Fred Wilson wrote a great piece this week on the pain and frustration felt by mobile app publishers who rely on iTunes or Android Market as the primary distribution channel for their apps. In Fred’s words: “Centralized control of an ecosytem never offers as much opportunity and diversity as a decentralized system. And in the continue…
NOTE: I started this post before Steve Jobs announced his resignation as Apple’s CEO, but it’s particularly poignant in light of that news… I had a fun, thought-provoking conversation this morning with Darien Brown, CEO and co-founder of YongoPal (a recent 500 Startups grad). The general theme of our conversation was the new kinds of social continue…
If you’ve been paying attention to the massive disruption underway in the mobile ecosystem (think iPhone, iPad, Android, app stores + platform wars) you’ve probably gotten the message that carriers aren’t what moves the market any longer. Operating systems (iOS, Android, BlackBerry, WebOS, Windows Phone 7, etc) and the app ecosystems they support are where continue…
I’ll be attending CTIA for the next few days – I’m on a panel Thursday afternoon and have a bunch of meetings lined up on behalf of Founders Co-op portfolio company AppStoreHQ – but I’d love to connect with anyone at the show who’s interested in the Android platform, the mobile developer community and the continue…
Almost 15 years ago I headed up the effort to build outdoor retailer Patagonia’s first online retail store. About 20 minutes ago the company released its first native iPhone app, offering a full branded retail experience on the world’s coolest smartphone. Best of all, the app was built by the rockstars at Sprella, a mobile continue…
I’ve been spending a ton of time in the mobile world lately, mostly on behalf of Founders Co-op portfolio companies AppStoreHQ and Urban Airship, and the deeper I get in the mobile ecosystem, the more perplexed I am by Apple and Google’s behavior toward the iPhone and Android developer communities. With iPhone (the high-end pioneer) and Android continue…
Before all you fanboys out there get your backs up, let me start by saying that Apple gets full credit for blowing up the mobile software business and creating an entirely new market for software entrepreneurs. The iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad / iTunes juggernaut is one of the most awesome technology ecosystems ever continue…
Web analytics provider Quantcast has just released their 2009 Mobile Web Trends Report, a fascinating snapshot of the explosive growth in smartphone adoption and use worldwide. The Apple iPhone phenomenon isn’t exactly news, but the report will help you visualize just how mind-blowing their 30-month rise from zero to 60% global share of mobile web continue…
This idea now feels so obvious to me that I almost didn’t bother to write it down. But I keep having conversations with entrepreneurs who aren’t yet using the pattern and their eyes always light up when they see a way to apply it to their own business, so if this post turns on the continue…
I’m excited to announce that Founder’s Co-op just completed an investment in Urban Airship, a new mobile infrastructure company that’s making it radically easier for smartphone developers to implement core features like push messaging and in-app transactions. The deal is is a first for us in several ways: it’s our first significant investment outside Seattle continue…