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Groupon Scrapped Its IPO Plans Amid Federal Questioning

Ryan Tate · 09/06/11 04:11PM

Surprise: Wildly unprofitable money pit Groupon canceled its investor roadshow and withdrew its IPO schedule, says the Wall Street Journal. Also, there's a new SEC inquiry into the company. But everything will be back on track just as soon as the tech bubble returns, honest!

Gabby Giffords Returns to Washington to Vote for Debt Ceiling Bill

Max Read · 08/01/11 06:09PM

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords returned to the House of Representatives on Monday, receiving a standing ovation and enthusiastically greeting her colleagues after casting her vote (her first since being shot in January) for the debt ceiling bill, which passed 269-161.

Sleazeballs Valued at $1.3 Billion

Ryan Tate · 07/25/11 02:31PM

Three guys who refuse to answer for sleazy spam tactics on behalf of their startup might expect to be shunned. Circumstances being what they are, the same three guys are bathing in money and adulation.

Twitter Is Magically Worth $7 Billion, Somehow

Ryan Tate · 07/05/11 04:55PM

An ongoing fundraising round values Twitter at nearly twice what it was worth in December, despite the company having failed to create a discernible business model in the interim, and despite admitting it needs new leadership. Welcome to the new tech economics.

FarmVille Is Going Public

Ryan Tate · 06/28/11 07:34PM

Zynga, the maker of FarmVille and other Facebook games, is expected to file for its initial public offering tomorrow or shortly thereafter, seeking a valuation of $15 billion to $20 billion. It's one of the tech bubble's most rational IPOs.

MySpace To Be Sold for Scrap

Ryan Tate · 06/28/11 12:55PM

Well, this is embarrassing: News Corp. will probably sell MySpace for less than a tenth of what it paid for the social network, and for less than a third of its stated minimum bid. And, yes, big layoffs are coming.

Foursquare's Value Grew Six-Fold in One Year

Ryan Tate · 06/27/11 01:37PM

Foursquare, the pointless check-in service with barely any revenue, is now worth more than six times what it was a year ago. Or so say the venture capitalists who just gave the hugely unprofitable company an infusion of cash.

Be Poor for Less in America's Cheapest Town

Lauri Apple · 06/26/11 02:01PM

If somebody ran up to you on the street with a dog and said, "I'll give you this lovable animal right now if you can tell me which town is cheaper, New York City or Harlingen," which town would you pick?

GoDaddy in Talks to Sell for $2 Billion

Adrian Chen · 06/24/11 12:42PM

Web domain name giant GoDaddy is reportedly in talks to be bought out for more than $2 billion. Who knows what kind of exploits GoDaddy's ridiculous elephant-killing CEO, Bob Parsons, will get up to with that kind of dough. He'll probably fly to a remote island and hunt the world's most dangerous game: tech bloggers. Honestly, we're terrified.

Hulu Is Up for Sale

Ryan Tate · 06/22/11 05:58PM

Hulu has put itself up for sale, moving to end the grand alliance between the broadcasters who own the TV website and provide it with shows. This is really going to suck.

The Implosion of the Huffington Post-AOL Merger

Ryan Tate · 06/07/11 02:28PM

Arianna Huffington was controversial back when she only oversaw 70 or so employees. Now that she's riding herd over 1,300 AOL journalists, the Huffington Post founder faces an army of disgruntled enemies. And they're leaking to the press.

Are Your Facebook Friends Cool Enough To Pick Your Music?

Ryan Tate · 05/25/11 06:03PM

Good news: Miraculous internet jukebox Spotify will reportedly power Facebook's music service, bringing the world closer to a future in which music is much more freely shared, suggested and collaboratively compiled. As it should be.

The Groupon Backlash Is On

Hamilton Nolan · 03/24/11 12:00PM

Among businesses, the initial reaction to the concept of Groupon was: "Give our shit away for half price? Well, it's good advertising." But now, that reaction is changing to: "Give our shit away for half price? Ehhh."