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TechCrunch+ roundup: VCs rate pitch decks, IPO analysis, Techstars’ expansion plans

TechCrunch

“Especially for first-time founders, assessing product-market fit at a stage where it’s mostly anticipation can be as much art as science,” writes News Editor Darrell Etherington, who interviewed three VCs about the topic for TechCrunch Disrupt: Heather Hartnett, Human Ventures. David Thacker, Greylock. Victoria Treyger, Felicis. “In

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a16z, Avenir and Google back South African mobile games publisher Carry1st in $20M round

TechCrunch

Carry1st , a South African publisher of social games and interactive content across Africa, has raised a $20 million Series A extension led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). And we think that the best kind of wedge would be able to do that is a combination of gaming and micropayments and online commerce,” the CEO said. “T

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Skate Where the Puck is Going

Both Sides of the Table

Last year’s passé terms that even entrepreneurs cringe at (and the best are embarrassed to lead with) are social network, social media and social games. I guess “social&# is just soooo last year. I hope they are because badges will run their course.

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Memory.ai, the startup behind time-tracking app Timely, raises $14M to build more AI-based productivity apps

TechCrunch

If the first wave of smartphone communications and the apps that are run on smartphone devices — social, gaming, productivity, media, information, etc. It is, in a sense, a timely disruption. “Memory’s proven software is already redefining how businesses around the world track, plan and manage their time.

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From Agency to Enterprise Software: The Evolution of Buddy Media

This is going to be BIG.

The other day I wrote a post about the lack of Enterprise Software disruption coming out of NYC —and a lot of people responded that I wasn’t citing Buddy Media. The company reaches more than 8 million internet users each month through some of the top applications on Facebook and other social networks.

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What Angel Investing & Florida Condos Have in Common

Both Sides of the Table

Instead investors are looking for the next flash sale, private sale, game dynamic, social games that rely on mobile platforms with geo-fenced, location aware offers. Yet nearly any entrepreneur who has an idea that other people aren’t doing will tell you that it’s hard to get investors excited. That is conformity.

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Turkey’s Spyke raises $55M in a seed round to bring a social twist to casual mobile games

TechCrunch

.” Spyke’s arrival in the market comes at an interesting crossroads for casual gaming. On one side, the genre has been around for years now, and so the time is ripe to try to disrupt it. “It’s not just competing against the world of other casual games, but also companies like TikTok,” Sirinoglu said. .”