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+14 +1
Co-founder feuds at L.A. tech start-ups show how handshake deals can blow up
Two Stanford University undergraduates shook hands in their dormitory in early 2011, agreeing to partner on what they hoped would be the next big technology start-up. But as their dream came true, their simple exercise of trust became a liability when one co-founder was dumped. A flimsy foundation of oral OKs, napkin scribblings and youthful haste, it turns out, is a dangerous mix. And a common one.
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+10 +1
Snapchat Said to Seek Up to $19 Billion Value in Financing
Snapchat Inc. is seeking a new round of funding that would value the company as high as $19 billion, a person with knowledge of the matter said, making it the third-most valuable venture-backed company in the world.
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+13 +1
Ads are coming soon to Snapchat, CEO Evan Spiegel says
As was reported in August, advertisements are finally about to come to Snapchat. Evan Spiegel, the company's co-founder and CEO, made the announcement today at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit. "People are going to see the first ads on Snapchat soon," he told Katie Couric, who moderated a discussion with him and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. "We think they're pretty cool."
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+23 +1
Leading tech investors warn of bubble risk 'unprecedented since 1999'
Billy Gurley and Fred Wilson, who backed Uber and Twitter, respectively, say Silicon Valley investing in too many losing ventures
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+29 +1
Snapchat Raising A New Round At A $10B Valuation
The rumors are flying around vanishing messaging app Snapchat, both on and off Secret. We too are hearing that Microsoft and Snapchat are in acquisition talks, though we can’t really grok why they would be, other than that the situation would make a great plot point in the inevitable Snapchat movie (“The Sexting Network”?).
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+21 +1
Is Facebook Slingshot Third Time’s A Charm Or Strike Three?
Facebook has today launched strike three against Camp Snapchat with Slingshot. As with many of Facebook’s recent products (like Paper), Slingshot is an already-proven idea dressed up in an expensive UI with an established distribution network of billions. Despite the fact that most social apps fail, it should be a home run.
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+17 +1
Facebook accidentally launches, then pulls Snapchat competitor Slingshot
After recently killing off Poke, its first Snapchat competitor, Facebook is back with a second shot at ephemeral messaging. The new app, called Slingshot, lets you quickly send photos and videos to friends inside a minimal messaging interface. Like Snapchat, you can also caption and draw on photos and video messages. And of course, photos and videos disappear once you've viewed them.
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+13 +1
WhatsApp's CEO Is Not Very Happy With Apple Right Now
At least one tech founder wasn't all that impressed by what he heard during Apple's annual developers conference on Monday. Jan Koum, the cofounder and CEO of WhatsApp, took a jab at Apple for unveiling some new features to iMessage that seem similar to those offered on his mobile messaging app.
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+9 +1
Snapchat CEO ‘Mortified’ by Leaked Stanford Frat E-Mails
Snapchat Inc. Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel apologized for e-mails he sent during his fraternity days that celebrated getting drunk and convincing sorority women to perform sexual acts.
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0 +1
Off the Record in a Chat App? Don’t Be Sure
What happens on the Internet stays on the Internet. That truth was laid bare on Thursday, when Snapchat, the popular mobile messaging service, agreed to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission that messages sent through the company’s app did not disappear as easily as promised.
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+20 +1
Snapchat made a secret acquisition to power its new video chat
To help build and power its new cross-platform video chat service, Snapchat acquired software company AddLive, sources tell The Verge. Snapchat confirmed the deal to The Verge, saying "We are excited to welcome the AddLive team to the Snapchat family. We have no further comment at this time."
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+12 +1
Snapchat Steps Up Its Game With Sophisticated New Messaging Features
Snapchat rolled out its biggest update yet Thursday, in a move that added text messaging and video chatting to its photo and video sharing app. The latest version of the app focuses on helping its users have conversations, rather than just one-off picture and video messages.
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+27 +1
Spam could kill Snapchat, and Evan Spiegel doesn't seem to care
Snapchat has a big problem. Its dramatic increase in spam? Sure, that too. But the big problem is Evan Spiegel's outrageous arrogance that his users' annoyance doesn't concern him.
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+14 +1
Snapchat Complies with Government Requests, Sends Images to Law Enforcement
Snapchat cleared up any doubts users may have had about the privacy surrounding images sent back and forth on its photo messaging service when the company confirmed this week that it has shared some images with law enforcement.
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+14 +1
Snapchat CEO Reveals Why He Rejected Facebook's $3 Billion Offer
Snapchat's CEO opens up about his meetings with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and why he isn't selling the company.
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+24 +1
How Snapchat Became The Breakout Consumer Product Of 2013
Last year, as 2012 ended, I scanned the early-stage startup landscape and tried to identify one company that was a breakout for the year — I ultimately selected Stripe, and explained why. I liked the thought-exercise so much I decided to do it again this year, and it didn’t take much deliberation to choose Snapchat — in my personal opinion, the clear breakout consumer product of 2013.
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+20 +1
Snapchat Sacrifices Ephemerality With New Replay Feature
My least favorite part of Snapchat is mistakenly opening a video Snap when I can’t hear it, like in a noisy public place or when my sound is off. Snapchat tried to address that today with an experimental new Replay feature that lets you rewatch one old Snap per day. But by fixing that problem it created a much bigger one. It killed off some of its ephemerality.
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+16 +1
Topless mother-daughter Snapchat photo lands mom in jail
One Missouri woman was arrested after taking a Snapchat photo while topless with her 14-year-old daughter. The photo was taken last month in front of an outdoor hot tub at their home in Wentzville by the teen’s younger sister, and according to a probable cause statement filed by the Wentzville Police Department, the two “were covering their nipples in the picture.” The woman is not being identified to protect the identities of her children.
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+15 +1
Instagram Direct Is Going After Snapchat
Popular photo sharing app Instagram is expanding its functionality with the launch of a new direct messaging platform today. The new feature, called Instagram Direct, will allow people to send private photos to a maximum of 15 users.
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