Links 2/13: Heartland Payment & Qlik acquisitions; PBJ - Is Comcast assembling parcels for third tower?
Heartland strengthens its position in the hospitality and retail POS markets through the acquisition of Point-of-Sale companies Dinerware and pcAmerica (Business Wire)
Stops POS development at Leaf, takes write down.
Qlik Bolsters Advanced Reporting Capabilities with Acquisition of NPrinting (Business Wire)
Exclusive: Third Comcast skyscraper possibly in the works as Center City block bought piece-by-piece (Philadelphia Business Journal)
Curious: How much organic (non-acquisition) growth does Comcast expect and why do they need so many headcount at HQ?
Powell: NCTA Highly Likely To Sue FCC Over Title II (Multichannel News)
FCC's Pai: Net-neutrality proposal is secret Internet regulation plan (LA Times)
Verizon Can't Upgrade Baltimore Because Parts Are 'Hard to Find' (Broadband Reports)
IBM cloud chief: ‘We’re in a marathon’
(VentureBeat)
Book a hotel room on Instagram (USA Today)
With Curalate's assistance.
Ben Franklin approves investment of $1.9 million in 11 companies (Ben Franklin Technology Partners)
Burning questions following SAP S/4HANA announcement (Brian Sommer/Diginomica)
Links 2/12: Jet.com gets $590 million valuation before selling anything; LinkedIn cracks down further on API access
Jet.com secures a $600M valuation — before it’s even launched a site (VentureBeat)
Founded by the Wharton grad who founded Quidsi (Diapers.com), which was bought by Amazon. Penn-related MentorTech Ventures has a (small) stake in Jet.com, as it did in Quidsi.
Amazon challenger Jet is worth $590 million... sort of (Fortune)
Billionaire John Malone buys big stake in Lionsgate; Starz may benefit (LA Times)
Gulfstream a Memory, Apotheker Hauls His Bag to Tech Startups (Bloomberg)
hybris takes charge of front-facing SAP assets – launches marketing tool to fill gaps (Diginomica)
Marketo, Sprinklr Partner with Hybris on Marketing Solution (CRM Magazine)
Dropbox Replaces Insider CFO With Former Motorola Executive (Re/code)
Dropbox' new CFO was CFO at Adelphia, the Pennsylvania-based cable company, after it imploded due to an accounting scandal. Comcast later picked up part of it.
LinkedIn takes aim at developers with plans to lock down most of its APIs (The Next Web)
To save on IT outsourcing, Minneapolis takes over help desk
(Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
Dumping Unisys.
Make Enterprise Software People Actually Love
(Harvard Business Review)
Swiss firm acquires Malvern's Akcelerant for $50 million plus potential earnout
Tom Paine
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Swiss financial software firm Temenos Group AG has acquired Malvern-based financial software provider Akcelerant. The price is $50 million plus a $5 million potential earnout.
Akcelerant's website carries the tag line "not just for collections any more," reflecting its roots. It says it now has a full set of modules covering the entire financial services customer relationship management function. Its primary market is the credit union space.
 |
| Jay Mossman / LinkedIn |
Jay Mossman, who founded Akcelerant in 2000, is a veteran Philadelphia area entrepreneur, having run another financial services software firm, Premier Solutions (sold to SunGard), earlier in the 90s. His earlier experience was mostly in technology with financial services companies.
Akcelerent has 130 employees and is expected to achieve revenue of $15 million this year, and be at breakeven, Temenos says.
Temenos said in a statement that "the acquisition is key to Temenos’ North America growth strategy, especially within the US. It follows the 2013 acquisition of Trinovus, a software-as-a-service technology provider, and creation of the Temenos USA division. The purchase of Akcelerant will also give Temenos additional scale and presence in the region and enable it to offer a broader portfolio of products to new and existing customers."
Mossman and his current management team will remain in place.
Links 2/11/15: Decline and fall of NBC News?; Conshy's Gladstone Analytics gets partner, investment
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Skies darken over Comcast merger (The Hill)
The decline and fall of NBC News(Politico)
Tech Dealmakers See Media Content, Chips Driving M&A (Bloomberg)
The Daily Startup: AppDirect Raises $50M to Distribute Cloud-Based Software (Wall Street Journal: Venture Capital
Dispatch)
Aequitas Capital Partners with [Conshohocken-based] Gladstone Analytics (PR Newswire)
Aequitas Capital says it "has made an investment in and established a partnership" with Gladstone Analytics.
Cerner closes 2014 with big revenue, earnings gains (Modern Healthcare)
Fieldglass Achieves Significant Growth In 2014, Accelerates Strategic Initiatives (PR Newswire)
Fieldglass was acquired by SAP last year.
S/4 HANA: It’s not R/3, and it’s not 1992 either (part II) (Joshua Greenbaum/EA Consult)
Salesforce.com's Revamped Partner Program: New Tier Calculations, Training, Annual Fee (CRN)
IBM sues Priceline over patents, because Prodigy was cool (Ars Technica)
New Set-Tops for Comcast, Charter (Light Reading)
Comcast revamps Xfinity stores to improve customer experience (Philadelphia Inquirer)
MSG, Cablevision chief Dolan rips Knicks fan for complaining in email
Tom Paine
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 |
| James Dolan/ Cablevision website |
Dolan's response, dated January 23 and sent to retired computer salesman Irving Bierman, read:
"You are a sad person. Why would anybody write such a hateful letter. I am.just guessing but ill bet your life is a mess and you are a hateful mess. What have you done that anyone would consider positive or nice. I am betting nothing. In fact ill bet you are negative force in everyone who comes in contact with you. You most likely have made your family miserable. Alcoholic maybe. I just celebrated my 21 year anniversary of sobriety. You should try it. Maybe it will help you become a person that folks would like to have around. In the mean while start rooting.for the Nets because the Knicks dont want you."
The NBA has indicated it has no plans to discipline Dolan.
Despite the long, sad recent history of the Knicks (I think Jeremy Lin was the only bright spot, and they let him go), MSG has done well financially, and the value of its stock has more than tripled in the five years since it was spun off from Cablevision. And of course, the Rangers actually made it to the Stanley Cup finals last year. And MSG is considering a plan to break up its operations.
Last year, Dolan passed on the title of President at Cablevision to another while remaining CEO, and his wife Kristin, from who he was separated at last report, became COO. Kristin Dolan is a long-time executive at the company.
When everybody started talking merger in the cable industry last year, there were some murmurs that Cablevision could be a seller at the right price. The most obvious buyer would be Comcast if it can complete the Time Warner Cable deal, since Cablevision would round out its New York metro footprint. But that would be tough to get past the regulators.
I'm sure Dolan won't need a job, but he might fit right in with Comcast customer service.
Update 2/14: Dolan addressed
the incident at a team charity event yesterday, the New York Post reported.
"I knew I shouldn’t have done that, but I did it anyway because it made me angry — it was a personal, hateful attack. Basically it’s over and we got All-Star Weekend. I’d love it if we all just focused on that."
Links 2/10/2015: Brian Williams suspended 6 months without pay; SevOne reports 63% growth in 2014
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Brian Williams Suspended From NBC for 6 Months Without Pay (NY Times)
Making sense of the cloud ERP conundrum (Denn Howlett/Diginomica)
SAP’s Hybris launches ‘contextual marketing platform’ to fix what is ‘broken’ (VentureBeat)
Hitachi to Buy Pentaho to Bolster Data-Analysis Software Tools (Bloomberg)
10 In-Memory Database Options Power Speedy Performance
(Information Week)
SevOne Achieves 15th Quarter of Record-Breaking Revenue and Growth Results (Marketwire)
Why private, late-stage valuations are skyrocketing (Fortune)
Comcast-Time Warner Deal Chances Improve With Tighter Web Rules (Bloomberg)
Republican Complaints About FCC Net Neutrality Plan Grow (Re/code)
40 Under 40 (Wharton Magazine)
Bentley acquisition allows 3D modelling direct from digital photographs (Infrastructure Intelligence)
eBay Bans One of Its Own Divisions From Selling Ads on eBay (Re/code)
The Real Opportunity for Cloud in the Enterprise
(George Krautzel/MissionOG)
Links 2/9/2015: Safeguard, Merck innovation unit lead $14 million round in Denver healthcare software vendor
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Tim Wu on the FCC’s net neutrality proposal: ‘The middle of the road is for roadkill’ (Washington Post)
Is Google Ready to Go to War With Wireless Carriers? (Ad Age)
Sling TV launches today with AMC, new sports channels available for $5 more (Ars Technica)
Looks like Apple wears the pants in this IBM pact (Gigaom)
Ed Sabol, founder of NFL Films, dies at age of 98 (NFL.com)
Built South Jersey empire.
Acquisition boosts Maryland company's share of global email traffic to near 30 percent (Washington Business Journal)
Philadelphia-based LLR Partners is a major investor in Message Systems.
Aventura Raises $14 Million Series C Financing Co-Led by Safeguard Scientifics and Merck GHIF (Marketwire)
Denver-based company provides healthcare workflow optimization software solutions.
Edison Partners – Fuels Growth For Next Generation Startup Companies
(Superb Crew)
Aerva Software Powers Philly's First Digital Billboard for Advertising (Digital Signage Connection)
NavPort Launches Mobile App Providing Access to Oil and Gas Industry Data and Information (Business Wire)
NavPort is based in Plymouth Meeting.
Writing Off the Knicks (Wall Street Journal)
Philly Tech News Quotes & Tweets 2/9/2015: Hasso Plattner, Frank Eliason (ex-Comcast customer care), Verizon CEO McAdam & more
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"There’s nothing that says we can’t ride over somebody else’s broadband." - Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam
— The Donohue Report (@donohuereport) February 5, 2015"It seems to me to be an excessive approach," he said, noting that Charter has never run into any net neutrality problems with Internet video providers. "I think we have a heavy-handed regulatory solution to a problem that doesn't exist. And while it doesn't change anything in any way, it's like someone having a bazooka pointed at you; that's uncomfortable."
-Charter CEO Tom Rutledge, as quoted by Light Reading.
I wouldn't want 2b middle-box vendor selling 2 mobile broadband networks now, based on the FCC Chairman's Wired OpEd http://t.co/a4IARwn5ly
— Jason Livingood (@jlivingood) February 4, 2015“Who can compare with Fidelity? I didn't tell them at the time, but they were a clear winner.”
-Edmond Walters, founder and CEO of Conshohocken-based eMoney Advisor, on agreeing to being acquired by Fidelity Investments, after he said his company was approached by more than 40 suitors.
@rosettalue @Michael_A_Nutter @VivekKundra @RichNegrin @AdelEbeid I was just briefed on this summit, it will be amazing!
— Charlie Isaacs (@charlieisaacs) February 4, 2015Let’s not mince words - @SAP intend to cut @Oracle @Microsoft @IBM out the database market for SAP ERP #saphana
— John Appleby (@applebyj) February 3, 2015SAP Chairman Hasso Plattner: “If this doesn’t work, we’re dead. Flat-out dead. It’s that simple.”
as quoted by Re/code, at the introduction of SAP's new core business suite on Hana.
Flextronics, 220,000 employees, selects Infor CloudSuite. Infor for 135 plants and 11,000 users . Largest deal in Infor history. #ensw
— Charles Phillips (@cpinfor) January 30, 2015"I am most disappointed in these situations because I know and love many people at Comcast. It should not reflect on them, but it ultimately does. To me, Comcast is a Philadelphia icon. I want to see them experience continued growth, and I wish success for everyone who works there. They have the opportunity to be a pillar of the community, but they are struggling to truly reflect the values of Philadelphia."
-Frank Eliason, the original @ComcastCares, in a piece on LinkedIn.
Inaccurate stories on Forbes re: IBM? It's not a journalistic platform anymore, it'a a PR platform. Malcolm is rolling over in his grave....
— Doug Henschen (@DHenschen) January 27, 2015Philly Tech People News 2/8/2015: Luukko to run Florida Panthers; New Unisys CEO Calls For Stronger Software Solutions, Vertical Focus
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Peter Luukko to be named Florida Panthers executive chairman (CSN Philly)
Winiarski Joins NBCU as Exec VP in Ad Sales (Broadcasting & Cable)
New Unisys CEO Calls For Stronger Software Solutions, Vertical Focus (CRN)
Janney Capital Markets hire new analysts to work outside Philadelphia (Philly.com: Philly Deals)
Brian Sweeney to Become Chief Financial Officer of Cablevision (Business Wire)
Weidenhammer Names Lewis Vice President (Marketwire)
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