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| Pogoseat App Spares You From Seat-Swapping Humiliation on Gameday | | Wednesday, November 07, 2012 6:04 PM | Sam Laird |
|  It's a familiar scenario for any sports fan: Go to the game and settle into your nosebleed seats, only to spot a bunch of empty primo spots closer to the action. So you give it a few minutes, and then move down. Everything is awesome and you're engrossed in the game -- until an usher shows up and asks to see your ticket stubs. Red-faced, you're forced to take the walk of shame back to the boondocks. Pogoseat aims to kill that humiliation once and for all. The California startup allows fans to upgrade to better seats while at the game, and lets teams recoup some of the money lost on good tickets that go unsold. Pogoseat just launched in the App Store for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, and co-founder Evan Owens tells Mashable he expects the free app to be available for Android devices within the next week. Here's how you'd use it at a game: First, notice a slew of empty seats, and decide to see what's out there. Then, fire up the app and sign in using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or a separate Pogoseat account. Peruse the app for available upgrades -- which, in many cases, will be dynamically priced to provide discounts closer to game time or after the action starts -- and pay the difference between your new seats and the old ones using PayPal, Amazon or credit card. Your new ticket will be delivered electronically, giving you the green light to prance down to your new location. Pogoseat and the team split the money you pay for the upgrade. "When you're actually there in the moment with your fellow fans around, you're much more willing to pull your wallet out and pay for that better seat," co-founder Abel Cuskelly says. Pogoseat comes embedded in the Golden State Warriors' official team app, its first ongoing partnership with a professional team. The company has also done one-off deals with Stanford football, and is aiming to finalize partnerships with up to 10 more NBA teams this season, as well as a few NFL franchises during the second half of the pro-football season. Pogoseat was named "Next Wave Shopping and Commerce Winner" at last month's iMedia Breakthrough Summit in Austin, which has helped lead to increased attention from non-sports brands, the app's co-founders say. A phone carrier, for example, could pay for upgrades for a few dozen customers. It would then send texts informing them about the promotion, resulting in more publicity should customers choose to share the deal via their social networks. Pogoseat raised $500,000 in seed funding last year, and is currently in the midst of raising another comparable seed round. Would you use Pogoseat? Let us know in the comments below. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, adamkaz |
| Airbnb Lets Kindhearted New Yorkers Offer Free Housing For Hurricane Sandy Victims | | Wednesday, November 07, 2012 1:00 PM | Todd Wasserman |
|  Airbnb is leveraging its network of accommodations to provide some relief to Hurricane Sandy victims. The program, which was announced on Twitter by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office, pairs those rendered homeless by Sandy with altruistic New Yorkers who are willing to house them for free. As of publication, there were around 120 such people whose rooms are displayed on a dedicated Sandy site. Since these are personal residences, some New Yorkers have attempted to preempt any awkwardness by being upfront about their preferences. A user named Padraic with a room in Woodside, Queens, for instance, does not want any smokers and adds: "If you show up and are an OUTSIDE smoker I will be highly pissed! And then you will have to leave! So no no no no smoking." Another user with a place on the Upper East Side would prefer the roomie smoke outside, but offered this heartfelt message: "I am not looking for anything but to help out and looking for someone to respect my space and be honest. This Hurricane sucks and I just happened to be lucky so I am happy to offer a safe warm place to stay. I am laid back and consider myself decently funny if you can deal with a few bad jokes." Such users should get extra props for sticking their neck out, considering the horror story an Airbnb user aired last July about a woman named "EJ" who rented out her place only to have it vandalized and stripped of all of her possessions. The company apologized shortly afterwards and issued a $50,000 retroactive insurance guarantee. The guarentee protects hosts, past and present, from property damage caused by Airbnb guests. |
| Media Summit: Tech, Advertising and Fashion All In One Place | | Wednesday, November 07, 2012 10:27 AM | Tania Kasongo |
|  At this year's Mashable Media Summit, we'll bring together some of the most influential leaders in the digital media space to discuss the hottest trends, from fashion's role in publishing to drone journalism, along with the future of mobile and apps. There are only a limited number of tickets available for the Media Summit, so make sure to get yours today. Held on Nov. 30 at the TimesCenter in New York City, the Mashable Media Summit is a one-day conference that will explore the latest innovations in the space and the future of journalism. You'll have the opportunity to network with high-level executives across a spectrum of industries and mingle with Mashable staff. As in previous years, this event will sell out, so get your tickets now!
The dynamic lineup of speakers includes Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, Brooke Gladstone, managing editor and co-host of On the Media on NPR, Aliza Licht, SVP of Global Communications at Donna Karan, Bonita Stewart, vice president of Americas Partner Business Solutions at Google and Steve Rubel, EVP of Global Strategy at Edelman. You can view the agenda online, and in the gallery below, see an inside look at some of the speakers who will appear onstage at the Media Summit. Get your tickets now before they sell out! Mashable Media Summit Information
Date: Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 Time: 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Location: The TimesCenter, 242 West 41st Street, New York, NY 10036 Tickets: Purchase tickets on Eventbrite. A Look Back at Last Year's Mashable Media Summit Supporting Sponsor Sponsorship Opportunities A limited number of sponsor opportunities are available for the Mashable Media Summit. This is an excellent opportunity to get in front of Mashable's passionate and influential audience. Contact sponsorships@mashable.com for opportunities. |
| 5 Reasons Why Apple's Stock is Tanking | | Wednesday, November 07, 2012 10:15 AM | Seth Fiegerman |
|  Apple's stock dropped by more than 4% in early trading Wednesday, to as low as $556 a share, its lowest price in five months. More significantly for investors, the stock is now down more than 20% in less than two months from its peak price of $705 a share on Sept. 21 when the iPhone 5 hit store shelves. This trading situation is commonly referred to as a bear market, with no bottom in sight. For Apple, a combination of factors have plagued the stock over the past six weeks and continue to push down the price. Supply Constraints The stock's initial downfall was caused largely by concern about supply constraints impacting sales of the iPhone 5. The stock began to decline after Apple reported lower-than-expected opening weekend sales for the device in late September, a fact that the company suggested was due to limited supply rather than demand. Since then, CEO Tim Cook has assured investors that Foxconn, Apple's manufacturing partner, has significantly improved production and will continue to catch up to demand. However, Foxconn's chief renewed concerns Wednesday by noting at a business event that the manufacturer is still "falling short" of demand for the iPhone 5. Executive Shake-Up Apple dropped a bombshell last week when it announced a big executive shake-up, including the departures of the company's iOS chief Scott Forstall and retail chief John Browett. Apple shrewdly announced the move on a day when the stock market was closed because of Hurricane Sandy, but once trading resumed, the stock began to drop. For investors, the announcement raised concerns about the stability of Apple's elite management team without Steve Jobs, and the departure of Forstall in particular raised concerns about the future of Apple's mobile product innovations. Competition in the Tablet Space A particularly negative research report about Apple's dwindling dominance in the tablet market didn't exactly help the company's stock either. According to IDC, Apple's share of the tablet market declined from nearly 60% in the third quarter of 2011 to 50% in the third quarter this year, showing just how much the competition has grown. Declining Profit Margin Apple is clearly working to maintain its hold on the tablet market with the release of a new smaller and cheaper iPad mini. However, the downside, as the company pointed out in its most recent earnings call, is that this and other new devices are expected to cut into the company's profit margins. Apple projects that it will report a much lower profit margin in the December quarter than analysts had previously expected. Cook attributed this to the prolific roll out of new products, which have higher costs, and the fact that some products like the iPad mini are being sold closer to cost. At the end of the day, Apple's absurdly high profit margins for its product is the big selling point for investors. As a result, some analysts reacted to the news by cutting their price targets for the stock. Patent Verdict Most recently, the stock took another hit after a federal jury in Texas ruled that Apple's FaceTime video chat feature infringed on several patents held by VirnetX, a patent holding firm. The court ordered Apple to pay $368 million and VirnetX could potentially push to ban sales of Apple products that use these patents. All in all, it has been a tough few weeks for Apple even with the successful launch of several new products.
Image courtesy of Flickr, kevin dooley |
| Announcing a Live Chat With Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics Founder Neil Patel | | Wednesday, November 07, 2012 9:56 AM | Scott Gerber |
|  Streaming live on Mashable, Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics founder Neil Patel will answer questions from readers at 3 p.m. EST (12 p.m. PST) Thursday, Nov. 8. As part of the Young Entrepreneur Council's #StartupLab initiative, a virtual mentorship program, Neil will appear live via video chat broadcast on this site. Neil Patel co-founded two Internet companies, Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics. Through his entrepreneurial career, he has helped large corporations such as Amazon, AOL, GM, HP and Viacom make more money from the web. By the age of 21, not only was Patel named one of the top influencers on the web, according to The Wall Street Journal, but he was also named one of the top entrepreneurs in the nation by Entrepreneur Magazine. Patel has also received congressional recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives for his work in the non-profit sector. #StartupLab is a free virtual mentorship program created by The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of over 500 of America's most successful young entrepreneurs who have, collectively, generated tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. #StartupLab offers millions of entrepreneurs, small business owners and startup founders the tactical advice they need to launch and grow new businesses via live, interactive video chats, educational content and mentorship opportunities -- right on Facebook. Check Mashable tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. EST (12 p.m. PST), when Patel will answer questions from the audience live via video chat. You can also sign up for an email reminder of the chat by visiting this registration page. |
| Budweiser Will Crowdsource Its Next Beer | | Wednesday, November 07, 2012 8:21 AM | PSFK |
|  Early next year, Budweiser is planning to launch a new golden amber lager developed through a crowdsourcing competition between the Brewmasters at it's 12 breweries. For Project 12, the company worked together to create their own "tribute" beers to fit the Budweiser brand's reputation for quality and consistency, which were then sampled across America. The new 'Black Crown' variety emerged out of this competition, and has been modeled after the beer created at the Los Angeles brewery. Budweiser's VP Rob McCarthy said in a statement to Ad Age: "Though originally created in L.A., it's a beer born out of the collaboration of all of Budweiser's 12 brewmasters. The beer is an amber lager that is a little darker than Budweiser, but is flavorful and like Bud, very drinkable." Image courtesy iStockphoto. |
| 6 Steps to Starting a Business From Your Home | | Wednesday, November 07, 2012 7:29 AM | Nellie Akalp |
|  Nellie Akalp is the CEO of CorpNet.com, an online legal document filing service, where she helps entrepreneurs incorporate or form an LLC for their new businesses. Connect with Nellie on Twitter or visit her free resource center. There are countless garage-to-Fortune 500 success stories. Jeff Bezos first ran Amazon.com out of his garage in Bellevue, Wash. As Stanford University graduate students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched Google from Susan Wojcicki's garage. And invoicing company FreshBooks was headquartered in Mike McDerment's parents' basement for 3.5 years. Launching a business from your garage, basement or dining room table is a great way to keep overhead costs down when you're just starting out. And in most cases, it's usually the only option for bootstrapping startups. But how are you supposed to handle a home-based startup from a legal perspective? SEE ALSO: 5 Ways Small Businesses Get Social Media Wrong Whether you're developing a mobile app or digital media consulting group, here are six steps to ensure your home-based business is legit. 1. Select Your Business Name Even if you're a solo business, you'll still want to create a name and identity for your business that's separate from yourself. Once you decide on a great business name, make sure it's legally available, as you don't want to find yourself on the wrong end of a trademark dispute. Follow these three basic steps to ensure your desired name is available. Check with your Secretary of State database to see whether the name is already registered within your state. Perform a free trademark search to determine whether someone has already filed a trademark for your name. Run a comprehensive national name search into all state and local databases. This can usually be completed for a small fee with an online service. This step is important, since you can still infringe on someone else's name even if she's never formally registered it with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). 2. Incorporate (Or at Least Register Your Business Name With the State) Forming an LLC or corporation for your home-based startup will protect your personal assets (such as your savings and personal property) from any liabilities the company may encounter. In short, should your business be sued or can't pay its debts, your personal property may be shielded from any judgment. Each business structure has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on your specific circumstances. The LLC is great for small businesses that want legal protection, with a minimum of paperwork and legal red tape. A C Corporation is good for bigger companies that plan to go public or seek VC funding. And an S Corporation can be a good option for those companies who qualify. Your choice in business structure will impact the taxes you pay, so it's wise to consult a tax advisor or accountant first. SEE ALSO: LLC vs. S Corp: Which Is Right for Your Startup? Some new startups aren't quite ready to take the plunge into incorporation, and that's okay. If you've formed a business and aren't planning on incorporating or forming an LLC in the near future, you should register your business name with the state. This simple step is known as filing a DBA (Doing Business As or Fictitious Business Name). By filing a DBA, you'll be legally able to use a business name. And best of all, it ensures that no one else can use your business name in your state. 3. Get a Tax ID Number You don't want to give out your social security number to every client and vendor your business encounters. For this reason, you'll need to secure a Federal Tax Identification Number, also referred to as an Employer Identification Number. Issued by the IRS, the tax ID number is similar to your personal social security number, and allows the IRS to track your company's transactions. Click here to learn more and get started. 4. Get a Registered Agent If you've incorporated or formed an LLC for your startup, the state requires that an agent for the business is always available during normal business hours and has a physical address, in order to receive important mail sent by the state (such as tax documents or a notice of litigation). For this reason, many small businesses get a registered agent to take the responsibility. The other benefit for the home-based business is the registered agent's address is publicly available, so anyone has access to it. If you want to keep your personal address information confidential, getting a registered agent gives you an added layer of privacy. 5. Check if You Need Any Local Permits Depending on your business type and local ordinances, you may be required to have one or more business licenses and/or permits from the state, local or even federal level. These licenses can include a general business operation license, zoning and land use permits, sales tax license, health department permits and occupational or professional licenses. It's best to get the proper licenses from the start, rather than dealing with back payments and penalties. 6. Know Your Home Office Deductions If you use any portion of your home exclusively for business purposes, you're entitled to claim a home office deduction. If you operate your business as a sole proprietor (i.e. you didn't incorporate or form an LLC), you can deduct certain home expenses based on the percentage of your home that is used for business purposes. For example, if you use a spare room of 180 square feet as an office, and your home is 1,900 square feet, you can write off 9.5% of certain home expenses, including rent or mortgage payments, insurance (homeowners or renters) and utilities. If your company is structured as an LLC, S Corp or C Corp, the corporation can reimburse the shareholder for the home office costs on a monthly basis under an accountable expense reimbursement plan. This becomes a deductible business expense for the corporation. Talk to an accountant to determine the most favorable solution for both the corporation and shareholder. Get Your Legal Ducks in a Row When running a business from your home, you need to take your legal obligations seriously. Getting your legal ducks in a row right from the start will help you avoid any pitfalls down the road as you scale up and move out of the garage. Images courtesy of iStockphoto, EricHood, Flickr, purprin |
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