Marcelo Calbucci at Sampa recently listed his picks for the most influential entrepreneur/bloggers in Seattle -- and for the most part, we'd agree with his selections (but maybe not their rankings). His list includes folks like Kevin Merritt at blist, who recently wrote about his startup's process in entering and preparing for a launch at DEMO, the "60 Minutes" man of fame Glenn Kelman at Redfin and entrepreneur/investor Kelly Smith at Curious Office. We also like the blog at Wetpaint, which didn't make the list this time. It'll be interesting to see how the rankings change, as Marcelo plans to issue another list in the future.

-posted by Rachel

This week, my client Dipiti publicly launched its service.   Dipiti is a human-filtered search service that connects consumers with the online community content (forums and message boards). What separates this company from other human-filtered search services is its emphasis on life matters (health, pets, legal and money) along with its exclusive search of forums  and message boards (tracking about 29 million active conversations).  I think of Dipiti as essentially the company that puts "the human" into the Internet.

I really dig this service because it not only addresses my favorite segment of the population (pets), but really does personalize the Internet in a way not many sites can from its human-filtered searches, to its canvassing of forums and message boards to its life matters. 

It's not just me that's hot on Dipiti, check out what the Seattle Times and Seattle PI  are saying.  You can see what you think but I give it two paws up:)

-posted by Andrew

Blogs are becoming more and more powerful every day. It looks like super-blogger Perez Hilton, aka Mario Lavandeira, is once again parlaying his widespread influence into a new job. First it was VH1 specials and guest appearances on television shows, now, as the New York Times was first to report, Hilton is negotiating a deal that would give him clout at Warner Brothers Music. On his gossip blog, Perez often blogs about new artists, usually unknown and sometimes unsigned, and songs that he thinks his readers will enjoy. With 2.8 million visitors each month, these postings get a lot of exposure, so much so that the blog has been credited with these relatively unknown artists breaking into the top 10 on iTunes and gaining priceless exposure with club promoters and record labels. If the deal goes through, Hilton will be using his keen ear to bring these future stars to the Warner Brothers label.

And to think, it all started with a blog...

-posted by Stephanie

On Feb. 24, coconut and babassu oil biofuel from Seattle-based Imperium Renewables powered a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 from London Heathrow to Amsterdam, making Virgin the first airline in the world to fly on renewable fuel. According to the press release no modifications were made to either the aircraft or its engines to enable the flight to take place. And, Boeing will use the findings in another demonstration flight later this year. In case you're wondering, like me, what babassu is, it's a palm which grows in the Amazon region of South America. The oil is increasingly being used as a substitute for coconut oil.

-posted by Adrienne

According to researchers at Informa, the mobile social networking market is expected to reach a whopping $29 billion by 2012. As reported by FierceMobileContent, mobile social networking generated $1.5 billion in 2006 and is on a path of high growth. In a related story, CNET suggests that social networking via mobile devices hinges on the availability of location-based services, providing users with information specific to their location, like what friends are nearby, the nearest jazz club, etc..

Admit it, "mobile social networking" is a mouthful and "MSN" doesn't work either. Anyone else in favor of a shorter name? Maybe "mobisoci"..."mobisocnet." Got any other ideas?

-posted by Lindsay

According to the PSBJ, Lynwood-based Trupanion has raised $22M in financing from Maveron LLC. Trupanion sells pet insurance and has had a strong presence in Canada since 2000, primarily targeting veterinarians as its channel. Trupanion is now targeting "pet parents" here in the US. They must be onto something with backing from Maveron (leading consumer brand VC behind Starbucks and eBay) and Renaissance RE (a $4 billion dollar insurance company).

-posted by Adrienne

So it's not the first time I've screwed up a basic online book order. Yes, I did ask for it by cancelling my order, then placing another one, and then trying to combine them to get the free shipping all within the span of about 6 seconds, but nonetheless, I contacted customer service. Have you used the click to call service from eStara yet? very cool. Type in your phone number and a real human calls you, immediately. No annoying voice prompts or sitting on hold. And what was really great, when I managed to disconnect myself in the middle of the call, the service rep finished fixing my order and sent me an email to confirm. love you amazon.

-posted by Adrienne

Mobile Phones Take Center Stage

I had the privilege last year to attend 3 GSM (now the Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona.  Despite the crazy hours, I was able to soak in a show with all of the glitz and glamour of a Hollywood premiere.  Only, the stars of this show are the latest and greatest cell phones and all of the cool applications that support them.



This year, I didn't head out to Barcelona (even though we had a number of clients who did).  So... I've been reading up on the show-stoppers there this year.  Seems the hint of a global recession has put a damper on the show despite the record number of attendees.  Regardless of the atmosphere, there's been a ton of hardware unveiled including Sony's first-time venture with Windows Mobile and the coming out for Google's Android, a free mobile  platform.

If you want to read up on this year's happenings, The Industry Standard put together a nice summary article.

Missing Barcelona and the tapas...

-posted by Andrew

So it's well-known that VOXUS is a dog-friendly office. Maybe that's why I hadn't heard about I Can Has Cheezburger until John Cook of the Seattle P-I wrote about it in his blog. This bizarre Seattle startup gives cat lovers a place to upload their photos with captions that, frankly, make me laugh and scratch my head. What's even weirder is that John reports that the angel investor-backed company is profitable! You gotta wonder...

-posted by Rachel

This week's PSAMA event in Seattle was packed with marketing folks eager to hear from speaker Robert H. Bloom, former Chairman and CEO of Publicis Worldwide, (where he led accounts such as Loreal, T-Mobile, and BMW). He was there to schlep his book "The Inside Advantage" and spoke primarily about the need to know your core customer. While all companies have multiple customer types, to be successful a business must be able to define precisely who it is that they must own. Bloom also spoke about how product marketing must focus not only on tangible benefits but emotional benefits as well - case in point, when he held up a small and distinct robin's egg/aqua Tiffany box every woman in the room broke into a smile.

-posted by Adrienne

Finding good local restaurants in Seattle is an easy task thanks to a number of new dining review Web sites, like Ultraspoon and BooRah. On the other hand, sites that can direct you to the nearest, cleanest toilet, are few and far between. A new company named MizPee is hoping to change that. Brought to our attention by Paul Rasmussen at FierceWireless Europe, MizPee allows guests to rate local restrooms and access this critical data via the Web and mobile. Like traditional star ratings, the more toilet paper rolls the better...

There are already 18 facilities included on MizPee in the Seattle area and many with good ratings. To find an acceptable toilet near you, visit: MizPee.

-posted by Lindsay

VOXUS client CozyBug, an online flea market and garage sale boutique, this week radically expanded its reach by tying into Trulia, Oodle, Vast.com, and Google Base. Now you can post a free listing once and gain much broader exposure for all that really great stuff cluttering up your garage. If you're one of the dissatisfied eBay users out there, give CozyBug a try.

-posted by Adrienne

If you are look for some last minutes ideas on where to take that special someone for Valentine's Day, Network World has a new slide show up that lists the 10 best places to take a techie on a date. Grabbing the coveted number one slot is San Francisco's Exploratorium, a so-called "playground for the techie in us all," NWW even mentions that if you can't make it to the real location, you and your date's avatars can visit the Second Life version... so romantic. Also making the top ten are Cambridge's MIT Museum, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Seattle's very own Experience Music Project, which comes in at #7.

-posted by Stephanie

The SIIA just announced the finalists for the 2008 CODiE Awards. With nearly 30 entries received in the Best Mobile Solution category, two VOXUS clients top the list. After a thorough peer product review, Formotus was honored for its click-and-deploy mobile application solution and Perlego was recognized for its mobile device lifecycle management offering. See a full list of finalists here.

Winners will be announced May 20, 2008 at the CODiE Awards Gala in San Francisco, CA.

-posted by Lindsay

Seattle-based Inu Treats was selected as a runner up in Intuit's Just Start competition, and received a $5,000 cash prize. The startup makes healthy dog treats.

-posted by Rachel

Think outside the box! If you're looking to share your web analytics experience, join your compadres at the next Web Analytics Wednesday being held at Temple Billiards in Seattle on Wednesday, February 20 at 6 p.m. It's being sponsored this month by ZeroDash1. WAW is a global social networking event hosted in cities around the world...it's got beer and billiards, so what's not to like?

-posted by Rachel

This one makes me laugh...Boost Mobile wants to help its "single and looking" subscribers find love this Valentine's Day. Now through February 14 users have access to a mobile social networking site called Crush or Flush for $.69/day. With the service, subscribers can find, rate and meet people within the Boost network. Seems pretty easy if you don't mind the risk of being "flushed." According to a Wireless Week article, more than 30,000 have already signed up...

-posted by Lindsay

After watching their presentation at DEMO '08, John Cook recently wrote about a new "current affairs search engine" in his Venture Blog named Silobreaker because of the founder's desire to break the "silos" of traditional media. Nominated as the official VOXUS Guinea pig for all things Silobreaker, my initial report is very positive - with Silobreaker offering a fresh alternative to traditional search engines. Not only can you search through current news stories, videos, research reports, and pretty much anything else imaginable, you can also track trends in media coverage of companies, people and topics. Not to mention a cool feature that shows a visual web of relationships between searched items and other newsmakers. So far, very awesome tool... more to come after further investigation.

-posted by Stephanie

Anyone who has worked even remotely with the majors (music labels) knows how unendingly painful it can be. Nonetheless, I could still feel the collective grimace go out last week when Qtrax backtracked (as the labels refuted) its claims that it had licensing deals (as reported by Reuters). Music industry veteran Bruce Houghton speculates it may have been a negotiation tactic or stock manipulation by Qtrax. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, happens now for Qtrax.

-posted by Adrienne

Streaming-capable phone? Check. 3G network? Check. As reported in Wireless Week, YouTube has announced that tens of millions of videos will be available to an estimated 100 million+ devices. Previously limited to specific devices and operators like AT&T's Apple iPhone, YouTube is opening up access to mobile users everywhere using 3G and streaming-capable phones. The new expansion is poised to drive mobile video uptake by providing mobile users with access to a vast library of videos and allowing users to access account info and post comments via m.youtube.com and youtube.com.

-posted by Lindsay

So we all know that, unfortunately, it's sometimes the PR department or agency's job to keep reporters away from top company honchos. That's why I'm so impressed with the Wall Street Journal's Kara Swisher, who pens the "Boomtown" column for the WSJ's blog, All Things Digital. She wanted to meet Yahoo's chief, Jerry Yang, and was denied access through normal PR channels. She found out that Yahoo had offered a lunch with Jerry as a prize in the DonorsChoose blogger challenge. While she didn't win, it was a creative way to try to gain access to a notoriously inaccessible person. And kudos to the All Things D staff for continuing its fundraising efforts -- you can learn more here.

-posted by Rachel

Last month, I had the pleasure of being among 500 people checking out Google’s new Seattle digs. The new Seattle office is in the Fremont neighborhood which is best known for being the “center of the universe.” It’s very fitting that the company known for its shall you say, “creative” work environment has landed itself in this very eccentric part of this very eccentric city.

From charactertures to massages to free booze to gourmet cupcakes topped off with Google’s Seattle logo, I had no problem flying solo and filling my time. A big shout out goes to my neighbor Melissa for leading my tour of the office. She just so happens to work in HR at Google.



So… here’s my big takeaway from my visit… while the work environment is very different from your run of the mill office… I wonder how long Google can retain its character before turning into yet another “churn and burn” large high-tech company (if you live in the Seattle area, you may know who I’m referring to). I’ll be closely monitoring the Googleites along the Fremont cut but until then, keep the cupcakes coming!




-posted by Andrew

You may have noticed a little new paint and spackle around here. We haven't "officially launched" the new site, so stay tuned for more commentary and keep your eye out for a promotional mailer or two. Still, it's up. Whew.

We hope you like it.

-posted by Paul