Chris Dixon is a New York guy with a degree in philosophy from Columbia University. He’s also, as of last fall, a partner at hot Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (which shortens its name to A16Z—16 is the number of letters between the A and the Z). All in all, that gives him a pretty interesting point of view on the big technology shift that’s being labeled the Internet of Everything (IoE). Dixon already has quite a track record as an investor and entrepreneur. He co-founded Hunch, which eBay bought for $80 million in 2011, and then started Founder Collective, a seed-stage venture fund. Alone or with a fund, he’s been an early-stage investor in Kickstarter, Pinterest, Foursquare, Dropbox, and Warby Parker. More
Tag Index / Showing 1 - 10 of 11 results for “Quirky”
GE-Quirky Deal Opens Tech Patents to Almost Everybody
Independent inventors of consumer products are about to get access to the resources of a $245 billion industrial technology business. In a partnership with the Manhattan-based product-development startup Quirky, GE will open up a trove of more than 30,000 patents and technologies to Quirky’s crowdsourced collaborators. The goal is to create a co-branded line of app-enabled, connected devices that leverage industrial-grade technologies for use in the home in applications such as health, security, water, and air. More
MakeLoveNotPorn.tv Aims to Crowdsource Online Sex
Could crowdsourcing transform the porn industry the same way it's shaken up product development, photography, and venture capitalism through online platforms like Quirky, Shutterstock, and Kickstarter? Cindy Gallop, a former ad executive and 2003 Advertising Woman of the Year, certainly hopes so. Last August, Gallop launched the website MakeLoveNotPorn.tv in an effort to subvert the way people consume sex online. Her crusade started with a 2009 TED talk in which she described her frustrations dating younger men, who she said tended to mimic hard core pornography during sex rather than seeking genuine physical connection. Gallop wants to dispel the stigma and embarrassment attached to frank sexual expression, and offer an antidote to the impersonal fetishization rampant in the most widely-consumed pornography. More
Online Gamers Could Play Their Way to Breakthrough Science
Can untrained gamers help solve tough scientific puzzles? Some scientists and researchers are starting to think so. In fact, there are problems that professional scientists admit they are helpless to solve without the help of the "crowd." EyeWire is a game designed by a team at MIT's Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department to help chart nerve connections in the brain. "We need an army of people to go out and explore that jungle," said neuroscientist Sebastian Seung, the team's leader, in an NPR report. "Why not engage the public? It's a great adventure. What could be more exciting than exploring the brain? [It's] much more exciting than any artificial video game." About 35,000 players have already registered at eyewire.org to look at images of neurons in the eye and figure out how they're connected. More
In Defense of Dustpan Innovation, Product Developers Protest
Outraged over ergonomic gadget maker OXO’s introduction of a $25 dustpan-and-broom design that closely resembles a two-year-old, $12 Quirky model, Quirky staffers staged a street protest in New York last week. More
Business Government Manufacturing
Why the Candidates Need to Tout a Digital Economy
The U.S. could be poised to emerge as a leader in a new global digital economy. But Zoe Baird, President of the Markle Foundation, believes that the presidential candidates must do more to articulate a vision of what a tech and data-driven economy will look like. More
Business Cities Techonomy Detroit
Why Techonomy Detroit?
People keep asking, "Why are you doing a Techonomy conference in Detroit?" We're known for our invite-only annual retreat in the desert near Tucson. So why, you may wonder, is our first one-day event in a gritty, depressed, financially-troubled city that seems well past its glory? More
Manufacturing Techonomy Detroit
How the U.S. Can Reinvent Manufacturing
‘Manufacturing 2.0’ is a radical shift already underway, and many key elements are taking shape. As technologies and business models evolve, we have an opportunity in the US to create and own the future of manufacturing. That means the opportunity for a resurgence of US manufacturing, creating big changes in the economy and revitalizing US cities across the country. More
With $68 Million from Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins, Quirky Aims to Disrupt Consumer Products
Quirky has come a long way. Its roots lie in the distracted musings of inattentive high school student Ben Kaufman. Think of him now, instead, as wunderkind inventor. The New York-based social product design company, founded by Kaufman in 2009, last Wednesday raised a stunning $68 million in a venture round led by Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins. More
