Links 10/16/2013: Veeva Systems worth $4.5 billion following first day close after IPO

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Pleasanton software firm Veeva Systems rakes in $261 million in IPO (San Jose Mercury News)
Veeva, with significant presence and customer base in Philly area, initially valued at $2.4 billion pre-trading.

Shares of Veeva Systems soar in IPO (MarketWatch)


Veeva’s IPO Isn’t Twitter-Hot, but It Should Make One Investor Very Rich (Bloomberg)

Gordon Ritter: Veeva Systems is the next Salesforce (VentureBeat)


Veeva CEO: We were never going to delay IPO (Fortune Term Sheet)


Verizon Testing Same-Day Delivery for Phones Ordered Online (AllThingsD)
Testing it in Philadelphia.

Comcast and NBCU Tap Exec to Lead Cross-Company Promo Efforts (Variety)



Consumer interest in cable shifts
Subscribers seek customized bundles (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Dominion Business Solutions Merges with Integrated Business Consulting (Business Wire)
Combined company's portfolio includes Philly-based EigenX.

Links 10/15/2013: QlikTech partners with Epic; Neat with Microsoft

Logi Analytics Secures $27.5M Investment led by LLR Partners (Logi Analytics)
LLR continues DC-area push.

QlikTech Announces Electronic Medical Records Technology Agreement (Business Wire)
Teams up with Epic.

Neat and Microsoft Announce New Strategic Partnership (PR Newswire)


SAP signs Citibank to cloud development platform (BusinessCloud News)


In Aereo Fight, Are Comcast and NBCUniversal at Odds?
(Wall Street Journal: Corporate Intelligence)

Comcast Ventures Leads $20 Million Investment in SundaySky (Multichannel News)



Getting to a gig: How CenturyLink is building out its network and why. (Gigaom)


Siemens Enterprise Pushes Software as CEO Works on Sale
(Bloomberg)



Alcatel-Lucent Chief Warns Company May Collapse (AP via ABC News)

New Veeva Network Customer Master Solution Gains Traction among Life Sciences Industry Innovators (Business Wire)

JetPay Corporation Receives $10 Million Capital Investment from Flexpoint Ford (Business Wire)

CEO Swap: How trading jobs for one week helped these founders become better leaders, and people (GeekWire)
Phiily's Wil Reynolds spends week in Seattle.

How ElectNext found its native ad groove (PandoDaily)

This week in Phily Tech History: University City Science Center celebrates 50th

Tom Paine


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Philadelphia's University City Science Center, founded in 1963, has been remembering its 50th anniversary throughout 2013.

It will be holding a celebration of its anniversary this coming Thursday evening (October 17) at the Hotel Monaco. It appears to be sold out, according to its Eventbrite page. The event will feature a formal program highlighting the Science Center’s history and successes, and the announcement of the inaugural inductees into the Innovators Walk of Fame.


Based on information the Science Center shared with me, the nearest thing to an official
founding date may be October 28,1963:

• January 1963, Gaylord P. Harnwell, President of both the University of Pennsylvania and the West Philadelphia Corporation, appointed a committee chaired by E.B. Shils, Professor of Industry in the Wharton School, to advise a course of action for the University to take on the possible development of a science center in University City.

• 28 October 1963, Penn joined with Drexel, the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, Presbyterian Hospital, and Temple University to submit articles of incorporation for the University City Science Center (UCSC) and the University City Science Institute (UCSI) to the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.

The University of Pennsylvania archives contains this excellent,in-depth history of the UCSC written by MacKenzie S. Carlson.

"Building 1" at 3401 Market /
Courtesy University City Science Center

The Science Center was the first, and remains the largest, urban research park in the United States. Since it was founded in 1963, graduate organizations and current residents of the Port business incubator have created more than 15,000 jobs that remain in the Greater Philadelphia region today and contribute more than $9 billion to the regional economy annually, the organization says.

Stephen S. Tang PhD has served as President & CEO since 2008.

Update: Science Center Celebrates 50th Anniversary - Launches Innovators Walk of Fame

Links 10/14/2013: New York Times on Philly newspaper war

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Philadelphia Newspaper’s Owners at War (New York Times)

Oracle’s hardware business may be worse than we thought (Gigaom)

Red Hat Loves SAP, It's Official (Dr Dobbs)

Unisys launches mobile security solution for enterprises (Computerworld)



Comcast to Offer Netflix on Set-Tops? Three Reasons It Makes Sense (Variety)

How Alibaba Could Underprice Amazon, and Other Things You Should Know (Bloomberg)


Waywire, Cory Booker’s Attempt to Build a Web Video Startup, Sells to Magnify (All Things D)
Just in time before the election.

Yahoo Acquires Bread, Will Shut Down The URL Shortener That Earned You Money (TechCrunch)
Bread was a portfolio company of Wayne Kimmel's SeventySix Capital.


Penn Engineering Intro Class Gets a Power Boost (Penn News)

Philly Tech People News 10/13/2013

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Hulu Said to Be Close to Naming Fox’s Hopkins as CEO
(Bloomberg)

Arthur Sadoun Named CEO of Publicis Worldwide (Ad Age)


SunGard Announces Departure of Harold Finders (Business Wire)

EPAM Systems Announces CFO Transition - Raises Third Quarter and Full Year Guidance (Thomson Business One)

Epicor abruptly replaces CEO (San Francisco Business Time)
Epicor, a mid-level ERP supplier, has operations in the Philadelphia area.

Philly's biggest IP law firm loses two key partners (Philadelphia Business Journal)

IP law firm founder announces retirement (Philadelphia Business Journal)

QVC Appoints Matthew Goldberg As Senior Vice President Global Market Development (PR Newswire)

Dr. Ulrich Flatten to Retire as CEO, QVC Germany (PR Newswire)

QVC Names Gregg Bertoni CEO of QVC Italy (PR Newswire)


Edward Lorenti Appointed as Instem VP Global Sales (Business Wire)

Point.io Names Savana Inc. Chairman and CEO Michael Sanchez to Board of Directors (Marketwire)


Life Sciences Industry Leverages Expertise of Veeva’s Jennifer Goldsmith
Goldsmith appointed to Pennsylvania Bio’s Healthcare IT Advisory Committee
(Business Wire)

LeadiD Appoints Chief Financial Officer To Support Company’s Accelerated Growth (PR Web)

Sunday Highlights 10/13/2013: WSJ: Netflix talking to cable operators, including Comcast

The benefits of a move to the city (Philadelphia Inquirer)
NetPlus moves from Conshohocken to Philly.

Why US government IT fails so hard, so often (Ars Technica)

From the Start, Signs of Trouble at Health Portal
(NY Times)

Netflix in talks with U.S. cable companies: WSJ
(Reuters)

Saturday Highlights 10/12/2013: More on Alibaba/ShopRunner deal; Fisker goes on block & can't pay taxes

E-commerce shipping service ShopRunner raises more than $200 million
(Internet Retailer)
Gives some more detail on deal, including comments from CEO Scott Thompson.

ShopRunner’s Scott Thompson: We’re Building So Much More Than An Amazon Prime Competitor (All Things D)

It will be interesting to see what ShopRunner commitment to the Philly area will be as it grows.


‘The first one’s free, kid.’ Amazon launches AWS Activate to get startups hooked (VentureBeat)

Fisker loan heads to auction block as U.S. seeks bids
(Reuters via Automotive News)

Fisker owes $1 million in taxes (Wilmington News Journal)

Links 10/11/2013: Veeva Systems boosts offering range to $16-$18 per share; Broadcast nets petition Supreme Court to shutter Aereo

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Veeva Systems increases range to $16 to $18, proposed deal size is now $222 million (Renaissance Capital)
Deal expected to price next week. Based in California, Veeva has a significant presence in
the Philadelphia area.

John Malone Doesn’t See Cablevision as Cable-Merger Target (Bloomberg)

Cable Stocks Soar on Malone Talk (Multichannel News)

‘Malone’s Melodies’ and More From Liberty Media’s Presentation (Wall Street Journal: Corporate Intelligence)

Broadcasters could bring Aereo fight to Supreme Court: sources
(Reuters)

Update: CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox File Supreme Court Petition to Shut Down Aereo (Mashable)


Comcast Says X1 Box Distribution Limitations Are Temporary, Isolated (Multichannel News)



Google to sunset Google TV brand as its smart TV platform merges with Android (Gigaom)


Heartland Payment Systems and Tabbedout Serve Up Integrated Mobile Payment Solution to Drive Consumer Engagement (Business Wire)


Forrester's First Wave Report on B2B e-Commerce Vendors: IBM Is Tops (CMS Wire)

CIOs see Google as more innovative than current enterprise vendors (ZDNet)

The big deal: Alibaba leads $206 million round in ShopRunner

Tom Paine

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Alibaba has led a $206 million round in Amazon Prime competitor ShopRunner, which has offices in Conshohocken, San Francisco and New York, the Wall Street Journal reports. American Express also participated in the round, which values ShopRunner at $600 million. Reports in August had suggested the size of Alibaba's investment would be in the $70 to $75 million range.

As part of the transaction, the Journal says EBay, which had about a 30% stake in the venture, exited at a profit. This explains my confusion, as I reported last week, about EBay testing its own Amazon Prime competitor without ShopRunner's involvement. It may also reflect increasing competitive pressures globally between Alibaba and EBay.

A part of GSI Commerce founder Michael Rubin's Kynetic LLC holding company, ShopRunner's CEO is Scott Thompson, who briefly served as Yahoo CEO before being pushed out last year due to a resume discrepancy. Prior to that, he served as President of EBay's PayPal unit.

Alibaba also has a PayPal-like payment platform outside the US and there is a chance it could introduce it here. The Chinese internet giant is expected to file for an IPO in the US.

No word on whether EBay also exited its stake in Rue La La, another Kynetic holding.

A majority of ShopRunner employees listed on LinkedIn are based in the Philly area, although several of its senior executives are located in the Bay area.



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Philly to get a giant new ecommerce/retail tech stock, of sorts: QVC Group

Tom Paine

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Liberty Interactive Corp announced today plans to split itself into two separate tracking stocks, one for West Chester-based QVC and another for its other ecommerce holdings.

QVC Group, which will begin trading next year, will also include Liberty Interactive's 38% stake in HSN Inc. (formerly Home Shopping Network). The possibility of Liberty Interactive buying the rest of HSN and merging it with QVC has often been discussed by Liberty management and others.

Liberty Interactive Chairman John C. Malone has been a long-time fan of tracking stocks and frequently creates new ones as he sees the need arise. Tracking stocks can provide investor focus on a particular sector, financial flexibility, and possible tax advantages. Tracking stocks track the performance of a particular unit of a corporation without giving the holder a claim on the underlying assets of the unit or parent company. Liberty Interactive was already traded through a tracking stock, Liberty Interactive Group (LINTA).

This move reflects the parent company's previously stated desire to increase the strategic
focus on and visibility of QVC as a distinct entity. It also may open the door to other strategic transactions, including perhaps a deal with HSN.

But QVC has not really been a growing business for some time ($2 billion revenue in Q2 2013 vs. $1.8 billion in Q2 2010) , in spite of expansion into Italy and China. While broadcast remains an essential platform for it, QVC sees itself increasingly as an ecommerce company, with website orders now accounting for 42% of revenue, and two-thirds of that coming via mobile.

Liberty Interactive (NASDAQ: LINTA) currently has a market capitalization of $12.8 billion. HSN Inc.'s market capitalization is $2.77 billion, which would put the value of LINTA's 38% stake at about $1 billion (which should already be reflected in LINTA's market cap).

Links 10/10/2013: Ailibaba leads reported $206 million financing in Kynetic's ShopRunner

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Alibaba leads $206M financing in Amazon rival ShopRunner (CNET News)
This explains alot.

QVC Group To Be Launched as New Tracking Stock of Liberty Interactive Corporation (PR Newswire)

Liberty Media Buys 5.2% Stake of Its Own Shares From Comcast
(Bloomberg)

Malone: No reason Xfinity or Hulu can't be syndicated (FierceCable)



Comcast, NBCU Connect With Twitter (Multichannel News)

Comcast: Twitter Just The Start For ‘See It’ Button (Multichannel News)



As deadline nears, many New Yorkers still can't get Verizon's fiber internet (The Verge)
Got an update on FiOS progress in Philly, Verizon?

U.S. cable companies home in on security (Reuters)

2 PHILLY INQUIRER OWNERS SUE COMPANY, PUBLISHER (AP)



BlackBerry Is Said to Warm to Idea of a Breakup (Bloomberg)
SAP's possible interests discussed.

How Jeff Bezos Crushed Diapers.com So Amazon Could Buy Diapers.com
(AllThingsD)

Makerspace 3rd Ward unexpectedly closes (Newsworks)

Is Crowdfunding Coming to New Jersey? (NJ.com)

Workday ‘Steals Show,’ At HR Tech Conference, Adoption Could ‘Skyrocket’: Piper Jaffray (Barron's:
Tech Trader Daily)




Two-tier ERP destined to become just one tier in time (ZDNet)