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This column starts with the $3.4 billion acquisition of SuccessFactors by SAP, ties together “the cloud” with mobile computing, throws in a dash of futurism and somehow winds up with a reference to Glee. Want to give your CEO an iPad? You probably also need web-based applications so she can do somet

As I write, the VentureBeat offices sit enveloped by a cloud. In all directions, the fog wraps our office building in a soft, gray fuzz, obscuring the views of downtown San Francisco, the bay, and the ocean. It’s not unlike the cloud of marketing and hype surrounding “cloud” technologies. A fog of j

In my latest column for VentureBeat, I wrote about my experiences as an entrepreneur during the dot-com boom, and why it’s so important not to delay if you think you’ve got a startup in you. The only way to learn how to start a company is by going out and actually doing it. There are […]

Glam Media founder Samir Arora thinks he knows the future of media. The secret, he is betting, is brand advertising displayed against high-quality, premium content. That stands in stark contrast to the advertising model that’s worked best for the past decade online, in which increasingly specific te

I was a judge at a startup competition recently. It was great fun and all of the 8 contestants were brave enough to make a 2-minute presentation in front of a room full of people — not to mention four cranky judges. One presentation in particular really stood out though. When Halvor Gregusson got of

Minted, a marketplace for community-sourced paper products like custom stationery and wedding invitations, has raised a big pile of the green kind of paper — the kind you can spend. For anyone whose parents told them to stop doodling Celtic knots or obsessively repetitive graphic designs and focus o

I have a cameo in the Monty Python-esque introduction to this video that I’m rather proud of, goofy as it is. The week in review: Jobs’ last words, Siri’s rough week & Google+’s last stand | VentureBeat.

Apple understands it. Amazon understands it. But nearly every other gadget manufacturer is missing the point: It’s not about the specs any more. It’s about the ability of devices to deliver a seamless, integrated, easy-to-use experience that combines plenty of desirable content and useful services,

In my latest column for VentureBeat, I try to make some sense of the Occupy movement and its relevance to Silicon Valley. I was wondering why the protestors weren’t targeting local icons of wealth and power, like VC firms, Google, Oracle and Apple. The more I thought about it, the more I realized th

When I arrived at work this morning, helicopters were hovering over the financial district, where I work. I checked Twitter and found out that protestors were outside a bank headquarters nearby, so I grabbed the office camera and walked over there to check it out. After playing photojournalist and i

In Star Trek IV, Scotty picks up a computer mouse and speaks into it, trying to get the machine’s attention. “Computer! Computer!” When nothing happens, someone tells him to use the keyboard. “How quaint,” is his bemused response. You might feel the same way in 10 years, if someone hands you a compu

Steve Jobs, the cofounder and former chief executive of Apple, has died. He was 56. Jobs was a visionary leader who, more than any other single person, reshaped the face of consumer technology. He was often quoted as saying “we’re here to put a dent in the universe.” He did exactly that. From his ea