What do latest changes at PeopleLinx mean?

Tom Paine

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Philly-based PeopleLinx, which in March lost a key component of its original product offering when LinkedIn withdrew access to its API, last week announced that one cofounder,
Patrick Baynes, was leaving to pursue other entreprenuial opportunities, and the other, former CEO Nathan Egan, was reshuffeld to another position. So, as I crptically commented next to the news item the other night, "leaves some questions unanswered about company's future".

Not at all, CMO Michael Idinopulos tells me, PeopleLinx is doing quite well. Six-figure contracts have been signed with several new clients; PeopleLinx3, with a new UI and greater ease of use, is coming out soon; and the company just raised another $1.5 million in debt-based venture capital. Baynes has always been an entreprneur eager to find the next thing, and Egan remains integral to Peoplelinx' customer acquisition process.

But a key is putting more exprienced pepole in key positions, with former COO Kevin O'Nell
taking over as CEO. O'Nell, a managing partner with PepoleLinx investor MissionOG,e served as COO for Conshohocken-based eCount before and after its acquisition by Citi (Citi Prepaid), as well as having run product development for a division of Capital One.

SAP supports open source Cloud Foundry and OpenStack for cloud
(ZDNet)

The sound of silence can’t drown out Unisys’ painful transition to a cloud-enabled world (Diginomica)

Comcast: Our Broadband Network Is IPv6-Ready (Multichannel News)

PTC to buy Axeda its second acqusition for the industrial internet of things (Gigaom)
Also acquired ThingWorx.

Links 7/22: Google testing Wi-Fi in Uber cars in Philadelphia

Comcast Reports Mixed Q2 Financials As NBCU Films Slip, Offsetting TV Strength (Deadline)

Comcast profit boosted by internet subscriber growth, NBC
(Reuters via Chigago Tribune)

Comcast Reports 2nd Quarter 2014 Results (Business Wire)

Comcast
speeds up X1 rollout (Multichannel News)
Brian Roberts: previous X1 box inventory issues are now a thing of the past.



Comcast memo on viral cancelation call: It was “painful to listen to” (Ars Technica)


Verizon Beats Earnings Estimates on Stronger User Gains
(Bloomberg)

How Barcelona and Philadelphia Are Turning Procurement Upside Down (CityLab)

Google adds Wi-Fi to Uber cars in Philly (VentureBeat)

Salesforce.com Gains Planning Via Host Analytics App (Information Week)

Oracle builds on BlueKai acquisition with Data Cloud (PC World)

As AppDynamics lands $120 million, its focus shifts to expansion and new products (Gigaom)


SAP Awards Advertising and Marketing Business to Omnicom Group (PR Newswire)

LinkedIn Does Another Deal, Buying Bizo
(New York Times: DealBook)

Links 7/21/2014: Netflix tops Q2 targets; PeopleLinx cofounder departs

Verizon FiOS getting faster uploads to match download speeds (PC World)

Comcast is bringing experimental labs features to its X1 set-top box
(Gigaom)

Deadline Q&A: Can Matt Strauss’ Hollywood Deals Help Comcast Defend Cable?
(Deadline)


Netflix Tops Q2 Subscriber Growth Targets, Forecasts Strong International Expansion (Variety)



Exclusive: Yahoo Poised to Buy Mobile Analytics and Ad Platform Flurry
(Re/code)
First Round Capital was in early at Flurry, whose sale price is estimated at several hundred million by Re/code. It is a company that I think to some extent Philly's Artisan Mobile is trying to compete against.

Face of PeopleLinx leaves company, has big plans for next endeavor (Philadelphia Business Journal)
Leaves some questions unanswered about company's future. Here's PeopleLinx' answer here.



Goliath Technologies Acquires MaaS Provider TransformaTech (TalkinCloud)
Goliath Technologies is headed by former PHD Virtual CEO Thomas Charlton. Both companies are locally owned.

vXchnge Extends Reach to Philadelphia With Next-Generation Data Center (Marketwire)

Philly Tech People News 7/20/2014: Monetate appoints new VP-Marketing

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Subscribe to Philly Tech People News by Email


Monetate Appoints Kevin Young as Vice President of Marketing (PR Newswire)

Susquehanna Growth Equity adds to team (PE Hub)



iCIMS bolsters senior leadership team (NJBIZ)

After ups and downs, Unisys gets a $681M boost (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Would-be cloud giants hone their enterprise strategies (Gigaom)

Level 3 heats up the Netflix, Verizon internet war (ZDNet)

Kicking the Tires on Uber’s $17 Billion Valuation: Is It Worth That Much? (Knowledge@Wharton)

Links 7/18/14: Comcast signs on to carry SEC Network

That Comcast Customer Service Rep Wasn't Going Rogue (Bloomberg Business Week)

Time Warner Cable promises one-gigabit Internet for L.A. in 2016 (LA Times)

Comcast Xfinity signs on to carry SEC Network (USA Today)


Murdoch Puts Time Warner on His Wish List
(New York Times: DealBook)

Aereo had fewer than 100K paying subscribers, copyright filing suggests (Gigaom)

Reconstructing SAP’s SMB strategy…and ByDesign (Diginomica)


Trice Medical Raises $11.6 Million Series B Financing Led by Safeguard Scientifics; Appoints Jeffrey O'Donnell Sr. to Chairman and CEO (Globe Newswire)

Links 7/17/2014: SAP cloud business shows strong growth as on-premise software drops; Big cuts at MSFT

SAP Online Software Boosts Sales as Profit Lags Estimates (Bloomberg)

SAP raises annual cloud revenue forecast after the business soars in Q2 (PC World)

SAP Q2 2014 Earnings: 6 Customer Takeaways (ASUG News)

SAP CEO McDermott talks Oracle, Hana and life in Germany (PC World)


SAP to focus on small businesses with launch of SMB Solutions Group (ZDNet)


BILLTRUST BUYS OPEN SCAN TECHNOLOGIES (Billing World)
Billtrust, backed by Bain Capital, is based in Hamilton, NJ.

How Comcast became a powerful—and controversial—part of the Internet backbone (Ars Technica)

Telecom heavyweights, including Comcast, spar at Senate hearing (Philadelphia Inquirer)



Aereo Hits Roadblock in Effort to Become Cable System
(Hollywood Reporter)

Microsoft lays off 18,000, including half of Nokia, in largest-ever job cuts (PC World)


Microsoft closing Xbox Entertainment Studios (Engadget)


DreamIt Health Philadelphia names 2014 class
(Philadelphia Business Journal)

Philly Tech VentureWatch 7/16/2014

Tom Paine

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In announcing in late June that iCIMS' Ronald Kasner had been named CFO of the Year by New Jersey Technology Council, the rapidly growing (35% pa it says) human resources SaaS vendor revealed a few interesting facts about itself. Matawan-based iCIMS said it now has almost 400 employees, more than 2200 clients, is profitable, and its recurring revenue is approaching an $80 million annual run rate. All of which could put iCIMS, which targets the SMB (Small and medium-sized business) market, on track for an IPO in the not too distant future.

In early 2012, iCIMS received a $35 million minority investment from Bala Cynwyd-based
Susquehanna Growth Equity.

Speaking of SGE, it recently announced the addition of Ben Weinberg, formerly a Principal at
Element Partners, to its team as a Director.

Sticking to the New Jersey theme, Lawrencville-based Edison Ventures is now Edison Partners, as of this week. The new name reflects "a new ownership and management structure – a partnership emphasizing learning, innovation, empathy, relentless execution, and collaborative decision-making -- under the leadership of Chris Sugden, Managing Partner, and four General Partners," the firm said in a statement. Trying to remember what its prior name was before the last name change, which wasn't too long ago. I reported recently on Edison's plans for its eighth fund.

Philadelphia-based PeopleLinx has raised another $1.5 million in [debt-based] financing, Technical.ly Philly reported based on an SEC filing.
PeopleLinx is facing some transitional issues in its business model since its access to the LinkedIn API was removed by LinkedIn in March.

It brings PeopleLinx' total funding to $4.7 million. Existing investors Osage Venture Partners, MissionOG, and Greycroft Partners all participated, Technical.ly Philly quoted
a PeopleLinx exec as confirming.

The Inquirer's Joe DiStefano wrote this week about the success of Newtown Square's pet insurer Petplan. In the wake of competitor Trupanion's recent IPO filing implying a market value of potentially more than $400 million, could the somewhat smaller Petplan take the same path? Petplan backer Vernon Hill isn't saying right now, but does tell the Inquirer he feels Petplan has a better business plan long term.

Comcast Ventures' latest bet is an $8 million Series A investment in San Francisco-based cybersecurity tech firm Bay Dynamics. Comcast appears to be the sole Series A participant to this point.

Amused by the comments of Yahoo's Chief Development Officer yesterday calling venture
capital "a hobby." Though I get her point, it will rankle many.

Links 7/16/2014: Murdoch bid for Time Warner (not Time Warner Cable) rebuffed, but bid might be raised

Rupert Murdoch Is Rebuffed in Offer for Time Warner (New York Times: DealBook)

Report: Samsung in Talks to Buy Smart Home Startup SmartThings (Wall Street Journal: Digits)
First Round Capital was an early investor in SmartThings.

Apple and IBM: Fourth time's a charm? (Fortune)

Here’s why your Comcast rep is yelling at you (The Verge)

Comcast, TiVo May Ditch the CableCARD (Light Reading)

Cloud financial software continues its march into large enterprises (Brian Sommer/Enterprise Irregulars)

SAP withdraws appeal in German software resale dispute (PC World)