing the information that matters. That’s what I really care about, and that’s what attracted me to Invoke.” Cesare (pronounced like “Caesar”) argues companies need to embrace market research systematically, the same way they’ve embraced enterprise resource planning (ERP) or customer relationship management (CRM). In fact, he’s got his own three-letter term for what Invoke does—RDM, for research data management. During his visit, Cesare gave me the basic download about the venture-funded, 55-employee company (which raised a $7 million round one year ago) and its latest accomplishments in the young discipline of RDM. But I started out asking him about the competition—the old fashioned focus group. A greatly abridged version of our conversation follows. Xconomy: What’s wrong with focus groups? Ben Cesare: The problem with focus groups is that they are time-consuming and expensive and they give you a small sample size. You could spend a month and a half flying around to six cities and talk to eight people in each city and then find that only three of those eight do all the talking. Are you going to make a call based on the opinions of 18 people? We’ll put you in front of 1,000 people over a week at a fraction of the cost, and all the answers will be believable. There’s no groupthink, no bias in the room. You’re not traveling. X: So why do companies keep doing them? BC: You know the old saying—nobody ever got fired for buying IBM. There’s a lot of safety in the same old stuff. People will say, “I have to do my focus group, I have to look those eight people right in the eye.” I submit the opposite. My point of view is that people will …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24287839 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:01:40 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast apple, market research, Boston, it, tns, engage, Boston blog main, National blog main, surveys, product development, Invoke Solutions, Ben Cesare, Engage Analytics, Ipsos, focus groups http://odeo.com/episodes/24286913-Qualcomm-Faces-Allegations-Over-Certain-Practices-in-Korea wireless, South Korea, regulation Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: Qualcomm said today the Korean Fair Trade Commission has made allegations about “the lawfulness of certain business practices.” The company says the allegations, set forth in a case examiner’s report, relate to Qualcomm’s integration of multimedia technologies into its chipsets, which are widely used in cell phones, along with “rebates and discounts provided to its chipset customers.” The San Diego wireless giant says the report does not indicate what specific remedies the commission is seeking. Qualcomm says it believes its actions in Korea have been lawful and it plans to respond to the commission’s allegations in coming months. Qualcomm said in 2006 that commission officials had “visited” its Korean offices, seeking information about its dealings with Samsung, LG and Pantech Co. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS wireless, South Korea, regulation Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: Qualcomm said today the Korean Fair Trade Commission has made allegations about “the lawfulness of certain business practices.” The company says the allegations, set forth in a case examiner’s report, relate to Qualcomm’s integration of multimedia technologies into its chipsets, which are widely used in cell phones, along with “rebates and discounts provided to its chipset customers.” The San Diego wireless giant says the report does not indicate what specific remedies the commission is seeking. Qualcomm says it believes its actions in Korea have been lawful and it plans to respond to the commission’s allegations in coming months. Qualcomm said in 2006 that commission officials had “visited” its Korean offices, seeking information about its dealings with Samsung, LG and Pantech Co. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS wireless, South Korea, regulation Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: Qualcomm said today the Korean Fair Trade Commission has made allegations about “the lawfulness of certain business practices.” The company says the allegations, set forth in a case examiner’s report, relate to Qualcomm’s integration of multimedia technologies into its chipsets, which are widely used in cell phones, along with “rebates and discounts provided to its chipset customers.” The San Diego wireless giant says the report does not indicate what specific remedies the commission is seeking. Qualcomm says it believes its actions in Korea have been lawful and it plans to respond to the commission’s allegations in coming months. Qualcomm said in 2006 that commission officials had “visited” its Korean offices, seeking information about its dealings with Samsung, LG and Pantech Co. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24286913 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:08:52 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast wireless, san diego, south korea, regulation, San Diego briefs, Korean Fair Trade Commission, Pantech Curitel, LGE Electronics, Qualcomm Samsung Electronics http://odeo.com/episodes/24285869-Seattle-2-0-Announces-Awards startups, VC, Awards Gregory T. Huang wrote: Entrepreneur resource site Seattle 2.0 has announced it is hosting a startup awards ceremony on May 7 at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. Nominations are open from now until March 25 in 10 categories including best startup, best venture capitalist, best angel investor, and best startup technologist. Finalists will be selected by a panel of judges, and winners will be determined by community voting, said Seattle 2.0 creator Marcelo Calbucci. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS startups, VC, Awards Gregory T. Huang wrote: Entrepreneur resource site Seattle 2.0 has announced it is hosting a startup awards ceremony on May 7 at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. Nominations are open from now until March 25 in 10 categories including best startup, best venture capitalist, best angel investor, and best startup technologist. Finalists will be selected by a panel of judges, and winners will be determined by community voting, said Seattle 2.0 creator Marcelo Calbucci. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS startups, VC, Awards Gregory T. Huang wrote: Entrepreneur resource site Seattle 2.0 has announced it is hosting a startup awards ceremony on May 7 at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. Nominations are open from now until March 25 in 10 categories including best startup, best venture capitalist, best angel investor, and best startup technologist. Finalists will be selected by a panel of judges, and winners will be determined by community voting, said Seattle 2.0 creator Marcelo Calbucci. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24285869 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:22:11 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Web 2.0, Internet, awards, Software, blogs, Startups, Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, seattle, entrepreneurs, VC, Seattle briefs, Seattle 2.0, Marcelo Calbucci, angel investors, Seattlepi http://odeo.com/episodes/24285870-Dancing-in-the-Light-Expanding-Access-to-Human-Embryonic-Stem-Cells Biotech, Stem Cells, Politics Randall Moon wrote: The Obama campaign, and subsequently his administration, had been hinting for a long time that it would allow researchers to use federal funds to study human embryonic stem cell “lines” which had, under the policies of President Bush, been legal to study only with private funding. Considering the relatively small number of scientists actually working with human embryonic stem cells, and the even smaller number who will use federal funds anytime soon to study some of these additional cell lines, one might wonder if the media attention focused on President Obama’s decision has been disproportionately intense-especially since therapies based on human embryonic stem cells are still largely theoretical, and are years in the future. My personal view is that media outlets likely have a set script for covering stem cell research, which would explain how they reacted within hours of the policy change, with variations on the ... Biotech, Stem Cells, Politics Randall Moon wrote: The Obama campaign, and subsequently his administration, had been hinting for a long time that it would allow researchers to use federal funds to study human embryonic stem cell “lines” which had, under the policies of President Bush, been legal to study only with private funding. Considering the relatively small number of scientists actually working with human embryonic stem cells, and the even smaller number who will use federal funds anytime soon to study some of these additional cell lines, one might wonder if the media attention focused on President Obama’s decision has been disproportionately intense-especially since therapies based on human embryonic stem cells are still largely theoretical, and are years in the future. My personal view is that media outlets likely have a set script for covering stem cell research, which would explain how they reacted within hours of the policy change, with variations on the following theme: Researchers and patients were quickly interviewed, expressing hope that greater access to stem cell lines would accelerate the process of developing therapies for myriad diseases. Opponents of stem cell research had at least equal time, and they claimed either that this policy decision would increase the number of human embryos destroyed, or that adult, not embryonic stem cells showed the most potential for becoming effective therapies. The first claim by opponents conveniently overlooks the reality that if excess and thus unwanted embryos are not used to generate stem cells, then they are going to be destroyed by IVF clinics as medical waste. Tens of thousands are destroyed annually at IVF clinics, with no apparent outcry. Given this scenario, making life-affirming and potentially life-saving stem cells would seem to be the pro-life alternative. The claim that there are numerous effective therapies derived from adult stem cells is misleading, and virtually every scientist agrees that human embryonic stem cells are still the “gold standard” for stem cell research. True, it will be years before new FDA-approved cell-based therapies are widely available, but that is no reason not to study both adult and embryonic stem cells. In following these established scripts to outline well-known and opposing positions on human embryonic stem cells, the media have largely missed an opportunity to comment on the broader implications of President Obama’s policy decision. I interpret this larger message to be that complex societal debates, such as how to deal with human embryos, will be suitably viewed through the prism of ethics and prevailing morals. In contrast to much of the past decade, however, reaching a final policy will ultimately be driven by scientific evidence and intellectual debate rather than by political calculus. The rediscovery of science as the starting point for making policy is major news that will have far-reaching impact throughout society. Thus we may soon live in a country where the Environmental Protection Agency might actually be allowed to use science to support the preservation of habitat and species. We might be entering a time when it is acceptable to note that the world has a finite capacity to sustain an ever-expanding human population. If this keeps up, we might see the day when evolution, sans creationism, is taught in science classes nationally. A cloud is lifting, though it could settle in and once again obscure the collective vision of society in the future. Until then, I for one am happy to dance in the warm light of reason and logic once again. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Biotech, Stem Cells, Politics Randall Moon wrote: The Obama campaign, and subsequently his administration, had been hinting for a long time that it would allow researchers to use federal funds to study human embryonic stem cell “lines” which had, under the policies of President Bush, been legal to study only with private funding. Considering the relatively small number of scientists actually working with human embryonic stem cells, and the even smaller number who will use federal funds anytime soon to study some of these additional cell lines, one might wonder if the media attention focused on President Obama’s decision has been disproportionately intense-especially since therapies based on human embryonic stem cells are still largely theoretical, and are years in the future. My personal view is that media outlets likely have a set script for covering stem cell research, which would explain how they reacted within hours of the policy change, with variations on the following theme: Researchers and patients were quickly interviewed, expressing hope that greater access to stem cell lines would accelerate the process of developing therapies for myriad diseases. Opponents of stem cell research had at least equal time, and they claimed either that this policy decision would increase the number of human embryos destroyed, or that adult, not embryonic stem cells showed the most potential for becoming effective therapies. The first claim by opponents conveniently overlooks the reality that if excess and thus unwanted embryos are not used to generate stem cells, then they are going to be destroyed by IVF clinics as medical waste. Tens of thousands are destroyed annually at IVF clinics, with no apparent outcry. Given this scenario, making life-affirming and potentially life-saving stem cells would seem to be the pro-life alternative. The claim that there are numerous effective therapies derived from adult stem cells is misleading, and virtually every scientist agrees that human embryonic stem cells are still the “gold standard” for stem cell research. True, it will be years before new FDA-approved cell-based therapies are widely available, but that is no reason not to study both adult and embryonic stem cells. In following these established scripts to outline well-known and opposing positions on human embryonic stem cells, the media have largely missed an opportunity to comment on the broader implications of President Obama’s policy decision. I interpret this larger message to be that complex societal debates, such as how to deal with human embryos, will be suitably viewed through the prism of ethics and prevailing morals. In contrast to much of the past decade, however, reaching a final policy will ultimately be driven by scientific evidence and intellectual debate rather than by political calculus. The rediscovery of science as the starting point for making policy is major news that will have far-reaching impact throughout society. Thus we may soon live in a country where the Environmental Protection Agency might actually be allowed to use science to support the preservation of habitat and species. We might be entering a time when it is acceptable to note that the world has a finite capacity to sustain an ever-expanding human population. If this keeps up, we might see the day when evolution, sans creationism, is taught in science classes nationally. A cloud is lifting, though it could settle in and once again obscure the collective vision of society in the future. Until then, I for one am happy to dance in the warm light of reason and logic once again. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24285870 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:08:53 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Politics, stem cells, national, Biotech, Boston Xcon, National Xcon, Seattle Xcon, Life Sciences, Environmental Protection Agency, San Diego Xcon, president obama http://odeo.com/episodes/24285871-Ignition-Bain-Invest-5-5M-in-Enclarity deals, VC, healthcare Gregory T. Huang wrote: Enclarity, a healthcare IT company based in Aliso Viejo, CA, announced today it has closed a $5.5 million Series C round led by Bellevue, WA-based Ignition Partners and Boston, MA-based Bain Capital Ventures. The funds will be used for R&D and product development. Enclarity makes software that helps companies manage healthcare provider information and records. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail deals, VC, healthcare Gregory T. Huang wrote: Enclarity, a healthcare IT company based in Aliso Viejo, CA, announced today it has closed a $5.5 million Series C round led by Bellevue, WA-based Ignition Partners and Boston, MA-based Bain Capital Ventures. The funds will be used for R&D and product development. Enclarity makes software that helps companies manage healthcare provider information and records. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail deals, VC, healthcare Gregory T. Huang wrote: Enclarity, a healthcare IT company based in Aliso Viejo, CA, announced today it has closed a $5.5 million Series C round led by Bellevue, WA-based Ignition Partners and Boston, MA-based Bain Capital Ventures. The funds will be used for R&D and product development. Enclarity makes software that helps companies manage healthcare provider information and records. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24285871 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:00:21 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Software, Venture Capital, it, healthcare, seattle, products, investors, VC, deals, funding, Boston briefs, Seattle briefs, Ignition Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, Seattlepi, R&D, Healthcare Providers, Enclarity http://odeo.com/episodes/24285872-Survey-Ranks-San-Diego-No-1-in-Remote-Working survey, Software. Internet, Communications Juha-Pekka Tikka wrote: A survey released today by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) says San Diego is the best midsize city in the United States for remote working. The nationwide survey commissioned by the Redmond, WA, software giant found that U.S. employers generally support remote-working programs, although just 39.4 percent have a policy that details how their employees can work from home. Microsoft says interest in remote working has been spurred by higher energy costs and the current economic crisis. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail survey, Software. Internet, Communications Juha-Pekka Tikka wrote: A survey released today by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) says San Diego is the best midsize city in the United States for remote working. The nationwide survey commissioned by the Redmond, WA, software giant found that U.S. employers generally support remote-working programs, although just 39.4 percent have a policy that details how their employees can work from home. Microsoft says interest in remote working has been spurred by higher energy costs and the current economic crisis. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail survey, Software. Internet, Communications Juha-Pekka Tikka wrote: A survey released today by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) says San Diego is the best midsize city in the United States for remote working. The nationwide survey commissioned by the Redmond, WA, software giant found that U.S. employers generally support remote-working programs, although just 39.4 percent have a policy that details how their employees can work from home. Microsoft says interest in remote working has been spurred by higher energy costs and the current economic crisis. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24285872 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:13:05 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast microsoft, survey, communications, san diego, San Diego briefs, Remote Working, Software. Internet http://odeo.com/episodes/24283735-Seahorse-Buys-BioProcessors-Raises-6M Life Sciences, bioassays, pharmaceuticals Wade Roush wrote: Seahorse Bioscience, a North Billerica, MA-based maker of instruments for studying mitochondrial function in cells from people with various health problems, announced yesterday that it has acquired BioProcessors Corp., a Woburn, MA, company that makes automated cell-culture equipment for pharmaceutical research. Seahorse didn’t say how much it paid for BioProcessors, but it did reveal that it has raised $6 million in new venture funding from a group including Commonwealth Capital, Oxford Bioscience, Flagship Ventures, Life Sciences Partners, FLIR Systems Inc, Healthcare Ventures, New Science Ventures and HLM Venture Partners. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Life Sciences, bioassays, pharmaceuticals Wade Roush wrote: Seahorse Bioscience, a North Billerica, MA-based maker of instruments for studying mitochondrial function in cells from people with various health problems, announced yesterday that it has acquired BioProcessors Corp., a Woburn, MA, company that makes automated cell-culture equipment for pharmaceutical research. Seahorse didn’t say how much it paid for BioProcessors, but it did reveal that it has raised $6 million in new venture funding from a group including Commonwealth Capital, Oxford Bioscience, Flagship Ventures, Life Sciences Partners, FLIR Systems Inc, Healthcare Ventures, New Science Ventures and HLM Venture Partners. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Life Sciences, bioassays, pharmaceuticals Wade Roush wrote: Seahorse Bioscience, a North Billerica, MA-based maker of instruments for studying mitochondrial function in cells from people with various health problems, announced yesterday that it has acquired BioProcessors Corp., a Woburn, MA, company that makes automated cell-culture equipment for pharmaceutical research. Seahorse didn’t say how much it paid for BioProcessors, but it did reveal that it has raised $6 million in new venture funding from a group including Commonwealth Capital, Oxford Bioscience, Flagship Ventures, Life Sciences Partners, FLIR Systems Inc, Healthcare Ventures, New Science Ventures and HLM Venture Partners. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24283735 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 07:50:05 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Boston, drugs, Boston briefs, Life Sciences, pharmaceuticals, drug discovery, Drug Development, BioProcessors Corp., Seahorse Bioscience, bioassays http://odeo.com/episodes/24283736-What-Lifting-The-Federal-Ban-on-Stem-Cell-Research-Means-Our-Xconomists-Offer-Some-Thoughts Stem Cells, funding, Life Sciences Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: After President Barack Obama signed a new executive order yesterday that clears the way to resume federal funding for stem cell research, we asked some local Xconomists for their reaction. The president’s order reversed eight years of federal funding restrictions imposed by President George W. Bush, who opposed embryonic stem cell research. William Rastetter, co-founder and chairman, Apoptos —The executive order will give U.S. researchers the same flexibility and latitude as other investigators outside of this country to research and develop stem cell therapies and cures for many life-threatening diseases. Certainly, given its potential, it must be ethical and correct to develop such therapies and cures with frozen embryos (from in vitro fertilization clinics) that otherwise would only be discarded. By not funding and doing embryonic stem cell research in this country we have only delayed the discovery of techniq... Stem Cells, funding, Life Sciences Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: After President Barack Obama signed a new executive order yesterday that clears the way to resume federal funding for stem cell research, we asked some local Xconomists for their reaction. The president’s order reversed eight years of federal funding restrictions imposed by President George W. Bush, who opposed embryonic stem cell research. William Rastetter, co-founder and chairman, Apoptos —The executive order will give U.S. researchers the same flexibility and latitude as other investigators outside of this country to research and develop stem cell therapies and cures for many life-threatening diseases. Certainly, given its potential, it must be ethical and correct to develop such therapies and cures with frozen embryos (from in vitro fertilization clinics) that otherwise would only be discarded. By not funding and doing embryonic stem cell research in this country we have only delayed the discovery of techniques for improving and extending human life. Drew Senyei, managing director, Enterprise Partners Venture Capital —This is the right track to separate science and the state, just like we have mostly with religion. We live in a pluralistic society and we have to honor all reasonable viewpoints while safe-guarding our humanity. Stem cells are just one manifestation of the state trying to control scientific discovery. We should let the data be our guide. Duane Roth, CEO, San Diego Connect —The President’s executive order on embryonic stem cell research is an important step in allowing research in this new and exciting technology to advance. The possibilities for this technology range from cures from some of the most devastating diseases to tissue regeneration to gene therapy. Advances in the field have exceeded my expectations, and the work done in California under the voter-approved Proposition 71 has placed California researchers at the very forefront globally. The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine is about to begin construction on a new state of the art building to house our local experts in stem cell science from the Burnham, Salk, Scripps, and UC San Diego. They are poised to be leaders in advancing the technology and will be in a perfect position to leverage additional federal funding through the National Institutes of Health. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Stem Cells, funding, Life Sciences Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: After President Barack Obama signed a new executive order yesterday that clears the way to resume federal funding for stem cell research, we asked some local Xconomists for their reaction. The president’s order reversed eight years of federal funding restrictions imposed by President George W. Bush, who opposed embryonic stem cell research. William Rastetter, co-founder and chairman, Apoptos —The executive order will give U.S. researchers the same flexibility and latitude as other investigators outside of this country to research and develop stem cell therapies and cures for many life-threatening diseases. Certainly, given its potential, it must be ethical and correct to develop such therapies and cures with frozen embryos (from in vitro fertilization clinics) that otherwise would only be discarded. By not funding and doing embryonic stem cell research in this country we have only delayed the discovery of techniques for improving and extending human life. Drew Senyei, managing director, Enterprise Partners Venture Capital —This is the right track to separate science and the state, just like we have mostly with religion. We live in a pluralistic society and we have to honor all reasonable viewpoints while safe-guarding our humanity. Stem cells are just one manifestation of the state trying to control scientific discovery. We should let the data be our guide. Duane Roth, CEO, San Diego Connect —The President’s executive order on embryonic stem cell research is an important step in allowing research in this new and exciting technology to advance. The possibilities for this technology range from cures from some of the most devastating diseases to tissue regeneration to gene therapy. Advances in the field have exceeded my expectations, and the work done in California under the voter-approved Proposition 71 has placed California researchers at the very forefront globally. The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine is about to begin construction on a new state of the art building to house our local experts in stem cell science from the Burnham, Salk, Scripps, and UC San Diego. They are poised to be leaders in advancing the technology and will be in a perfect position to leverage additional federal funding through the National Institutes of Health. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24283736 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:24:51 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast stem cells, People, Biotech, funding, san diego, National blog main, Life Sciences, San Diego blog main, Drew Senyei, Duane Roth, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, William Rastetter http://odeo.com/episodes/24283737-Haute-Secure-Scores-1-6M-Second-Ave-Invests-in-Fanzter-LookStat-Gets-Funded-More-Seattle-Area-Deals-News Roundup, deals, VC Gregory T. Huang wrote: It was a very quiet week for deals in the Northwest, with just a trickle of activity in software, security, and biotech. —Seattle-based Haute Secure, a software firm focused on computer security against malware, raised about $1.6 million in Series A funding. Investors in the round included Silicon Valley firms Baseline Ventures and Sherpalo Ventures. —LookStat, a Seattle-area startup that makes software for analytics and workflow automation for the microstock photography industry, has received an investment from Founder’s Co-op, a Seattle-based seed-stage fund. (The news was mentioned in passing by investor Andy Sack at a financing talk.) The amount of the investment and the closing date weren’t announced, but Founder’s Co-op tends to invest between $250,000 and $500,000 in early-stage tech companies. —Luke reported that Seattle-based VPDiagnostics received a $2.9 million grant from the National Institute... Roundup, deals, VC Gregory T. Huang wrote: It was a very quiet week for deals in the Northwest, with just a trickle of activity in software, security, and biotech. —Seattle-based Haute Secure, a software firm focused on computer security against malware, raised about $1.6 million in Series A funding. Investors in the round included Silicon Valley firms Baseline Ventures and Sherpalo Ventures. —LookStat, a Seattle-area startup that makes software for analytics and workflow automation for the microstock photography industry, has received an investment from Founder’s Co-op, a Seattle-based seed-stage fund. (The news was mentioned in passing by investor Andy Sack at a financing talk.) The amount of the investment and the closing date weren’t announced, but Founder’s Co-op tends to invest between $250,000 and $500,000 in early-stage tech companies. —Luke reported that Seattle-based VPDiagnostics received a $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to run a clinical trial of its MRI technology for determining a patient’s risk of stroke. The technology is based on 15-plus years of research at the University of Washington. —Seattle-based Second Avenue Partners renewed its investment in Fanzter, a Collinsville, CT-based new media company. The $2 million Series B financing round was led by Steamboat Ventures. Fantzer, which was also backed by Seattle investors Curious Office Partners and Rich Barton (from Zillow), runs a celebrity website called Coolspotters.com. —Seattle startup TrafficGauge, a provider of road traffic information in real time, was acquired by Networks In Motion, a mobile navigation and search company based in Aliso Viejo, CA. Financial terms were not disclosed. TrafficGauge first rolled out a mobile traffic map in Seattle in 2003. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Roundup, deals, VC Gregory T. Huang wrote: It was a very quiet week for deals in the Northwest, with just a trickle of activity in software, security, and biotech. —Seattle-based Haute Secure, a software firm focused on computer security against malware, raised about $1.6 million in Series A funding. Investors in the round included Silicon Valley firms Baseline Ventures and Sherpalo Ventures. —LookStat, a Seattle-area startup that makes software for analytics and workflow automation for the microstock photography industry, has received an investment from Founder’s Co-op, a Seattle-based seed-stage fund. (The news was mentioned in passing by investor Andy Sack at a financing talk.) The amount of the investment and the closing date weren’t announced, but Founder’s Co-op tends to invest between $250,000 and $500,000 in early-stage tech companies. —Luke reported that Seattle-based VPDiagnostics received a $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to run a clinical trial of its MRI technology for determining a patient’s risk of stroke. The technology is based on 15-plus years of research at the University of Washington. —Seattle-based Second Avenue Partners renewed its investment in Fanzter, a Collinsville, CT-based new media company. The $2 million Series B financing round was led by Steamboat Ventures. Fantzer, which was also backed by Seattle investors Curious Office Partners and Rich Barton (from Zillow), runs a celebrity website called Coolspotters.com. —Seattle startup TrafficGauge, a provider of road traffic information in real time, was acquired by Networks In Motion, a mobile navigation and search company based in Aliso Viejo, CA. Financial terms were not disclosed. TrafficGauge first rolled out a mobile traffic map in Seattle in 2003. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24283737 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 05:00:00 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Internet, Software, Mobile, Security, Venture Capital, photography, analytics, it, seattle, stroke, Traffic, malware, Biotech, VC, deals, roundup, mri, Seattle blog main, National blog main, Founder's Co-op, Second Avenue Partners, National Institutes of Health, Zillow, Curious Office Partners, Rich Barton, Seattlepi, Sherpalo Ventures, steamboat ventures, TrafficGauge, Networks In Motion, Fanzter, Coolspotters.com, VPDiagnostics, LookStat, Baseline Ventures, Haute Secure, Workflow Automation http://odeo.com/episodes/24283739-Paul-Graham-on-Why-Boston-Should-Worry-About-Its-Future-as-a-Tech-Hub%E2%80%94Says-Region-Focuses-On-Ideas-Not-Startups people, Internet, Entrepreneurship Robert Buderi wrote: For entrepreneurs and investors alike, it was a sad day back in January, when Y Combinator founder Paul Graham announced he would stay in Silicon Valley year round and give up splitting his startup incubation activities between Mountain View and Cambridge, MA, where Y Combinator has traditionally held forth each summer. On his website, Graham explained that the change had “nothing to do with startups,” but that he had decided California was the best place to raise his about-to-be-born child. That didn’t stop him from a candid assessment of the Boston innovation scene, however. “Boston just doesn’t have the startup culture that the Valley does,” Graham wrote. “It has more startup culture than anywhere else, but the gap between number 1 and number 2 is huge.” Since that time, I’m happy to report, Graham’s wife Jessica Livingstone (a Y Combinator partner) has given birth ... people, Internet, Entrepreneurship Robert Buderi wrote: For entrepreneurs and investors alike, it was a sad day back in January, when Y Combinator founder Paul Graham announced he would stay in Silicon Valley year round and give up splitting his startup incubation activities between Mountain View and Cambridge, MA, where Y Combinator has traditionally held forth each summer. On his website, Graham explained that the change had “nothing to do with startups,” but that he had decided California was the best place to raise his about-to-be-born child. That didn’t stop him from a candid assessment of the Boston innovation scene, however. “Boston just doesn’t have the startup culture that the Valley does,” Graham wrote. “It has more startup culture than anywhere else, but the gap between number 1 and number 2 is huge.” Since that time, I’m happy to report, Graham’s wife Jessica Livingstone (a Y Combinator partner) has given birth to a healthy son, George. And Graham himself is back at work, at least to the point that he hosted an angel investor conference last week. He also took time to answer some questions I had e-mailed him earlier, asking for a more detailed view on the differences between the New England and Silicon Valley innovation cultures. As you will see, he cleverly outmaneuvered me on my last question, about raising kids to be themselves and not to constantly compare themselves with others. But far more important than that, his answers hold some hard truths for Boston area investors and students. He called Cambridge “the intellectual capital of the world,” brimming with ideas. But when it came to Internet investing, entrepreneurship, and even the mindset of students, well, that was another story. So here are the questions, and Graham’s e-mailed answers, unedited except for clarifying questions, correcting minor typos, and the like. “Sorry if these answers are rather long,” Graham writes. “These are questions I’ve thought a lot about.” Xconomy: You mentioned in your post that there was a vast difference between No. 1 (Silicon Valley) and No. 2 (Boston). Can you describe some of the specifics behind this observation–how so, why so? Paul Graham: The biggest difference between Boston and Silicon Valley is the way startup culture pervades the Valley. The Valley is for startups what LA is for movies. It’s the main thing people care about here. Boston is for startups what New York is for movies. People do make some movies there, but it’s not the city’s main focus. A lot of other things follow from this. The startup community is much larger in the Valley, large enough that it makes a qualitative difference. Among other things, this makes it much easier for us to run YC [Y Combinator] here. The 4 YC partners aren’t the only ones who advise the startups; we also bring in all kinds of experts from the community to advise them; and it is much easier for us to do this in Silicon Valley because that’s where most of the experts are. When we were in the summer in Boston we were always trying to talk people from the Valley into visiting Boston for a vacation. We managed to talk Paul Buchheit into it. And fortunately Mitch Kapor sometimes comes to Boston in the summer, so we were able to get him. But it was always a stretch. Another difference is that because the Valley cares so much about startups, people here are always half a step ahead. All the lawyers know what the latest standard terms are for various types of deals. The investors are less frightened by new ideas, because the ideas are less new to them. The founders feel less lonely, because there are three other groups of guys in the same building starting startups. I love Boston as a town. If I didn’t have kids I’d rather live in Cambridge than anywhere else. Cambridge is the intellectual capital of the world. Really. In fact, a large part of the reason Boston is weak in startups is probably that it’s good at other things. The focus of Boston is ideas, and it seems hard for a city to have two foci. X: Do you think Silicon Valley’s advantage is more true for the Web-based sector you focus on? Are there areas, perhaps life sciences or medical devices, where Boston might be better for startups? PG: Boston may well be a better place for biotech and medical startups. Or not; I have no idea. That is a completely different world from the one YC operates in. There’s no room for seed firms there, because the startups are so expensive to start. X: Even when it comes to Internet startups, are there some things Boston investors or entrepreneurs are better at, or are strong at—maybe more conservative management, say? PG: Honestly, nothing comes to mind. Occam’s razor says the reason Boston founders …Next Page » Comments (1) | Permalink | Share |  E-mail people, Internet, Entrepreneurship Robert Buderi wrote: For entrepreneurs and investors alike, it was a sad day back in January, when Y Combinator founder Paul Graham announced he would stay in Silicon Valley year round and give up splitting his startup incubation activities between Mountain View and Cambridge, MA, where Y Combinator has traditionally held forth each summer. On his website, Graham explained that the change had “nothing to do with startups,” but that he had decided California was the best place to raise his about-to-be-born child. That didn’t stop him from a candid assessment of the Boston innovation scene, however. “Boston just doesn’t have the startup culture that the Valley does,” Graham wrote. “It has more startup culture than anywhere else, but the gap between number 1 and number 2 is huge.” Since that time, I’m happy to report, Graham’s wife Jessica Livingstone (a Y Combinator partner) has given birth to a healthy son, George. And Graham himself is back at work, at least to the point that he hosted an angel investor conference last week. He also took time to answer some questions I had e-mailed him earlier, asking for a more detailed view on the differences between the New England and Silicon Valley innovation cultures. As you will see, he cleverly outmaneuvered me on my last question, about raising kids to be themselves and not to constantly compare themselves with others. But far more important than that, his answers hold some hard truths for Boston area investors and students. He called Cambridge “the intellectual capital of the world,” brimming with ideas. But when it came to Internet investing, entrepreneurship, and even the mindset of students, well, that was another story. So here are the questions, and Graham’s e-mailed answers, unedited except for clarifying questions, correcting minor typos, and the like. “Sorry if these answers are rather long,” Graham writes. “These are questions I’ve thought a lot about.” Xconomy: You mentioned in your post that there was a vast difference between No. 1 (Silicon Valley) and No. 2 (Boston). Can you describe some of the specifics behind this observation–how so, why so? Paul Graham: The biggest difference between Boston and Silicon Valley is the way startup culture pervades the Valley. The Valley is for startups what LA is for movies. It’s the main thing people care about here. Boston is for startups what New York is for movies. People do make some movies there, but it’s not the city’s main focus. A lot of other things follow from this. The startup community is much larger in the Valley, large enough that it makes a qualitative difference. Among other things, this makes it much easier for us to run YC [Y Combinator] here. The 4 YC partners aren’t the only ones who advise the startups; we also bring in all kinds of experts from the community to advise them; and it is much easier for us to do this in Silicon Valley because that’s where most of the experts are. When we were in the summer in Boston we were always trying to talk people from the Valley into visiting Boston for a vacation. We managed to talk Paul Buchheit into it. And fortunately Mitch Kapor sometimes comes to Boston in the summer, so we were able to get him. But it was always a stretch. Another difference is that because the Valley cares so much about startups, people here are always half a step ahead. All the lawyers know what the latest standard terms are for various types of deals. The investors are less frightened by new ideas, because the ideas are less new to them. The founders feel less lonely, because there are three other groups of guys in the same building starting startups. I love Boston as a town. If I didn’t have kids I’d rather live in Cambridge than anywhere else. Cambridge is the intellectual capital of the world. Really. In fact, a large part of the reason Boston is weak in startups is probably that it’s good at other things. The focus of Boston is ideas, and it seems hard for a city to have two foci. X: Do you think Silicon Valley’s advantage is more true for the Web-based sector you focus on? Are there areas, perhaps life sciences or medical devices, where Boston might be better for startups? PG: Boston may well be a better place for biotech and medical startups. Or not; I have no idea. That is a completely different world from the one YC operates in. There’s no room for seed firms there, because the startups are so expensive to start. X: Even when it comes to Internet startups, are there some things Boston investors or entrepreneurs are better at, or are strong at—maybe more conservative management, say? PG: Honestly, nothing comes to mind. Occam’s razor says the reason Boston founders …Next Page » Comments (1) | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24283739 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:00:46 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Web 2.0, Internet, People, Startups, Entrepreneurship, Boston, innovation, it, VC, silicon valley, new england, paul graham, Boston blog main, National blog main, Y Combinator http://odeo.com/episodes/24283742-CG-Therapeutics-Immune-Booster-For-Cancer-Recruits-Dendreon-Vets-New-CEO Biotech, cancer, vaccines Luke Timmerman wrote: Flameouts are the norm for any company that dares to try to stimulate the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells. Cell Genesys, Genitope, Favrille, and Antigenics have been added to the long list of companies that have stumbled in this promising field that hasn’t yet produced a single FDA-approved therapy. One of the sector leaders, Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN), is awaiting critical results next month which could validate, or crush, its immune-booster for prostate cancer, Provenge. Given the hundreds of millions of investor dollars that have been sunk already into these active immunotherapies—sometimes called “cancer vaccines”—why would anybody listen to another startup pitch? Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, but since Seattle-based CG Therapeutics has recruited two Dendreon veterans to its board, attracted capital from prominent Seattle investor Robert Arnold, and hired a new C... Biotech, cancer, vaccines Luke Timmerman wrote: Flameouts are the norm for any company that dares to try to stimulate the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells. Cell Genesys, Genitope, Favrille, and Antigenics have been added to the long list of companies that have stumbled in this promising field that hasn’t yet produced a single FDA-approved therapy. One of the sector leaders, Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN), is awaiting critical results next month which could validate, or crush, its immune-booster for prostate cancer, Provenge. Given the hundreds of millions of investor dollars that have been sunk already into these active immunotherapies—sometimes called “cancer vaccines”—why would anybody listen to another startup pitch? Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, but since Seattle-based CG Therapeutics has recruited two Dendreon veterans to its board, attracted capital from prominent Seattle investor Robert Arnold, and hired a new CEO, I figured it couldn’t hurt to hear the story. CG Therapeutics’ new CEO is Denise Harrison, who got her biotech experience as chief financial officer of Seattle-based Illumigen Biosciences. That company was sold in December 2007 to Lexington, MA-based Cubist Pharmaceuticals. She’s getting some advice in this first go-round as a CEO from two new board members: Reiner Laus, the CEO of BN Immunotherapeudics and former vice president of R&D at Dendreon, and Julie Eastland, the chief financial officer of Seattle-based VLST and a former vice president of strategic planning at Dendreon. CG has fixed its sights on a hormone that inspired the company name—hCG. Scientists have known for decades that this hormone plays a key role in early development, when it protects the fetus from being attacked by the immune system (it’s the thing that confirms when a woman is pregnant, turning the test kit blue). Researchers later came to understand this hormone can appear later in life, playing a more nefarious role. It offers that same brand of protection to tumor cells, cloaking them from an immune system that might otherwise kill them like an invading virus. The company’s scientific team, led by Immunex veteran Tom Hopp, say they have designed a method to lift that protective veil from tumors. Their drug CG-201 aims to do this by taking some synthetic peptides that train the immune system to recognize hallmark signatures of hCG, and fuses them to a diphtheria toxin like the one found in the common DPT childhood immunization. This is supposed to make the hormone look like a foreign invader the immune system should attack. By knocking out hCG, the company scientists hope they can attack the tumor’s support network on multiple levels. Besides offering protection from the immune system, the hormone is also thought to play a role in cancer by nourishing tumors through helping grow new blood vessels, and by allowing tissues to break down near the tumor that allows it to spread through the body, Hopp says. An earlier version of CG-201 showed some positive signs, but not enough to move ahead in development, and besides, that intellectual property now belongs to Portland, OR-based AVI Biopharma, Harrison says. So CG’s scientists cooked up a new version on their own, which they say has been shown to be 10 times more potent, and longer-lasting, than the earlier one in rabbit experiments. It’s now ready to go into clinical trials. Except there’s one big catch. …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Biotech, cancer, vaccines Luke Timmerman wrote: Flameouts are the norm for any company that dares to try to stimulate the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells. Cell Genesys, Genitope, Favrille, and Antigenics have been added to the long list of companies that have stumbled in this promising field that hasn’t yet produced a single FDA-approved therapy. One of the sector leaders, Seattle-based Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN), is awaiting critical results next month which could validate, or crush, its immune-booster for prostate cancer, Provenge. Given the hundreds of millions of investor dollars that have been sunk already into these active immunotherapies—sometimes called “cancer vaccines”—why would anybody listen to another startup pitch? Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, but since Seattle-based CG Therapeutics has recruited two Dendreon veterans to its board, attracted capital from prominent Seattle investor Robert Arnold, and hired a new CEO, I figured it couldn’t hurt to hear the story. CG Therapeutics’ new CEO is Denise Harrison, who got her biotech experience as chief financial officer of Seattle-based Illumigen Biosciences. That company was sold in December 2007 to Lexington, MA-based Cubist Pharmaceuticals. She’s getting some advice in this first go-round as a CEO from two new board members: Reiner Laus, the CEO of BN Immunotherapeudics and former vice president of R&D at Dendreon, and Julie Eastland, the chief financial officer of Seattle-based VLST and a former vice president of strategic planning at Dendreon. CG has fixed its sights on a hormone that inspired the company name—hCG. Scientists have known for decades that this hormone plays a key role in early development, when it protects the fetus from being attacked by the immune system (it’s the thing that confirms when a woman is pregnant, turning the test kit blue). Researchers later came to understand this hormone can appear later in life, playing a more nefarious role. It offers that same brand of protection to tumor cells, cloaking them from an immune system that might otherwise kill them like an invading virus. The company’s scientific team, led by Immunex veteran Tom Hopp, say they have designed a method to lift that protective veil from tumors. Their drug CG-201 aims to do this by taking some synthetic peptides that train the immune system to recognize hallmark signatures of hCG, and fuses them to a diphtheria toxin like the one found in the common DPT childhood immunization. This is supposed to make the hormone look like a foreign invader the immune system should attack. By knocking out hCG, the company scientists hope they can attack the tumor’s support network on multiple levels. Besides offering protection from the immune system, the hormone is also thought to play a role in cancer by nourishing tumors through helping grow new blood vessels, and by allowing tissues to break down near the tumor that allows it to spread through the body, Hopp says. An earlier version of CG-201 showed some positive signs, but not enough to move ahead in development, and besides, that intellectual property now belongs to Portland, OR-based AVI Biopharma, Harrison says. So CG’s scientists cooked up a new version on their own, which they say has been shown to be 10 times more potent, and longer-lasting, than the earlier one in rabbit experiments. It’s now ready to go into clinical trials. Except there’s one big catch. …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24283742 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:30:50 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast cancer, FDA, seattle, vaccines, Biotech, Prostate Cancer, Seattle blog main, National blog main, Life Sciences, VLST, Dendreon, Provenge, AVI Biopharma, Immunotherapy, Cell Genesys, Genitope, Antigenics, Celldex Therapeutics, Illumigen Biosciences, Robert Arnold, Reiner Laus, Karl-Erik Hellstrom, Tom Hobb, Julie Eastland, Favrille, Denise Harrison, CG-201, Ingegerd Hellstrom, CG Therapeutics http://odeo.com/episodes/24282425-Inside-MediaFLO%E2%80%99s-Operations-Center%E2%80%94And-the-Race-to-Deploy-Over-the-Air-Mobile-TV-Service Mobile TV, Digital TV Conversion, wireless Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: The digital broadcast center for Qualcomm’s MediaFLO mobile TV service is a hushed, dimly lit room in San Diego that is dominated by 24 flat-screen, rear-projection screens mounted along one wall. The engineers in the room face these ever-changing displays at work stations equipped with even more flat-panel screens, so the darkness is illuminated by a mosaic of streaming video images and computer-generated data. I recently took a tour of this sophisticated, high-tech facility to get a feel for what it takes to broadcast TV programs to mobile devices nationwide. Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) began developing the underlying technology for this ambitious business more than seven years ago. In 2007, when Qualcomm announced it was ready to begin its mobile TV service, the company said it had spent $800 million over the previous five years. Today MediaFLO is transmitting full-length TV programs and movies, along with occas... Mobile TV, Digital TV Conversion, wireless Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: The digital broadcast center for Qualcomm’s MediaFLO mobile TV service is a hushed, dimly lit room in San Diego that is dominated by 24 flat-screen, rear-projection screens mounted along one wall. The engineers in the room face these ever-changing displays at work stations equipped with even more flat-panel screens, so the darkness is illuminated by a mosaic of streaming video images and computer-generated data. I recently took a tour of this sophisticated, high-tech facility to get a feel for what it takes to broadcast TV programs to mobile devices nationwide. Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) began developing the underlying technology for this ambitious business more than seven years ago. In 2007, when Qualcomm announced it was ready to begin its mobile TV service, the company said it had spent $800 million over the previous five years. Today MediaFLO is transmitting full-length TV programs and movies, along with occasional live broadcasts of news and sports to wireless handheld devices in 65 markets throughout the United States. As impressive as the technology is, though, MediaFLO has yet to gain wide acceptance, and Qualcomm still faces significant risks from rivals who hope to gain ground on the San Diego telecom giant. Qualcomm had planned to significantly expand its MediaFLO service to an additional 40 U.S. markets immediately after Feb. 17. That was when TV stations across the country had been expected to shut down their analog broadcasts on UHF Channel 55 in a long-planned conversion to digital technology. But Qualcomm’s plans for MediaFLO, which uses the same spectrum as Channel 55, were set back after the government postponed the nationwide digital TV conversion date until June 12. The extent of Qualcomm’s efforts to develop the technology can be seen on the screens of the company’s network operations center. Some displays continuously monitor …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Mobile TV, Digital TV Conversion, wireless Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: The digital broadcast center for Qualcomm’s MediaFLO mobile TV service is a hushed, dimly lit room in San Diego that is dominated by 24 flat-screen, rear-projection screens mounted along one wall. The engineers in the room face these ever-changing displays at work stations equipped with even more flat-panel screens, so the darkness is illuminated by a mosaic of streaming video images and computer-generated data. I recently took a tour of this sophisticated, high-tech facility to get a feel for what it takes to broadcast TV programs to mobile devices nationwide. Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) began developing the underlying technology for this ambitious business more than seven years ago. In 2007, when Qualcomm announced it was ready to begin its mobile TV service, the company said it had spent $800 million over the previous five years. Today MediaFLO is transmitting full-length TV programs and movies, along with occasional live broadcasts of news and sports to wireless handheld devices in 65 markets throughout the United States. As impressive as the technology is, though, MediaFLO has yet to gain wide acceptance, and Qualcomm still faces significant risks from rivals who hope to gain ground on the San Diego telecom giant. Qualcomm had planned to significantly expand its MediaFLO service to an additional 40 U.S. markets immediately after Feb. 17. That was when TV stations across the country had been expected to shut down their analog broadcasts on UHF Channel 55 in a long-planned conversion to digital technology. But Qualcomm’s plans for MediaFLO, which uses the same spectrum as Channel 55, were set back after the government postponed the nationwide digital TV conversion date until June 12. The extent of Qualcomm’s efforts to develop the technology can be seen on the screens of the company’s network operations center. Some displays continuously monitor …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24282425 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:01:43 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast wireless, san diego, qualcomm, National blog main, San Diego blog main, Mobile TV, MediaFlo, Open Mobile Video Coalition, Digital TV Conversion, Network Operations Center, satellite TV http://odeo.com/episodes/24282428-Scientia-a-Life-Sciences-Management-Consulting-Firm-Provides-Answers-Not-Questions Life Sciences, consulting, management Wade Roush wrote: The old joke about management consultants is that they’ll look at your watch, tell you what time it is, and hand you a bill for $50,000. But if you’re a healthcare company and you hire Scientia Advisors, here’s what’s more likely to happen: they’ll look at your watch, notice that it’s running slow, take it apart, fix it, put it back together, and tell you how—if you tweaked the design—you could make millions selling a different kind of watch. Not literally, of course. The Cambridge, MA-based consulting firm works only on life-sciences strategy questions, not timepieces. But after a recent visit to Scientia, I came away feeling like it was one of the most unconventional consulting firms I’d ever seen. Do you expect your consultants to spend months learning about your business? Forget it—Scientia will send people who already understand your industry, and they’ll sp... Life Sciences, consulting, management Wade Roush wrote: The old joke about management consultants is that they’ll look at your watch, tell you what time it is, and hand you a bill for $50,000. But if you’re a healthcare company and you hire Scientia Advisors, here’s what’s more likely to happen: they’ll look at your watch, notice that it’s running slow, take it apart, fix it, put it back together, and tell you how—if you tweaked the design—you could make millions selling a different kind of watch. Not literally, of course. The Cambridge, MA-based consulting firm works only on life-sciences strategy questions, not timepieces. But after a recent visit to Scientia, I came away feeling like it was one of the most unconventional consulting firms I’d ever seen. Do you expect your consultants to spend months learning about your business? Forget it—Scientia will send people who already understand your industry, and they’ll spend only 5 percent of their time on site, according to Harry Glorikian, the firm’s co-founder and managing partner. Are you used to consultants who finish an engagement by doing a big PowerPoint show, handing over a few thick three-ring binders, and leaving you to ponder how to use the information? Forget that too. Glorikian says Scientia’s goal is to give clients the data and context they need to make a strategic decision about their problem, then and there. “We want to be able to walk in and not have to learn a lot from the client to be able to add value,” Glorikian told me. “We bring a lot of knowledge that our clients are not used to consultants having.” In that respect, the 30-person firm takes its cue from Glorikian himself. Prior to founding Scientia in 2006, the Boston University MBA graduate spent 20 years in the healthcare and life sciences business, including senior management stints at X-Cell Laboratories, Signet Laboratories, and Applied Biosystems (NYSE: ABI). Co-founding partner Arshad Ahmed worked on healthcare, life sciences, financial services, and other areas for Boston Consulting Group, Integral Inc., and McKinsey spinoff Potomac Partners. The third co-founder, Amit Agarwal—who runs Scientia’s West Coast operations from Palo Alto, CA—also has a deep background in the consulting and financial services worlds. And among its crew of consultants, the firm counts both youngsters with fresh science and business degrees and industry veterans from places like Millennium Pharmaceuticals and the dialysis division at healthcare giant Baxter. Scientia’s signature style, according to Glorikian, is to bring a deep understanding of the markets and technologies relevant to its clients; to build its own data from the ground up, rather than relying on market research purchased from other companies; and to analyze markets using proprietary software tools, mostly developed by Ahmed. It’s a style that seems to be working so far. In the two and a half years since Agarwal, Ahmed, and Glorikian started the company, it has only had one consulting proposal turned down by a potential client. “One customer said, ‘You’re the most cost-effective firm I’ve ever used,’” says Glorikian. “I said, ‘You’re calling us cheap!’ And he said, ‘No, you don’t understand. When I ask you guys a question, I usually get an answer. If I ask another firm the same question, I get back a project.’” The clients coming to Scientia usually need answers fast. The typical customer, Glorikian says, is a company looking to expand into a new market, or get rid of products that aren’t selling well, or take a cyclical business and transform it into something less beholden to economic shifts. Scientia can help clients understand which markets hold the biggest opportunities, and how those opportunities match up with their existing capabilities. I asked Glorikian to walk me through a real example. (He left out identifying detals to protect the client’s confidentiality.) “We had a Fortune 50 company come to us and ask us to look across a number of industries to determine what areas they should be playing in,” he recounted. “So we took them through a number of screens. One of them was for simple things like the size of the market, its growth rate, and profitability; you obviously don’t want to be in low-growth, low-profitability markets. Then we did a quick spin of their R&D groups to understand their competencies. And then we went back and …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Life Sciences, consulting, management Wade Roush wrote: The old joke about management consultants is that they’ll look at your watch, tell you what time it is, and hand you a bill for $50,000. But if you’re a healthcare company and you hire Scientia Advisors, here’s what’s more likely to happen: they’ll look at your watch, notice that it’s running slow, take it apart, fix it, put it back together, and tell you how—if you tweaked the design—you could make millions selling a different kind of watch. Not literally, of course. The Cambridge, MA-based consulting firm works only on life-sciences strategy questions, not timepieces. But after a recent visit to Scientia, I came away feeling like it was one of the most unconventional consulting firms I’d ever seen. Do you expect your consultants to spend months learning about your business? Forget it—Scientia will send people who already understand your industry, and they’ll spend only 5 percent of their time on site, according to Harry Glorikian, the firm’s co-founder and managing partner. Are you used to consultants who finish an engagement by doing a big PowerPoint show, handing over a few thick three-ring binders, and leaving you to ponder how to use the information? Forget that too. Glorikian says Scientia’s goal is to give clients the data and context they need to make a strategic decision about their problem, then and there. “We want to be able to walk in and not have to learn a lot from the client to be able to add value,” Glorikian told me. “We bring a lot of knowledge that our clients are not used to consultants having.” In that respect, the 30-person firm takes its cue from Glorikian himself. Prior to founding Scientia in 2006, the Boston University MBA graduate spent 20 years in the healthcare and life sciences business, including senior management stints at X-Cell Laboratories, Signet Laboratories, and Applied Biosystems (NYSE: ABI). Co-founding partner Arshad Ahmed worked on healthcare, life sciences, financial services, and other areas for Boston Consulting Group, Integral Inc., and McKinsey spinoff Potomac Partners. The third co-founder, Amit Agarwal—who runs Scientia’s West Coast operations from Palo Alto, CA—also has a deep background in the consulting and financial services worlds. And among its crew of consultants, the firm counts both youngsters with fresh science and business degrees and industry veterans from places like Millennium Pharmaceuticals and the dialysis division at healthcare giant Baxter. Scientia’s signature style, according to Glorikian, is to bring a deep understanding of the markets and technologies relevant to its clients; to build its own data from the ground up, rather than relying on market research purchased from other companies; and to analyze markets using proprietary software tools, mostly developed by Ahmed. It’s a style that seems to be working so far. In the two and a half years since Agarwal, Ahmed, and Glorikian started the company, it has only had one consulting proposal turned down by a potential client. “One customer said, ‘You’re the most cost-effective firm I’ve ever used,’” says Glorikian. “I said, ‘You’re calling us cheap!’ And he said, ‘No, you don’t understand. When I ask you guys a question, I usually get an answer. If I ask another firm the same question, I get back a project.’” The clients coming to Scientia usually need answers fast. The typical customer, Glorikian says, is a company looking to expand into a new market, or get rid of products that aren’t selling well, or take a cyclical business and transform it into something less beholden to economic shifts. Scientia can help clients understand which markets hold the biggest opportunities, and how those opportunities match up with their existing capabilities. I asked Glorikian to walk me through a real example. (He left out identifying detals to protect the client’s confidentiality.) “We had a Fortune 50 company come to us and ask us to look across a number of industries to determine what areas they should be playing in,” he recounted. “So we took them through a number of screens. One of them was for simple things like the size of the market, its growth rate, and profitability; you obviously don’t want to be in low-growth, low-profitability markets. Then we did a quick spin of their R&D groups to understand their competencies. And then we went back and …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24282428 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:00:43 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast management, Boston, consulting, Boston blog main, National blog main, Life Sciences, Applied Biosystems, Scientia, Amit Agarwal, Arshad Ahmed, Harry Glorikian, Scientia Advisors http://odeo.com/episodes/24282434-Nokia-Mapping-a-Future-for-Location-Based-Mobile-Services-and-Applications Mobile Mapping, wireless, Web 3.0 Juha-Pekka Tikka wrote: In Finland I am a reporter for Ilta-Sanomat, Helsinki’s second-largest newspaper. I write about Finland’s Nokia a lot, so I may have a different perspective on Qualcomm, the San Diego-based chipset maker. For us Finns, Nokia is a larger-than-life, close-to-home success story. We speak the same strange language and it’s our only global giant. In the United States, which is the leading market for mobile phones, Nokia lost its No. 1 ranking in cell phone sales when the clamshell design and thinner cell-phones became popular. Then came the iPhones. Nokia wants to change this situation and resume its leadership position in the U.S. market. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) got new hope to fulfill its ambitions last month, when Qualcomm and Nokia announced a joint “Plan to Develop Advanced Mobile Devices.” A statement issued by the two companies on Feb. 17th didn’t provide many details about this collaboration. ... Mobile Mapping, wireless, Web 3.0 Juha-Pekka Tikka wrote: In Finland I am a reporter for Ilta-Sanomat, Helsinki’s second-largest newspaper. I write about Finland’s Nokia a lot, so I may have a different perspective on Qualcomm, the San Diego-based chipset maker. For us Finns, Nokia is a larger-than-life, close-to-home success story. We speak the same strange language and it’s our only global giant. In the United States, which is the leading market for mobile phones, Nokia lost its No. 1 ranking in cell phone sales when the clamshell design and thinner cell-phones became popular. Then came the iPhones. Nokia wants to change this situation and resume its leadership position in the U.S. market. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) got new hope to fulfill its ambitions last month, when Qualcomm and Nokia announced a joint “Plan to Develop Advanced Mobile Devices.” A statement issued by the two companies on Feb. 17th didn’t provide many details about this collaboration. Qualcomm’s Steve Mollenkopf says in the statement, “This new level of cooperation would bring exceptional leaps in mobile performance to people around the world.” Only last year Nokia and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) settled a nasty patent fight. In Finland, Qualcomm was viewed by many as being very aggressive in its licensing demands. But this new collaboration benefits both organizations: Qualcomm gets its first deal with Nokia, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones; Nokia gets a fresh opportunity to reclaim its leadership in the U.S. market. Their mutual goal is to research and make the next-generation phones, which means iPhone killers. One place where this collaboration may be playing out …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Mobile Mapping, wireless, Web 3.0 Juha-Pekka Tikka wrote: In Finland I am a reporter for Ilta-Sanomat, Helsinki’s second-largest newspaper. I write about Finland’s Nokia a lot, so I may have a different perspective on Qualcomm, the San Diego-based chipset maker. For us Finns, Nokia is a larger-than-life, close-to-home success story. We speak the same strange language and it’s our only global giant. In the United States, which is the leading market for mobile phones, Nokia lost its No. 1 ranking in cell phone sales when the clamshell design and thinner cell-phones became popular. Then came the iPhones. Nokia wants to change this situation and resume its leadership position in the U.S. market. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) got new hope to fulfill its ambitions last month, when Qualcomm and Nokia announced a joint “Plan to Develop Advanced Mobile Devices.” A statement issued by the two companies on Feb. 17th didn’t provide many details about this collaboration. Qualcomm’s Steve Mollenkopf says in the statement, “This new level of cooperation would bring exceptional leaps in mobile performance to people around the world.” Only last year Nokia and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) settled a nasty patent fight. In Finland, Qualcomm was viewed by many as being very aggressive in its licensing demands. But this new collaboration benefits both organizations: Qualcomm gets its first deal with Nokia, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones; Nokia gets a fresh opportunity to reclaim its leadership in the U.S. market. Their mutual goal is to research and make the next-generation phones, which means iPhone killers. One place where this collaboration may be playing out …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-10,24282434 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:01:36 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Internet, nokia, google, People, wireless, innovation, privacy, context, san diego, navigation, qualcomm, web 3.0, National blog main, positioning, mobile devices, mobile phones, San Diego blog main, Steve Mollenkopf, NAVTEQ, Mobile Mapping, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Real time locating, Location-Awareness, User location, Digital companion, Wireless communications, Mobile Net, Location-Aware Applications http://odeo.com/episodes/24282429-Leap-Wireless-Adds-Philadelphia-Service wireless, 3G, Broadband Juha-Pekka Tikka wrote: San Diego-based Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) today is launching its Cricket unlimited wireless service in the greater Philadelphia area. That’s the second major market the low-cost wireless provider has entered since January, when Cricket began service in Chicago. The company, which announced its move yesterday, is now forecasting 5.3 million subscribers this year. At the end of 2008 it had just 3.8 million subscribers in 29 states. Cricket provides unlimited, low-cost 3G wireless voice and broadband services, with monthly rates that range from $30 to $60. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail wireless, 3G, Broadband Juha-Pekka Tikka wrote: San Diego-based Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) today is launching its Cricket unlimited wireless service in the greater Philadelphia area. That’s the second major market the low-cost wireless provider has entered since January, when Cricket began service in Chicago. The company, which announced its move yesterday, is now forecasting 5.3 million subscribers this year. At the end of 2008 it had just 3.8 million subscribers in 29 states. Cricket provides unlimited, low-cost 3G wireless voice and broadband services, with monthly rates that range from $30 to $60. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail wireless, 3G, Broadband Juha-Pekka Tikka wrote: San Diego-based Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) today is launching its Cricket unlimited wireless service in the greater Philadelphia area. That’s the second major market the low-cost wireless provider has entered since January, when Cricket began service in Chicago. The company, which announced its move yesterday, is now forecasting 5.3 million subscribers this year. At the end of 2008 it had just 3.8 million subscribers in 29 states. Cricket provides unlimited, low-cost 3G wireless voice and broadband services, with monthly rates that range from $30 to $60. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24282429 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:15:35 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Broadband, Cricket, wireless, 3g, san diego, San Diego briefs, Leap Wireless http://odeo.com/episodes/24282430-How-to-Make-a-Better-Lightbulb-Biofuel-or-Energy-Storage-Technology-Xconomy-Forum-Adds-Voices-of-Leading-Entrepreneurs cleantech, Biofuels, energy Luke Timmerman wrote: Lots of creative entrepreneurs are popping up in the Northwest cleantech business, so we invited three of them to explain their ideas at our upcoming Xconomy Forum, The Rise of Cleantech in the Northwest, on March 26. These new special guests will offer up expertise in biofuels, energy storage, and conservation—some of the region’s key strengths we identified last week in our lists of alternative energy players here in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. The forum will still feature the stimulating panel discussion that we announced previously with Michael Butler, Jeremy Jaech, Jesse Berst, Mark Aggar, and Linden Rhoads. The added trio of speakers will come immediately after the panel, introducing the audience to their business ideas in quick 2-minute bursts just before the networking portion of the evening. The new special guests are: —Kirt Montague, CEO of Mercer Island-based Prometheus Energy. This company ... cleantech, Biofuels, energy Luke Timmerman wrote: Lots of creative entrepreneurs are popping up in the Northwest cleantech business, so we invited three of them to explain their ideas at our upcoming Xconomy Forum, The Rise of Cleantech in the Northwest, on March 26. These new special guests will offer up expertise in biofuels, energy storage, and conservation—some of the region’s key strengths we identified last week in our lists of alternative energy players here in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. The forum will still feature the stimulating panel discussion that we announced previously with Michael Butler, Jeremy Jaech, Jesse Berst, Mark Aggar, and Linden Rhoads. The added trio of speakers will come immediately after the panel, introducing the audience to their business ideas in quick 2-minute bursts just before the networking portion of the evening. The new special guests are: —Kirt Montague, CEO of Mercer Island-based Prometheus Energy. This company uses proprietary technology to take methane gas from municipal landfills, cow manure, and coalbeds, and turn it into liquid natural gas fuel. —Chris Wheaton, chief operating officer of Seattle-based EnerG2. This University of Washington spinout company is developing novel materials to help increase the efficiency of storing energy from hydrogen and solar cells, and even to make “ultracapacitors.” Greg got the exclusive story for Xconomy in November when this company raised $8.5 million from OVP Venture Partners and Firelake Capital Management. —David Grieger, CEO of Seattle-based Vu1. Grieger, the former chief marketing officer for Russell Investments in Tacoma, joined his current company in January. Vu1, pronounced like View One, aims to make a new type of light bulb that has the energy efficiency of a fluorescent bulb without containing mercury that can contaminate landfills. The forum will start at 6:30 pm (doors open at 6 pm) on March 26, at the offices of K&L Gates at 925 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2900, in downtown Seatle. As a reminder, the discounted early-bird registration price of $95 expires this Thursday, March 12. We look forward to seeing many of the regular Xconomy readers there, as well as plenty of new faces. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail cleantech, Biofuels, energy Luke Timmerman wrote: Lots of creative entrepreneurs are popping up in the Northwest cleantech business, so we invited three of them to explain their ideas at our upcoming Xconomy Forum, The Rise of Cleantech in the Northwest, on March 26. These new special guests will offer up expertise in biofuels, energy storage, and conservation—some of the region’s key strengths we identified last week in our lists of alternative energy players here in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. The forum will still feature the stimulating panel discussion that we announced previously with Michael Butler, Jeremy Jaech, Jesse Berst, Mark Aggar, and Linden Rhoads. The added trio of speakers will come immediately after the panel, introducing the audience to their business ideas in quick 2-minute bursts just before the networking portion of the evening. The new special guests are: —Kirt Montague, CEO of Mercer Island-based Prometheus Energy. This company uses proprietary technology to take methane gas from municipal landfills, cow manure, and coalbeds, and turn it into liquid natural gas fuel. —Chris Wheaton, chief operating officer of Seattle-based EnerG2. This University of Washington spinout company is developing novel materials to help increase the efficiency of storing energy from hydrogen and solar cells, and even to make “ultracapacitors.” Greg got the exclusive story for Xconomy in November when this company raised $8.5 million from OVP Venture Partners and Firelake Capital Management. —David Grieger, CEO of Seattle-based Vu1. Grieger, the former chief marketing officer for Russell Investments in Tacoma, joined his current company in January. Vu1, pronounced like View One, aims to make a new type of light bulb that has the energy efficiency of a fluorescent bulb without containing mercury that can contaminate landfills. The forum will start at 6:30 pm (doors open at 6 pm) on March 26, at the offices of K&L Gates at 925 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2900, in downtown Seatle. As a reminder, the discounted early-bird registration price of $95 expires this Thursday, March 12. We look forward to seeing many of the regular Xconomy readers there, as well as plenty of new faces. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24282430 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 23:15:05 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast energy, seattle, biofuels, conservation, Cleantech, Seattle blog main, OVP Venture Partners, Linden Rhoads, Jesse Berst, Michael Butler, Energy Storage, EnerG2, Chris Wheaton, Firelake Capital Management, Jeremy Jaech, Mark Aggar, K&L Gates, Russell Investments, David Grieger, Prometheus Energy, Vu1, Kirt Montague http://odeo.com/episodes/24281561-Jive-Rolls-Out-New-Product-Takes-on-Microsoft-and-IBM-in-Social-Business-Software Software, products, Social Networking Gregory T. Huang wrote: In the burgeoning software hub of Portland, OR, one company is breaking new ground today. Jive Software, a maker of “social business software” that helps employees communicate with each other and manage their work information, is releasing a new product called SBS 3.0. The software is targeted to businesses, and its goal is to let corporate teams from inside and outside a given enterprise connect and collaborate more easily and effectively. Jive’s new software combines its business collaboration product with its online-community offering into one package that it can sell to companies. The idea is that giving employees better access to a full suite of social tools will help them stay better connected to key departments and collaborators, thereby saving the company money and time in the long run. “Enterprise software has been a boring category for 20 years, and Jive is here to change that,” say... Software, products, Social Networking Gregory T. Huang wrote: In the burgeoning software hub of Portland, OR, one company is breaking new ground today. Jive Software, a maker of “social business software” that helps employees communicate with each other and manage their work information, is releasing a new product called SBS 3.0. The software is targeted to businesses, and its goal is to let corporate teams from inside and outside a given enterprise connect and collaborate more easily and effectively. Jive’s new software combines its business collaboration product with its online-community offering into one package that it can sell to companies. The idea is that giving employees better access to a full suite of social tools will help them stay better connected to key departments and collaborators, thereby saving the company money and time in the long run. “Enterprise software has been a boring category for 20 years, and Jive is here to change that,” says Sam Lawrence, Jive’s chief marketing officer. You’d expect to hear something like that from an experienced marketer like Lawrence. Yet in this case, he is talking about a bold strategic move by a small company that has its sights set on becoming something like Facebook for the office, putting it on a competitive collision course with Microsoft, IBM, and a slew of startups that aim to help employees get better at collaborating. Jive has evolved to this point from its founding in 2001, before the days of social networking. Its early forays into social software involved online forums and instant messaging, and were focused on support— things like getting customers to help each other rather than call a company with time-consuming questions. By 2005, a lot of Web 2.0 and social software applications were becoming available, and Jive shifted its focus to helping employees communicate within their company and between companies—on things like who is responsible for which parts of a project, or how an R&D department is connected to other teams like marketing and sales. In the past few years, Jive has signed up customers like Intel, Nike, Electronic Arts, SAP, and VMware. The company raised $15 million in funding from Sequoia Capital in 2007. “Having them in our corner is a big, huge thing for us,” Lawrence says. Here’s how the new product works. Customers get a dashboard view that shows …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Software, products, Social Networking Gregory T. Huang wrote: In the burgeoning software hub of Portland, OR, one company is breaking new ground today. Jive Software, a maker of “social business software” that helps employees communicate with each other and manage their work information, is releasing a new product called SBS 3.0. The software is targeted to businesses, and its goal is to let corporate teams from inside and outside a given enterprise connect and collaborate more easily and effectively. Jive’s new software combines its business collaboration product with its online-community offering into one package that it can sell to companies. The idea is that giving employees better access to a full suite of social tools will help them stay better connected to key departments and collaborators, thereby saving the company money and time in the long run. “Enterprise software has been a boring category for 20 years, and Jive is here to change that,” says Sam Lawrence, Jive’s chief marketing officer. You’d expect to hear something like that from an experienced marketer like Lawrence. Yet in this case, he is talking about a bold strategic move by a small company that has its sights set on becoming something like Facebook for the office, putting it on a competitive collision course with Microsoft, IBM, and a slew of startups that aim to help employees get better at collaborating. Jive has evolved to this point from its founding in 2001, before the days of social networking. Its early forays into social software involved online forums and instant messaging, and were focused on support— things like getting customers to help each other rather than call a company with time-consuming questions. By 2005, a lot of Web 2.0 and social software applications were becoming available, and Jive shifted its focus to helping employees communicate within their company and between companies—on things like who is responsible for which parts of a project, or how an R&D department is connected to other teams like marketing and sales. In the past few years, Jive has signed up customers like Intel, Nike, Electronic Arts, SAP, and VMware. The company raised $15 million in funding from Sequoia Capital in 2007. “Having them in our corner is a big, huge thing for us,” Lawrence says. Here’s how the new product works. Customers get a dashboard view that shows …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24281561 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:27:16 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Software, microsoft, layoffs, SAP, Social networking, Facebook, Startups, it, recession, seattle, ibm, Intel, vmware, nike, products, electronic arts, Seattle blog main, National blog main, Downturn, Sequoia Capital, jive software, Smartsheet, Collaboration Software, Sam Lawrence http://odeo.com/episodes/24281562-FAST-Search-Founders-Hope-to-Repeat-Success-with-Induct-Software%E2%80%99s-Innovation-Management-Portal IT, Software, innovation Wade Roush wrote: Henry Chesbrough, the UC Berkeley business professor who wrote the influential 2003 book Open Innovation, argued that companies need to do a better job of incubating, cataloguing, and licensing the knowledge and inventions they have in-house, and of bringing in intellectual property from outside, if that’s what’s needed to jump-start product development. But while many companies would like to adopt Chesbrough’s principles, most lack a systematic way to track their ideas and figure out which ones are worth implementing and selling. By borrowing a few ideas from the worlds of social networking and hosted Web 2.0 services, a new Norwegian startup called Induct Software thinks it can help solve that problem. Today, Induct named its CEO. It’s David Burns, a Boston-area resident who was also the founding CEO of Norway’s Fast Search & Transfer (FAST), a maker of search software for large enterprises. In one of the... IT, Software, innovation Wade Roush wrote: Henry Chesbrough, the UC Berkeley business professor who wrote the influential 2003 book Open Innovation, argued that companies need to do a better job of incubating, cataloguing, and licensing the knowledge and inventions they have in-house, and of bringing in intellectual property from outside, if that’s what’s needed to jump-start product development. But while many companies would like to adopt Chesbrough’s principles, most lack a systematic way to track their ideas and figure out which ones are worth implementing and selling. By borrowing a few ideas from the worlds of social networking and hosted Web 2.0 services, a new Norwegian startup called Induct Software thinks it can help solve that problem. Today, Induct named its CEO. It’s David Burns, a Boston-area resident who was also the founding CEO of Norway’s Fast Search & Transfer (FAST), a maker of search software for large enterprises. In one of the biggest technology acquisitions of 2008, Microsoft bought FAST last January for a whopping $1.3 billion—a deal that “made people sit up and say, ‘Hey, Norway can have some IT success,’” according to Burns. With Induct, he says, “We’re trying to push the big green ‘copy’ button and do it again.” His appointment coincides with the opening of Induct’s Boston office and the international launch of its Web-based “Innovation Community” software, which has been tested only in Norway so far. Burns and Induct’s founder and chairman, Alf Martin Johansen, took some time out from their pre-launch rush this week to show me how their portal, called Innovation Community, is supposed to work. The main idea is to help companies set up customized online communities where employees can record ideas, upload illustrative media, collect comments and survey responses, and then shepherd the strongest concepts through a process of decision-making and implementation. Everything’s accessed via a Web browser, and both the software and the content generated by users is hosted on servers at Induct, which charges a subscription fee (about $15 per user per month). You might think of it loosely as a Facebook or a MySpace for innovators—but with product ideas, rather than personal profiles, as the central objects of attention. Burns puts Induct’s value proposition to customers this way: “You have an accounting system, and a cash management system, but when it comes to innovation, you have a bunch of hodgepodge pieces. Our solution is to say, let’s take the best pieces from a book like Open Innovation, and implement a management system that’s seamless from the beginning of the innovation process to the end, and that’s open because it’s Web-based.” Induct’s software is open both in the sense that it’s built to encourage participation by everyone involved in the innovation process—even people outside a company, if they’re given the right passwords—and in the sense that it’s easy to tinker with. For example, companies can quickly upload customized checklists of criteria that they think should be used to evaluate ideas, then invite users to fill out survey forms ranking incoming ideas using those criteria. Burns says the Induct system is a response to what Johansen, who was also the chief financial officer at FAST, gleaned in interviews with hundreds of companies in Norway. He found that they had adopted a variety of tools to manage innovation, including groupware, wikis, and social networks, but that departments and divisions were often using incompatible systems. Many companies hired consultants to help them get a handle on their innovation processes, but often these consultants would leave their clients with “a PowerPoint presentation and a three-ring binder full of recommendations” rather than a long-term solution, Burns says. Johansen thought there could be a market for a centralized innovation management platform—a Software-as-a-Service offering that would have some of the collaboration features of groupware like Microsoft’s Groove or IBM’s Lotus Notes, some of the document-management features of enterprise content management systems like EMC’s Documentum, and some of the community features pioneered by open-innovation organizations like Innocentive. The challenge, Burns says, was that “no two companies, or even divisions or departments for that matter, have exactly the same innovation process. Each one defines their own innovation types and subtypes, and each one in practice was using a different ranking algorithm or scorecard in the evaluation process.” So Johansen and a team of four programmers in Norway came up with a system that’s extremely customizable. At its core is a system for …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail IT, Software, innovation Wade Roush wrote: Henry Chesbrough, the UC Berkeley business professor who wrote the influential 2003 book Open Innovation, argued that companies need to do a better job of incubating, cataloguing, and licensing the knowledge and inventions they have in-house, and of bringing in intellectual property from outside, if that’s what’s needed to jump-start product development. But while many companies would like to adopt Chesbrough’s principles, most lack a systematic way to track their ideas and figure out which ones are worth implementing and selling. By borrowing a few ideas from the worlds of social networking and hosted Web 2.0 services, a new Norwegian startup called Induct Software thinks it can help solve that problem. Today, Induct named its CEO. It’s David Burns, a Boston-area resident who was also the founding CEO of Norway’s Fast Search & Transfer (FAST), a maker of search software for large enterprises. In one of the biggest technology acquisitions of 2008, Microsoft bought FAST last January for a whopping $1.3 billion—a deal that “made people sit up and say, ‘Hey, Norway can have some IT success,’” according to Burns. With Induct, he says, “We’re trying to push the big green ‘copy’ button and do it again.” His appointment coincides with the opening of Induct’s Boston office and the international launch of its Web-based “Innovation Community” software, which has been tested only in Norway so far. Burns and Induct’s founder and chairman, Alf Martin Johansen, took some time out from their pre-launch rush this week to show me how their portal, called Innovation Community, is supposed to work. The main idea is to help companies set up customized online communities where employees can record ideas, upload illustrative media, collect comments and survey responses, and then shepherd the strongest concepts through a process of decision-making and implementation. Everything’s accessed via a Web browser, and both the software and the content generated by users is hosted on servers at Induct, which charges a subscription fee (about $15 per user per month). You might think of it loosely as a Facebook or a MySpace for innovators—but with product ideas, rather than personal profiles, as the central objects of attention. Burns puts Induct’s value proposition to customers this way: “You have an accounting system, and a cash management system, but when it comes to innovation, you have a bunch of hodgepodge pieces. Our solution is to say, let’s take the best pieces from a book like Open Innovation, and implement a management system that’s seamless from the beginning of the innovation process to the end, and that’s open because it’s Web-based.” Induct’s software is open both in the sense that it’s built to encourage participation by everyone involved in the innovation process—even people outside a company, if they’re given the right passwords—and in the sense that it’s easy to tinker with. For example, companies can quickly upload customized checklists of criteria that they think should be used to evaluate ideas, then invite users to fill out survey forms ranking incoming ideas using those criteria. Burns says the Induct system is a response to what Johansen, who was also the chief financial officer at FAST, gleaned in interviews with hundreds of companies in Norway. He found that they had adopted a variety of tools to manage innovation, including groupware, wikis, and social networks, but that departments and divisions were often using incompatible systems. Many companies hired consultants to help them get a handle on their innovation processes, but often these consultants would leave their clients with “a PowerPoint presentation and a three-ring binder full of recommendations” rather than a long-term solution, Burns says. Johansen thought there could be a market for a centralized innovation management platform—a Software-as-a-Service offering that would have some of the collaboration features of groupware like Microsoft’s Groove or IBM’s Lotus Notes, some of the document-management features of enterprise content management systems like EMC’s Documentum, and some of the community features pioneered by open-innovation organizations like Innocentive. The challenge, Burns says, was that “no two companies, or even divisions or departments for that matter, have exactly the same innovation process. Each one defines their own innovation types and subtypes, and each one in practice was using a different ranking algorithm or scorecard in the evaluation process.” So Johansen and a team of four programmers in Norway came up with a system that’s extremely customizable. At its core is a system for …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24281562 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:01:41 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Software, Boston, innovation, it, fast, Boston blog main, National blog main, Alf Martin Johansen, Henry Chesbrough, Open Innovation, Fast Search & Transfer, David Burns, Induct Software http://odeo.com/episodes/24281563-Zillow-Pet-Holdings-Lead-Startup-List startups, Websites, Rankings Gregory T. Huang wrote: Marcelo Calbucci’s Seattle 2.0 index of local startups’ websites is out for February, and shows little movement at the top. Zillow, Pet Holdings, iLike, BuddyTV, and Robot Co-op have the top five sites, based on traffic estimates. Calbucci points out a few sites in the top 20 that were not there a year ago: BigOven, UrbanSpoon, Menuism, Avvo, Feedjit, and nuTsie (Melodeo). Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail startups, Websites, Rankings Gregory T. Huang wrote: Marcelo Calbucci’s Seattle 2.0 index of local startups’ websites is out for February, and shows little movement at the top. Zillow, Pet Holdings, iLike, BuddyTV, and Robot Co-op have the top five sites, based on traffic estimates. Calbucci points out a few sites in the top 20 that were not there a year ago: BigOven, UrbanSpoon, Menuism, Avvo, Feedjit, and nuTsie (Melodeo). Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail startups, Websites, Rankings Gregory T. Huang wrote: Marcelo Calbucci’s Seattle 2.0 index of local startups’ websites is out for February, and shows little movement at the top. Zillow, Pet Holdings, iLike, BuddyTV, and Robot Co-op have the top five sites, based on traffic estimates. Calbucci points out a few sites in the top 20 that were not there a year ago: BigOven, UrbanSpoon, Menuism, Avvo, Feedjit, and nuTsie (Melodeo). Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24281563 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:42:32 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Web 2.0, Internet, Software, Startups, seattle, websites, lists, Rankings, Seattle briefs, index, Robot Co-op, Seattle 2.0, Marcelo Calbucci, Avvo, iLike, UrbanSpoon, Zillow, BuddyTV, Melodeo, Seattlepi, Pet Holdings, BigOven, Feedjit, Menuism, NuTsie http://odeo.com/episodes/24280288-Veracode-Assembling-10M-Third-Round VC, IT, deals Wade Roush wrote: Burlington, MA-based Veracode, which tests corporate software for back doors and other security holes by analyzing its raw binary code, has  collected half of a $10 million third financing round, according to a regulatory filing cited by PE Hub. The investors for the round include Atlas Venture, .406 Ventures, Macrovision, Polaris Venture Partners, and Symantec. Existing investor In-Q-Tel apparently did not invest in the new round. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS VC, IT, deals Wade Roush wrote: Burlington, MA-based Veracode, which tests corporate software for back doors and other security holes by analyzing its raw binary code, has  collected half of a $10 million third financing round, according to a regulatory filing cited by PE Hub. The investors for the round include Atlas Venture, .406 Ventures, Macrovision, Polaris Venture Partners, and Symantec. Existing investor In-Q-Tel apparently did not invest in the new round. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS VC, IT, deals Wade Roush wrote: Burlington, MA-based Veracode, which tests corporate software for back doors and other security holes by analyzing its raw binary code, has  collected half of a $10 million third financing round, according to a regulatory filing cited by PE Hub. The investors for the round include Atlas Venture, .406 Ventures, Macrovision, Polaris Venture Partners, and Symantec. Existing investor In-Q-Tel apparently did not invest in the new round. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24280288 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:58:45 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Software, Security, Boston, it, VC, deals, symantec, Boston briefs, Polaris Venture Partners, Atlas Venture, veracode, in-q-tel, Macrovision, .406 Vetures http://odeo.com/episodes/24280290-Stemgent-Nails-Down-14M-to-Make-Supplies-Tools-for-Stem-Cell-Researchers Biotech, Stem Cells, deals Luke Timmerman wrote: Stemgent, a startup in Cambridge, MA, and San Diego that makes consumable materials for stem cell research labs, has raised $14 million in venture capital, according to PE Hub. The company’s backers include HealthCare Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures, according to PE Hub. CEO Ian Ratcliffe didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment about the deal. Stemgent aims to sell proprietary reagents and tools for stem cell researchers, according to its website. The company has assembled an all-star roster of supporters on its scientific advisory board, including MIT’s Bob Langer, Bob Weinberg, and Rudolf Jaenisch; Harvard University’s Douglas Melton; Harvard Medical School’s Leonard Zon; and Sheng Ding of the Scripps Research Institute. Stemgent’s financing was certainly well-timed, coinciding today with President Obama’s decision to lift federal funding restrictions on embryonic stem cell... Biotech, Stem Cells, deals Luke Timmerman wrote: Stemgent, a startup in Cambridge, MA, and San Diego that makes consumable materials for stem cell research labs, has raised $14 million in venture capital, according to PE Hub. The company’s backers include HealthCare Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures, according to PE Hub. CEO Ian Ratcliffe didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment about the deal. Stemgent aims to sell proprietary reagents and tools for stem cell researchers, according to its website. The company has assembled an all-star roster of supporters on its scientific advisory board, including MIT’s Bob Langer, Bob Weinberg, and Rudolf Jaenisch; Harvard University’s Douglas Melton; Harvard Medical School’s Leonard Zon; and Sheng Ding of the Scripps Research Institute. Stemgent’s financing was certainly well-timed, coinciding today with President Obama’s decision to lift federal funding restrictions on embryonic stem cell research enacted in 2001 by the Bush Administration. Those rules limited researchers receiving federal research dollars to working on a small number of existing stem cell lines. Ratcliffe joined Stemgent with a background in the business of selling consumable reagents to biologists. He worked previously as president of Upstate Group, which was acquired by Atlanta-based Serologicals for $205 million in 2004, according to this story last year in Mass High Tech. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Biotech, Stem Cells, deals Luke Timmerman wrote: Stemgent, a startup in Cambridge, MA, and San Diego that makes consumable materials for stem cell research labs, has raised $14 million in venture capital, according to PE Hub. The company’s backers include HealthCare Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures, according to PE Hub. CEO Ian Ratcliffe didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment about the deal. Stemgent aims to sell proprietary reagents and tools for stem cell researchers, according to its website. The company has assembled an all-star roster of supporters on its scientific advisory board, including MIT’s Bob Langer, Bob Weinberg, and Rudolf Jaenisch; Harvard University’s Douglas Melton; Harvard Medical School’s Leonard Zon; and Sheng Ding of the Scripps Research Institute. Stemgent’s financing was certainly well-timed, coinciding today with President Obama’s decision to lift federal funding restrictions on embryonic stem cell research enacted in 2001 by the Bush Administration. Those rules limited researchers receiving federal research dollars to working on a small number of existing stem cell lines. Ratcliffe joined Stemgent with a background in the business of selling consumable reagents to biologists. He worked previously as president of Upstate Group, which was acquired by Atlanta-based Serologicals for $205 million in 2004, according to this story last year in Mass High Tech. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24280290 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:45:44 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast stem cells, Boston, Biotech, VC, deals, harvard university, mit, Boston blog main, National blog main, Life Sciences, Scripps Research Institute, HealthCare Ventures, San Diego blog main, Bob Langer, Morgenthaler Ventures, Stemgent, president obama, Ian Ratcliffe, Upstate Group, Sheng Ding, Bob Weinberg, Rudolf Jaenisch, Leonard Zon http://odeo.com/episodes/24280295-Report-Haute-Secure-Raises-1-6M deals, VC, Software Gregory T. Huang wrote: Seattle-based Haute Secure, a maker of security software that protects computers against malware, has raised about $1.6 million in Series A funding, according to PE Hub, which cites a regulatory filing. Investors in the round include Silicon Valley VC firms Baseline Ventures and Sherpalo Ventures. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail deals, VC, Software Gregory T. Huang wrote: Seattle-based Haute Secure, a maker of security software that protects computers against malware, has raised about $1.6 million in Series A funding, according to PE Hub, which cites a regulatory filing. Investors in the round include Silicon Valley VC firms Baseline Ventures and Sherpalo Ventures. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail deals, VC, Software Gregory T. Huang wrote: Seattle-based Haute Secure, a maker of security software that protects computers against malware, has raised about $1.6 million in Series A funding, according to PE Hub, which cites a regulatory filing. Investors in the round include Silicon Valley VC firms Baseline Ventures and Sherpalo Ventures. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24280295 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:21:36 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Software, Security, Startups, Venture Capital, it, seattle, malware, VC, deals, funding, financing, Seattle briefs, Seattlepi, Sherpalo Ventures, Baseline Ventures, Haute Secure http://odeo.com/episodes/24280297-The-Xconomy-Guide-to-the-Northwest%E2%80%99s-Cleantech-Clusters energy, cleantech, Analysis Gregory T. Huang wrote: Last week, we published a series of three stories documenting the companies and organizations in the Pacific Northwest that are focused on alternative energy and cleantech. We organized the lists by geography, breaking out separate lists for companies in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. Now we can take a step back, analyze the trends in each region, and—although the lists aren’t comprehensive—compare them to one another in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. But first, some big-picture trends from the whole Northwest. We catalogued 160 organizations in total—27 of them working on alternative fuels (17 percent), 18 on solar power (11 percent), 16 on wind power (10 percent), and 19 on other alternative energy sources like geothermal, nuclear, and hydro (12 percent). Thirteen companies specialize in transportation technologies like hybrid vehicles and engines (8 percent), while nine are focused on... energy, cleantech, Analysis Gregory T. Huang wrote: Last week, we published a series of three stories documenting the companies and organizations in the Pacific Northwest that are focused on alternative energy and cleantech. We organized the lists by geography, breaking out separate lists for companies in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. Now we can take a step back, analyze the trends in each region, and—although the lists aren’t comprehensive—compare them to one another in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. But first, some big-picture trends from the whole Northwest. We catalogued 160 organizations in total—27 of them working on alternative fuels (17 percent), 18 on solar power (11 percent), 16 on wind power (10 percent), and 19 on other alternative energy sources like geothermal, nuclear, and hydro (12 percent). Thirteen companies specialize in transportation technologies like hybrid vehicles and engines (8 percent), while nine are focused on fuel cells (6 percent). We counted 15 organizations focused on smart-grid technologies and electricity management (9 percent). And in total, 20 of the companies (13 percent) have a strong software component to their products, while seven are focused on energy storage or new materials (4 percent). “We haven’t quite seen anything like what’s happening in the energy space,” says Rick LeFaivre, managing director at OVP Venture Partners in Kirkland, WA, which has invested in several alternative energy companies on the West Coast. “There’s a huge drive for cleantech. We’ve hit an inflection point.” Washington is the clear leader in software and alternative fuels, with about one-fifth of its 83 organizations focused on each of these areas. Its leaders in energy software include Optimum Energy, Powerit, and Verdiem, while a new generation of biofuels technology is emerging, led by the likes of Arzeda, Bionavitas, and Boeing. The state is also strong in smart grid and electricity management, with 11 companies in this emerging arena, including Itron and Areva T&D. For its cluster size and level of activity, however, Washington does not have many venture firms or angel networks with a focus on cleantech (we counted just three—Arch Venture Partners, OVP Venture Partners, and Northwest Energy Angels). Oregon is strong in solar, wind, and biofuels, with about one-fifth of its 36 cleantech organizations focused on each of these. SolarWorld and SpectraWatt are leaders in solar, …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail energy, cleantech, Analysis Gregory T. Huang wrote: Last week, we published a series of three stories documenting the companies and organizations in the Pacific Northwest that are focused on alternative energy and cleantech. We organized the lists by geography, breaking out separate lists for companies in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. Now we can take a step back, analyze the trends in each region, and—although the lists aren’t comprehensive—compare them to one another in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. But first, some big-picture trends from the whole Northwest. We catalogued 160 organizations in total—27 of them working on alternative fuels (17 percent), 18 on solar power (11 percent), 16 on wind power (10 percent), and 19 on other alternative energy sources like geothermal, nuclear, and hydro (12 percent). Thirteen companies specialize in transportation technologies like hybrid vehicles and engines (8 percent), while nine are focused on fuel cells (6 percent). We counted 15 organizations focused on smart-grid technologies and electricity management (9 percent). And in total, 20 of the companies (13 percent) have a strong software component to their products, while seven are focused on energy storage or new materials (4 percent). “We haven’t quite seen anything like what’s happening in the energy space,” says Rick LeFaivre, managing director at OVP Venture Partners in Kirkland, WA, which has invested in several alternative energy companies on the West Coast. “There’s a huge drive for cleantech. We’ve hit an inflection point.” Washington is the clear leader in software and alternative fuels, with about one-fifth of its 83 organizations focused on each of these areas. Its leaders in energy software include Optimum Energy, Powerit, and Verdiem, while a new generation of biofuels technology is emerging, led by the likes of Arzeda, Bionavitas, and Boeing. The state is also strong in smart grid and electricity management, with 11 companies in this emerging arena, including Itron and Areva T&D. For its cluster size and level of activity, however, Washington does not have many venture firms or angel networks with a focus on cleantech (we counted just three—Arch Venture Partners, OVP Venture Partners, and Northwest Energy Angels). Oregon is strong in solar, wind, and biofuels, with about one-fifth of its 36 cleantech organizations focused on each of these. SolarWorld and SpectraWatt are leaders in solar, …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24280297 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:37:39 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast energy, Software, fuel cells, Venture Capital, it, seattle, Transportation, analysis, biofuels, solar, Boeing, VC, wind, Cleantech, Seattle blog main, National blog main, SpectraWatt, clusters, Nathan Myhrvold, Smart Grid, geothermal, Alternative fuels, InEnTec, Intellectual Ventures, Pangaea Ventures, Verdiem, Bionavitas, Arzeda, Nth Power, SolarWorld, Itron, hydro, OVP, Yaletown Venture Partners, Rick LeFaivre, Shepherd's Flat Wind Farm, Light-Based Technologies, Sea Breeze Power, Plutonic Power, Chrysalix Energy, Angstrom Power, Areva T&D, Powerit, Optimum Energy, Pivotal Investments Fund http://odeo.com/episodes/24278094-Pain-Specialist-Victory-Pharma-Raises-45M-in-Venture-Round deals, Drug Development, Life Sciences Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: San Diego’s Victory Pharma, a venture-backed pharmaceutical company that specializes in treatments for pain, said today it has raised $45 million in a secondary investment round. The investment was headed by Essex Woodlands Health Ventures of Palo Alto, CA, and included existing investor Ampersand Ventures of Wellesley, MA.Victory, which acquired its lead drug product in 2006, said the proceeds would be used to support future growth iniatives, including additional product acquisitions. In addition to acquiring and marketing pain relief products, Victory also has been developing its own drug candidates for managing pain and for managing nausea and other side effects of pain drugs. Essex Partner Scott Barry, who has joined Victory’s board, said in a statement released by the company that “Victory is a rapidly growing, profitable business that we see as an excellent growth equity platform upon which to bui... deals, Drug Development, Life Sciences Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: San Diego’s Victory Pharma, a venture-backed pharmaceutical company that specializes in treatments for pain, said today it has raised $45 million in a secondary investment round. The investment was headed by Essex Woodlands Health Ventures of Palo Alto, CA, and included existing investor Ampersand Ventures of Wellesley, MA.Victory, which acquired its lead drug product in 2006, said the proceeds would be used to support future growth iniatives, including additional product acquisitions. In addition to acquiring and marketing pain relief products, Victory also has been developing its own drug candidates for managing pain and for managing nausea and other side effects of pain drugs. Essex Partner Scott Barry, who has joined Victory’s board, said in a statement released by the company that “Victory is a rapidly growing, profitable business that we see as an excellent growth equity platform upon which to build a substantial specialty pharmaceutical company.” Founded in 2003, Victory markets its pain management products to rheumatologists, orthopedists, pain specialists and other primary care physicians. The company says its lead product currently is Naprelan (naproxen sodium), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS deals, Drug Development, Life Sciences Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: San Diego’s Victory Pharma, a venture-backed pharmaceutical company that specializes in treatments for pain, said today it has raised $45 million in a secondary investment round. The investment was headed by Essex Woodlands Health Ventures of Palo Alto, CA, and included existing investor Ampersand Ventures of Wellesley, MA.Victory, which acquired its lead drug product in 2006, said the proceeds would be used to support future growth iniatives, including additional product acquisitions. In addition to acquiring and marketing pain relief products, Victory also has been developing its own drug candidates for managing pain and for managing nausea and other side effects of pain drugs. Essex Partner Scott Barry, who has joined Victory’s board, said in a statement released by the company that “Victory is a rapidly growing, profitable business that we see as an excellent growth equity platform upon which to build a substantial specialty pharmaceutical company.” Founded in 2003, Victory markets its pain management products to rheumatologists, orthopedists, pain specialists and other primary care physicians. The company says its lead product currently is Naprelan (naproxen sodium), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24278094 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 07:19:45 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast People, Biotech, VC, deals, san diego, Boston blog main, National blog main, Life Sciences, pharma, Drug Development, Ampersand Ventures, San Diego blog main, pain management, Scott Barry, Victory Pharma, BostonVC, Naprelan, Essex Woodlands Heath Ventures http://odeo.com/episodes/24278095-Of-FIRST-Robotics-%E2%80%9CLunacy%E2%80%9D-and-A-Shout-Out-to-%E2%80%9CDancin%E2%80%99%E2%80%9D-Woz Robots, Education, FIRST Robert Buderi wrote: “Robot coming through…Robot.” That was the cry, heard throughout the day Saturday at Boston University’s Agganis Arena, scene of the Boston regional finals of the annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competition. The robots were constantly on the move as teams ushered them back and forth from the competition area—think basketball, with lots of twists for this year’s theme—to the staging area/work zones “backstage.” As always, the finals were a wild affair with lots of screaming and yelling, blaring rock music, face paint galore, and costumes that would have done Rocky Horror fans proud (to give you a clue, the guy announcing all the teams wore a cape and skated around the floor on roller blades). I was there for much of the morning, speaking with competitors and planners and a few guests that included iRobot founders Helen Greiner (an Xcono... Robots, Education, FIRST Robert Buderi wrote: “Robot coming through…Robot.” That was the cry, heard throughout the day Saturday at Boston University’s Agganis Arena, scene of the Boston regional finals of the annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competition. The robots were constantly on the move as teams ushered them back and forth from the competition area—think basketball, with lots of twists for this year’s theme—to the staging area/work zones “backstage.” As always, the finals were a wild affair with lots of screaming and yelling, blaring rock music, face paint galore, and costumes that would have done Rocky Horror fans proud (to give you a clue, the guy announcing all the teams wore a cape and skated around the floor on roller blades). I was there for much of the morning, speaking with competitors and planners and a few guests that included iRobot founders Helen Greiner (an Xconomist) and Colin Angle, human genome sequencer Craig Venter, Marc Hodosh (another Xconomist and chair of Boston FIRST), and FIRST National Advisor and MIT engineering professor Woodie Flowers, among others. (Flowers was lowered by cable from the rafters at last year’s FIRST event, to the tune of Mission Impossible. This year, he told me, “I came in through the back door.”) I didn’t speak to annual judge Steve Wozniak, a founder of Apple Computer, because he wasn’t there. The reason: he will compete on Dancing With the Stars, which airs tonight. The entire crowd, though, did a shout out to him at Friday night’s opening, crying out in unison: “GOOD LUCK WOZ!” (Hodosh says they are sending in the video to the TV show, in hopes it will air tonight.) Some 53 teams, most, but not all (see below) from around New England, took part in the event. But that’s just a fraction of the entire competition. Last year, when you include all age groups taking part in FIRST, the organization drew more than 160,000 young people from 38 countries worldwide. What I saw was just a piece of the high-school category, which itself drew 1,500 teams last year—and should be even bigger this year. The basic idea for the high-school event is that all teams must begin with the same core electronics and motors. They then can spend up to another $3,500, with no part costing more than $400, to fine-tune and evolve their robots, which enter into “coopetition”—both competing against and cooperating with—other teams in a series of ever-changing alliances. This year’s game was called Lunacy. It was a basketball-type game played on a hockey rink-type floor (without the ice). As the game description goes, “Two three-team robot alliances …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Robots, Education, FIRST Robert Buderi wrote: “Robot coming through…Robot.” That was the cry, heard throughout the day Saturday at Boston University’s Agganis Arena, scene of the Boston regional finals of the annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competition. The robots were constantly on the move as teams ushered them back and forth from the competition area—think basketball, with lots of twists for this year’s theme—to the staging area/work zones “backstage.” As always, the finals were a wild affair with lots of screaming and yelling, blaring rock music, face paint galore, and costumes that would have done Rocky Horror fans proud (to give you a clue, the guy announcing all the teams wore a cape and skated around the floor on roller blades). I was there for much of the morning, speaking with competitors and planners and a few guests that included iRobot founders Helen Greiner (an Xconomist) and Colin Angle, human genome sequencer Craig Venter, Marc Hodosh (another Xconomist and chair of Boston FIRST), and FIRST National Advisor and MIT engineering professor Woodie Flowers, among others. (Flowers was lowered by cable from the rafters at last year’s FIRST event, to the tune of Mission Impossible. This year, he told me, “I came in through the back door.”) I didn’t speak to annual judge Steve Wozniak, a founder of Apple Computer, because he wasn’t there. The reason: he will compete on Dancing With the Stars, which airs tonight. The entire crowd, though, did a shout out to him at Friday night’s opening, crying out in unison: “GOOD LUCK WOZ!” (Hodosh says they are sending in the video to the TV show, in hopes it will air tonight.) Some 53 teams, most, but not all (see below) from around New England, took part in the event. But that’s just a fraction of the entire competition. Last year, when you include all age groups taking part in FIRST, the organization drew more than 160,000 young people from 38 countries worldwide. What I saw was just a piece of the high-school category, which itself drew 1,500 teams last year—and should be even bigger this year. The basic idea for the high-school event is that all teams must begin with the same core electronics and motors. They then can spend up to another $3,500, with no part costing more than $400, to fine-tune and evolve their robots, which enter into “coopetition”—both competing against and cooperating with—other teams in a series of ever-changing alliances. This year’s game was called Lunacy. It was a basketball-type game played on a hockey rink-type floor (without the ice). As the game description goes, “Two three-team robot alliances …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24278095 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 05:45:32 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Education, People, robots, Boston, first, Robotics, Boston blog main, National blog main, science and technology, Colin Angle, dean kamen, dancing with the stars, John Abele, Marc Hodosh, Craig Venter, Steve Wozniak, Woodie Flowers http://odeo.com/episodes/24278096-Surface-Logix-Developer-of-Obesity-and-Diabetes-Drugs-Nabs-20M-Financing Biotech, obesity, VC Luke Timmerman wrote: Surface Logix got a new CEO on board last fall, and five months later it has nailed down a load of new cash. The Brighton, MA-based biotech company, which uses an unusual chemical trick to treat obesity and diabetes, has secured $20 million to see if it can prove its experimental drugs work in human beings. The Series E financing, being announced today, is coming in the form of $15 million in venture capital and a $5 million loan. The equity backers include Arch Venture Partners, HBM BioVentures, Healthcare Focus, Intel Capital, Saudi Venture Development, Unilever Technology Ventures, and Venrock Associates. The venture loan comes from Silicon Valley Bank. This shot of cash comes less than six months into the tenure of Surface Logix’s new CEO Keith Dionne. He sold his previous company, Cambridge, MA-based Alantos Pharmaceuticals, to Amgen for $300 million. His new mission will be to lead this venture through a critical proving ground,... Biotech, obesity, VC Luke Timmerman wrote: Surface Logix got a new CEO on board last fall, and five months later it has nailed down a load of new cash. The Brighton, MA-based biotech company, which uses an unusual chemical trick to treat obesity and diabetes, has secured $20 million to see if it can prove its experimental drugs work in human beings. The Series E financing, being announced today, is coming in the form of $15 million in venture capital and a $5 million loan. The equity backers include Arch Venture Partners, HBM BioVentures, Healthcare Focus, Intel Capital, Saudi Venture Development, Unilever Technology Ventures, and Venrock Associates. The venture loan comes from Silicon Valley Bank. This shot of cash comes less than six months into the tenure of Surface Logix’s new CEO Keith Dionne. He sold his previous company, Cambridge, MA-based Alantos Pharmaceuticals, to Amgen for $300 million. His new mission will be to lead this venture through a critical proving ground, pushing its top drug candidate through a pair of clinical trials for obesity and diabetes that should yield results by the end of the year. If the investors’ hunch is right, Surface Logix will be able to show its chemists have made the first drug that can block fat from being absorbed in the body, without causing the sort of liver-damaging side effects that plagued similar efforts at drug giants like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. The prize for anyone who comes up with a truly effective and safe obesity drug is huge—about two-thirds of Americans are estimated to be overweight or obese. “These are darn good programs,” Dionne says. “These are big markets, the drugs are novel, no one’s done it before, and they’re wholly owned by the company.” Surface Logix, which has about 35 employees, got its start in 2001 with technology from the prolific Harvard University chemistry lab of George Whitesides. The idea is that if medicinal chemists could borrow some of the techniques from their relatives in physical chemistry, by modifying the surface of conventional small-molecule oral drugs, they might be able to better control how drugs interact with proteins the drugs need to block in the body, Dionne says. The lead drug candidate that will test this idea is SLX-4090. This oral drug is designed to block something called the microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP). This protein, found in the cells that line the intestines, has the important job of helping transport fatty cholesterols, triglycerides, and other nutrients so they get absorbed from the gut into the body, where, sadly, the fat often gets stored. Scientists have tried blocking this critical gateway protein before with small-molecule drugs, but the problem was that the drug got absorbed throughout the bloodstream, and ended up trapping too much fat in the liver where the drug gets broken down, Dionne says. This caused all sorts of worrisome liver damage, like cirrhosis. “It was unacceptable,” Dionne says. Surface Logix thinks it has a better idea, because its drug will never travel to the liver. This compound …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Biotech, obesity, VC Luke Timmerman wrote: Surface Logix got a new CEO on board last fall, and five months later it has nailed down a load of new cash. The Brighton, MA-based biotech company, which uses an unusual chemical trick to treat obesity and diabetes, has secured $20 million to see if it can prove its experimental drugs work in human beings. The Series E financing, being announced today, is coming in the form of $15 million in venture capital and a $5 million loan. The equity backers include Arch Venture Partners, HBM BioVentures, Healthcare Focus, Intel Capital, Saudi Venture Development, Unilever Technology Ventures, and Venrock Associates. The venture loan comes from Silicon Valley Bank. This shot of cash comes less than six months into the tenure of Surface Logix’s new CEO Keith Dionne. He sold his previous company, Cambridge, MA-based Alantos Pharmaceuticals, to Amgen for $300 million. His new mission will be to lead this venture through a critical proving ground, pushing its top drug candidate through a pair of clinical trials for obesity and diabetes that should yield results by the end of the year. If the investors’ hunch is right, Surface Logix will be able to show its chemists have made the first drug that can block fat from being absorbed in the body, without causing the sort of liver-damaging side effects that plagued similar efforts at drug giants like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. The prize for anyone who comes up with a truly effective and safe obesity drug is huge—about two-thirds of Americans are estimated to be overweight or obese. “These are darn good programs,” Dionne says. “These are big markets, the drugs are novel, no one’s done it before, and they’re wholly owned by the company.” Surface Logix, which has about 35 employees, got its start in 2001 with technology from the prolific Harvard University chemistry lab of George Whitesides. The idea is that if medicinal chemists could borrow some of the techniques from their relatives in physical chemistry, by modifying the surface of conventional small-molecule oral drugs, they might be able to better control how drugs interact with proteins the drugs need to block in the body, Dionne says. The lead drug candidate that will test this idea is SLX-4090. This oral drug is designed to block something called the microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP). This protein, found in the cells that line the intestines, has the important job of helping transport fatty cholesterols, triglycerides, and other nutrients so they get absorbed from the gut into the body, where, sadly, the fat often gets stored. Scientists have tried blocking this critical gateway protein before with small-molecule drugs, but the problem was that the drug got absorbed throughout the bloodstream, and ended up trapping too much fat in the liver where the drug gets broken down, Dionne says. This caused all sorts of worrisome liver damage, like cirrhosis. “It was unacceptable,” Dionne says. Surface Logix thinks it has a better idea, because its drug will never travel to the liver. This compound …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24278096 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 05:00:27 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Boston, drugs, obesity, Biotech, Diabetes, VC, deals, harvard university, Boston blog main, Pfizer, National blog main, ARCH Venture Partners, Life Sciences, Amgen, Intel Capital, Roche, Venrock Associates, Surface Logix, Alantos Pharmaceuticals, Keith Dionne, Silicon Valley Bank, Unilever Technology Ventures, Johnson & Johnson, HBM Bioventures, George Whitesides, Xenical, Saudi Venture Development, Wynona Judd, Healthcare Focus, SLX-4090 http://odeo.com/episodes/24276657-Teams-Collect-Prizes-Like-Moon-Rocks-in-Regional-Robotics-Contest Robotics, Education, FIRST Juha-Pekka Tikka wrote: Most of the teams that gathered at the San Diego Sports Arena last week came from the American Southwest—from places like Flagstaff, AZ, and El Centro, CA. One team came all the way from Pennsylvania. Another came from Brazil. But these teams didn’t come to the arena to play hockey, football, or some other sport. They came to show that they could build a better robot. They came for the San Diego regional FIRST Robotics Competition. As a foreign visitor seeing this kind of competition for the first time, I was amazed and had incredible fun just watching it. The sports arena was filled with strange-looking robots, cables, containers, bolts, joysticks, duct tape, rock music, cheering, and teen-agers—thousands of spirited, excited teen-agers. The San Diego event, which ended Saturday, is part of an annual high school engineering contest organized by FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. It d... Robotics, Education, FIRST Juha-Pekka Tikka wrote: Most of the teams that gathered at the San Diego Sports Arena last week came from the American Southwest—from places like Flagstaff, AZ, and El Centro, CA. One team came all the way from Pennsylvania. Another came from Brazil. But these teams didn’t come to the arena to play hockey, football, or some other sport. They came to show that they could build a better robot. They came for the San Diego regional FIRST Robotics Competition. As a foreign visitor seeing this kind of competition for the first time, I was amazed and had incredible fun just watching it. The sports arena was filled with strange-looking robots, cables, containers, bolts, joysticks, duct tape, rock music, cheering, and teen-agers—thousands of spirited, excited teen-agers. The San Diego event, which ended Saturday, is part of an annual high school engineering contest organized by FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. It drew dozens of high school teams for an event that requires students to spend six weeks building robots to scrimmage against each other in a game. Miss Daisy was a regional winner I work as a newspaper reporter in Finland, and I haven’t heard of anything like this in Europe. I was amazed by the passion and enthusiasm that FIRST has inspired among the high school students. These students help each other, love what they are doing, and show it. The student-built robots don’t look like something you’d see in a sci-fi movie. These robots are heavy plastic boxes, about four-feet tall, that whirl on wheels. Others look like modified shopping carts. The robots in the 2009 competition were designed to play a game called Lunacy, which is played on a small court. The robots are supposed to scoop up “orbit balls” as if they are on the moon collecting moon rocks. During the first 15 seconds of each match, the robots play the game by themselves in autonomous mode. Six robots compete at a time, divided into two teams selected five minutes before …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Robotics, Education, FIRST Juha-Pekka Tikka wrote: Most of the teams that gathered at the San Diego Sports Arena last week came from the American Southwest—from places like Flagstaff, AZ, and El Centro, CA. One team came all the way from Pennsylvania. Another came from Brazil. But these teams didn’t come to the arena to play hockey, football, or some other sport. They came to show that they could build a better robot. They came for the San Diego regional FIRST Robotics Competition. As a foreign visitor seeing this kind of competition for the first time, I was amazed and had incredible fun just watching it. The sports arena was filled with strange-looking robots, cables, containers, bolts, joysticks, duct tape, rock music, cheering, and teen-agers—thousands of spirited, excited teen-agers. The San Diego event, which ended Saturday, is part of an annual high school engineering contest organized by FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. It drew dozens of high school teams for an event that requires students to spend six weeks building robots to scrimmage against each other in a game. Miss Daisy was a regional winner I work as a newspaper reporter in Finland, and I haven’t heard of anything like this in Europe. I was amazed by the passion and enthusiasm that FIRST has inspired among the high school students. These students help each other, love what they are doing, and show it. The student-built robots don’t look like something you’d see in a sci-fi movie. These robots are heavy plastic boxes, about four-feet tall, that whirl on wheels. Others look like modified shopping carts. The robots in the 2009 competition were designed to play a game called Lunacy, which is played on a small court. The robots are supposed to scoop up “orbit balls” as if they are on the moon collecting moon rocks. During the first 15 seconds of each match, the robots play the game by themselves in autonomous mode. Six robots compete at a time, divided into two teams selected five minutes before …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24276657 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:25:20 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Education, NASA, first, Robotics, san diego, science and technology, dean kamen, San Diego blog main, Apollo 11, Lunacy http://odeo.com/episodes/24278097-Athenahealth%E2%80%99s-Bush-First-Cousin-of-the-43rd-Pres-on-Obama%E2%80%99s-19B-Plan-to-Pay-for-Electronic-Health-Records healthcare, IT, Government Ryan McBride wrote: Most doctors in the U.S. have never heard of Athenahealth, the Watertown, MA-based firm offering Web-based software for managing billing, electronic medical records (EMRs), and other functions in physician practices. But the federal government plans to invest $19 billion to make funds available for doctors to switch from the usual paper-based systems to electronic medical records, giving them a new reason to learn more about Athenahealth (NASDAQ:ATHN) and its offerings. I caught up last week with Jonathan Bush, the outspoken CEO of Athenahealth, to get the lowdown on how the company is seizing this multibillion-dollar opportunity. Bush, the first cousin of former President George W. Bush, has his doubts about the program. For one thing, the $19 billion isn’t a lot of money for its ambitious purpose, and for another he says that he wants to know what specific standards doctors will be held to in their use of federally subsidized el... healthcare, IT, Government Ryan McBride wrote: Most doctors in the U.S. have never heard of Athenahealth, the Watertown, MA-based firm offering Web-based software for managing billing, electronic medical records (EMRs), and other functions in physician practices. But the federal government plans to invest $19 billion to make funds available for doctors to switch from the usual paper-based systems to electronic medical records, giving them a new reason to learn more about Athenahealth (NASDAQ:ATHN) and its offerings. I caught up last week with Jonathan Bush, the outspoken CEO of Athenahealth, to get the lowdown on how the company is seizing this multibillion-dollar opportunity. Bush, the first cousin of former President George W. Bush, has his doubts about the program. For one thing, the $19 billion isn’t a lot of money for its ambitious purpose, and for another he says that he wants to know what specific standards doctors will be held to in their use of federally subsidized electronic medical records. The $19 billion is part of the broader, $787 billion stimulus package passed in Congress last month. Some of the details such as a murky requirement that doctors will have to show “meaningful use” of electronic records to get the federal dollars have yet to be fully explained. Athenahealth is hoping that the requirement means doctors will have to actually use the electronic records and integrate them into their practices, playing into the company’s strengths in providing software and online services that touch multiple aspects of medical practices. In any case, doctors are going to get a bigger dose of Athenahealth and its chief executive. The firm revealed during its earnings call last month that it plans to increase its investment in sales and marketing this year. And here’s a link to Bush’s colorful TV appearance two weeks ago on CNBC. The interview below captures Bush’s thoughts about the $19 billion that the government plans to inject into his industry and its likely impact on Athenahealth. (And if you can’t tell from the interview, Bush hints that he has some obvious philosophical differences with the stimulus package.) Xconomy: Do you think the government’s spending on EMRs will be effective? Bush: Obviously, the standards are still up in air …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail healthcare, IT, Government Ryan McBride wrote: Most doctors in the U.S. have never heard of Athenahealth, the Watertown, MA-based firm offering Web-based software for managing billing, electronic medical records (EMRs), and other functions in physician practices. But the federal government plans to invest $19 billion to make funds available for doctors to switch from the usual paper-based systems to electronic medical records, giving them a new reason to learn more about Athenahealth (NASDAQ:ATHN) and its offerings. I caught up last week with Jonathan Bush, the outspoken CEO of Athenahealth, to get the lowdown on how the company is seizing this multibillion-dollar opportunity. Bush, the first cousin of former President George W. Bush, has his doubts about the program. For one thing, the $19 billion isn’t a lot of money for its ambitious purpose, and for another he says that he wants to know what specific standards doctors will be held to in their use of federally subsidized electronic medical records. The $19 billion is part of the broader, $787 billion stimulus package passed in Congress last month. Some of the details such as a murky requirement that doctors will have to show “meaningful use” of electronic records to get the federal dollars have yet to be fully explained. Athenahealth is hoping that the requirement means doctors will have to actually use the electronic records and integrate them into their practices, playing into the company’s strengths in providing software and online services that touch multiple aspects of medical practices. In any case, doctors are going to get a bigger dose of Athenahealth and its chief executive. The firm revealed during its earnings call last month that it plans to increase its investment in sales and marketing this year. And here’s a link to Bush’s colorful TV appearance two weeks ago on CNBC. The interview below captures Bush’s thoughts about the $19 billion that the government plans to inject into his industry and its likely impact on Athenahealth. (And if you can’t tell from the interview, Bush hints that he has some obvious philosophical differences with the stimulus package.) Xconomy: Do you think the government’s spending on EMRs will be effective? Bush: Obviously, the standards are still up in air …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24278097 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:00:34 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Government, People, Boston, it, healthcare, george bush, barack obama, Boston blog main, National blog main, Life Sciences, electronic medical records, Athenahealth, Jonathan Bush http://odeo.com/episodes/24276658-Athenahealth%E2%80%99s-Bush-First-Cousin-of-the-43Rd-Pres-on-Obama%E2%80%99s-19B-Plan-to-Pay-for-Electronic-Health-Records healthcare, IT, Government Ryan McBride wrote: Most doctors in the U.S. have never heard of Athenahealth, the Watertown, MA-based firm offering Web-based software for managing billing, electronic medical records (EMRs), and other functions in physician practices. But the federal government plans to invest $19 billion to make funds available for doctors to switch from the usual paper-based systems to electronic medical records, giving them a new reason to learn more about Athenahealth (NASDAQ:ATHN) and its offerings. I caught up last week with Jonathan Bush, the outspoken CEO of Athenahealth, to get the lowdown on how the company is seizing this multibillion-dollar opportunity. Bush, the first cousin of former President George W. Bush, has his doubts about the program. For one thing, the $19 billion isn’t a lot of money for its ambitious purpose, and for another he says that he wants to know what specific standards doctors will be held to in their use of federally subsidized el... healthcare, IT, Government Ryan McBride wrote: Most doctors in the U.S. have never heard of Athenahealth, the Watertown, MA-based firm offering Web-based software for managing billing, electronic medical records (EMRs), and other functions in physician practices. But the federal government plans to invest $19 billion to make funds available for doctors to switch from the usual paper-based systems to electronic medical records, giving them a new reason to learn more about Athenahealth (NASDAQ:ATHN) and its offerings. I caught up last week with Jonathan Bush, the outspoken CEO of Athenahealth, to get the lowdown on how the company is seizing this multibillion-dollar opportunity. Bush, the first cousin of former President George W. Bush, has his doubts about the program. For one thing, the $19 billion isn’t a lot of money for its ambitious purpose, and for another he says that he wants to know what specific standards doctors will be held to in their use of federally subsidized electronic medical records. The $19 billion is part of the broader, $787 billion stimulus package passed in Congress last month. Some of the details such as a murky requirement that doctors will have to show “meaningful use” of electronic records to get the federal dollars have yet to be fully explained. Athenahealth is hoping that the requirement means doctors will have to actually use the electronic records and integrate them into their practices, playing into the company’s strengths in providing software and online services that touch multiple aspects of medical practices. In any case, doctors are going to get a bigger dose of Athenahealth and its chief executive. The firm revealed during its earnings call last month that it plans to increase its investment in sales and marketing this year. And here’s a link to Bush’s colorful TV appearance two weeks ago on CNBC. The interview below captures Bush’s thoughts about the $19 billion that the government plans to inject into his industry and its likely impact on Athenahealth. (And if you can’t tell from the interview, Bush hints that he has some obvious philosophical differences with the stimulus package.) Xconomy: Do you think the government’s spending on EMRs will be effective? Bush: Obviously, the standards are still up in air …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail healthcare, IT, Government Ryan McBride wrote: Most doctors in the U.S. have never heard of Athenahealth, the Watertown, MA-based firm offering Web-based software for managing billing, electronic medical records (EMRs), and other functions in physician practices. But the federal government plans to invest $19 billion to make funds available for doctors to switch from the usual paper-based systems to electronic medical records, giving them a new reason to learn more about Athenahealth (NASDAQ:ATHN) and its offerings. I caught up last week with Jonathan Bush, the outspoken CEO of Athenahealth, to get the lowdown on how the company is seizing this multibillion-dollar opportunity. Bush, the first cousin of former President George W. Bush, has his doubts about the program. For one thing, the $19 billion isn’t a lot of money for its ambitious purpose, and for another he says that he wants to know what specific standards doctors will be held to in their use of federally subsidized electronic medical records. The $19 billion is part of the broader, $787 billion stimulus package passed in Congress last month. Some of the details such as a murky requirement that doctors will have to show “meaningful use” of electronic records to get the federal dollars have yet to be fully explained. Athenahealth is hoping that the requirement means doctors will have to actually use the electronic records and integrate them into their practices, playing into the company’s strengths in providing software and online services that touch multiple aspects of medical practices. In any case, doctors are going to get a bigger dose of Athenahealth and its chief executive. The firm revealed during its earnings call last month that it plans to increase its investment in sales and marketing this year. And here’s a link to Bush’s colorful TV appearance two weeks ago on CNBC. The interview below captures Bush’s thoughts about the $19 billion that the government plans to inject into his industry and its likely impact on Athenahealth. (And if you can’t tell from the interview, Bush hints that he has some obvious philosophical differences with the stimulus package.) Xconomy: Do you think the government’s spending on EMRs will be effective? Bush: Obviously, the standards are still up in air …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24276658 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:00:34 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Government, People, Boston, it, healthcare, george bush, barack obama, Boston blog main, National blog main, Life Sciences, electronic medical records, Athenahealth, Jonathan Bush http://odeo.com/episodes/24276660-Biotechs-Raise-Capital-the-Tale-of-Four-Finns-Who-Helped-Pioneer-the-Web-Browser-Qualcomm-Takes-Another-Step-in-Its-Corporate-Succession-More-SD-BizTech-News Roundup, deals, Life Sciences Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: It’s hard for any company to raise capital in this recession, but several San Diego life sciences startups disclosed last week they had done just that. A few bright spots also appeared during a local seminar on mergers and acquisitions—so let the news light your way. —A big deal on the other side of North America last week may bear some significance for San Diego’s Anadys, which has been developing a new treatment for hepatitis C. Cambridge, MA-Vertex Pharmaceuticals said it was buying ViroChem Pharma of Laval, Quebec, for about $375 million. Vertex, which has about 200 employees in San Diego, is adding some punch to its own hepatitis C drug by acquiring ViroChem. —Qualcomm took another step in its succession plan last week when CEO Paul Jacobs added board chairman to his title, a job that was held by his father, Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs. The San Diego wireless chipmaker also disclosed that P... Roundup, deals, Life Sciences Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: It’s hard for any company to raise capital in this recession, but several San Diego life sciences startups disclosed last week they had done just that. A few bright spots also appeared during a local seminar on mergers and acquisitions—so let the news light your way. —A big deal on the other side of North America last week may bear some significance for San Diego’s Anadys, which has been developing a new treatment for hepatitis C. Cambridge, MA-Vertex Pharmaceuticals said it was buying ViroChem Pharma of Laval, Quebec, for about $375 million. Vertex, which has about 200 employees in San Diego, is adding some punch to its own hepatitis C drug by acquiring ViroChem. —Qualcomm took another step in its succession plan last week when CEO Paul Jacobs added board chairman to his title, a job that was held by his father, Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs. The San Diego wireless chipmaker also disclosed that Paul Jacobs and company president Steve Altman took 25 percent pay cuts last month when the company froze the salaries of all employees. —In an unrelated development, Qualcomm recently acquired the key assets of Digital Fountain, a Freemont, CA, startup that has developed software to optimize digital media transmitted over any network. The assets include a team of seven engineers led by Digital Fountain’s founder and CTO. —The lore of technology innovation is replete with stories of iconic hits and misses, of Googles and Pets.coms. Xconomy added a new chapter to the literature last week with a tale about Erwise, an Internet browser invented by four Finns before Netscape changed the online world as we know it. It also was the first Xconomy story written by Juha-Pekka Tikka, a veteran newspaper reporter from Helsinki who is Xconomy San Diego’s Innovation Journalism Fellow through June. —Regulus Therapeutics, the Carlsbad, CA-based joint venture formed in 2007 by Alnylam (NASDAQ: ALNY) of Cambridge, MA, and Carlsbad’s Isis, got $20 million in a first step toward independence. Alynlam and Isis each contributed $10 million to Regulus, which has developing microRNA-based drugs and now intends to continue that work as an independent company. —A new life sciences company has come to light in San Diego. Evoke Pharma has been developing a new drug treatment for diabetic gastroparesis, a gastrointestinal disorder. Evoke Pharma has been operating in stealth mode since it was founded two years ago, but a financial filing that surfaced recently shows the biotech has raised almost $12.3 million in venture funding since 2007. —While the overall market for mergers and acquisitions remains gloomy, John Stiska of Agility Capital says he sees a few signs of encouragement. Stiska, who spoke last week at an M&A workshop in San Diego, says mid-market equity funds are still buying stable, well-run companies. And Stiska says small-to-mid-size defense contractors throughout Southern California represent ideal targets for acquisition. —San Diego’s Optimer Pharmaceuticals, which has two antibiotics for treating diarrhea in late-stage clinical trials, raised $32.9 million in a registered direct offering to institutional investors. Optimer (NASDAQ: OPTR) says it plans to use the proceeds for ongoing drug development and general corporate purposes. —Lou Ryan, chairman of San Diego’s St. Bernard Software (OTCBB: SBSW) has stepped in as CEO with plans to expand the company’s line of Internet-filtering network security products. I spoke with Ryan, a software industry veteran and former venture partner at Menlo Park, CA-based Sand Hill Capital, about the firm’s new strategy. —Jay Lichter, a San Diego venture capitalist and founder of Otonomy, told Luke his goal is to someday make the specialized drug developer for hearing disorders as big as Alcon, the Swiss eye care company. One of Otonomy’s early drug candidates is aimed at Meniere’s disease, an imbalance of inner ear fluid. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Roundup, deals, Life Sciences Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: It’s hard for any company to raise capital in this recession, but several San Diego life sciences startups disclosed last week they had done just that. A few bright spots also appeared during a local seminar on mergers and acquisitions—so let the news light your way. —A big deal on the other side of North America last week may bear some significance for San Diego’s Anadys, which has been developing a new treatment for hepatitis C. Cambridge, MA-Vertex Pharmaceuticals said it was buying ViroChem Pharma of Laval, Quebec, for about $375 million. Vertex, which has about 200 employees in San Diego, is adding some punch to its own hepatitis C drug by acquiring ViroChem. —Qualcomm took another step in its succession plan last week when CEO Paul Jacobs added board chairman to his title, a job that was held by his father, Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs. The San Diego wireless chipmaker also disclosed that Paul Jacobs and company president Steve Altman took 25 percent pay cuts last month when the company froze the salaries of all employees. —In an unrelated development, Qualcomm recently acquired the key assets of Digital Fountain, a Freemont, CA, startup that has developed software to optimize digital media transmitted over any network. The assets include a team of seven engineers led by Digital Fountain’s founder and CTO. —The lore of technology innovation is replete with stories of iconic hits and misses, of Googles and Pets.coms. Xconomy added a new chapter to the literature last week with a tale about Erwise, an Internet browser invented by four Finns before Netscape changed the online world as we know it. It also was the first Xconomy story written by Juha-Pekka Tikka, a veteran newspaper reporter from Helsinki who is Xconomy San Diego’s Innovation Journalism Fellow through June. —Regulus Therapeutics, the Carlsbad, CA-based joint venture formed in 2007 by Alnylam (NASDAQ: ALNY) of Cambridge, MA, and Carlsbad’s Isis, got $20 million in a first step toward independence. Alynlam and Isis each contributed $10 million to Regulus, which has developing microRNA-based drugs and now intends to continue that work as an independent company. —A new life sciences company has come to light in San Diego. Evoke Pharma has been developing a new drug treatment for diabetic gastroparesis, a gastrointestinal disorder. Evoke Pharma has been operating in stealth mode since it was founded two years ago, but a financial filing that surfaced recently shows the biotech has raised almost $12.3 million in venture funding since 2007. —While the overall market for mergers and acquisitions remains gloomy, John Stiska of Agility Capital says he sees a few signs of encouragement. Stiska, who spoke last week at an M&A workshop in San Diego, says mid-market equity funds are still buying stable, well-run companies. And Stiska says small-to-mid-size defense contractors throughout Southern California represent ideal targets for acquisition. —San Diego’s Optimer Pharmaceuticals, which has two antibiotics for treating diarrhea in late-stage clinical trials, raised $32.9 million in a registered direct offering to institutional investors. Optimer (NASDAQ: OPTR) says it plans to use the proceeds for ongoing drug development and general corporate purposes. —Lou Ryan, chairman of San Diego’s St. Bernard Software (OTCBB: SBSW) has stepped in as CEO with plans to expand the company’s line of Internet-filtering network security products. I spoke with Ryan, a software industry veteran and former venture partner at Menlo Park, CA-based Sand Hill Capital, about the firm’s new strategy. —Jay Lichter, a San Diego venture capitalist and founder of Otonomy, told Luke his goal is to someday make the specialized drug developer for hearing disorders as big as Alcon, the Swiss eye care company. One of Otonomy’s early drug candidates is aimed at Meniere’s disease, an imbalance of inner ear fluid. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24276660 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:30:49 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast wireless, mosaic, deals, san diego, roundup, qualcomm, National blog main, Life Sciences, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Hepatitis C, netscape, Innovation Journalism, San Diego blog main, Irwin Jacobs, Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Jay Lichter, Paul Jacobs, mergers and acquisitions, M&As, ViroChem Pharma, Evoke Pharma, Erwise, Lou Ryan, St. Bernard Software, Agility Capital, Otonomy, Meniere's Disease, John Stiska, Steve Altman, Alcon, Digital Fountain, Anadys, Gastroparesis http://odeo.com/episodes/24276659-Microsoft%E2%80%99s-Vet-of-Online-Banking-Travel-Aims-To-Make-You-Switch-to-Digital-Health-Records Software, IT, Internet Luke Timmerman wrote: No way would American consumers ever switch to online banking. It’s too risky, people used to tell David Cerino in the 1990s. Travel? Same story. Consumers would never voluntarily put their credit card numbers into a website that could get hacked. Turned out the switch to online banking and travel took less than four years, as benefits of convenience outweighed the risks. Cerino, the general manager for health care solutions at Microsoft, played a part in both of those conversions earlier in his career. Now he’s trying to do the same thing with medical records. Microsoft’s Web-based platform, called HealthVault, is 18 months old. Health care, an industry that accounts for one-seventh of the U.S. economy, is a tough nut to crack. The many players—consumers, physicians, pharmacies, health insurers, labs, governments, employers—have conflicting agendas. But as President Obama has raised the profile of electronic... Software, IT, Internet Luke Timmerman wrote: No way would American consumers ever switch to online banking. It’s too risky, people used to tell David Cerino in the 1990s. Travel? Same story. Consumers would never voluntarily put their credit card numbers into a website that could get hacked. Turned out the switch to online banking and travel took less than four years, as benefits of convenience outweighed the risks. Cerino, the general manager for health care solutions at Microsoft, played a part in both of those conversions earlier in his career. Now he’s trying to do the same thing with medical records. Microsoft’s Web-based platform, called HealthVault, is 18 months old. Health care, an industry that accounts for one-seventh of the U.S. economy, is a tough nut to crack. The many players—consumers, physicians, pharmacies, health insurers, labs, governments, employers—have conflicting agendas. But as President Obama has raised the profile of electronic health records as part of the stimulus program, Microsoft has high hopes that consumers, and the rest, will give this long-awaited idea a closer look. How does it work? Microsoft introduced HealthVault in October 2007 as a “platform,” or operating system sort of like Windows, Cerino says. It stores health records in the company’s data centers, kept in an undisclosed location. It’s free of charge for consumers. Developers then write software applications so that a consumer’s devices—portable blood sugar monitors, home blood pressure monitors, or weight scales—can dump their digital readouts into HealthVault via the Internet. Fifty medical devices can load compatible data into HealthVault. Microsoft also has signed up more than 100 partners, including one of the nation’s largest pharmacies (CVS Caremark), one of the biggest private health insurers (Aetna), and a huge health care provider (Kaiser Permanente). (Google’s foray into health records, Google Health, uses files that aren’t compatible with Microsoft’s platform.) Under the HealthVault model, the consumer is in control of keeping this data and shares it with the person of their choosing—a physician or pharmacist who can offer advice via e-mail, or spot a problem early and ask the patient to come in for a check-up, to keep things from spinning out of control before a regularly scheduled appointment, Cerino says. The prize for Microsoft would be grabbing more precious attention from tens of millions of consumers, allowing the company to put targeted online ads in front of, say, diabetics who might want to upgrade to a new blood sugar monitor. As with any big switch from the status quo, there are barriers to adoption, and this one is a biggie. The term “Vault” in the platform’s name ought to offer a clue. Microsoft has to assure consumers that if they put their private health information online, absolutely no one will see it without their permission. “I was an early guy at Orbitz who helped build that engine. That was at the same time when everybody asked, ‘Can you really put your credit card number online?’” Cerino says. “The same questions arise, regardless of which industry. Health data actually is just one more level up. It makes you take a deep breath and say, ‘It really cannot be compromised.’” But there are key differences that make the health industry’s digital switch more complicated than other industries, Cerino says. In banking and travel, consumers had a strong incentive—ability to do 24-hour banking, or get cheaper fares without relying on a travel agent. They were willing to take on some extra work to get those benefits, he says. HealthVault is still trying to make its case to consumers that taking control of their medical data will help them stay healthy, Cerino says. It may also save consumers the time and hassle …Next Page » Comments (1) | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Software, IT, Internet Luke Timmerman wrote: No way would American consumers ever switch to online banking. It’s too risky, people used to tell David Cerino in the 1990s. Travel? Same story. Consumers would never voluntarily put their credit card numbers into a website that could get hacked. Turned out the switch to online banking and travel took less than four years, as benefits of convenience outweighed the risks. Cerino, the general manager for health care solutions at Microsoft, played a part in both of those conversions earlier in his career. Now he’s trying to do the same thing with medical records. Microsoft’s Web-based platform, called HealthVault, is 18 months old. Health care, an industry that accounts for one-seventh of the U.S. economy, is a tough nut to crack. The many players—consumers, physicians, pharmacies, health insurers, labs, governments, employers—have conflicting agendas. But as President Obama has raised the profile of electronic health records as part of the stimulus program, Microsoft has high hopes that consumers, and the rest, will give this long-awaited idea a closer look. How does it work? Microsoft introduced HealthVault in October 2007 as a “platform,” or operating system sort of like Windows, Cerino says. It stores health records in the company’s data centers, kept in an undisclosed location. It’s free of charge for consumers. Developers then write software applications so that a consumer’s devices—portable blood sugar monitors, home blood pressure monitors, or weight scales—can dump their digital readouts into HealthVault via the Internet. Fifty medical devices can load compatible data into HealthVault. Microsoft also has signed up more than 100 partners, including one of the nation’s largest pharmacies (CVS Caremark), one of the biggest private health insurers (Aetna), and a huge health care provider (Kaiser Permanente). (Google’s foray into health records, Google Health, uses files that aren’t compatible with Microsoft’s platform.) Under the HealthVault model, the consumer is in control of keeping this data and shares it with the person of their choosing—a physician or pharmacist who can offer advice via e-mail, or spot a problem early and ask the patient to come in for a check-up, to keep things from spinning out of control before a regularly scheduled appointment, Cerino says. The prize for Microsoft would be grabbing more precious attention from tens of millions of consumers, allowing the company to put targeted online ads in front of, say, diabetics who might want to upgrade to a new blood sugar monitor. As with any big switch from the status quo, there are barriers to adoption, and this one is a biggie. The term “Vault” in the platform’s name ought to offer a clue. Microsoft has to assure consumers that if they put their private health information online, absolutely no one will see it without their permission. “I was an early guy at Orbitz who helped build that engine. That was at the same time when everybody asked, ‘Can you really put your credit card number online?’” Cerino says. “The same questions arise, regardless of which industry. Health data actually is just one more level up. It makes you take a deep breath and say, ‘It really cannot be compromised.’” But there are key differences that make the health industry’s digital switch more complicated than other industries, Cerino says. In banking and travel, consumers had a strong incentive—ability to do 24-hour banking, or get cheaper fares without relying on a travel agent. They were willing to take on some extra work to get those benefits, he says. HealthVault is still trying to make its case to consumers that taking control of their medical data will help them stay healthy, Cerino says. It may also save consumers the time and hassle …Next Page » Comments (1) | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-09,24276659 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:00:05 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast Internet, Software, google, microsoft, it, seattle, Diabetes, Seattle blog main, National blog main, Life Sciences, Google Health, HealthVault, CVS Caremark, Medstar Health, Aetna, president obama, MSN Health & Fitness, Peter Neupert, Kaiser Permanente, David Cerino, Orbitz http://odeo.com/episodes/24275734-Fibromyalgia-Drug-Delayed Fibromyalgia, Drugs, Cypress Bioscience Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: San Diego’s Cypress Bioscience (NASDAQ: CYPB) and New York’s Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) said Friday their launch of a new drug for treating fibromyalgia, which was expected to be available this month, has been delayed by several months. The companies now say they expect to ship the recently approved drug milnacipran HCL (Savella) to wholesalers and pharmacies by mid-2009. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Fibromyalgia, Drugs, Cypress Bioscience Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: San Diego’s Cypress Bioscience (NASDAQ: CYPB) and New York’s Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) said Friday their launch of a new drug for treating fibromyalgia, which was expected to be available this month, has been delayed by several months. The companies now say they expect to ship the recently approved drug milnacipran HCL (Savella) to wholesalers and pharmacies by mid-2009. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Fibromyalgia, Drugs, Cypress Bioscience Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: San Diego’s Cypress Bioscience (NASDAQ: CYPB) and New York’s Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX) said Friday their launch of a new drug for treating fibromyalgia, which was expected to be available this month, has been delayed by several months. The companies now say they expect to ship the recently approved drug milnacipran HCL (Savella) to wholesalers and pharmacies by mid-2009. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-08,24275734 Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:57:15 -0700 no Xconomy Full Podcast drugs, san diego, fibromyalgia, San Diego briefs, Cypress Bioscience, Forest Laboratories http://odeo.com/episodes/24266773-Cell-Therapeutics-Cuts-34-Jobs Biotech, Layoffs, cancer Luke Timmerman wrote: Cell Therapeutics has eliminated 34 jobs in connection with the sale of its lone approved drug, Zevalin. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: CTIC), which has run dangerously low on cash, made the disclosure Friday afternoon in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The cuts represent about 28 percent of the company’s workforce, and leave it with about 88 employees. For an updated list of layoffs at Seattle-area technology and life sciences companies, click here. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Biotech, Layoffs, cancer Luke Timmerman wrote: Cell Therapeutics has eliminated 34 jobs in connection with the sale of its lone approved drug, Zevalin. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: CTIC), which has run dangerously low on cash, made the disclosure Friday afternoon in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The cuts represent about 28 percent of the company’s workforce, and leave it with about 88 employees. For an updated list of layoffs at Seattle-area technology and life sciences companies, click here. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Biotech, Layoffs, cancer Luke Timmerman wrote: Cell Therapeutics has eliminated 34 jobs in connection with the sale of its lone approved drug, Zevalin. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: CTIC), which has run dangerously low on cash, made the disclosure Friday afternoon in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The cuts represent about 28 percent of the company’s workforce, and leave it with about 88 employees. For an updated list of layoffs at Seattle-area technology and life sciences companies, click here. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-06,24266773 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:51:44 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast layoffs, cancer, seattle, Biotech, Life Sciences, Seattle briefs, Cell Therapeutics, Seattlepi http://odeo.com/episodes/24266774-Top-10-Startup-Financing-Takeaways-from-Investors-Michelle-Goldberg-and-Andy-Sack VC, entrepreneurs, investing Gregory T. Huang wrote: First of all, the terms “downturn” and “recession” don’t do justice to the current climate, says early-stage tech investor Andy Sack. As he puts it, “This is the seminal event of our lifetimes. This is our World War II. I guarantee I’ll be talking to my grandchildren about the Depression of 2009-10: ‘Make sure you save.’” Sack was speaking at the MIT Enterprise Forum Venture Lab event in downtown Seattle last night. He was joined by Michelle Jacobson Goldberg, a partner at Bellevue, WA-based Ignition Partners who is on the board of Mpire (maker of Widgetbucks), Visible Technologies, and SEOmoz. The room was packed with scores of entrepreneurs looking for financing advice. “It’s ugly out there, and raising money has never been f-ing harder,” Sack told them. What’s interesting is that both Ignition and Founder’s Co-op, Sack’s seed-stage f... VC, entrepreneurs, investing Gregory T. Huang wrote: First of all, the terms “downturn” and “recession” don’t do justice to the current climate, says early-stage tech investor Andy Sack. As he puts it, “This is the seminal event of our lifetimes. This is our World War II. I guarantee I’ll be talking to my grandchildren about the Depression of 2009-10: ‘Make sure you save.’” Sack was speaking at the MIT Enterprise Forum Venture Lab event in downtown Seattle last night. He was joined by Michelle Jacobson Goldberg, a partner at Bellevue, WA-based Ignition Partners who is on the board of Mpire (maker of Widgetbucks), Visible Technologies, and SEOmoz. The room was packed with scores of entrepreneurs looking for financing advice. “It’s ugly out there, and raising money has never been f-ing harder,” Sack told them. What’s interesting is that both Ignition and Founder’s Co-op, Sack’s seed-stage fund with Chris DeVore, have made investments in the past 90 days. Founder’s Co-op has made bets on Frugal Mechanic; LookStat, an analytics and workflow-automation startup focused on the microstock photography industry (this was news to me); and a new smartphone company that hasn’t been announced yet. Meanwhile, Ignition announced earlier this week that it has led a $10 million investment in Silicon Valley-based Zenprise, a mobile-management software firm. Goldberg and Sack spoke for about an hour on their perspective as investors, what startups need to know to get funded these days, and what the hot (and not so hot) areas of investment are. Here’s my top 10 list of takeaways: 10. Valuations are way down. “Anything that’s early, if you used to raise $3 million, you might raise $1 million now,” Sack says. And count on a similar calculation for the valuation, he adds. 9. Investors are seeing more pitches than ever. “There’s been an incredible amount of deal flow,” Goldberg says. To which Sack adds, “Deals are getting done, but more slowly and with a higher bar…Deals getting done really have to resonate with a customer base.” 8. Your next financing is your last. “Everyone wants to see your break-even plan,” says Sack. “Financing risk is higher than technology risk.” And Goldberg adds, “Take the money …Next Page » Comments (2) | Permalink | Share |  E-mail VC, entrepreneurs, investing Gregory T. Huang wrote: First of all, the terms “downturn” and “recession” don’t do justice to the current climate, says early-stage tech investor Andy Sack. As he puts it, “This is the seminal event of our lifetimes. This is our World War II. I guarantee I’ll be talking to my grandchildren about the Depression of 2009-10: ‘Make sure you save.’” Sack was speaking at the MIT Enterprise Forum Venture Lab event in downtown Seattle last night. He was joined by Michelle Jacobson Goldberg, a partner at Bellevue, WA-based Ignition Partners who is on the board of Mpire (maker of Widgetbucks), Visible Technologies, and SEOmoz. The room was packed with scores of entrepreneurs looking for financing advice. “It’s ugly out there, and raising money has never been f-ing harder,” Sack told them. What’s interesting is that both Ignition and Founder’s Co-op, Sack’s seed-stage fund with Chris DeVore, have made investments in the past 90 days. Founder’s Co-op has made bets on Frugal Mechanic; LookStat, an analytics and workflow-automation startup focused on the microstock photography industry (this was news to me); and a new smartphone company that hasn’t been announced yet. Meanwhile, Ignition announced earlier this week that it has led a $10 million investment in Silicon Valley-based Zenprise, a mobile-management software firm. Goldberg and Sack spoke for about an hour on their perspective as investors, what startups need to know to get funded these days, and what the hot (and not so hot) areas of investment are. Here’s my top 10 list of takeaways: 10. Valuations are way down. “Anything that’s early, if you used to raise $3 million, you might raise $1 million now,” Sack says. And count on a similar calculation for the valuation, he adds. 9. Investors are seeing more pitches than ever. “There’s been an incredible amount of deal flow,” Goldberg says. To which Sack adds, “Deals are getting done, but more slowly and with a higher bar…Deals getting done really have to resonate with a customer base.” 8. Your next financing is your last. “Everyone wants to see your break-even plan,” says Sack. “Financing risk is higher than technology risk.” And Goldberg adds, “Take the money …Next Page » Comments (2) | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-06,24266774 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:03:16 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast Entertainment, Web 2.0, Internet, networking, Software, twitter, virtualization, Facebook, Startups, Investing, talent, innovation, it, seattle, fundraising, Health Care, banking, entrepreneurs, VC, deals, customers, Real Estate, funding, pitches, financing, Cloud Computing, Seattle blog main, National blog main, Andy Sack, Ignition Partners, exits, Frugal Mechanic, Valuations, Zenprise, LookStat, Michelle Goldberg http://odeo.com/episodes/24266775-BuddyTV-Upgrades-Adds-Fantasy-League Entertainment, startups, Web 2.0 Gregory T. Huang wrote: Seattle-based BuddyTV has rolled out a fantasy league where TV fans can bet on a roster of contestants from reality shows like American Idol, Survivor, and Dancing with the Stars. The move is an effort to make the site, which is attracting more than 6 million visitors a month, more sticky. BuddyTV was founded in 2005 and is backed by Madrona Venture Group, Gemstar-TVGuide, and Charles River Ventures. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Entertainment, startups, Web 2.0 Gregory T. Huang wrote: Seattle-based BuddyTV has rolled out a fantasy league where TV fans can bet on a roster of contestants from reality shows like American Idol, Survivor, and Dancing with the Stars. The move is an effort to make the site, which is attracting more than 6 million visitors a month, more sticky. BuddyTV was founded in 2005 and is backed by Madrona Venture Group, Gemstar-TVGuide, and Charles River Ventures. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Entertainment, startups, Web 2.0 Gregory T. Huang wrote: Seattle-based BuddyTV has rolled out a fantasy league where TV fans can bet on a roster of contestants from reality shows like American Idol, Survivor, and Dancing with the Stars. The move is an effort to make the site, which is attracting more than 6 million visitors a month, more sticky. BuddyTV was founded in 2005 and is backed by Madrona Venture Group, Gemstar-TVGuide, and Charles River Ventures. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-06,24266775 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:06:23 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast Entertainment, Web 2.0, Internet, Startups, seattle, Seattle briefs, charles river ventures, Reality Shows, Madrona Venture Group, BuddyTV, Seattlepi, Gemstar-TV Guide, Fantasy League http://odeo.com/episodes/24262910-Vitalize-Vacuums-Up-R3 acquisitions, deals, healthcare Wade Roush wrote: Reading, MA-based Vitalize Consulting Services, which manages IT implementation projects for big healthcare companies, announced today that it has acquired rival r3 Health Partners of Santa Ana, CA. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Vitalize is backed by SV Life Sciences, Ferrer Freeman and Company, and Bank of America. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS acquisitions, deals, healthcare Wade Roush wrote: Reading, MA-based Vitalize Consulting Services, which manages IT implementation projects for big healthcare companies, announced today that it has acquired rival r3 Health Partners of Santa Ana, CA. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Vitalize is backed by SV Life Sciences, Ferrer Freeman and Company, and Bank of America. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS acquisitions, deals, healthcare Wade Roush wrote: Reading, MA-based Vitalize Consulting Services, which manages IT implementation projects for big healthcare companies, announced today that it has acquired rival r3 Health Partners of Santa Ana, CA. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Vitalize is backed by SV Life Sciences, Ferrer Freeman and Company, and Bank of America. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-06,24262910 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 08:49:32 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast health, Boston, it, healthcare, deals, consulting, Boston briefs, acquisitions, r3 Health Partners, Vitalize Consulting Services http://odeo.com/episodes/24262911-Vertex-Puts-up-375M-for-ViroChem-Nuance-Finally-Nabs-Zi-Proteon-Procures-38M-More-Boston-Area-Deals-News Roundup, deals, acquisitions Rebecca Zacks wrote: This week saw news of two interesting acquisitions and a couple of huge venture financings, among other deals cut by New England tech and life sciences firms. — Burlington, MA-based Nuance Communications (NASDAQ:NUAN), after a series of unsuccessful offers begun last summer, has finally convinced the board of the Canadian firm Zi (NASDAQ:ZICA) to accept Nuance’s $35 million buyout offer. Under the terms of the deal, shareholders of Zi, which competes with Nuance in the market for text messaging software, will get 34 cents in cash and 0.4 shares of Nuance stock for every share of Zi stock. Zi shareholders must still approve the deal, which is actually worth less than one Zi’s board rejected in August. —Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) of Cambridge, MA, earned a $10 million milestone payment from its partner, Merck, as part of an existing deal between the firms focused on Ariad’s experimental drug for lung cancer.... Roundup, deals, acquisitions Rebecca Zacks wrote: This week saw news of two interesting acquisitions and a couple of huge venture financings, among other deals cut by New England tech and life sciences firms. — Burlington, MA-based Nuance Communications (NASDAQ:NUAN), after a series of unsuccessful offers begun last summer, has finally convinced the board of the Canadian firm Zi (NASDAQ:ZICA) to accept Nuance’s $35 million buyout offer. Under the terms of the deal, shareholders of Zi, which competes with Nuance in the market for text messaging software, will get 34 cents in cash and 0.4 shares of Nuance stock for every share of Zi stock. Zi shareholders must still approve the deal, which is actually worth less than one Zi’s board rejected in August. —Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) of Cambridge, MA, earned a $10 million milestone payment from its partner, Merck, as part of an existing deal between the firms focused on Ariad’s experimental drug for lung cancer. —Cambridge, MA-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) inked a deal to acquire privately held ViroChem Pharma of Laval, Quebec, for some $375 million in cash and stock. The deal gives Vertex the rights to two promising drugs for hepatitis C that ViroChem is developing; Vertex hope the drugs will eventually work in combination with its own hep C drug, telaprevir, which if approved would be a first-in-class protease inhibitor drug for the liver disease. —Waltham, MA-based ImmunoGen said it earned a $6.5 million milestone from Genentech for starting a late-stage clinical trial for breast cancer drug T-DM1, which incorporates ImmunoGen’s cancer cell-killing agent and a Genentech antibody, trastuzumab. Luke wrote a nice history of the project, ImmunoGen, and the field of “smart bomb” cancer drugs. —Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) contributed $10 million to a Series A financing round for Carlsbad, CA-based Regulus Therapeutics. An additional $10 million came from Carlsbad’s Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ISIS), which launched Regulus jointly with Alnylam in September 2007 to develop drugs based on the nascent science of microRNA. —Westford, MA-based Verivue, a maker of cross-platform video streaming technology, revealed it had raised $40 million in a Series B financing round closed last July. Comcast Interactive Capital led the round, and Matrix Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, Accel Partners, and Arris participated as well. —Waltham, MA-based Onset Technology, a provider of compliance software for smartphones, raised $3 million in a financing led by the Cedar Fund of Waltham, Israel, and Grand Cayman. —Boston-area investors Spark Capital and Grandbanks Capital participated in a $12 million Series D funding of San Francisco’s SendMe Mobile, a provider of ringtones, games, wallpaper, and other content for mobile phones. Carmel, CA-based Triangle Peak Partners led the round. —Waltham, MA-based Proteon Therapeutics raised $38 million in a Series B round of financing led by MPM Capital and joined by Vectis Healthcare & Life Sciences Fund, TVM Capital, Skyline Ventures, Prism VentureWorks, Intersouth Partners, and earlier angel investors. Proteon’s lead product candidate is a protein drug designed to improve the outcome of a surgery that prepares kidney disease patients’ blood vessels to be frequently hooked up to dialysis machines. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Roundup, deals, acquisitions Rebecca Zacks wrote: This week saw news of two interesting acquisitions and a couple of huge venture financings, among other deals cut by New England tech and life sciences firms. — Burlington, MA-based Nuance Communications (NASDAQ:NUAN), after a series of unsuccessful offers begun last summer, has finally convinced the board of the Canadian firm Zi (NASDAQ:ZICA) to accept Nuance’s $35 million buyout offer. Under the terms of the deal, shareholders of Zi, which competes with Nuance in the market for text messaging software, will get 34 cents in cash and 0.4 shares of Nuance stock for every share of Zi stock. Zi shareholders must still approve the deal, which is actually worth less than one Zi’s board rejected in August. —Ariad Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) of Cambridge, MA, earned a $10 million milestone payment from its partner, Merck, as part of an existing deal between the firms focused on Ariad’s experimental drug for lung cancer. —Cambridge, MA-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) inked a deal to acquire privately held ViroChem Pharma of Laval, Quebec, for some $375 million in cash and stock. The deal gives Vertex the rights to two promising drugs for hepatitis C that ViroChem is developing; Vertex hope the drugs will eventually work in combination with its own hep C drug, telaprevir, which if approved would be a first-in-class protease inhibitor drug for the liver disease. —Waltham, MA-based ImmunoGen said it earned a $6.5 million milestone from Genentech for starting a late-stage clinical trial for breast cancer drug T-DM1, which incorporates ImmunoGen’s cancer cell-killing agent and a Genentech antibody, trastuzumab. Luke wrote a nice history of the project, ImmunoGen, and the field of “smart bomb” cancer drugs. —Cambridge, MA-based Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) contributed $10 million to a Series A financing round for Carlsbad, CA-based Regulus Therapeutics. An additional $10 million came from Carlsbad’s Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ISIS), which launched Regulus jointly with Alnylam in September 2007 to develop drugs based on the nascent science of microRNA. —Westford, MA-based Verivue, a maker of cross-platform video streaming technology, revealed it had raised $40 million in a Series B financing round closed last July. Comcast Interactive Capital led the round, and Matrix Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, Accel Partners, and Arris participated as well. —Waltham, MA-based Onset Technology, a provider of compliance software for smartphones, raised $3 million in a financing led by the Cedar Fund of Waltham, Israel, and Grand Cayman. —Boston-area investors Spark Capital and Grandbanks Capital participated in a $12 million Series D funding of San Francisco’s SendMe Mobile, a provider of ringtones, games, wallpaper, and other content for mobile phones. Carmel, CA-based Triangle Peak Partners led the round. —Waltham, MA-based Proteon Therapeutics raised $38 million in a Series B round of financing led by MPM Capital and joined by Vectis Healthcare & Life Sciences Fund, TVM Capital, Skyline Ventures, Prism VentureWorks, Intersouth Partners, and earlier angel investors. Proteon’s lead product candidate is a protein drug designed to improve the outcome of a surgery that prepares kidney disease patients’ blood vessels to be frequently hooked up to dialysis machines. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-06,24262911 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 07:33:51 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast Software, Mobile, Startups, Boston, drugs, Biotech, VC, deals, Accel Partners, roundup, Boston blog main, National blog main, Life Sciences, Genentech, acquisitions, pharma, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Nuance Communications, ImmunoGen, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, North Bridge Venture Partners, Isis Pharmaceuticals, spark capital, Matrix Partners, Prism VentureWorks, Skyline Ventures, MPM Capital, Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Regulus Therapeutics, Zi, TVM Capital, clinicals, Intersouth Partners, Comcast Interactive Capital, ARRIS, GrandBanks Capital, Verivue, ViroChem Pharma, Onset Technology, Proteon Therapeutics, SendMe Mobile, Triangle Peak Partners, Vectis Healthcare & Life Sciences Fund http://odeo.com/episodes/24262912-Otonomy-Tunes-in-to-Biotech%E2%80%99s-Sound-Opportunity-Diseases-of-the-Ear Biotech, Hearing Loss, Drugs Luke Timmerman wrote: Driving down Prospect Street in La Jolla one day in January 2008, Jay Lichter got so dizzy he had to pull over. After a stop in the ER, he ended up in the office of Jeff Harris, the chief of ear, nose, and throat surgery at the UC San Diego. The diagnosis: Meniere’s (Men-yay’s) disease, an inner ear fluid imbalance that leads to episodes of severe dizziness, vertigo, and gradual hearing loss. There wasn’t much the doctor could really do, which got the patient and doctor talking. Since Lichter makes a living as a venture capitalist with San Diego-based Avalon Ventures, their discussion quickly advanced beyond the usual small talk. They kicked around ideas on how to better treat all sorts of hearing loss. A month later, a company was born—San Diego-based Otonomy. Hearing loss is one of the great frontiers of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology business. Almost 30 million Americans have debilitating hearing los... Biotech, Hearing Loss, Drugs Luke Timmerman wrote: Driving down Prospect Street in La Jolla one day in January 2008, Jay Lichter got so dizzy he had to pull over. After a stop in the ER, he ended up in the office of Jeff Harris, the chief of ear, nose, and throat surgery at the UC San Diego. The diagnosis: Meniere’s (Men-yay’s) disease, an inner ear fluid imbalance that leads to episodes of severe dizziness, vertigo, and gradual hearing loss. There wasn’t much the doctor could really do, which got the patient and doctor talking. Since Lichter makes a living as a venture capitalist with San Diego-based Avalon Ventures, their discussion quickly advanced beyond the usual small talk. They kicked around ideas on how to better treat all sorts of hearing loss. A month later, a company was born—San Diego-based Otonomy. Hearing loss is one of the great frontiers of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology business. Almost 30 million Americans have debilitating hearing loss and balance disorders. It comes from a variety of sources—occupational hazards from noisy workplaces, military veterans who get exposed to gunfire, overactive iPods, or simply age-related hearing loss. Yet there are still no drugs specifically approved by the FDA for these diseases, and Lichter says there’s not even serious research and development going on at big drugmakers. Ever since his days more than a decade ago in management at Pfizer, and long before he was diagnosed with his own ear condition, he has been on the lookout for promising new ways to tap this market. Now he’s diving in completely by getting involved in this new startup. “The potential is to be the world leader in treatment of the ears. I like to say that we’ll be the Alcon of the ears,” Lichter says, referring to the Irvine, CA-based eye care company with some 15,000 employees. “That’s our goal, and we can do it.” Before diving into the nitty gritty of the company’s game plan, I had to ask Lichter to explain the name. Otonomy (pronounced Oh-TAWN-uh-me), draws its inspiration from the self-direction of the word “autonomy” and “otolaryngology” the branch of medicine that specializes in ear, nose, and throat as well as head and neck disorders. The effort is still in its early days. Lichter is serving as the founding CEO, and recruited Harris (a past president of the American Otological Society) to join the company’s scientific advisory board. Avalon has invested $3 million to get the company going in its first year. It currently has a staff of just seven, outsources much of its work to contractors, and has poured a lot of its energy into 18 patent applications …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Biotech, Hearing Loss, Drugs Luke Timmerman wrote: Driving down Prospect Street in La Jolla one day in January 2008, Jay Lichter got so dizzy he had to pull over. After a stop in the ER, he ended up in the office of Jeff Harris, the chief of ear, nose, and throat surgery at the UC San Diego. The diagnosis: Meniere’s (Men-yay’s) disease, an inner ear fluid imbalance that leads to episodes of severe dizziness, vertigo, and gradual hearing loss. There wasn’t much the doctor could really do, which got the patient and doctor talking. Since Lichter makes a living as a venture capitalist with San Diego-based Avalon Ventures, their discussion quickly advanced beyond the usual small talk. They kicked around ideas on how to better treat all sorts of hearing loss. A month later, a company was born—San Diego-based Otonomy. Hearing loss is one of the great frontiers of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology business. Almost 30 million Americans have debilitating hearing loss and balance disorders. It comes from a variety of sources—occupational hazards from noisy workplaces, military veterans who get exposed to gunfire, overactive iPods, or simply age-related hearing loss. Yet there are still no drugs specifically approved by the FDA for these diseases, and Lichter says there’s not even serious research and development going on at big drugmakers. Ever since his days more than a decade ago in management at Pfizer, and long before he was diagnosed with his own ear condition, he has been on the lookout for promising new ways to tap this market. Now he’s diving in completely by getting involved in this new startup. “The potential is to be the world leader in treatment of the ears. I like to say that we’ll be the Alcon of the ears,” Lichter says, referring to the Irvine, CA-based eye care company with some 15,000 employees. “That’s our goal, and we can do it.” Before diving into the nitty gritty of the company’s game plan, I had to ask Lichter to explain the name. Otonomy (pronounced Oh-TAWN-uh-me), draws its inspiration from the self-direction of the word “autonomy” and “otolaryngology” the branch of medicine that specializes in ear, nose, and throat as well as head and neck disorders. The effort is still in its early days. Lichter is serving as the founding CEO, and recruited Harris (a past president of the American Otological Society) to join the company’s scientific advisory board. Avalon has invested $3 million to get the company going in its first year. It currently has a staff of just seven, outsources much of its work to contractors, and has poured a lot of its energy into 18 patent applications …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-06,24262912 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:10:00 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast drugs, Biotech, VC, san diego, National blog main, Life Sciences, Genentech, Amgen, Avalon Ventures, Sound Pharmaceuticals, Hearing Loss, National Institutes of Health, San Diego blog main, UC San Diego, Jay Lichter, Otonomy, Jonathan Kil, Otitis Media, Auris Medical, Jeff Harris, Meniere's Disease http://odeo.com/episodes/24262913-GlassHouse-Nixes-IPO IT, IPO, Software Wade Roush wrote: File this under “no surprise there”: GlassHouse Technologies, the Framingham, MA, IT consulting company that filed for a $100 million initial public offering in October 2007, has now pulled the offering, according to an SEC filing cited by Reuters. The firm cited “market conditions” in its decision. GlassHouse has continued to raise money and add staff through the recession, however: it closed a $9.8 million Series F financing round in December and acquired a 12-person team of former Motorola network security experts in January. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail IT, IPO, Software Wade Roush wrote: File this under “no surprise there”: GlassHouse Technologies, the Framingham, MA, IT consulting company that filed for a $100 million initial public offering in October 2007, has now pulled the offering, according to an SEC filing cited by Reuters. The firm cited “market conditions” in its decision. GlassHouse has continued to raise money and add staff through the recession, however: it closed a $9.8 million Series F financing round in December and acquired a 12-person team of former Motorola network security experts in January. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail IT, IPO, Software Wade Roush wrote: File this under “no surprise there”: GlassHouse Technologies, the Framingham, MA, IT consulting company that filed for a $100 million initial public offering in October 2007, has now pulled the offering, according to an SEC filing cited by Reuters. The firm cited “market conditions” in its decision. GlassHouse has continued to raise money and add staff through the recession, however: it closed a $9.8 million Series F financing round in December and acquired a 12-person team of former Motorola network security experts in January. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-06,24262913 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:14:53 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast Software, Security, Enterprise, Boston, it, deals, consulting, ipo, Boston briefs, initial public offering, GlassHouse Technologies http://odeo.com/episodes/24262914-Three-Startups-and-a-Social-Technologist-How-Ex-Microsofties-Are-Driving-Seattle-Innovation Software, entrepreneurs, Roundup Gregory T. Huang wrote: Does Microsoft innovate? What impact is it having on the startup community these days? Say what you want about the company, but its ex-employees are on a tear. In the past few months, we’ve seen a spike in the number of startups formed by ex-Microsofties who have recently left the company. With the specter of its first major layoff hanging in the air, and personal-computer sales plummeting, it seems like a reasonable time to take a closer look at what these new entrepreneurs are up to. At least one expert observer thinks the current trend is unprecedented. “The innovation and activity around Microsoft people who have left in the last year or so has been 10 times what it’s been for the previous 10 years,” says Janis Machala of UW TechTransfer, whose finger is squarely on the pulse of local entrepreneurship. Machala was probably speaking figuratively, but our recent coverage seems to support her assertion... Software, entrepreneurs, Roundup Gregory T. Huang wrote: Does Microsoft innovate? What impact is it having on the startup community these days? Say what you want about the company, but its ex-employees are on a tear. In the past few months, we’ve seen a spike in the number of startups formed by ex-Microsofties who have recently left the company. With the specter of its first major layoff hanging in the air, and personal-computer sales plummeting, it seems like a reasonable time to take a closer look at what these new entrepreneurs are up to. At least one expert observer thinks the current trend is unprecedented. “The innovation and activity around Microsoft people who have left in the last year or so has been 10 times what it’s been for the previous 10 years,” says Janis Machala of UW TechTransfer, whose finger is squarely on the pulse of local entrepreneurship. Machala was probably speaking figuratively, but our recent coverage seems to support her assertion. Here’s a quick sample of activity from the past month (there’s more in the pipeline): —Xconomy broke the news this week that Adam Sheppard from Microsoft Live Labs and William Lai from MSN have started a Seattle tech incubator and R&D lab called 8ninths. They are focusing on social media and Web development software. Their first startup, Lolligift, launched late last year and helps people organize and buy group gifts. 8ninths is still pretty stealthy, but we hope to hear more about its new projects soon. —Praerit Garg and Bassam Tabbara, ex-Windows and Server and Tools managers, have started a company in Seattle called Symform, as Xconomy reported in an exclusive. Billed as “true cloud computing,” their software lets small businesses do offsite data storage and backup using a secure online network, without costly data centers. To sign up, you need to contribute some storage on your own machine to the network. Symform is planning to do public beta testing this month and next. —Emmanuel Marot and Bruno Botvinik, who worked in mobile search after Microsoft bought their startup MotionBridge in 2006, are trying to do something fundamentally new with e-commerce. Their new Seattle startup, Valu Valu, brings “scientific pricing” to the masses via Web-based software that finds the right price for buyers and sellers of used goods, so as to eventually increase revenues for businesses. Last month, they launched a beta version of their site focused on used video games, a $2 billion market. —Will Poole, former vice president of Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential Group, has transitioned to being a full-time social technologist and investor. Poole is the co-chairman of NComputing, a Silicon Valley company that provides software and computers to schools and businesses in developing markets. He says he is also working with a “stealth-mode green startup,” and looking to take local Web 2.0 companies to markets like India and China. He has also signed up to be a startup advisor at the University of Washington, through Machala’s LaunchPad team at UW TechTransfer. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Software, entrepreneurs, Roundup Gregory T. Huang wrote: Does Microsoft innovate? What impact is it having on the startup community these days? Say what you want about the company, but its ex-employees are on a tear. In the past few months, we’ve seen a spike in the number of startups formed by ex-Microsofties who have recently left the company. With the specter of its first major layoff hanging in the air, and personal-computer sales plummeting, it seems like a reasonable time to take a closer look at what these new entrepreneurs are up to. At least one expert observer thinks the current trend is unprecedented. “The innovation and activity around Microsoft people who have left in the last year or so has been 10 times what it’s been for the previous 10 years,” says Janis Machala of UW TechTransfer, whose finger is squarely on the pulse of local entrepreneurship. Machala was probably speaking figuratively, but our recent coverage seems to support her assertion. Here’s a quick sample of activity from the past month (there’s more in the pipeline): —Xconomy broke the news this week that Adam Sheppard from Microsoft Live Labs and William Lai from MSN have started a Seattle tech incubator and R&D lab called 8ninths. They are focusing on social media and Web development software. Their first startup, Lolligift, launched late last year and helps people organize and buy group gifts. 8ninths is still pretty stealthy, but we hope to hear more about its new projects soon. —Praerit Garg and Bassam Tabbara, ex-Windows and Server and Tools managers, have started a company in Seattle called Symform, as Xconomy reported in an exclusive. Billed as “true cloud computing,” their software lets small businesses do offsite data storage and backup using a secure online network, without costly data centers. To sign up, you need to contribute some storage on your own machine to the network. Symform is planning to do public beta testing this month and next. —Emmanuel Marot and Bruno Botvinik, who worked in mobile search after Microsoft bought their startup MotionBridge in 2006, are trying to do something fundamentally new with e-commerce. Their new Seattle startup, Valu Valu, brings “scientific pricing” to the masses via Web-based software that finds the right price for buyers and sellers of used goods, so as to eventually increase revenues for businesses. Last month, they launched a beta version of their site focused on used video games, a $2 billion market. —Will Poole, former vice president of Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential Group, has transitioned to being a full-time social technologist and investor. Poole is the co-chairman of NComputing, a Silicon Valley company that provides software and computers to schools and businesses in developing markets. He says he is also working with a “stealth-mode green startup,” and looking to take local Web 2.0 companies to markets like India and China. He has also signed up to be a startup advisor at the University of Washington, through Machala’s LaunchPad team at UW TechTransfer. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-06,24262914 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:09:08 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast Video Games, Web 2.0, Internet, Software, microsoft, social media, search, Windows, Startups, Investing, seattle, entrepreneurs, social networks, e-commerce, roundup, Cloud Computing, Seattle blog main, National blog main, UW TechTransfer, data storage, Janis Machala, Will Poole, NComputing, Symform, Bassam Tabbara, Praerit Garg, Bruno Botvinik, Emmanuel Marot, Scientific Pricing, 8ninths, William Lai, Lolligift, Valu Valu, Ex-Microsoft, Social Technologist, Adam Sheppard, MotionBridge http://odeo.com/episodes/24260706-Souped-Up-Herceptin-Aims-to-Validate-ImmunoGen%E2%80%99s-Long-Sought-Dream-Cancer-Drug Biotech, cancer, Drugs Luke Timmerman wrote: Nowhere but America makes it possible for a company to pursue its dreams for 28 years without making a profit. Even in the most optimistic times, it’s hard to explain. So how can it possibly be, in the depths of recession, that things are looking up at Waltham, MA-based ImmunoGen? This company has been around since 1981, burned through more than $300 million in investors’ money, and still doesn’t have an FDA-approved drug to show for it. Yet the stock chart says ImmunoGen (NASDAQ: IMGN) is up 60 percent from where it was exactly one year ago. I got some insight into why from new CEO Dan Junius. The answer is that ImmunoGen is pursuing one of the grand dreams in cancer research, and evidence is slowly mounting that suggests it may actually work for patients. The idea is to develop an engineered antibody drug that can hit cancer cells, spare healthy ones, and unload a potent toxin inside tumors for that extra killing kick.... Biotech, cancer, Drugs Luke Timmerman wrote: Nowhere but America makes it possible for a company to pursue its dreams for 28 years without making a profit. Even in the most optimistic times, it’s hard to explain. So how can it possibly be, in the depths of recession, that things are looking up at Waltham, MA-based ImmunoGen? This company has been around since 1981, burned through more than $300 million in investors’ money, and still doesn’t have an FDA-approved drug to show for it. Yet the stock chart says ImmunoGen (NASDAQ: IMGN) is up 60 percent from where it was exactly one year ago. I got some insight into why from new CEO Dan Junius. The answer is that ImmunoGen is pursuing one of the grand dreams in cancer research, and evidence is slowly mounting that suggests it may actually work for patients. The idea is to develop an engineered antibody drug that can hit cancer cells, spare healthy ones, and unload a potent toxin inside tumors for that extra killing kick. Some of the biggest-selling cancer drugs today, like Genentech’s trastuzumab (Herceptin), are engineered antibodies that hit a specific target on cells, yet lack that knockout punch. Couldn’t they be even better as targeted “smart bombs?” Nobody has turned this idea into commercial gold, but Genentech is betting big on just such a souped-up version of the original trastuzumab that uses ImmunoGen technology. The new drug is now entering the final stage of clinical trials, and with luck, it could be on the market next year. “Genentech is showing the power of the technology,” Junius says. He adds: “We’re only on the very leading edge of a field that has tremendous potential.” The data backs up this assertion, at least with the new Genentech drug for breast cancer. Preliminary results from 107 patients in a mid-stage clinical trial showed that about 40 percent had partial or complete tumor shrinkage after taking the drug, trastuzumab-DM1. This happened even after their disease had spread through the body and they had stopped responding to traditional treatment combinations of Herceptin, chemotherapy, or another targeted drug, GlaxoSmithKline’s lapatinib (Tykerb). Just two patients quit taking infusions of the drug because of side effects that were possibly drug-related, researchers said in December at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. This finding has prompted Genentech, and its majority owner, Switzerland-based Roche, to push the throttle down into the final phase of clinical trials. Those companies recently started a 580-patient study enrolling patients worldwide. Even before that trial is done, it’s possible Genentech may be able to ask the FDA for approval based on compelling final results of the mid-stage trial, Junius says. That means the souped up drug could arrive on the market as early as 2010. But Genentech is clearly thinking way beyond next year. It said this week that trastuzumab-DM1 appears to be so tolerable that it is looking at studying the drug in earlier stage breast cancer, the so-called adjuvant setting, to prevent breast cancer from relapsing. What makes this possible is the technology ImmunoGen has been honing for more than 20 years on how to make the proper package of antibody and toxin. One of the key tricks …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Biotech, cancer, Drugs Luke Timmerman wrote: Nowhere but America makes it possible for a company to pursue its dreams for 28 years without making a profit. Even in the most optimistic times, it’s hard to explain. So how can it possibly be, in the depths of recession, that things are looking up at Waltham, MA-based ImmunoGen? This company has been around since 1981, burned through more than $300 million in investors’ money, and still doesn’t have an FDA-approved drug to show for it. Yet the stock chart says ImmunoGen (NASDAQ: IMGN) is up 60 percent from where it was exactly one year ago. I got some insight into why from new CEO Dan Junius. The answer is that ImmunoGen is pursuing one of the grand dreams in cancer research, and evidence is slowly mounting that suggests it may actually work for patients. The idea is to develop an engineered antibody drug that can hit cancer cells, spare healthy ones, and unload a potent toxin inside tumors for that extra killing kick. Some of the biggest-selling cancer drugs today, like Genentech’s trastuzumab (Herceptin), are engineered antibodies that hit a specific target on cells, yet lack that knockout punch. Couldn’t they be even better as targeted “smart bombs?” Nobody has turned this idea into commercial gold, but Genentech is betting big on just such a souped-up version of the original trastuzumab that uses ImmunoGen technology. The new drug is now entering the final stage of clinical trials, and with luck, it could be on the market next year. “Genentech is showing the power of the technology,” Junius says. He adds: “We’re only on the very leading edge of a field that has tremendous potential.” The data backs up this assertion, at least with the new Genentech drug for breast cancer. Preliminary results from 107 patients in a mid-stage clinical trial showed that about 40 percent had partial or complete tumor shrinkage after taking the drug, trastuzumab-DM1. This happened even after their disease had spread through the body and they had stopped responding to traditional treatment combinations of Herceptin, chemotherapy, or another targeted drug, GlaxoSmithKline’s lapatinib (Tykerb). Just two patients quit taking infusions of the drug because of side effects that were possibly drug-related, researchers said in December at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. This finding has prompted Genentech, and its majority owner, Switzerland-based Roche, to push the throttle down into the final phase of clinical trials. Those companies recently started a 580-patient study enrolling patients worldwide. Even before that trial is done, it’s possible Genentech may be able to ask the FDA for approval based on compelling final results of the mid-stage trial, Junius says. That means the souped up drug could arrive on the market as early as 2010. But Genentech is clearly thinking way beyond next year. It said this week that trastuzumab-DM1 appears to be so tolerable that it is looking at studying the drug in earlier stage breast cancer, the so-called adjuvant setting, to prevent breast cancer from relapsing. What makes this possible is the technology ImmunoGen has been honing for more than 20 years on how to make the proper package of antibody and toxin. One of the key tricks …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-06,24260706 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 03:00:14 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast cancer, Boston, drugs, Biotech, Boston blog main, National blog main, Life Sciences, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, ImmunoGen, Roche, Seattle Genetics, Herceptin, Wyeth, Hodgkin's disease, San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Dan Junius, Mitchel Sayare, Tykerb, Trastuzumab-DM1, Mylotarg http://odeo.com/episodes/24260707-A-Veteran-Entrepreneur-Looks-to-Rescue-St-Bernard-Software Network Security, Software, Hardware Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: Like any entrepreneur, Lou Ryan has a job that’s roughly akin to kindling a blaze from a faint spark. In Ryan’s case, though, it might be more like trying to rebuild a fire that was started in 1995. Ryan, 54, is the software industry veteran (and former venture partner at Menlo Park, CA-based Sand Hill Capital) who was named earlier this week as the CEO of San Diego’s flagging St. Bernard Software (OTCBB: SBSW). He has been expanding his influence at the company since joining St. Bernard’s board in 2006. He became chairman last June, and in December, he purchased 778,901 shares—acquiring a roughly 5.3 percent stake in the company, which provides network security through a line of hybrid hardware-software products. Ryan acknowledges the market is crowded with similar technologies clamoring for attention. “I wouldn’t exactly say it’s like soft drinks, but it is fully commoditiz... Network Security, Software, Hardware Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: Like any entrepreneur, Lou Ryan has a job that’s roughly akin to kindling a blaze from a faint spark. In Ryan’s case, though, it might be more like trying to rebuild a fire that was started in 1995. Ryan, 54, is the software industry veteran (and former venture partner at Menlo Park, CA-based Sand Hill Capital) who was named earlier this week as the CEO of San Diego’s flagging St. Bernard Software (OTCBB: SBSW). He has been expanding his influence at the company since joining St. Bernard’s board in 2006. He became chairman last June, and in December, he purchased 778,901 shares—acquiring a roughly 5.3 percent stake in the company, which provides network security through a line of hybrid hardware-software products. Ryan acknowledges the market is crowded with similar technologies clamoring for attention. “I wouldn’t exactly say it’s like soft drinks, but it is fully commoditized,” he told me. So why is he moving in and taking over? Ryan has a lot of experience in starting security software companies—and in selling them. He was a co-founder and senior executive at Delrina Corp., a public software company acquired by Symantec in 1995. He was the CEO at Entercept Security Technologies, a network intrusion-prevention technology company which sold to McAfee in 2003. And he was a founding investor at Foundstone, an internet-vulnerability assessment company, and helped arrange its sale to McAfee in 2004. He says it might be reasonable for someone who’s familiar with his career to conclude that his arrival at St. Bernard indicates he just plans to flip the company. But he says that’s not entirely right. “I can tell you emphatically that I did not invest in this …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Network Security, Software, Hardware Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: Like any entrepreneur, Lou Ryan has a job that’s roughly akin to kindling a blaze from a faint spark. In Ryan’s case, though, it might be more like trying to rebuild a fire that was started in 1995. Ryan, 54, is the software industry veteran (and former venture partner at Menlo Park, CA-based Sand Hill Capital) who was named earlier this week as the CEO of San Diego’s flagging St. Bernard Software (OTCBB: SBSW). He has been expanding his influence at the company since joining St. Bernard’s board in 2006. He became chairman last June, and in December, he purchased 778,901 shares—acquiring a roughly 5.3 percent stake in the company, which provides network security through a line of hybrid hardware-software products. Ryan acknowledges the market is crowded with similar technologies clamoring for attention. “I wouldn’t exactly say it’s like soft drinks, but it is fully commoditized,” he told me. So why is he moving in and taking over? Ryan has a lot of experience in starting security software companies—and in selling them. He was a co-founder and senior executive at Delrina Corp., a public software company acquired by Symantec in 1995. He was the CEO at Entercept Security Technologies, a network intrusion-prevention technology company which sold to McAfee in 2003. And he was a founding investor at Foundstone, an internet-vulnerability assessment company, and helped arrange its sale to McAfee in 2004. He says it might be reasonable for someone who’s familiar with his career to conclude that his arrival at St. Bernard indicates he just plans to flip the company. But he says that’s not entirely right. “I can tell you emphatically that I did not invest in this …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-06,24260707 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:12:36 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast Internet, Software, People, it, hardware, symantec, san diego, National blog main, San Diego blog main, Network Security, Lou Ryan, Internet Appliance, St. Bernard Software, McAffe, Foundstone, Delrina, Sand Hill Capital, Web Filter, Entercept Security Technologies http://odeo.com/episodes/24260708-Three-New-Reasons-To-Put-Off-Buying-a-Kindle wwwade, e-books, Mobile Wade Roush wrote: I titled my January 23 column “E-Book Readers on the iPhone: They’re Not Quite Kindle Slayers Yet.” How quickly technology marches ahead. In the weeks since then, three very compelling new options have arrived for people like me who want to read e-books but balk at the price tag on Amazon’s Kindle 2, the best dedicated e-book reader on the market. As it turns out, the real Kindle killer may be Kindle itself—the iPhone version, that is. Option 1: Google Book Search for iPhone and Android. On February 5, Google introduced a mobile-friendly version of its five-year-old book search utility. Google Book Search is the public face of Google’s massive project to scan millions of out-of-print books held at famous libraries, make their text searchable, and show all or parts of the books online. If you open a book in Google Book Search on a regular PC browser, you see the actual page images that Google captured. But ... wwwade, e-books, Mobile Wade Roush wrote: I titled my January 23 column “E-Book Readers on the iPhone: They’re Not Quite Kindle Slayers Yet.” How quickly technology marches ahead. In the weeks since then, three very compelling new options have arrived for people like me who want to read e-books but balk at the price tag on Amazon’s Kindle 2, the best dedicated e-book reader on the market. As it turns out, the real Kindle killer may be Kindle itself—the iPhone version, that is. Option 1: Google Book Search for iPhone and Android. On February 5, Google introduced a mobile-friendly version of its five-year-old book search utility. Google Book Search is the public face of Google’s massive project to scan millions of out-of-print books held at famous libraries, make their text searchable, and show all or parts of the books online. If you open a book in Google Book Search on a regular PC browser, you see the actual page images that Google captured. But for the smaller screens of mobile devices, Google came up with a way to show just the raw text, as extracted by optical character recognition (OCR) software. For mobile subscribers inside the United States, the new service offers access to the full text of a staggering 1.5 million public domain books. The huge up side to Google’s move is that it puts so many books at the fingertips of mobile users, wherever they may happen to be. The down side is that OCR technology is still imperfect, so the extracted text is often garbled. The older, fancier, or more unusual the typography in the original book, the more nonsense characters show up in the Google interface. But to counter that problem, the Google Book Search team has built in a nifty feature: just by tapping the screen, you can instantly download Google’s image of the page, to get a look at the original text. I don’t think lots of people are going to read entire books using Google’s interface, which, even apart from the OCR problem, is marred by slow downloads (even on a Wi-Fi connection) and a tiny, non-adjustable font. But it’s a fantastic reference tool for people on the go. Now, readers of this column will know that I’ve been critical of the settlement agreement reached last fall between Google and the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers, and several publishing houses. Those organizations saw the fact that Google was scanning copyrighted, but out-of-print books, as well as public-domain books, as a huge copyright violation. In the settlement, Google agreed to pay damages to the authors of books already scanned, while also setting up a way to share profits with authors when, at some point in the future, Google gives Book Search users the ability to purchase full-text downloads of out-of-print books. My concern is that thanks to the concessions the authors and publishers extracted, those downloads will be a lot more expensive than they would have been if Google had been allowed to go ahead with its scanning project unimpeded. But none of that affects the mobile version of Google Book Search, which is limited (so far) to the free, public-domain books Google has scanned—generally, those published before 1923. Obviously, that covers centuries of great literature, from Juvenal’s Satires to Dante’s Inferno to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Option 2: Shortcovers. The Kindle isn’t available in Canada—or anywhere else outside the United States, for that matter. So on February 26, the Canadians took matters into their own hands, launching a mobile bookstore called Shortcovers. It’s the creation of Indigo Books and Music, the Toronto-based bookstore chain that also owns the Chapters chain. (If you wrapped together Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-a-Million, and Powell’s Books and put them north of the border, you’d have Indigo.) You can buy Shortcovers e-books from the company’s website and then read them online or using the free Shortcovers app, which is available for the iPhone and Blackberry phones. Having tried it out on the iPhone, here’s what I like about Shortcovers: You can read the first chapters of all Shortcovers books for free. I if you prefer, you can buy subsequent chapters one at a time for $0.99 each, rather than spending $9.99 for a whole book and then finding out you don’t like it. You can access magazine articles, blog posts, short stories, poems, and other sub-book-sized chunks of content. And there are some neat community features built into the service that I haven’t seen from any other e-book vendor, such as the ability to publish your own e-books to the Shortcovers store for free, and the ability to create “mixes,” personalized compilations that you can share with other people. Unfortunately, Shortcovers also has a few shortcomings. The iPhone app won’t start up at all if you don’t have a Wi-Fi or 3G connection—so forget using it to read on a plane. Once you’ve finished reading a sample chapter, Shortcovers doesn’t give you an easy way to buy the rest of a book: you have to navigate back to the app’s catalog-browsing area, find the book again, and then click the “buy” button, which then shoots you over to the Shortcovers website—it’s all very confusing. When you’re reading, the app’s title panel and control bar take up quite a bit of the screen’s scarce real estate. This leaves less room for text, meaning you have to spend more time scrolling. And there are …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail wwwade, e-books, Mobile Wade Roush wrote: I titled my January 23 column “E-Book Readers on the iPhone: They’re Not Quite Kindle Slayers Yet.” How quickly technology marches ahead. In the weeks since then, three very compelling new options have arrived for people like me who want to read e-books but balk at the price tag on Amazon’s Kindle 2, the best dedicated e-book reader on the market. As it turns out, the real Kindle killer may be Kindle itself—the iPhone version, that is. Option 1: Google Book Search for iPhone and Android. On February 5, Google introduced a mobile-friendly version of its five-year-old book search utility. Google Book Search is the public face of Google’s massive project to scan millions of out-of-print books held at famous libraries, make their text searchable, and show all or parts of the books online. If you open a book in Google Book Search on a regular PC browser, you see the actual page images that Google captured. But for the smaller screens of mobile devices, Google came up with a way to show just the raw text, as extracted by optical character recognition (OCR) software. For mobile subscribers inside the United States, the new service offers access to the full text of a staggering 1.5 million public domain books. The huge up side to Google’s move is that it puts so many books at the fingertips of mobile users, wherever they may happen to be. The down side is that OCR technology is still imperfect, so the extracted text is often garbled. The older, fancier, or more unusual the typography in the original book, the more nonsense characters show up in the Google interface. But to counter that problem, the Google Book Search team has built in a nifty feature: just by tapping the screen, you can instantly download Google’s image of the page, to get a look at the original text. I don’t think lots of people are going to read entire books using Google’s interface, which, even apart from the OCR problem, is marred by slow downloads (even on a Wi-Fi connection) and a tiny, non-adjustable font. But it’s a fantastic reference tool for people on the go. Now, readers of this column will know that I’ve been critical of the settlement agreement reached last fall between Google and the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers, and several publishing houses. Those organizations saw the fact that Google was scanning copyrighted, but out-of-print books, as well as public-domain books, as a huge copyright violation. In the settlement, Google agreed to pay damages to the authors of books already scanned, while also setting up a way to share profits with authors when, at some point in the future, Google gives Book Search users the ability to purchase full-text downloads of out-of-print books. My concern is that thanks to the concessions the authors and publishers extracted, those downloads will be a lot more expensive than they would have been if Google had been allowed to go ahead with its scanning project unimpeded. But none of that affects the mobile version of Google Book Search, which is limited (so far) to the free, public-domain books Google has scanned—generally, those published before 1923. Obviously, that covers centuries of great literature, from Juvenal’s Satires to Dante’s Inferno to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Option 2: Shortcovers. The Kindle isn’t available in Canada—or anywhere else outside the United States, for that matter. So on February 26, the Canadians took matters into their own hands, launching a mobile bookstore called Shortcovers. It’s the creation of Indigo Books and Music, the Toronto-based bookstore chain that also owns the Chapters chain. (If you wrapped together Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-a-Million, and Powell’s Books and put them north of the border, you’d have Indigo.) You can buy Shortcovers e-books from the company’s website and then read them online or using the free Shortcovers app, which is available for the iPhone and Blackberry phones. Having tried it out on the iPhone, here’s what I like about Shortcovers: You can read the first chapters of all Shortcovers books for free. I if you prefer, you can buy subsequent chapters one at a time for $0.99 each, rather than spending $9.99 for a whole book and then finding out you don’t like it. You can access magazine articles, blog posts, short stories, poems, and other sub-book-sized chunks of content. And there are some neat community features built into the service that I haven’t seen from any other e-book vendor, such as the ability to publish your own e-books to the Shortcovers store for free, and the ability to create “mixes,” personalized compilations that you can share with other people. Unfortunately, Shortcovers also has a few shortcomings. The iPhone app won’t start up at all if you don’t have a Wi-Fi or 3G connection—so forget using it to read on a plane. Once you’ve finished reading a sample chapter, Shortcovers doesn’t give you an easy way to buy the rest of a book: you have to navigate back to the app’s catalog-browsing area, find the book again, and then click the “buy” button, which then shoots you over to the Shortcovers website—it’s all very confusing. When you’re reading, the app’s title panel and control bar take up quite a bit of the screen’s scarce real estate. This leaves less room for text, meaning you have to spend more time scrolling. And there are …Next Page » Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-05,24260708 Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:01:48 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast iphone, google, apple, Amazon, Mobile, national, kindle, e-books, Boston blog main, Seattle blog main, National blog main, wwwade, San Diego blog main, Google Book Search, kindle 2, Indigo, Shortcovers http://odeo.com/episodes/24259769-Amazon-Rolls-Out-Game-Trade-In-Service Internet, e-commerce, Gaming Gregory T. Huang wrote: Amazon announced today a new service whereby customers can trade in used video games for store credit on any eligible items—not just games. The move is seen as a challenge to retailers with existing trade-in programs like GameStop, Electronics Boutique, and Toys “R” Us. Last month, Amazon officially entered the downloadable casual games market, launching its own online store. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Internet, e-commerce, Gaming Gregory T. Huang wrote: Amazon announced today a new service whereby customers can trade in used video games for store credit on any eligible items—not just games. The move is seen as a challenge to retailers with existing trade-in programs like GameStop, Electronics Boutique, and Toys “R” Us. Last month, Amazon officially entered the downloadable casual games market, launching its own online store. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Internet, e-commerce, Gaming Gregory T. Huang wrote: Amazon announced today a new service whereby customers can trade in used video games for store credit on any eligible items—not just games. The move is seen as a challenge to retailers with existing trade-in programs like GameStop, Electronics Boutique, and Toys “R” Us. Last month, Amazon officially entered the downloadable casual games market, launching its own online store. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-05,24259769 Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:58:01 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast Video Games, Gaming, Internet, Amazon, retail, seattle, e-commerce, Seattle briefs, casual games, Gamestop, Seattlepi, Trade-In Service, Electronics Boutique, Toys "R" Us, Used Games http://odeo.com/episodes/24259770-Vivek-Kundra-the-Nation%E2%80%99s-New-CIO-Is-Supporter-of-Seattle-Startup-Tableau-Software Software, IT, Politics Gregory T. Huang wrote: Today, President Obama appointed Vivek Kundra federal chief information officer, which is a new administrative position in the U.S. government. Kundra, currently the District of Columbia’s chief technology officer, will be in charge of policy and strategic planning of federal investments in information technology. Kundra, 34, has previous experience as an executive at the DC-area software and IT firms Evincible and Creostar. As it turns out, Kundra also has a connection to a Seattle tech startup. Since 2007, Kundra’s group in the DC municipal government has been using a data-visualization package from Tableau Software, based in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. Kundra’s group used Tableau’s product to create charts and graphs for its CapStat program, which has received a fair bit of attention as a way to present trends and analysis to the general public on municipal issues like crime, disaster response, schoo... Software, IT, Politics Gregory T. Huang wrote: Today, President Obama appointed Vivek Kundra federal chief information officer, which is a new administrative position in the U.S. government. Kundra, currently the District of Columbia’s chief technology officer, will be in charge of policy and strategic planning of federal investments in information technology. Kundra, 34, has previous experience as an executive at the DC-area software and IT firms Evincible and Creostar. As it turns out, Kundra also has a connection to a Seattle tech startup. Since 2007, Kundra’s group in the DC municipal government has been using a data-visualization package from Tableau Software, based in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. Kundra’s group used Tableau’s product to create charts and graphs for its CapStat program, which has received a fair bit of attention as a way to present trends and analysis to the general public on municipal issues like crime, disaster response, school security, and city maintenance. The program is one of the ways in which Kundra has been recognized in his efforts to make the workings of the DC government more transparent. Here’s how the Tableau connection came about. Back in early 2007, a DC data analyst named Phil Heinrich was asked to look into patterns of ambulance deployments across the city. He came across Tableau on the Internet, tried it out, and signed up as a customer. Pretty soon, he was using Tableau’s software to help the mayor of DC, Adrian Fenty, monitor city departments more effectively. Heinrich’s boss reported to Kundra, the District’s chief technology officer. “Once Vivek saw this, he said, ‘This is what we need to do,’” says Elissa Fink, Tableau’s vice president of marketing. “He’s a big fan of Tableau. It makes it easy for the city of DC to see patterns in data without getting trapped in the details.” (Fink points out that Tableau’s other government customers include the City of Charlotte, NC, the New York City Department of Education, the Government of Canada, and the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department.) Obama’s hope is that Kundra will also help bring more transparency to the federal government. One way this could potentially happen is through websites like Recovery.gov, which was set up to explain the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The intent of the site is to show how, when, and where money from the federal stimulus package is being spent by states, Congressional districts, and federal contractors. According to the site, it aims to “display the information visually, through maps, charts, and graphics.” Which is where Tableau’s software could come into play. “Because of Vivek’s being a big fan, and what his organization has done with democratizing data, it’s interesting,” Fink says. “Part of democratizing data is technology. But there’s also the understanding of data and visualization. That’s where Tableau brings magic to it. It shows patterns you wouldn’t normally see by popping them into pictures. It connects to any data format, so it’s usable to anyone.” It’s still too early to say whether Tableau will be used by the new CIO’s staff, though. “We’ve been talking to people around transparency in government,” Fink says. One of those people is David Stephenson, an author and consultant who has been collaborating with Kundra on a book called Democratizing Data. Stephenson is scheduled to speak at a Tableau customer conference in Seattle in July. (You can read about Kundra’s thoughts on technology, data, and the innovation economy here and here.) As we’ve reported previously, Tableau raised a $10 million Series B round last September from New Enterprise Associates, and has been signing up customers and selling its wares at a record rate. The company was founded in 2003, and has been profitable since 2007. Tableau isn’t the only Seattle startup with a tie to the Obama administration, either. Blist, based near Pioneer Square, was tapped by the Obama-Biden Transition Project in January to manage and publish interactive lists of donors on its website, Change.gov. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail Software, IT, Politics Gregory T. Huang wrote: Today, President Obama appointed Vivek Kundra federal chief information officer, which is a new administrative position in the U.S. government. Kundra, currently the District of Columbia’s chief technology officer, will be in charge of policy and strategic planning of federal investments in information technology. Kundra, 34, has previous experience as an executive at the DC-area software and IT firms Evincible and Creostar. As it turns out, Kundra also has a connection to a Seattle tech startup. Since 2007, Kundra’s group in the DC municipal government has been using a data-visualization package from Tableau Software, based in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. Kundra’s group used Tableau’s product to create charts and graphs for its CapStat program, which has received a fair bit of attention as a way to present trends and analysis to the general public on municipal issues like crime, disaster response, school security, and city maintenance. The program is one of the ways in which Kundra has been recognized in his efforts to make the workings of the DC government more transparent. Here’s how the Tableau connection came about. Back in early 2007, a DC data analyst named Phil Heinrich was asked to look into patterns of ambulance deployments across the city. He came across Tableau on the Internet, tried it out, and signed up as a customer. Pretty soon, he was using Tableau’s software to help the mayor of DC, Adrian Fenty, monitor city departments more effectively. Heinrich’s boss reported to Kundra, the District’s chief technology officer. “Once Vivek saw this, he said, ‘This is what we need to do,’” says Elissa Fink, Tableau’s vice president of marketing. “He’s a big fan of Tableau. It makes it easy for the city of DC to see patterns in data without getting trapped in the details.” (Fink points out that Tableau’s other government customers include the City of Charlotte, NC, the New York City Department of Education, the Government of Canada, and the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department.) Obama’s hope is that Kundra will also help bring more transparency to the federal government. One way this could potentially happen is through websites like Recovery.gov, which was set up to explain the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The intent of the site is to show how, when, and where money from the federal stimulus package is being spent by states, Congressional districts, and federal contractors. According to the site, it aims to “display the information visually, through maps, charts, and graphics.” Which is where Tableau’s software could come into play. “Because of Vivek’s being a big fan, and what his organization has done with democratizing data, it’s interesting,” Fink says. “Part of democratizing data is technology. But there’s also the understanding of data and visualization. That’s where Tableau brings magic to it. It shows patterns you wouldn’t normally see by popping them into pictures. It connects to any data format, so it’s usable to anyone.” It’s still too early to say whether Tableau will be used by the new CIO’s staff, though. “We’ve been talking to people around transparency in government,” Fink says. One of those people is David Stephenson, an author and consultant who has been collaborating with Kundra on a book called Democratizing Data. Stephenson is scheduled to speak at a Tableau customer conference in Seattle in July. (You can read about Kundra’s thoughts on technology, data, and the innovation economy here and here.) As we’ve reported previously, Tableau raised a $10 million Series B round last September from New Enterprise Associates, and has been signing up customers and selling its wares at a record rate. The company was founded in 2003, and has been profitable since 2007. Tableau isn’t the only Seattle startup with a tie to the Obama administration, either. Blist, based near Pioneer Square, was tapped by the Obama-Biden Transition Project in January to manage and publish interactive lists of donors on its website, Change.gov. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-05,24259770 Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:47:35 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast Software, Politics, Government, obama, People, policy, Startups, trends, patterns, innovation, it, seattle, stimulus package, Seattle blog main, National blog main, Blist, Tableau Software, Data Visualization, Elissa Fink, CIO, Vivek Kundra, Phil Heinrich, Adrian Fenty, David Stephenson, Evincible, Creostar http://odeo.com/episodes/24258655-Paul-Graham-Angel-Investing-Conference%E2%80%94Live-Streaming-Now startups, angel investing, Entrepreneurship Robert Buderi wrote: I just learned that there is a very interesting angel investing conference, happening as I type this, in Silicon Valley. The confab, bringing together angels and entrepreneurs, was organized by Paul Graham, of Y Combinator. It is live streaming here on Justin.tv. A parade of speakers seems to be imparting some great advice on angel investing. I don’t know how far along the event is, but check it out if you can. Speakers include: Michael Arrington Paul Buchheit Jeff Clavier Ron Conway Michael Dearing Paul Graham Carolynn Levy Dave McClure Page Mailliard Mike Maples Ariel Poler Naval Ravikant Aydin Senkut Jim Young Andrea Zurek Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS startups, angel investing, Entrepreneurship Robert Buderi wrote: I just learned that there is a very interesting angel investing conference, happening as I type this, in Silicon Valley. The confab, bringing together angels and entrepreneurs, was organized by Paul Graham, of Y Combinator. It is live streaming here on Justin.tv. A parade of speakers seems to be imparting some great advice on angel investing. I don’t know how far along the event is, but check it out if you can. Speakers include: Michael Arrington Paul Buchheit Jeff Clavier Ron Conway Michael Dearing Paul Graham Carolynn Levy Dave McClure Page Mailliard Mike Maples Ariel Poler Naval Ravikant Aydin Senkut Jim Young Andrea Zurek Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS startups, angel investing, Entrepreneurship Robert Buderi wrote: I just learned that there is a very interesting angel investing conference, happening as I type this, in Silicon Valley. The confab, bringing together angels and entrepreneurs, was organized by Paul Graham, of Y Combinator. It is live streaming here on Justin.tv. A parade of speakers seems to be imparting some great advice on angel investing. I don’t know how far along the event is, but check it out if you can. Speakers include: Michael Arrington Paul Buchheit Jeff Clavier Ron Conway Michael Dearing Paul Graham Carolynn Levy Dave McClure Page Mailliard Mike Maples Ariel Poler Naval Ravikant Aydin Senkut Jim Young Andrea Zurek Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-05,24258655 Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:02:57 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast Startups, Entrepreneurship, Investing, national, VC, Boston blog main, Seattle blog main, National blog main, angel investing, San Diego blog main http://odeo.com/episodes/24256182-Proteon-Fills-Coffers-with-38M-Round-Inks-Deal-for-Potential-Sale-to-Novartis Life Sciences, VC, deals Ryan McBride wrote: Proteon Therapeutics says it has closed a $38 million Series B round of financing to fund development of its drug for kidney disease patients on chronic dialysis—and the Waltham, MA-based company has struck a separate deal that gives Swiss drug giant Novartis an option to buy the firm if the drug, the lead treatment in Proteon’s pipeline, succeeds in mid-stage clinical trials. Boston-based venture firm MPM Capital led the round of financing, which included investments by Vectis Healthcare & Life Sciences Fund and previous backers TVM Capital, Skyline Ventures, Prism VentureWorks, Intersouth Partners, as well as earlier angel investors. The cash infusion follows Proteon’s launch of an early-stage clinical trial of its lead drug, PRT-201, an engineered version of the human protein elastase that is intended to improve the outcome of a surgery that prepares a patient’s blood vessel to be frequently hooked up to a h... Life Sciences, VC, deals Ryan McBride wrote: Proteon Therapeutics says it has closed a $38 million Series B round of financing to fund development of its drug for kidney disease patients on chronic dialysis—and the Waltham, MA-based company has struck a separate deal that gives Swiss drug giant Novartis an option to buy the firm if the drug, the lead treatment in Proteon’s pipeline, succeeds in mid-stage clinical trials. Boston-based venture firm MPM Capital led the round of financing, which included investments by Vectis Healthcare & Life Sciences Fund and previous backers TVM Capital, Skyline Ventures, Prism VentureWorks, Intersouth Partners, as well as earlier angel investors. The cash infusion follows Proteon’s launch of an early-stage clinical trial of its lead drug, PRT-201, an engineered version of the human protein elastase that is intended to improve the outcome of a surgery that prepares a patient’s blood vessel to be frequently hooked up to a hemodialysis machine. Failure of this procedure, called arteriovenous fistula surgery, is a common problem for patients on long-term dialysis. “Patients with kidney failure endure great suffering and frequent hospitalization due to vascular access complications,” says Proteon CEO Timothy Noyes, in a statement. “If successful, PRT-201 may improve medical outcomes and lower the associated cost of care.” If the treatment succeeds in a later mid-stage clinical trial, Novartis has the option to buy Proteon outright or to license the firm’s lead product candidate. Proteon says that the potential buyout deal with Novartis would be worth $550 million, which includes the initial acquisition payment and future milestones. The startup didn’t provide details on how much it would receive upfront verses down the road if the drug achieves development goals. Noyes is no stranger to large companies buying out smaller biotech firms. He was part of the executive team at former Waltham biotech firm GelTex Pharmaceuticals, which Cambridge, MA-based biotech Genzyme (NASDAQ:GENZ) acquired for more than $1 billion in 2000. Noyes took the reins at Proteon in 2006, and he later moved the company’s headquarters from Kansas City, MO, to Massachusetts. The firm still operates research labs in Kansas City. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS Life Sciences, VC, deals Ryan McBride wrote: Proteon Therapeutics says it has closed a $38 million Series B round of financing to fund development of its drug for kidney disease patients on chronic dialysis—and the Waltham, MA-based company has struck a separate deal that gives Swiss drug giant Novartis an option to buy the firm if the drug, the lead treatment in Proteon’s pipeline, succeeds in mid-stage clinical trials. Boston-based venture firm MPM Capital led the round of financing, which included investments by Vectis Healthcare & Life Sciences Fund and previous backers TVM Capital, Skyline Ventures, Prism VentureWorks, Intersouth Partners, as well as earlier angel investors. The cash infusion follows Proteon’s launch of an early-stage clinical trial of its lead drug, PRT-201, an engineered version of the human protein elastase that is intended to improve the outcome of a surgery that prepares a patient’s blood vessel to be frequently hooked up to a hemodialysis machine. Failure of this procedure, called arteriovenous fistula surgery, is a common problem for patients on long-term dialysis. “Patients with kidney failure endure great suffering and frequent hospitalization due to vascular access complications,” says Proteon CEO Timothy Noyes, in a statement. “If successful, PRT-201 may improve medical outcomes and lower the associated cost of care.” If the treatment succeeds in a later mid-stage clinical trial, Novartis has the option to buy Proteon outright or to license the firm’s lead product candidate. Proteon says that the potential buyout deal with Novartis would be worth $550 million, which includes the initial acquisition payment and future milestones. The startup didn’t provide details on how much it would receive upfront verses down the road if the drug achieves development goals. Noyes is no stranger to large companies buying out smaller biotech firms. He was part of the executive team at former Waltham biotech firm GelTex Pharmaceuticals, which Cambridge, MA-based biotech Genzyme (NASDAQ:GENZ) acquired for more than $1 billion in 2000. Noyes took the reins at Proteon in 2006, and he later moved the company’s headquarters from Kansas City, MO, to Massachusetts. The firm still operates research labs in Kansas City. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS tag:odeo.com,2009-03-05,24256182 Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:17:58 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast People, Boston, VC, deals, Boston blog main, National blog main, Life Sciences, Genzyme, Kidney Disease, Proteon Therapeutics, GelTex Pharmaceuticals, dialysis, Timothy Noyes http://odeo.com/episodes/24256185-Wanted-A-Few-Good-Mobile-Demos IT, Mobile, events Wade Roush wrote: Here at Xconomy, we love our iPhones and Blackberries and Windows Mobile smartphones, and we love the local companies that create cool software and services for them. In fact, we love them so much we’re organizing an April 7 conference on “The Future of Mobile Innovation in New England“—and we’re looking for companies who want to show off their latest, coolest technologies in a series of two-minute, onstage “mobile bursts.” If your company is based in New England, has a mobile application or service that can be demonstrated live (no PowerPoints), and you’d like to nominate yourselves to participate, please send me a note at wroush@xconomy.com. We’ll pick five or six companies, who’ll have a chance to show their wares to a big audience at Microsoft’s New England R&D Center in Cambridge, MA. The meeting, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a networking reception to follow, ... IT, Mobile, events Wade Roush wrote: Here at Xconomy, we love our iPhones and Blackberries and Windows Mobile smartphones, and we love the local companies that create cool software and services for them. In fact, we love them so much we’re organizing an April 7 conference on “The Future of Mobile Innovation in New England“—and we’re looking for companies who want to show off their latest, coolest technologies in a series of two-minute, onstage “mobile bursts.” If your company is based in New England, has a mobile application or service that can be demonstrated live (no PowerPoints), and you’d like to nominate yourselves to participate, please send me a note at wroush@xconomy.com. We’ll pick five or six companies, who’ll have a chance to show their wares to a big audience at Microsoft’s New England R&D Center in Cambridge, MA. The meeting, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a networking reception to follow, is designed to focus on fundamental questions about the technologies and business models that will keep the mobile industry growing through the recession and beyond. It’ll be jam-packed with keynote presentations, panel discussions, and intimate chats with local mobile-technology luminaries and investors, including representatives of Apperian, Enterprise Mobile, Charles River Ventures, FitnessKeeper, Flybridge Capital Partners, Google, Microsoft, the MIT Media Lab, MocoSpace, Quattro Wireless, Skyhook Wireless, Veveo, and Vlingo. The full agenda for the conference is here. If you’re interested in attending, you can buy advance tickets here. Until March 13, tickets are available at the early bird rate of $125; after that the price goes up to $195. Student tickets are available for $50, and students are eligible for scholarships under Flybridge’s Stay in MA program. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail IT, Mobile, events Wade Roush wrote: Here at Xconomy, we love our iPhones and Blackberries and Windows Mobile smartphones, and we love the local companies that create cool software and services for them. In fact, we love them so much we’re organizing an April 7 conference on “The Future of Mobile Innovation in New England“—and we’re looking for companies who want to show off their latest, coolest technologies in a series of two-minute, onstage “mobile bursts.” If your company is based in New England, has a mobile application or service that can be demonstrated live (no PowerPoints), and you’d like to nominate yourselves to participate, please send me a note at wroush@xconomy.com. We’ll pick five or six companies, who’ll have a chance to show their wares to a big audience at Microsoft’s New England R&D Center in Cambridge, MA. The meeting, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. with a networking reception to follow, is designed to focus on fundamental questions about the technologies and business models that will keep the mobile industry growing through the recession and beyond. It’ll be jam-packed with keynote presentations, panel discussions, and intimate chats with local mobile-technology luminaries and investors, including representatives of Apperian, Enterprise Mobile, Charles River Ventures, FitnessKeeper, Flybridge Capital Partners, Google, Microsoft, the MIT Media Lab, MocoSpace, Quattro Wireless, Skyhook Wireless, Veveo, and Vlingo. The full agenda for the conference is here. If you’re interested in attending, you can buy advance tickets here. Until March 13, tickets are available at the early bird rate of $125; after that the price goes up to $195. Student tickets are available for $50, and students are eligible for scholarships under Flybridge’s Stay in MA program. Comments | Permalink | Share |  E-mail tag:odeo.com,2009-03-05,24256185 Thu, 05 Mar 2009 08:03:44 -0800 no Xconomy Full Podcast google, microsoft, Mobile, events, Boston, wireless, cellular, it, demo, demos, Boston blog main, veveo, National blog main, MIT Media Lab, Xconomy, Quattro Wireless, vlingo, charles river ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, skyhook wireless, FitnessKeeper, enterprise mobile, Apperian, mocospace