articulated in a previous post that  startups should not treat the iPhone as a business but rather as a channel. think Twitter made a minor gaffe by announcing their Blackberry app and their acquisition of Atebits (Tweetie) before the Chirp conference. So Twitter is buying and building Twitter clients. Think about the creative tension. MORE >>

Ultimately Lijit chose a different path – integrating with over 30 buying channels and standing up their own RTB exchange. Foundry Companies Mergers and Acquisitions acquisition federated media foundry company acquisitions LijitThe fit is a natural one. Congratulations to both the Lijit and Federated teams! MORE >>

Stories about the growth of "hot" startups such as Facebook, Instagram, AirBNB, and others have created a belief that if you build the right product, customer acquisition will be easy. Finding scalable acquisition channels is a time consuming and strategic effort. Do Not Test A Lot Of Channels At Once. Don't be fooled. MORE >>

Snapvine was my first experience being in the driver’s seat of the fund-raising process, and in the 3 years prior to our acquisition we raised over $10mm in venture capital. Valuation is an important aspect of VC deal terms, and a major determinant of your ultimate outcome.  Or is it?  I know this sounds crazy, but it’s not. MORE >>

This is part 2 in a series covering my acquisition of HitTail ;  part 1  went to the top of Hacker News last week and I have a slew of questions from that discussion that I will answer next week. You’ll also have some marketing channels that are bringing in new customers for less than they pay you during their time as a customer. MORE >>