And today . . . oh heck, look, it's Venture Capital all over the place. Here's the news!
Economics/Geekonomics
Richard Florida looks at how to save the suburbs. Walkability is a key, but take a moment to read the article and see what you think. Mr. Florida's never been hot on suburbs, so this is an intriguing read – and may be something to think about for your future.
Location:
The top 100 innovative cities for those of you thinking of relocating. Also you won't find much here to surprise you at all, but it's interesting.
Culture:
Futurist Nick Bilton says the future is storytelling. It's hard to sum up what he's saying so just read it – because it's worth it.
Anime and Manga:
Several companies team up to launch a new manga magazine called Monthly Comic Xenon. Details here, not really sure of the impact of this.
Comics:
Disney gets into digital comics. Which of course isn't surprising – but does suggest how crowded the market could get – Disney apparently wants all releases parallel in physical and e-published.
Technology:
OK, apparently everyone is throwing money around today. Pay-per-view video ad platform provider TubeMogul got $10 million in investment. Wireless, streaming gizmo company Veebeam, a DEMOgod winner, got $6 million in investment. Video tech provider BNI raises $16 million$21 million for it's new coronary imaging product – a neat mix of current and cutting-edge medicine. Care.com, who not only has a prime domain but also is a family service rating system got $20 million in funding. The first two are in California, the latter three in Massachusetts, both geekcentric areas.
Video:
A nice look at Apple TV that gives you an idea of how easy it is to use. Oh and of course it has Netflix. Take a read and get an idea of what they're up to.
Video Games:
Zynga sets up some offices in Seattle. OK Seattle-ites, you know what to do. It also suggests to me that Zynga wants a good footprint in the appropriate areas – which makes it easier to recruit and retain despite the costs of geek-heavy areas.
Looks like Zynga is going to need to keep working on its foundations. Japanese rival DeNA went on and bought ngmoco for $400 million. Biggest iPhone related acquisition to date. DeNA may be worth putting on your search list – they apparently have money to burn and a lot of drive.
And even more adventures in investment! CyberSports raises $6.8 million – they do freemium and sports which sounds like a perfect combo – and they do soccer. Playfirst gets $5.2 million and has a very powerful staff – a good combination.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Where should Zynga set up office next?