When Starbucks enabled mobile payments nationwide in mid-January, it was an exciting feature I was looking forward to using. After all, mobile payments have been all the buzz for a while, and they appear to be on the cusp of mass market availability — NFC chips have recently been found in Android based devices and are projected to be embedded in handsets during 2011. While the Starbucks implementation via a QR code enables a “mobile payment”, it is not really what mobile payments are all about....

MoboMarket for PC has its roots dating back to 2012, when it started off as the immensely popular MoboRobo. MoboRobo existed as the PC management app, with MoboMarket for Android as a side product. Only recently has the firm looked to unify the PC and Smartphone genres into one. Having MoboMarket installed on both your PC and Android device facilitates seamless data transfers in the same way iTunes does with the iPhone....

The Kauffman Foundation reported that 253 schools taught entrepreneurship in the 1980’s compared to more than 2,000 universities today. This rise in entrepreneurship curricula shows an effort from universities to match the demand of students who want enhance their knowledge of the inter-workings of any startup – design, business, engineering, marketing (the list goes on and on). So how do we truly determine the “real” college entrepreneurship programs from just the schools that just offer curricula?...

These are the ways that Tinder has created a lifestyle brand for Millennials. 1. They’re bringing sexy back… into tech. When you hear the word tech, the first things that come to mind are nerds, computers, and coding. Lately nothing in tech comes across as cool or hip. However, Tinder has spent the past couple of years establishing more than just an app, but a tech company with a modern day lifestyle approach to it....

Accompanying this growing concern about privacy, a lot of secure messaging apps appeared. Some of them offer distinct features, circling around the same common goal: increase the privacy with which users communicate. One of the most recent apps in this category is SessMe. Available for iOS and Android, SessMe works just like any other messaging app, but with one key difference: it allows users to “go back in time” and delete photos that were sent through it....

Originally announced back in July, the new service has launched today (November 26), and users can sign up to NordPass right now. You can use NordPass to securely autofill your password and login details, without having to remember them all yourself. Plus, it can automatically generate complex and unique passwords for you. NordPass will be compatible with most major web browsers. See our guide to the Best Password Managers...

The round was led by Fuel Capital, and also includes investments from Maveron Capital, Zulily founders Mark Vadon and Darrell Cavens, Joe Montana, and several other individual investors. How It Works It’s easy to see why Crowd Cow garnered such interest: The business model is that perfect combo of startup principles: Simple, disruptive, and in-demand. Crowd Cow was founded in 2015 by Ethan Lowry and Joe Heitzeberg. Lowry had previously co-founder the Urbanspoon app, while Heitzeberg founded Snapvine, a communication platform since acquired by Whitepages for about $20 million....

This staggering percentage means that nearly 50,000 brand new electric cars hit the Norwegian roads last year. This cements Norway’s status as the nation with the highest proportion of electric cars in the world. In the US, by contrast, only around 1.2% of cars use hybrid or electric powertrains. So, why is Norway so infatuated with electric cars, and what could other nations learn from it? Government Incentives One of the big reasons for Norway’s high proportion of electric cars is that owners receive a number of benefits for owning one....

Publicize wants to help startups get noticed by journalists without breaking the bank. Where traditional firms charge $10,000 or more per month (with mandatory six-month retainers), Publicize provides PR services for as little as $399/month, on a month-to-month basis. From press releases to access to their media database and staff of journalists, the company offers an different approach to PR that accommodates startups’ need. For Publicize founder, Conrad Egusa, working with early stage startups means that he gets to hear about great companies before they “get big,” which he finds exciting....

Quarterly sells quarterly shipments of stuff picked out by influential people. And some of them are from the startup world, from Alexis Ohanion to Chris Guillebeau to the True Ventures team. For their latest package, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm shipped out The Startup Owner’s Manual book, some Blue Bottle Coffee, and cool yellow shades. Here’s a package from Scott Belsky of Behance: All boxes come with a letter from the sender about why those items were chosen....

Instead of being dismissive or cynical about this question, we should use it to attempt an understanding of how a fear of failure can constrain us. In Dugan’s words, it keeps us from doing amazing things. These epic findings occur at the intersection of a scientific inflection point and an unmet need, according to Dugan. The idea is for these two elements to coexist in a hot cauldron of innovation....

With a steady – and, at times, exponential – growth happening again in the tech world, some are suggesting we are headed toward another bubble bust. Although hiring may not specifically been the key component to to the organizations who were unable to weather the storm, prior research indicates it may have played a role. Initially rediscovered by Hunter Walk, Partner at Homebrew VC, Organizational Blueprints for Success in High-Tech Start-Ups was published in 2002 and highlights hiring and culture based data from 200 startups in the middle of the dot com bubble....

Provide a Clear Vision When leadership can provide insight and direction to their vision goals, it can help the employee not only find purpose but can expand their creative thinking to help build the company. Hire Top Talent When you are looking for people to take you to the next level, you can’t skimp on talent. Will it cost you more, yes. But you’ll be hiring people with skills and experience that can get your company to new heights and think more strategically about the steps to come....

Although the avalanche of cyberattacks that have been unleashed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine has prompted many reminders about the importance of installing robust antivirus software, disinformation operations pose a very different problem for businesses. Staff that can navigate their way through the fake news that litters the digital landscape are an asset to businesses, especially when implementing digital marketing strategies that involve sharing and commenting on political or news-based content....

The highest amount paid for one bounty was $30,000, but more than 4,700 suspected vulnerabilities were reported to the software company last year, so they had a lot of bounties to hand out. The payments are a heartening example of the ways in which hackers can help shore up an internet ecosystem that faces more and more threats from ransomware or phishing attacks every year. How it Works All product and features changes at Salesforce are tested internally, as you might expect....

Salesforce is mostly known as a giant in the world of CRM, but it has grown to include various other Salesforce software, as well as acquiring various other tech companies, like Slack and Acumen. The IDC report was conducted as part of a larger study on how tech companies are growing their cloud computing, which is largely accepted to be the future of computing (as opposed to on-site systems). Salesforce is heavily integrated into the cloud, so their IDC projections were very favorable....

Desktop-Only Sites Smartphones and tablets have taken the technology world by storm and sites now have to conform. Google is pushing the issue by ranking sites based on their mobility. Sites that are best viewed on desktops will be phased out, as viewers will be looking for the ability to visit on-the-go. You will find that web pages are going to load faster and graphics will be responsive to screen differences....

Jacobson quickly turned his idea into Lottolotto, but programming the app was the most challenging part. Lottolotto’s unique position in the market Lottolotto isn’t the only app in this market, but Jacobson has created a unique competitive advantage. Lottolotto makes checking your lottery ticket much easier. Users only have to scan a picture of their ticket and the app will recognize what lottery and state the ticket is for. Finding this article helpful?...

According to research from the Kauffman Foundation, Americans age 55-64 in cities like Chicago, Washington DC, Seattle, Boston, and many more have started one quarter of the startups launched in 2015. That 25 percent is up from 14 percent, which was the standard of senior entrepreneurship in 1996. An even more interesting comparison to this number is that these Americans age 55-64 are actually starting more businesses than those in their twenties and thirties....

Business loans are becoming more sought after by startups looking to continue their growth trajectory. While VC funding remains a path that many founders take, others are choosing business loans and realizing the same success. For those who are considering raising money, this makes it necessary to consider both options. Loans Are Back, and Startups Love Them Loans are an integral part of the economic infrastructure, helping millions get the funds they need, although small business loans have dropped 50 percent over the last 20 years....