After bootstrapping to $10M in sales, BizX scores real cash for virtual currency

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Why pay cash, when you can just trade for services? That’s the question driving BizX, which is not your traditional startup. Founded in 2002 by Bob Bagga, Chris Haddawy and Raj Kapoor, the Bellevue-based online bartering service last year posted revenue of $10 million after helping to facilitate more than $60 million in transactions. Not bad… Read More…

Joining the jet set: My first time flying on Arrow’s new private jet service

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My first mistake in testing out Arrow — the new private jet club which unveiled plans today to run daily flights between Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area — was a simple one. I got to the King County International Airport too early. Way too early. The flight was to depart at 8 a.m.,… Read More…

Meet Arrow: New private jet club looks to launch service between Seattle and Bay Area

Arrow founder Russell Belden at the ticket counter at Boeing Field

No lines. No security. No airport parking fees. And, yes, you can even bring your vanilla latte on board. Here comes Arrow, a new private jet club that’s looking to connect busy professionals in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area. Let’s just call it … the nerd bird. Founded by aviation geek Russell Belden… Read More…

BuddyTV founder Andy Liu’s 8 tips on raising cash: ‘Not all money is good money’

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Andy Liu is one of Seattle’s most sophisticated angel investors. He’s also one of the region’s most experienced entrepreneurs. That gives the poker-loving Wharton MBA — who continues to lead Seattle-based BuddyTV — a unique perspective from both sides of the startup fence. Speaking Monday at the Seattle Interactive Conference, Liu offered a few lessons… Read More…

Filing: Stealthy startup Top Level Spectrum lands cash

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On the GeekWire podcast a few weeks ago, Seattle angel investor and BuddyTV co-founder Andy Liu noted that he’s been making a number of investments in recent months. We’ve reported on a few of those deals already this month, including recent investments in Chirpify and Venuelabs. Now, here’s another one, and it’s in deep, deep… Read More…

Chirpify lands $1.3 million to sell music and concert tickets through Twitter

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Twitter is great for sharing content. But when it comes to actually conducting commerce, the fast-growing social networking service leaves something to be desired. Portland’s Chirpify wants to solve that problem, and it just landed $1.3 million in a first round of funding from a group of angel investors that includes BuddyTV CEO Andy Liu;… Read More…

Startup Awards: Vote for Seattle’s Investor of the Year

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Even though it’s cheaper than ever to get a software or Internet company off the ground these days, money still matters. But the best investors bring more to the table than deep pockets, adding extra horsepower when startups need them the most. Today’s featured category in the Seattle 2.0 Startup Awards is Investor of the Year, recognizing some… Read More…

CES Video: Sneak peek at BuddyTV’s updated iPad app

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At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, BuddyTV is previewing an upcoming update to its BuddyTV Guide iPad app. The update from the Seattle company integrates new social features into the experience, such as the ability to invite friends to watch and chat about shows together. BuddyTV CEO Andy Liu gives us a run-through… Read More…

A match made in heaven: ooBible buys eBible.com

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When I first wrote about the Seattle digital bible startup ooBible three months ago, I stumbled a bit on the name. After all, it’s not too common to see a company name start with two vowels. (The double Os were intended to represent the infinity symbol). Now, ooBible creator Colin Wong is solving that branding… Read More…

Soak the rich: One entrepreneur’s take on fixing the debt crisis and saving the economy

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Let’s soak the rich. Apparently that’s what most Americans think should happen to reduce the deficit, including Warren Buffett.  A recent CNN poll says that 63 percent of Americans want to raise taxes on the rich. Everyone knows that our federal deficit is unsustainable.  It’s clear to me that one of the biggest bubbles that we’re building is… Read More…

Marcelo Calbucci lands CTO gig at EveryMove, Andy Liu joins board

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Marcelo Calbucci has a new gig. The founder of Seattle 2.0 today was named the chief technology officer at EveryMove, a Seattle startup that’ says it is “revolutionizing your health and fitness through personal technology.” In addition, the company named Seattle angel investor and BuddyTV CEO Andy Liu to its board, and announced a partnership… Read More…