Snapchat faces lawsuit alleging it falsified metrics to inflate IPO value
A former employee has filed a lawsuit against Snapchat company Snap Inc, alleging that he was wrongfully terminated as a result of refusing to partake in the company’s false representations of metrics in an effort to inflate its initial public offering (IPO) value.
While most of former Snapchat employee Anthony Pompliano’s lawsuit, filed on January 4 in the Superior Court in Los Angeles, has been redacted, it accuses Snapchat’s executives of inflating Snapchat’s valuation through false representations, “with the ultimate goal of taking the company public through a multi-billion dollar initial public offering”. “Snapchat will not let anything stand in its way of an IPO, including its obligations to represent material facts accurately,” the lawsuit claims.
(Image: Screenshot by Corinne Reichert/ZDNet) Working at Snapchat for just three weeks, Pompliano was responsible for running user growth and engagement, an area of the business previously neglected by Snapchat.
Pompliano claimed that when he discovered the misrepresentations and alerted vice president of Finance Drew Boller, vice president of Communications Jill Hazelbaker, and then-director of Business Operations Brian Theisen, he lost his job.
In an attempt to “not jeopardize its IPO”, Snapchat then told both its employees and the industry at large that Pompliano had been fired due to incompetence, resulting in damage to his professional reputation and loss of job opportunities.
Much of the lawsuit was redacted.
As a result, Pompliano is seeking a preliminary injunction order to not make any further misrepresentations as to his termination until a final award for declaratory or injunctive relief is made; all legal costs; and damages for Snapchat’s “malice, oppression, and fraud” exceeding $25,000.
Facebook acquired Instagram for $300 million and 23 million shares in April 2012, with Snapchat reportedly knocking back a $3 billion offer from Facebook in 2013.
According to a study by market intelligence firm SimilarWeb in June, the average time spent on Instagram in the United States is 19.93 minutes per day, while Snapchat users spend 18 minutes per day on it despite the brevity of the images.
3 Ways to Find a Profitable Mobile App Idea
3 Ways to Find a Profitable Mobile App Idea.
Yet the journey of an appreneur begins with an idea that has the potential to generate profit and wealth in the long term.
Look for problems.
Sometimes it’s the problem they discovered by observing the people around them, in a personal or professional setting.
Observe on a daily basis and try to note at least one problem each day.
You can look for business problems, and solve those through a B2B app.
What skill sets do you have that can be leveraged to scale into a big business?
Again, look for the one that excites the most and has little or no competition in the market.
One of the ways to get started is to offer to buy the app that isn’t being updated anymore.
Whatever your method of finding a profitable app idea, always bear in mind that the first idea doesn’t necessarily win.
6 Types of Businesses You Can Start With Almost No Cash
6 Types of Businesses You Can Start With Almost No Cash.
And, beyond that, there are certain types of businesses you can start with almost no cash.
However, many services can be performed with an investment of time rather than money.
Types of businesses to start So, which types of businesses can be started without a heavy financial burden in any of the above areas?
For example, if you’re a painter, you could sell your works of art with an investment of nothing more than art supplies and your own time.
In-home services Services don’t cost you any money up-front because they’re intangible goods.
Just like in-home services, these types of gigs don’t require you to have a physical establishment and don’t require you to invest in anything up-front, except perhaps the tools or equipment you’re going to need for the job, which will vary in cost.
Consulting is a service that costs only time to produce, but can be highly valuable as a career opportunity.
Resale The idea behind resale is simple: You acquire products and sell them to other people.
You just need to know what types of businesses work best in that model.
5 Ways to Find Start-up Funding for Your Small Business
5 Ways to Find Start-up Funding for Your Small Business.
So you’ve got an idea for a startup.
Show the Plan Before you ask for someone else’s money, make sure that you know how you’ll spend it.
A good alternative for startups is a personal loan, which, depending on your situation, can give you $2,000 – $35,000 for your new business.
These investors give people money for small business growth.
And secondly, just to get funding from an angel investor, you usually need to show that your small business has already been proven to work.
There are, however, still some opportunities available for small business grants.
Locating a grant for a small business or startup may take some time, but you should certainly see if any are available in your industry.
As you go about finding funds for your startup, it’s highly recommended that you take the time to see which of your bullets is going to hit before firing a cannonball of money.
What kind of business are you starting this year?
How to Talk Pay and Negotiate a Better Salary
How to Talk Pay and Negotiate a Better Salary.
We also have a value of transparency, so we share everything openly, including our salaries and how they’re calculated.
Because I am not alone in doing a terrible job of negotiating: Women generally negotiate much less than men.
Why don’t women negotiate?
So why don’t women negotiate job offers and ask for raises?
I’m sure there will be many more evolutions of the formula over time as we grow and share thoughts and challenges.
Job boards: Sometimes they’ll offer pay ranges for jobs in your field.
Here are a few places to check out: Glassdoor (Can even give you a peek into what’s standard at your company) StackOverflow’s salary calculator (See how much you’d earn if you worked at Stack Overflow) Buffer’s salary calculator (See how much you’d earn if you worked at Buffer) Tips for better negotiating The better women are at negotiating (and the more often we do it), the more we’ll start to break down the biases that create these pay disparities.
We can start by using these transparency resources to research and be informed on where you stand.
How much did you make the company?
Hollywood Gets Ready for IPO Blitz Led By Univision, CBS Radio and Vice
Hollywood Gets Ready for IPO Blitz Led By Univision, CBS Radio and Vice.
The dearth of entertainment companies filing for initial public offerings might finally be reversed in 2017, with big names like STX Entertainment, Snap and Univision sending signals about a potential stock market listing. “No media and entertainment companies have gone public in the U.S. since July 2014 when radio operator Townsquare Media raised $92 million,” said Kennedy.
CBS Radio Observers expect the radio unit of CBS Corp. to go public in the early parts of 2017 and then be split off.
CBS Corp. chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves told the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York in December that the IPO would happen in the first quarter of 2017.
The IPO comes as CBS Corp. is focusing on its higher-growth TV and other businesses, with the separation further boosting the revenue percentage the company gets from its non-advertising activities.
Vice Media Youth-focused media company Vice, led by CEO Shane Smith, is widely expected to decide this year whether to go for an IPO or possibly sell to a bigger company.
Reports have previously said that the company would generate revenue of $250 million-$350 million in 2016 and as much as $1 billion by 2017.
Bloomberg has reported that Spotify could do so during the second half of 2017.
Previous investors include Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital.
5 Essential Lessons My Clients Taught Me in 2016
And even though I worked with just a handful of clients this year, I’ve learned many invaluable lessons from them.
But not that long ago, I often heard business people say things like “once we get through X change, we can regroup and make a plan.” Whether it was a new job, a merger or acquisition, or even an industry disruption, there used to be a sense that the business world was punctuated by change rather than pervaded by it.
Leaders receive the behavior they reward.
And this underscores one simple fact — leaders receive the behavior they reward.
Still, my smartest clients understand that their view of reality is not the view of reality.
This requires a humble mindset coupled with a commitment to seek new perspectives.
The most important time to listen is when we disagree.
Accordingly, my best clients go out of their way to appreciate and understand others’ perspectives, especially when they disagree.
A few weeks back, I attended the graduation ceremony for a high-potential program I’ve been running for a longtime client.
The nine graduates spent the entire year working diligently to become better leaders.
Smart Lights Are Coming to a Street Near You
Smart Lights Are Coming to a Street Near You.
The tech behind it is already rolling on the installation trucks of companies like Silver Spring Networks, which is snapping up municipal contracts from Copenhagen to California, installing smart street lights and utility meters that beam data back to headquarters, enabling energy savings and reducing costs.
The 15-year-old company is using a planned community under construction near Denver to demonstrate how a smart street light network can do everything from offering free Wi-Fi to alerting motorists when a parking space opens up.
Theoretically, the lights could be the target of an Italian Job-style hack, too, but that’s not likely, according to Silver Spring CEO Mike Bell. “We take a common sense approach to security,” he said in an interview at CES on Wednesday. “From a public good perspective, our devices offer the minimum level of security you should have,” he said.
In other words, it’s more likely that a breach would occur in the network of a utility company or local government than as a result of a lone hacker roaming the streets with a laptop.
Pena’s street lights will have controllable smart LED lights, offer Wi-Fi access, sense temperature and air quality and use cameras for public safety and parking management.
Part of what makes Silver Spring’s expansion easier than, say, the rollout of 5G is that its sensors communicate on unlicensed radio spectrum.
As for Los Angeles, though, Silver Spring likely won’t be expanding there: the city already signed a contract for smart streetlights with Philips.
23 Lessons on Sales, Marketing and Funding it Took Me 20 Years to Learn
Through nearly two decades of entrepreneurial experience, I’ve learned how to make educated decisions based on my perceptions, build sales momentum, and create content that customers actually want to read.
I’ve figured out that raising capital involves a whole lot more than finding an investor, and that leveraging marketing technology is a genius move for almost any business.
Make sure you’re at the perfect point in your business’s journey before seeking capital from outside sources.
Start by seeking funding from family and friends, then move on to finding seed capital.
When you present to potential investors, make sure your story makes sense in a data-driven context for twice the effect.
Focus your time on the right customers.
Take the time to develop a clear message that effectively describes your brand and its goals, then convey it through storytelling, social media, community work, guest speaking, public relations activities and more.
Don’t skimp on your logo, website, social media pages, product or service design, or your office or storefront.
Do they prefer to buy goods and services online?
Create a clear and realistic plan for you will distribute and promote each new piece of content, then focus on creating great content.
These 6 startups were picked for Accelerate Baltimore’s 2017 cohort
These 6 startups were picked for Accelerate Baltimore’s 2017 cohort.
AccelerateBaltimore had its third demo day in May 2014 at the ETC’s Highlandtown incubator.
The accelerator program run by the Emerging Technology Centers picked six startups ranging from consumer-facing tech and social media to financial literacy and home care.
That new funding from the Abell Foundation was added last year, with mybestbox taking home the additional money in 2016.
For this year’s class, 121 startups applied for the program, said ETC Assistant Director Jacqueline Albright.
Here’s who was selected: Gunbail, an app seeking to reduce gun violence by creating a way for offenders to exchange illegal guns for bail (Read our profile here).
Reciprocare, a platform to enable faster hiring of paid caregivers by home care agencies looking to serve seniors that previously won the Technoir Classic.
The Wealth Factory, makers of gamified financial literacy and workforce development training that teaches users how to manage finances (Read our past coverage).
Stephen Babcock is the lead reporter for Technical.ly Baltimore.
A graduate of Northeastern University, he moved to Baltimore following a stint in New Orleans, where he served as managing editor of online news and culture publication NOLA Defender.
Hands On With LG’s New Wireless Earbuds and … Neck Speakers
Neck Speakers.
Whatever you do, don’t wear LG’s Tone Studio speakers on the subway.
The company’s new neck-mounted speakers are surround sound for your face, putting you smack in the middle of a movie, TV show or game — complete with haptics.
At CES this week, LG introduced the Tone Studio and the Tone Free, a pair of true wireless earbuds that join the Apple AirPods, the Samsung Gear Icon X and probably a dozen other competitors popping up like little wireless mushrooms here at CES.
The Tone Free are okay, sure, but there’s nothing like the Tone Studio.
LG has had neckbuds for years; Bluetooth stereo headsets that go around your neck, with little earbuds that extend up from the main body.
As the Tone Studio is going to work best with video and gaming, the trick is going to be syncing these with TVs.
You can pair two units to one source for multiplayer gaming or so two people can watch movies together, which is going to require more low-latency synchronization.
The company is trying to source a good, low-latency Bluetooth dongle to work with less expensive and other brand TVs, as well as game consoles that don’t support Bluetooth.
LG also showed off its Tone Free earbuds, which also deliver notifications to your ears.
10 Crazy Things You Never Knew About Krispy Kreme
10 Crazy Things You Never Knew About Krispy Kreme.
Going on 80 years this year, popular doughnut chain Krispy Kreme continues to have a huge cult-like following.
Celebrities including Frances McDormand and Usher have all been caught biting into the sugary goodness.
And according to comedian Chris Rock, Krispy Kreme is like “crack.” Although, no one’s really sure what makes this sugary substance so delicious — the recipe remains a Krispy Kreme secret — but there are a lot of nuggets we did uncover about the doughnut franchise.
From making an appearance in the Guinness World Records to producing up to 12,000 doughnuts per hour, there are a number of things you probably never knew about the doughnut franchise.
Check out these 10 Krispy Kreme facts that might surprise you.
How You Can Launch a Career Hacking Systems for a Living
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While hackers have been around since the dawn of the Internet, it’s incredible to see the rate and scale at which data breaches are afflicting large companies.
Yahoo saw a whopping half billion of its user accounts compromised.
LinkedIn experienced something similar, with 117 million accounts hacked.
In light of this, the term “ethical hacking” is less of a conundrum than it sounds.
Course bundles like this IT Security & Ethical Hacking Certification Training prep users for not one, but three respected certifications.
Buy it here and receive your certifications within four to six weeks, after an investment of one to three hours per week, to get started in your career in IT security today.
Disclosure: This is brought to you by the Entrepreneur Partner Studio.
Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful.
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The Fine Line Between Clever and Stupid: Striking the Right Balance With Your Email Newsletter
So, what is it specifically that makes an email marketing strategy work or not?
As we know, all good strategy starts with questions.
Does your company offer a small line of products or is it a wide-ranging array of flexible, custom services?
Or do you typically let your products do the talking?
Do you give people valuable information?
As a reminder, this is “the age of the customer” and the customer needs to be given value in order to feel like they have an equitable relationship with your company.
But as the legendary Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap so aptly said, “it’s such a fine line between clever and stupid.” The same company also sent an email with an image of a Trump-esque red hat that says, “Make Jerky Great Again.” They also sent an Easter email encouraging people to ditch the ham and eat jerky instead.
While they’ve gotten a good many parts of email marketing strategy right, they’ve also been guilty of overstepping that famous line between clever and stupid.
The right email marketing strategy, I think, is the one that provides the receiver with valuable information or offers and doesn’t overwhelm or annoy them.
If you only make one product, don’t waste your breath trying to convince readers that that single product is the most interesting, important thing in the world.
Artificial Intelligence Now Has a Voice, But Security Challenges Loom
Artificial Intelligence Now Has a Voice, But Security Challenges Loom.
But while Alexa may be a standout in AI, the technology isn’t alone.
What’s surprised you in the past year in the artificial intelligence field?
In terms of AI and the Internet of Things (IoT), we saw a massive adoption of personal assistants in the form of Amazon Echo and Google Home.
That said, the technology wouldn’t matter if not for the massive adoption we’ve seen.
We focus on the smart home, which is a massive opportunity and one that is growing quickly, yet the number of connected devices in an average household is still low and therefore an AI for the home is only as powerful as those devices are distributed.
Natural language processing for voice control and assistants has made the biggest impact this year.
From a voice perspective, we expect to see more options for a home AI assistant.
We already have Amazon and Google, but Microsoft is working on something and Apple has been rumored as well.
As mass adoption grows, there will be security challenges.
The 15 Largest FinTech Startup Fundings in the US in 2016
The 15 Largest FinTech Startup Fundings in the US in 2016.
Today, I take a look at the 15 companies that have raised the largest FinTech startup funding rounds in the US in 2016 using some data from our friends at Crunchbase.
In addition to dollar amount, I have included type of round, investors, and total dollar amount raised by the startup to further the analysis.
The AlleyWatch audience is driving progress and innovation at a global scale.
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Find out more here.
InnoVen Capital Helps Its Startups Secure Traditional Financing
InnoVen Capital Helps Its Startups Secure Traditional Financing.
Startups in India have been looking towards venture capital for financing in the absence of traditional bank loans.
And while InnoVen Capital is a top provider of that capital, it’s now looking to facilitate startups’ search of traditional financing by teaming up with other lenders.
Reports Wednesday (Jan. 4) said InnoVen Capital is partnering with both traditional banks and alternative finance players, like RBL Bank, IndusInd, Standard Chartered, Tata Capital and SIDBI, to provide credit to existing startup customers.
“Our existing clients need traditional debt for working capital, leasing equipment or extending back guarantee to vendor,” explained InnoVen Capital India CEO Ajay Hattangdi.
“We help the clients by matching them up with banks on the other side and spend time with the banks to explain what the company does and to facilitate a loan for these cases.” But finding traditional financing for startups is no easy feat considering these young businesses lack credit histories and proof that they can repay those loans.
“In some cases, banks are not comfortable taking credit exposure on these companies,” Hattangdi explained.
“In such situations, we broadly do credit enhancement.
InnoVen backstops a part of the facility in the form of corporate guarantees, which ensures that growth-stage companies are able to transition to conventional debt in tandem with their capital expenditure or operational needs.” Several deals for traditional financing have already been secured through the initiative, reports said.
InnoVen Capital’s portfolio ranges across consumer and B2B startups in payments, eCommerce, data analytics, finance and more.
Samsung NEXT To Provide $150 Million For Early Startups
Samsung is always looking for the ‘next big thing’ anywhere they can find it.
Samsung realizes that some of the best ideas come from the minds of young entrepreneurs, so they started the Samsung Global Innovation Center – renamed to Samsung NEXT.
The institution provides funding, office space, equipment, and materials these Early Stage Startups or tech entrepreneurs need to transform their idea into reality.
David Eun, President and Founder of Samsung NEXT, said that “Samsung continues to embrace entrepreneurship at all levels and this Fund shows our unwavering commitment to support great startups worldwide.” According to Brendon Kim, VP and Managing Director of Samsung NEXT Ventures, by investing in these startups it helps accelerate their growth and development, ultimately ensuring their success.
This also increases Samsung’s access to the many new ideas developed by these techies – after all, this is a cooperative effort.
This is also a global effort with offices already in Mountain View, New York, San Francisco, and Korea, and Samsung is opening up their newest office in Tel Aviv.
Emily Becher, Managing Director of Samsung NEXT Start and head of Samsung NEXT’s international expansion says they are very passionate about their commitment to developing business relationships with startup companies.
She says it helps fuel the local experts and with Samsung’s help they can develop programs or devices that we might otherwise never hear about or see.
They provide not only funding but also the expertise to help the young startup companies – often only consisting of two or three people – turn their ideas into a reality.
With Samsung’s size, they are often able to help leverage the maturing businesses and getting them to be a part of the Samsung ecosystem.