Today in Philly Tech History 3/1/2001; Bala Cynwyd-based Digital Access Inc., after blowing through $450 million, shuts down



On March 1, 2001, Bala Cynwyd-based Digital Access Inc., having spent $450 million trying to build a broadband competitor to companies such as Comcast, announced it could not raise more needed cash and was shutting down. It was trying to raise another $900 million in debt to finance its buildout, but couldn't find it in the environment that followed the Internet bubble meltdown.

Digital Access was planning to enter the Indianapolis, Kansas City and Milwaukee markets. It cited market conditions, as well as regulatory delays that slowed down it down, as major factors, but in fact the opportunity for major independent residential broadband competitors to the established cable operators to get off the ground was coming to an end. Investors in Digital Access included Goldman Sachs, Navis Partners and Bachow & Associates.



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Daily Links 2/28/2013: VMware exec: "Hard to believe that we cannot collectively beat a company that sells books"





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EPAM Systems Reports Record Results for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2012 (Thomson Reuters One via Yahoo Finance)

Universal Display rides higher on hopes of OLED TV ramp
Organic LED materials specialist reports 'best ever' financial year, and is excited by investments at LG and Samsung.
(Optics.org)


COMCAST LAUNCHES COPYRIGHT ALERT SYSTEM (Comcast Voices/Official Comcast Blog)

Cablevision to Suspend Repeat Copyright Scofflaws, Comcast to Hijack Browsers (Wired)

Cablevision Declines After Sandy Damage Leads to Quarterly Loss (Bloomberg)

Salesforce Forecast Tops Estimates on New Product Demand (Bloomberg)

With 23 million weekly listeners, digital radio platform Jelli partners with Entercom to supercharge distribution (PandoDaily)
Entercom is based in Bala Cynwyd; First Round Capital was an early investor in Jelli.

Liberty Media 4Q revenue, profits fall (AP via Businessweek)
52% revenue decline from last year attributed to deferred revenue recognized last year by
Berwyn-based TruePosition from huge telco contract.

VMware Top Execs Lash Out At Amazon Public Cloud (CRN)
"I find it really hard to believe that we cannot collectively beat a company that sells books", VMware President/COO tells partners conference.

Disruption guru Clay Christensen says incumbent media players are making a classic mistake (paidContent)




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451 Group research note on Dell Boomi has some interesting info

Tom Paine



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The 451 Group, a software industry research group, has published a research note on Berwyn-based Dell Boomi (pdf) republished with permission on Boomi's website.

The report describes Dell Boomi as "a strong thought leader in the hybrid cloud-integration market. Its AtomSphere platform, Atom integration componentry and design capabilities such as its Suggest feature make it a desirable tool for integration designers and administrators alike." It cites Boomi's recently announced one million cloud-managed integration processes per day milestone "as a wakeup call for systems integrators, cloud hosts and all manner of integration technology and services
rivals to step up their efforts to enhance hybrid integration architecture as part of datacenter and cloud operating environments." The 451 Group also mentions Dell Boomi's recently announced partnership with Wipro, in addition to a similar partnership announced last year with Infosys, as being important steps forward with the systems integrator community.

I knew Boomi was still rather small when it was acquired by Dell in 2010, but The 451 Group's estimate of $5 million in revenue at that time (if accurate) suggests it was even smaller than I thought. It estimates the acquisition price (never disclosed by Dell publicly) at about $60 million and projects that Boomi will contribute $20 to $25 million in revenue to Dell in 2013.

The 451 Group sees Informatica, closely followed by MuleSoft, Jitterbit and IBM Cast Iron, and on occasion, SnapLogic, as its closest competitors, while middleware offerings from Tibco, Pervasive, IBM (WebSphere), Oracle (Fusion) and SAP (NetWeaver) remain factors. The report concludes that perhaps the greatest competitive threat to Dell Boomi comes from the open source community.

An anticipated upcoming product from Boomi will be the formal unveiling of its cloud-based MDM (Master Data Management) suite offering enhanced tools for modeling, storing, synchronizing, validating and cleansing master data, The 451 Group says.

Dell Boomi was cofounded by its current GM, Rick Nucci. Former CEO Bob Moul left a year after the acquisition and now is CEO of Philly mobile platform startup Artisan, as well as President of Philly Startup Leaders.



Daily Links 2/27/2013: Monetate raises another $15 million





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Monetate of Conshohocken raises $15M (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Gov. Christie signs internet gambling into law (NJ.com)

Intel, SAP Make Big Data Play Behind Hadoop (CRN)

Salesforce.com Expected To Beat Q4 Earnings Estimates (Investor's Business Daily)

Liberty Interactive Corporation Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2012 Financial Results (Business Wire)
Consolidated QVC revenue grew by 2%; says QVC is the second largest mobile commerce multi-category retailer in 2012, behind only Amazon, according to Internet Retailer.

Universal Display Posts Mixed Q4; Shares Gain After Hours
(Forbes)


Bucks to launch $4 million venture capital fund for local business (phillyBurbs.com)

UPenn robots spring into action, save wooden hero (video) (Engadget)

Cablevision-Viacom battle echoes Malone-Redstone fight (LA Times: Company Town)




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Daily Links 2/26/2013: SAP and Ericsson join forces on M2M services





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SAP adds to supply-chain tech with SmartOps acquisition
SAP plans to tie SmartOps' technology to HANA
(Infoworld)

SAP and Ericsson join forces on M2M services (Network World)

SAP Transitioning To Cloud And Other Growth Areas (Investor's Business Daily)
Q&A with SAP CTO Vishal Sikka.

SAP Shifts 5,000 Direct Accounts To Channel Partners (CRN)


InterDigital and SemperCon Launch CirrusCon, Cloud-Based Platform for Mobile Application Bandwidth Control, Connectivity Management (Business Wire)

Philadelphia: Give Sharing a Chance (Sidecar Blog)

Oracle: Eloqua Will Stay Friendly With Salesforce.com (Information Week)

Salesforce unveils 'customer company' mantra: Can it deliver? (ZDNet)

Verizon's Shammo: 50 Mbps is FiOS' sweet speed spot
Reaffirms copper-to-fiber transition initiative
(FierceTelecom)

Comcast's 'X2' to Get Personal With the TV (Light Reading Cable)

Maybe You’ll Get the Pay TV You Want, After All: Cablevision Sues Viacom to Break Up the Bundle (All Things D)

Comcast Business, Baltimore Tech Park partner (CED Magazine)




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Daily Links 2/25/2013: Christie expected to sign Internet gambling bill tomorrow; Warby Parker raises $41.5 mm





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$30 million Bethlehem project targets tech companies (Lehigh Valley Business)

First Round Capital Funds Another $500K Student-Run Venture Fund in New York (All Things D)

Warby Parker Grabs New Investment From American Express & J. Crew CEO, Closing $41.5M Round (TechCrunch)
Founded at Wharton; First Round Capital was an early investor.

Workday competitor SilkRoad selects banks for IPO -sources (Reuters)

FCC Roughed Up in D.C. Circuit
Judges have lots of issues with statute of limitations on carriage complaint and First Amendment implications of remedy
(Broadcasting & Cable)
On Comcast/Tennis Channel dispute.

Awaiting the Dimming of G.E. at 30 Rock (New York Times: City Room)

Motorola Brings ITV to Older Set-Tops With ActiveVideo Software (Multichannel News)

Gov. Chris Christie expected to sign bill allowing Internet gambling on Tuesday (Press of Atlantic City)

Wharton and Cisco Show Off the Telepresence Classroom of Tomorrow (Time Tech)


SideCar Says Three Philadelphia Drivers Caught In ‘Sting’, But It Plans to Continue Operations (TechCrunch)

Xtium Expands Partnership with YASH Technologies
Partnership brings increased deployment velocity, economic benefit to managed cloud hosting market
(PR Web)

MeetMe® Launches in Chinese, Russian and Japanese
(Marketwire)




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Artisan (formerly appRenaissance) launches mobile development platform, Artisan Optimize


Tom Paine



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Artisan, The Old City Philadelphia mobile platform developer formerly known as appRenaissance, today announced from eTail West the general availability of its first off-the-shelf product, Artisan Optimize, which it calls the industry's first Mobile Experience Management (MEM) platform. Artisan Optimize is designed to put the ability to design, test and modify mobile apps directly in the hands of end users, rather than relying on developers, and greatly speed the app development process.

Artisan Optimize is the end result of a private beta process that began in September and public beta started in December. Beta testers included more than 100 customers, of which more than 12 were Fortune 500 members. This release targets iPads and iPhones up to iOS 6; Android support is forthcoming, Artisan says. Also, the Artisan app is now available in the iPhone app store. Artisan Optimize is the first of a series of products on the Artisan MEM platform; others are scheduled for release this year.

A key design element to Artisan's approach is its patent-pending technology which renders the user interface of a native mobile application dynamically from the cloud. The Cloud-based user interface approach grew in part out of Artisan's acquisition of UXFlip last year and bringing its founder Michael Raber on board, Artisan CEO Bob Moul told me in a phone interview.




At least on the surface, there are some similarities to Conshohocken-based Monetate in Artisan's positioning. Marketers and retailers are high on Artisan's list of target markets, and there is an emphasis on giving end-users the ability to rapidly design and modify A/B tests on the fly without programmer involvement.

Artisan has raised $3 million so far led by FirstMark Capital, a New York-based VC firm that knows Moul well since it also backed Boomi, which Moul guided to its successful exit to Dell; Moul and other local private investors have also participated. They've been ramping up; Moul tells me headcount is around 20 and there are nine openings currently listed on Artisan's website, all based in Philadelphia. Artisan's go to market approach will include both outside and inside sales (VP, Sales is among the open positions) and the channel. Price points are $1,000, $4,000 and $10,000 per month. Moul says a Series A round may happen down the road.




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First Round Capital Bridges 'Chasm' Between Startups and Brands
A Seed-Round Fund That Takes the Ad Business Seriously
(Ad Age


Philly Tech People News 2/24/2013







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TicketLeap names Tim Raybould President, Chris Stanchak out as CEO (Technically Philly)

Louis Hayner announced on his LinkedIn page that as of March 1st, "I will resign from my position of CSO (Chief Sales Officer) at Alteva to pursue new entrepreneurial opportunities". Although he says he will continue to act as a consultant with Alteva "for some time", he writes that he is looking forward to a long vacation and planning his next
entrepreneurial adventure.

Suprakash Chaudhuri Is MD, SAP India & Subcontinent (CRN)

Philadelphia Insurance Names New Chief Marketing and Chief Information Officers
Brian O’Reilly promoted to CMO and Andrew Peel hired as CIO of PHLY.
(PR Web)

Tom Flinn Joins Adminovate as Chief Customer Officer (Business Wire)

CareKinesis names Joseph J Filippoli as CIO (CareKinesis Website)



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Daily Links 2/22/2013: Enterprise Software Roundup





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SAP Speeds Up With Its Hana Database Software (Businessweek)

The Second Question (Vijay Vijayasankar/Vijay's thoughts on all things big and small)
Why run SAP BW on HANA?

Coke bottler picks SaaS over SAP (Computerworld)


Brit SAP house G3 Global slurps 2e2's SAP house
Diagonal moves from Morse to 2e2... to an SME in Weybridge
(The Channel)
Diagonal is based in Berwyn, PA.

Informatica Stitches Workday and NetSuite Together (All Things D)

Infor: a grown-up stealth start-up (Vinnie Mirchandani/Enterprise Irregulars)

4Q12 Performance for Trident Capital’s SaaS Portfolio; Nice Way to End the Year (Trident Capital Blog)




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Intel acquires Lancaster-based AppMobi's HTML5 tools business




Tom Paine




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Intel has acquired Lancaster-based AppMobi's HTML5 developer tools platform and hired several of appMobi's related personnel, AppMobi announced yesterday. Those individuals moving to Intel will continue to be based in Lancaster, the company said. Terms were not disclosed.


AppMobi said in October it had more than 130,000 active developers working on mobile and desktop apps using HTML5. Existing and new users will have to register at Intel's website to gain access to the tools, which require no usage or licensing fees.

Meanwhile, AppMobi will position itself as a cloud services company that is focused on delivering mobile app engagement and monetization services across numerous platforms. AppMobi's cloud service are fee-based to developers. Those operations will also be based in Lancaster.

TechCrunch posted a copy of AppMobi's letter to its developers explaining the deal.



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Student Entrepreneurs Explore Startups at Princeton Hack Week



Alan Skontra


Some of the brightest young minds in New Jersey spent an entire week hacking ideas and forming potential new companies during Princeton University's Hack Week 2013, from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, 2013.

More than 80 students heard guest lectures by veteran entrepreneurs, and many formed teams to present their own startup ideas during Demo Day on Saturday.

The Princeton Entrepreneurship Club organized Hack Week. According to junior and computer science major Momchil Tomov, this was the club's first official Hack Week. It had previously hosted weekend hackathons and a weeklong event last year, though without the Hack Week name. He said last year’s event prompted the club to plan a bigger, more organized one this year.

Tomov explained that the club wanted to give students more time to work on their startup ideas. “The basic idea is that we want students to explore projects that could lead to startups in a more focused way,” he said. This year's Hack Week was timed to coincide with Princeton’s winter break, allowing students to attend without worrying about their classes.

Tomov noted that the Entrepreneurship Club had awarded prizes as high as $1,500 during previous events, but it decided against doing so at this one. “Rather than prizes, we figured the main incentive is building a product, getting experience working in a team, getting a sample of what working on a startup would be like and seeing what other people are up to,” he said.

The club received support from Tigerlabs, an “entrepreneur campus” based in the town of Princeton that offers capital, advice and other resources to startups. Several of Tigerlabs' leaders — including managing partner Bert Navarrete, who spoke about accelerators; Jason Glickman, venture partner and CEO of Princeton-based Connected Sports Ventures, who discussed raising capital; and program director James Smits, who covered pitch decks — made guest speeches during Hack Week.

Smits said Tigerlabs was eager to participate. “We thought it was a really good venue for student entrepreneurs to build something,” he said. “We really like when people are actually building products.”

Smits, himself a Princeton graduate, agreed with Tomov that Hack Week would give students time to practice outside class. “It lets the students forget about school for a moment and apply everything they've learned to a real-life application,” he said. “Hopefully it wasn't too much like school.”

Smits said he had enjoyed acting as a mentor to the students. During his talk on pitch decks, he urged them to think about how they present their businesses. “As technical as you might be, you're still one of the spokespersons for your company,” he noted.



Other guest speakers included Pericles Mazarakis, managing director at Boston-based private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, who discussed interacting with other entrepreneurs; Savraj Singh Dhanjal, founder of energy tracker Wattvision (Princeton), who presented a case study on his company; and Spencer Costanzo, president of app developer and e-book publisher Malibu Apps (Princeton), who spoke about generating revenue.

More than 14 student teams presented their projects on Demo Day. They included groups that devised the following apps: Symba, which helps users make better decisions about what they eat based on what they've already consumed that day; Safety Ninja, an app that alerts authorities and close friends when a person is in danger; Pursuit of Mappyness, which notifies students of campus events and other information; and Am I a Freak?, which lets users compare their body parts to human averages.

Tomov said he hopes the students will continue to work on their projects and that the ideas evolve into something more. A group that participated in the event last year went on to form a company, Mapsaurus, that makes an app discovery engine for Android phones. The Am I a Freak? team has uploaded its app to the Google store.

“We've already had companies start out of this, and we think we can help a lot more,” noted Tomov.

For more information about Princeton's Hack Week 2013, see the photos and videos published on Tumbler here.


This article originally appeared in NJTechWeekly.com, and is reposted here with the permission of the author, Alan Skontra, and NJTechWeekly.com.




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Daily Links 2/21/2013: VCE intros new product line including specialized HANA box





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VCE collective takes integrated systems battle down to the midrange
Cisco-EMC-sometimes-VMware converged boxes take on the tier ones
(The Register)
Product line will include specialized appliances to run SAP's HANA in-memory database.

VCE adds two new converged infrastructure models, SAP certification (Computerworld)


Amazon gets (more) serious about the enterprise. No kidding (Gigaom)

San Jose Sharks' controlling owner Hasso Plattner can be hands-off and hands-on (San Jose Mercury News)


Comcast launches app store for biz customers (Gigaom)

Comcast Gets Bizzy With Apps (Light Reading Cable)

Cable TV work caused K.C. gas leak; body found in rubble (USA Today)

Nielsen changing the way it measures television consumption (LA Times: Company Town)

February 2013 Business Outlook Survey (Philly Fed)
Below expectations.

Manufacturing in the Philadelphia Region Unexpectedly Shrinks (Bloomberg)

InterDigital Announces Fourth Quarter 2012 Financial Results (Business Wire)

InterDigital Halted, Rises 4%: Q4 Results Crush Estimates; Anticipates Higher Q1 Revenue (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

ICG Announces Fourth Quarter and Annual Financial Results--Correcting & Replacing (Globe Newswire)

Google reportedly in talks with Warby Parker to make its Google Glass specs look cool (The Next Web)




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Guest Post: Could Networks Become Houses of Cards?



Alex Conners




NetFlix announced last week its first original series, House of Cards. According to a recent NYTimes article, the first 13 episodes of House of Cards are already available on NetFlix. This upfront investment – much different than the way standard TV shows are produced - is a foreshadowing of what’s to come for streaming Internet television. The reality is DVD and BluRay relevance is changing, the way the relevance of physical books changed with the Kindle, Nook and tablets. And now it seems traditional television broadcasting is also being challenged by online video from companies like NetFlix, Amazon Prime, HBO Go and Hulu.

Therefore, my concern is less about the success of the show House of Cards. It is only a matter of time before NetFlix develops an original series or movie that’s an instant success. Frankly the success of NetFlix’s move to create an original series relies less on plot, actors, writers and storylines. The longterm success of this venture will depend on the quality of viewer experience.


The irony of the whole thing – the show title House of Cards, could become a metaphor for the networks it’s streamed on.

According to the Wikipedia page for the phrase House of Cards, “… the expression dates back to 1645. It means a structure or argument built on a shaky foundation or one that will collapse if a necessary (but possibly overlooked or underappreciated) element is removed."

If NetFlix and other companies (Hulu, Amazon Prime and HBO Go) over time start streaming on “shaky [network] foundation[s]” and network management is "overlooked or underappreciated," it could be a disaster.

Today, NetFlix accounts for about a third of all peak Internet bandwidth consumption. But this is only the start. Sandvine, the provider of broadband network solutions for fixed and mobile operators, forecasts that real-time entertainment will be one of the biggest growth areas in data consumption. Sandvine also predicts streaming will account for two thirds of peak bandwidth consumption by 2015. Lastly, Sandvine expects the 2014 World Cup will be the most streamed event in Internet history.

The conclusion - scalable big data network and IT performance management will be imperative to ensure superior quality of viewer experience.

Also remember - the infrastructure challenges aren’t limited to home delivery. Even with high-speed LTE networks expanding across the globe, wireless networks will continue to face congestion problems as mobile device use increases and access to streaming video dominates tablet usage.

Businesses are constantly at risk of network outages and failures. We’ve seen firsthand two examples in the last week alone – Twitter and Amazon both had network crashes in the last month.

Twitter and Amazon aside, my question is this: Is the market prepared for the potential infrastructure issues that could result if NetFlix and the other mentioned content providers continue to create extremely high demand for award-winning programming that is only available online?

Alex Conners manages Wilmington-based SevOne, Inc’s blog,  Rethink IT Performance. According to its website, SevOne provides the world’s fastest, most scalable IT management and reporting platform, delivered as an all-in-one solution, to help you detect and avoid performance events before they impact you business. On January 15, 2013 SevOne announced receiving a $150 million investment from Bain Capital. This article appeared earlier this month in Rethink IT Performance.




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Daily Links 2/20/2013: SAP Founder Plattner Joins Club of Billionaire Donors





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Ed tech accelerators go corporate: Pearson and Kaplan launch startup programs (Gigaom)

Giving Pledge: SAP Founder Plattner Joins Club of Billionaire Donors (Spiegel Online)

SAP Says Plattner Keeping $9.7 Billion Stake Amid Gates Pledge (Bloomberg)

Cloud Computing 101: Start Here to Avoid Cloud Confusion (ASUG News)

Salesforce CEO Benioff Tries Out Some New Material (Bloomberg)

Conshohocken big data firm Monetate says world is ready for it now (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Comcast Business Services Unveils Upware - a Cloud-Based Business-to-Business Software Marketplace for Small Business Customers (Business Wire)

Bidder From China Leads in Fisker Acquisition Talks (Wall Street Journal: Venture Capital Dispatch)
Bye Bye, Delaware!




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Daily Links 2/19/2013: Comcast trying out prepaid Internet Service in Philly





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ICG Increases Ownership in SeaPass Solutions (Globe Newswire)

Curalate Pairs Pinterest, Instagram Analytics Also adds promotions tool for photo-sharing service (Adweek)

Company News: TicketLeap Names Tim Raybould as President and COO; Chris Stanchak as Chairman of the Board
(TicketLeap Blog)

Business Modelling And Planning Solution Anaplan Acquires Vue Analytics, Hires Ex-SAP France COO To Head Up Its European HQ (TechCrunch)

Synygy Rolls Out New Data Management Application for Optymyze (Business Wire)

AppExchange Seven Years On (Denis Pombriant/Enterprise Irregulars)

NBC's 44% Plunge Reveals: Football Has Become TV's Addiction
Pigskin Carried the Peacock in Fourth Quarter, Showing TV's Reliance on Sports
(Ad Age)

Comcast Pitches Pre-Paid Internet Service (Light Reading Cable)

CAN AEREO DISRUPT THE TV BUSINESS? (KEN AULETTA/The New Yorker)

Bloomberg’s parting gift to NYC tech: an online hub to make doing tech in NY easier (PandoDaily)

Berwyn-based Diagonal Consulting acquired (Philadelphia Inquirer)
SAP consultant in quick sale after UK parent 2e2 goes bust.


Unisys Awarded Contract to Support IRS Mission-Critical Computing Systems (PR Newswire)

Get ready for a credit-card war in Wilmington (Delaware Online: Delaware Inc.)




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The Founder Institute launching "exploratory" Philly program in Spring; info sessions this & next week





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The Founder Institute, which describes itself as the "World's Largest Startup Accelerator, with a mission to globalize Silicon Valley and help founders build enduring technology companies", is starting what it calls on its home page an "exploratory" Spring 2013 Philadelphia program. Applications are due on April 13 and sessions will occur from April 30 to August 13, 2013.

The part-time program enables would-be founders to develop and shape their business plans without leaving their day jobs, under the tutelage of experienced CEOs and entrepreneurs. The Institute, founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneur Adeo Ressi in California, says it has helped launch over 650 venture in 39 cities.

The Founder Institute will kick off its Philly program with a free information session and Pitch Boot Camp on Thursday, February 21 at 6pm at the offices of Seed Philly, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia. Guest speakers for the evening include Brett Topche, Managing Director of MentorTech Ventures and Mike Krupit, COO & Co-Founder, Real Food Works. Another free information session will be held on February 28 at 6pm at Seed Philly, featuring talks by DuckDuckGo founder Gabriel Weinberg and WizeHive CEO Mike Levinson.

Also, David Nevas, Principal at Edison Ventures will make an appearance at Coffee & Capital at Quorum, University Science Center on February 21 at 8am.




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Daily Links 2/18/2013: Berwyn-based SAP consultant Diagonal acquired



Who's Right In The Oracle-Forrester Slugfest?
(Read Write Enterprise)

Diagonal Consulting is acquired by G3 Global (Business Wire)
SAP consultant Diagonal is based in Berwyn.

Comcast Buys NBCUniversal (Guest Cartoonist Mike Peters) (The Moderate Voice)

LG Display to invest $657 million in OLED industry (ZDNet)
What might this mean for Ewing, NJ-based Universal Display (PANL)?

Infor Streamlines the Online Orientation Process for the Pennsylvania Office of Administration (Marketwire)





HealthShare will let insurers and health-care providers share patients' data electronically (Philadelphia Inquirer)



Philly Tech People News 2/17/2013







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MeetMe® Names David Clark as Chief Financial Officer (Marketwire)
Was previously CFO of Nutrisystem.

Tribune Appoints Larry Wert As President Of Local Broadcasting (PR Newswire)

Welcome Aboard, Captain Lance (Delphic Digital)

Retired InterDigital Vice President and Chief Scientist Brian Kiernan Named Recipient of IEEE Computer Society Hans Karlsson Award (PR Newswire)

Elemica's Rich Katz Named 2013 Supplier Pro to Know by Supply & Demand Chain Executive Magazine (Marketwire)

RatnerPrestia Welcomes IP Litigator, Robert A. McKinley (PR Web)




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The Real Battle At Dell (Roman Stanek/TechCrunch)


Daily Links 2/15/2013: NBA debuts SAP HANA-powered stats





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NBA debuts HANA-powered stats (SAP Watch)

Violin Memory Is Raising More Money Ahead of Planned May IPO (All Things D)
Important to SAP's in-memory plans.

Qlik Q4 Proves Comeback From Poor Q2; Stock Soars (Investor's Business Daily)

IDC: Outsourcing sector needs rescue fund for cloudy customers (Channel Register)

Startup Creates Yelp-like Site, but for Business Apps
G2 Crowd makes reviewers use their LinkedIn credentials to ensure fair play
(CIO.com)

Oracle Fusion and More Blue Ocean Strategy (Denis Pombriant/Enterprise Irregulars)


SideCar Acquires Austin-Based Ride-Sharing Startup Heyride, Will Soon Launch In 7 New Markets (TechCrunch)
Will roll out ride-sharing in Philadelphia this weekend.

Evolve IP Releases OSSmosis Enterprise Cloud Manager Based on Red Hat’s ManageIQ Technologies
Groundbreaking infrastructure automation tool allows customers to monitor, manage, and access virtual resources in the cloud
(Business Wire)

FCC: ISPs Making Good on Advertised Broadband Speeds (PC Magazine)

Longtime Rendell adviser, Comcast exec David Cohen backs Corbett
(AP via Philadelphia Inquirer)
Will this include a fundraising dinner at his home?

DirecTV's fourth-quarter profit, revenue rises (Reuters)

Former steel property eyed for post-incubator center (Lehigh Valley Business)




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QlikTech posts strong Q4 2012 results; CFO to resign for "personal reasons"
Update: shares up 20% today



Tom Paine




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Radnor-based Business Intelligence vendor QlikTech today released 4th quarter and full year 2012 financial results.

Total revenue increased 27% in the 4th quarter to $137.5 million, and 41% in the Americas. For the full year 2012, revenue was $388.5 million, an increase of 21% from the full year 2011 and 26% on a constant currency basis. GAAP net income for the year was 3.8 million, or $0.04 per diluted common share, down from $9 million last year.

For 2013, QlikTech is providing guidance for revenue for the full year of $465 to $475 million, and non-GAAP income from operations of $50 to $54 million. The midpoint of QlikTech's 2013 revenue projections imply a growth rate of 21%.

QlikTech also announced today Bill Sorenson’s intention to resign as Chief Financial Officer "for personal reasons." He has agreed to stay on in that position until a
successor is found.

Update 2/15/2013: QLIK shares are up 20% today after yesterday's results surpassed
company guidance.



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Today in Philly Tech History 2/13/1988: Innovative Solutions & Support, Inc. celebrates twenty-fifth anniversary of its founding



February 13, 2013: Cockpit instrumentation systems integrator Innovative Solutions & Support, Inc. (IS&S) (NASDAQ:ISSC) celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of its founding in 1988.

The Exton-based company says it "has evolved from engineering and manufacturing CTR stand alone air data instruments to a systems integrator that produces large flat panel cockpit displays with Management System (FMS), GPS, Synthetic Vision (SVS), and Required Navigation Procedure (RNP) capabilities." Geoffrey Hedrick, founder, chairman and CEO of the Company, said in a statement that "“I am more optimistic than I have been in several years about the prospects for the Company as improving market conditions coincide with a number of new products designed for NextGen markets.”

In its last 12 months ending September 30 2012,, IS&S generated revenue of $24.6 million
and net income of $2.98 million. Its stock, currently at $4.37 per share, traded as high as $28 in 2007.




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Daily Links 2/13/2013: More on Comcast's NBCU buyout





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After Declining Wonga Offers, On Deck Lands $42M From IVP, SAP & First Round To Bring Online Lending To Main Street (TechCrunch)

Dell Pressed to Sweeten LBO as T. Rowe Joins Opposition (Bloomberg)

Comcast’s Prime-Time Deal (New York Times: DealBook)

Comcast’s NBC Purchase Pushes Roberts Into Entertainment (Bloomberg)

Time Warner in Talks to Sell Off Majority of Magazines (New York Times: Media Decoder)

More SAP Support Fee Increases on the Way? (ASUG News)

Enterprise Selling: How One Startup Made the Leap (Yesware Blog)
On CloudMine.

ExaGrid and PHD Virtual Team Up to Deliver Enhanced Virtual Data Protection
Technology alliance gives joint customers faster, cost-effective and more reliable disk-based backup in virtual environments
(Business Wire)

CardioNet, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2012 Financial Results (Business Wire)

CardioNet, Inc. and AirStrip Partner to Expand Mobile Patient Monitoring (Business Wire)




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Comcast to buy rest of NBCU from GE for $18.1 billion



Tom Paine




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In what is perhaps an acceleration of a planned schedule, Comcast and GE announced today that Comcast would acquire the outstanding 49% of its NBCU joint venture from GE for $18.1 billion. The transaction, which values NBCU at about $39 billion, is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2013.

In addition, GE Capital (GECC) will sell the NBCU occupied floors in 30 Rockefeller Center, and property in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, to NBCU affiliates for $1.4 billion in cash. Comcast also said it would raise its dividend 20% and begin a new share buy back program.

Comcast shares are up 9% post-announcement in after hours trading. CEO Brian Roberts will appear on CNBC at 5pm, and the company will hold a press conference tomorrow morning.

Also, here is Comcast's earnings release.



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Daily Links 2/12/2013: Intel Confirms It's Making A Streaming TV Box And Online TV Service



Ernst & Young: Cloud, SaaS dominating tech industry acquisitions (ZDNet)

Cornerstone launches Salesforce native application (ZDNet)

Auditor: US Army's ERP software projects at risk (CIO.com)
One of the major Army ERP projects is being built on SAP.

DELL: T. Rowe Price Joins Opposition to LBO (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Intel Confirms It's Making A Streaming TV Box And Online TV Service (SAI)



Fox and Comcast Announce Comprehensive Programming Agreement
New Accord Provides Entertainment, Sports and Local News to Comcast Xfinity TV Customers In and Out of the Home
Agreement includes FOX Broadcasting and FOX Television Stations Programming in Major Cities
(Business Wire)

Fox and Comcast Sign TV Everywhere Pact
Distribution deal covers stations, cable networks
(Broadcasting & Cable)

DOJ Wants More Info From Arris, Google on Motorola Home Bid
So-Called 'Second Request' Issued in Conjunction with Antitrust Review
(Multichannel News)

Power play: Philadelphia houses U.S. headquarters of a leading maker of networks that manage power grids (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Lockheed in Newtown gets go-ahead to begin work on next GPS III satellites (Philadelphia Business Journal)


Philly-based Pinion Hopes To Finally Get Ambient Activity Tracking Right By Distilling Your Activities To An Essential Few (TechCrunch)


Safeguard Scientifics takes stake in wireless health monitoring venture Sotera Wireless

Tom Paine




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Correction: Earlier version misspelled Sotera name in title and first line.

Last week, Safeguard Scientifics announced it had acquired a 7.7% stake in San Diego-based Sotera Wireless, a wireless health monitoring venture, for $1.33 million. It was part of an overall financing round of $14.8 million.

Safeguard joined a prestigious cast of existing investors including Sanderling Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, EDBI, Intel Capital, Cerner Capital and West Health Investment Fund, as well as new investor Delphi Ventures. James A. Datin, Executive Vice President and Managing Director at Safeguard, will join Sotera's board of directors.

Sotera’s ViSi Mobile platform is a comprehensive vital signs monitoring system that is designed to keep clinicians connected to their patients, whether in or out of bed, or in transport. ViSi Mobile is initially targeted for in-patient use; Safeguard says that by some estimates, around 60 percent of the approximately 1,000,000 U.S. hospital beds are not continuously monitored. Last year the FDA granted Sotera Wireless 510(k) clearance for in-patient use, and Safeguard's Datin told me in a phone interview that the economic case for in-patient use is strong with savings in areas such as nursing staff time and liability insurance.

However, the larger potential market could be for out-patient or in-home monitoring, and Sotera does not have a product with FDA clearance for that market yet.

Conshohocken-based CardioNet, which also started out of San Diego before moving here, was an early pioneer in wireless in-home monitoring. In fact, Dr. Eric Topol, the cardiologist and leading healthcare technology pioneer who is now Chief Academic Officer of Scripps Health and serves on Sotera Wireless' board, was the first physician to serve on CardioNet's Medical Advisory Board in 1999. CardioNet, which had an IPO in 2008, has suffered financially more recently, in part due to a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services decision to slash its medicare reimbursement rates for CardioNet.

Safeguard's acquisition of a 7.7% stake for $1.33 million implies a current valuation of lass than $20 million, although Safeguard says that the total equity invested in Sotera is $65.5 million, including when it operated under the name Triage Wireless.

Datin says Sotera is going to need to raise more money, and Safeguard may be interested in participating again under the right terms. In fact, as part of this investment Safeguard gains the option to raise its ownership stake to 20 percent under certain scenarios. Datin also envisions part of Sotera's potential value for Safeguard lying in analyzing in the vast amounts of healthcare data its system may eventually collect. He also sees possible synergies with other Safeguard healthcare portfolio companies.


Here Dr. Topol demos ViSi Mobile on the TV show Rock Center:






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Daily Links 2/11/2013: ESPN Accused in Dish Case of Giving Comcast Better Terms







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First Round Has the Most Exits of Social Business Startups – By a Nose (PE Hub)

Nomi Raises $3M To Help Retailers Understand Their Customers, Online And Offline (TechCrunch)
Founded by Buddy Media & Salesforce.com vets; round led by First Round Capital.

It Took Only 13 Days For Former Salesforce Execs To Raise $3 Million For Their Startup, Nomi (Silicon Alley Insider)


“Buy When There’s Blood in the Streets” and Other Lessons from Venture Capitalists Fred Wilson and Josh Kopelman
(Wharton Entrepreneurship Blog)

NBCUniversal, Esquire To Launch New Channel (Broadcasting & Cable)

Comcast May Add Video Subscribers, First Since '07 (Investor's Business Daily)

ESPN Accused in Dish Case of Giving Comcast Better Terms
(Bloomberg)

New call for AWS spinoff (IT World)



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Philly Tech People News 2/10/2013







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Hammer to Oversee All NBCU Cable Entertainment Nets in Restructuring
Zalaznick Moved to New Digital Role; Uva to Oversee Hispanic Channels
(Multichannel News)

Infragistics Appoints Industry Veteran Christopher Larsen as COO
Company Poised for Strong Growth in 2013
(PR Newswire)

George Babich, Jr. Elected President and Chief Executive Officer of Checkpoint Systems, Inc. (Business Wire)



Quintiq Hires Jeffrey Vail as Chief Marketing Officer (PR Newswire)

InterDigital Strengthens Executive Team and Promotes Allen Proithis to Executive Vice President
(Business Wire)

PHD Virtual Appoints New VP of EMEA to Capitalize on Momentous Growth within Region (Business Wire)

Meet a New Member to the QVC Team! Your New Dell Expert, Nate Matatall! (QVC Community Blog)





Saturday Highlights 2/9/2013: California cans massive SAP project



Nine Questions for Peter Levine, Andreessen Horowitz’s Enterprise Dude (All Things D)

No More Boring Software (Wired)

California terminates contract with SAP over massive, troubled IT project (IT World)

Roller-coaster ride for financial firm ICG (Philadelphia Inquirer)


Today in Philly Tech History 2/8/2012: EPAM Systems completes IPO



On February 8, 2012, Newtown-based systems integrator EPAM Systems completed its IPO. Although it had to cut back on its offering (to 6 million shares at $12 per share from a planned 7.4 million shares at $16-$18), the so-called "Cognizant of Eastern Europe" since most of its workforce is based there has done well, as its share price has risen to $21.49 giving EPAM a market value in excess of $900 million.



Bain Capital Ventures' Matt Harris on Billtrust & SevOne investments (Bloomberg TV)



Bloomberg TV interviewed Bain Capital Ventures' managing director Matt Harris on the firm's current investment strategy, including its recent investments in Hamilton, NJ-based Billtrust ($25 million), and Wilmington, DE-based SevOne ($150 million).







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Daily Links 2/8/2013: Report: BI vendor Tableau picks bankers for summer IPO







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Lockheed Martin Completes Major GPS III Flight Software Milestone (PR Newswire)

Fox to unveil sports channels for ad buyers in challenge to ESPN (Reuters)

Software maker Tableau picks banks for summer IPO - sources (Reuters)

SAP’s “Platform Agnostic” Approach to Mobile Devices (ASUG News)

Kopelman on VC branding and the PR hype machine (PandoDaily)

Synchronoss Spikes As Q4 Results Cruise Past Estimates
(Eric Savitz/Forbes)
Synchronoss is based in Bridgewater, NJ, with Engineering R&D in Bethlehem.

Apple hires AMOLED TV Application Expert James (Jueng-Gil) Lee from LG (9to5Mac)


Christie sets terms for online gambling (Asbury Park Press)




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Today in Philly Tech history 2/7/2010: SAP makes big changes at the top



On Super Bowl Sunday (February 7, 2010) SAP announced the ouster of CEO Leo Apotheker (technically, they announced his contract wouldn't be renewed and he resigned) and his replacement by co-CEO's Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe, an arrangement that remains in place to this day.



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Daily Links 2/7/13: Many broadband meters inaccurate; Amazon v. Ariba coming battleground?





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When Will the Rest of Us Get Google Fiber?
Google may choose to expand its service, but there’s little incentive for established players to come up to speed.
(MIT Technology Review)

Analysts Discuss Liberty Global's Deal for U.K.'s Virgin Media, Effect on BSkyB (Hollywood Reporter)

More bad news about broadband caps: Many meters are inaccurate (Gigaom)

NBC closes hyperlocal, data-driven publishing pioneer EveryBlock
(Poynter)


Aereo’s big bet to break the TV industry: CEO Chet Kanojia explains
(Gigaom)
Aereo is scheduled to expand to Philadelphia and several other cities sometime this year.


SAP User Groups Unhappy with Upcoming Support Fee Increase
The decision to raise Standard Support fees 'makes absolutely no sense,' one group board member says
(CIO.com)

Amazon vs. Ariba: The Coming Battleground? (Jason Busch/Spend Matters)

SunGard Announces Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2012 Results (Business Wire)

Student investors VenturePact graduate their first startups (Keystone Edge)


CoTweet founders launch Seesaw for iPhone, an app that gets your friends’ opinion when you need it (The Next Web)