Layoffs Hit Dinner Lab As Company Shifts To Contract Model For Event Staffers

 Dinner Lab is laying off around 30 employees from their full-time positions as it shifts to a contract-based model for its events staff, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. Most of those layoffs consisted of on-the-ground events execution staff. The crux of the issue was that these events staffers were being paid as full-time employees, which CEO Brian Bordainick said was not that sustainable… Read More

A Startup’s Guide To International Expansion

 Startups can now reach international markets almost immediately at launch. Product/market fit is geographically, industry and company-size agnostic — SaaS makes your product adoption almost instantaneous. Although this early global traction can happen organically at the beginning, the reality is that startups must be strategic about systematically scaling from a local region to any number… Read More

The Happy Home Company Raises $3.5M To Make Home Maintenance Easier

The Happy Home Company is aiming to eliminate the headaches of home maintenance and improvement, and it’s raised $3.5 million in seed funding. The company has been relatively quiet, at least in terms of talking to the media, since I wrote about it a year ago. CEO Doug Ludlow told me today that this was intentional — he wanted to work out the kinks in the model before making a… Read More

When All You Want for Christmas Is A Good Venture Capitalist

 In the words of Pitbull, “Ask for money, get advice. Ask for advice, get money twice.” When you’re shopping for a VC, you might want to take Pitbull at least a little seriously, because he seems to know what he’s talking about. If you think VCs are just a source of money, you’re sorely mistaken. Most startup founders fail to recognize that the best venture… Read More

Gojimo, The U.K. Exam Preparation App, Picks Up Further $1.8M Backing

 Gojimo, an app that helps U.K. high school students prepare for exams, has picked up a further $1.8 million in funding, bringing total raised by the 2013-founded startup to just over $3 million. Read More

Flytenow Shuts Down After Court Rules Against Flightsharing Startups

 Airplane ridesharing startup Flytenow today announced that it is shutting down after a court recently upheld the FAA’s power to regulate what does (and does not) constitute a commercial aviation operation. Flytenow wanted to bring together private pilots and those who wanted to fly with them. From the get-go, though, Flytenow and similar startups like Airpooler were going to run into… Read More

OTOY Looks To Give Developers The Tools To Build Lifelike Real-Time 3D Environments

 Around ten years ago, Jules Urbach was sitting at the table at his mom’s house, coding away, when there was a knock at the door. His mom answered, but the visitor was for him. Directors J.J. Abrams and David Fincher had some questions about a rendering technology Urbach was working on, which had the potential to make movie scenes look much more realistic with shorter load times.… Read More