June 2011
Lady Gaga, Tech Investor
For someone whose father was worried about them getting a real job, Lady Gaga’s showing dear old dad there’s no cause for concern. Since reportedly going broke for the early portion of her pop star career, Lady Gaga’s taken on the title of Polaroid creative director, unofficial (and unwanted) ice cream muse, and Farmville promoter among other things. Now you can add tech angel investor to the list. Someone’s going to need a bigger business card.
Who’s Leading the Luxe On Facebook?
In spite of the fact that Facebook is the number one site for wealthy Internet denizens in several countries, some luxury brands continue to be holdouts when it comes to getting involved with the largest social media site in the world. For those who have decided to be part of modern marketing, rather than hoping it goes away, who’s getting their social strategy right?
L2, the NYU think tank that tracks social media and online efforts among luxury brands, recently published a Facebook IQ report that attempts to answer that question.
The 5 Types of Modern Marriage Are All Somewhat Depressing
According to Pamela Haag, author of the book Marriage Confidential, marriage in the 21st century falls into one of five categories. Sadly for you married folks, they all kind of stink.
Deal On! Groupon Files to Go Public: All of the Interesting Numbers
We won’t hold our breath for a 50% off deal, but if you haven’t burned all of your investment dollars in RenRen or the (in our opinion) better positioned LinkedIn or Yandex you’ll be happy to know that Groupon will officially be going public. Until GRPN shares officially start trading, the company’s value will remain fluid, but suffice it to say the market cap is likely going to be much more than the $6 billion Google offer that Groupon turned down. The last widely quoted estimate placed Groupon’s value at $25 billion, but we’ve seen with LinkedIn that pent up interest can quickly balloon to figures many times more pre-market estimates.
That being said, we learned a bit from Groupon’s S-1 form: here are a few of the most interesting financials and figures.
$10 Million+ for Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Jesus Likeness Not Included
Someone must have been a really big fan of Glee’s Grilled Cheesus episode.
VentureBeat is reporting that Jonathan Kaplan, who previously founded the company behind the Flip camera, is starting a chain of grilled cheese sandwich and soup restaurants. “Good for him, grilled cheese is awesome,” you may be thinking. And yes, grilled cheese and soup is an awesome combination, but we’re not sure if it’s $10 million good. Someone at Sequoia is though – they’ve given Kaplan enough money to open 20 stores, which cost between $500,000 and $1 million to open.
Groupon and Expedia Team Up For Groupon Getaways
Travel is the new fashion, it seems, judging by the number of websites jumping into the space lately. Today Groupon became the latest site to strike out into the discounted travel space with Groupon Getaways.