Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz departs Groupon’s board

Howard Schultz (Richard Eriksson photo)

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has stepped down from the board of Groupon just 16 months after joining forces with the fast-growing Chicago-based daily deal site. According to a SEC filing today, Schultz resigned from the board effective April 24th. Kara Swisher of All Things D first reported the news, also noting that Accel Partners’ Kevin Efrusy… Read More…

Daily deal site Tippr offers a full refund after duped by fake Bose headsets

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In what CEO Martin Tobias described as the company’s first mass refund, Seattle daily deal site Tippr has apologized to customers who bought a pair of what they thought were $49 Bose headsets. Tobias tells GeekWire that a merchant signaled that the headsets were genuine, and that it was authorized to sell them. But Tippr… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Knotis looks to turn merchants into happy daily deal users

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You’ve heard the horror stories of small businesses getting overwhelmed by daily deals from the likes of Groupon and Living Social. Knotis founder McLean Reiter, a 28-year-old Seattle entrepreneur, wants to help those merchants navigate the tricky landscape with a new service called Knotis. Offering merchants a flat-rate of $14 per month, Knotis offers tools that helps… Read More…

Amazon’s discounted gift cards set blistering pace for daily deals

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[Correction: Post updated to reflect the fact that Amazon's deal was one of the fastest-selling in daily deals history, but not the fastest. A LivingSocial promotion for Whole Foods sold 1 million vouchers in 14 hours.] Amazon got lots of attention yesterday with its offer of a $10 gift card for $5 through its AmazonLocal daily deals… Read More…

Amazon boosts AmazonLocal with $10 gift card for $5

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Many companies are still trying to make it in the market for daily deals, competing with giant Groupon and a host of smaller rivals. But Amazon.com is in a unique position with its AmazonLocal deals site thanks to the fact that it’s, well, Amazon.com. Case in point: Today’s nationwide AmazonLocal deal offering a $10 Amazon… Read More…

Daily deal site Tippr lays off 25 staffers, restructures sales

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Tippr, the daily deal technology services startup led by Seattle entrepreneur Martin Tobias, laid off 25 employees today as part of a restructuring of the sales organization, GeekWire has learned. The Seattle company now employs about 45 people, yet still has about 10 open positions. “The reductions were in merchant sales and part of our… Read More…

Amazon filing shows $558M loss for LivingSocial in 2011

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How much does it cost to bulk up and compete with the likes of Groupon in the daily deals market? Amazon.com’s annual Form 10-K filing, made public this morning, reveals detailed financial information about LivingSocial, the privately-held Washington, D.C.-based company in which Amazon is an investor. A footnote in Amazon’s filing gives this condensed statement of… Read More…

SnapIn founder Brian Roundtree scores cash for ‘personal shopper’ service nFluence Media

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SnapIn Software was one of the better outcomes in the Seattle technology community in recent years, with the mobile software company selling to Nuance for about $200 million in 2008. Now, SnapIn founder Brian Roundtree — an entrepreneurial and engineering prodigy who started his first company at the age of 12 and later created Redmond-based Action… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Deals4Dreams looks to do well, by doing good

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At this time of year, it is important to remember the importance of giving back. So, in the spirit of the season, our featured Startup Spotlight this week is Deals4Dreams. The company has a simple mission: help good causes raise awareness, communicate with their supporters and raise money through daily deals. Founded by Jim McCarthy, Dan… Read More…

Daily deal site Zulily to add up to 600 jobs in central Ohio

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Zulily, the fast-growing Seattle daily deals site, is planning to establish a new distribution and fulfillment center in central Ohio that could employ as many as 600 workers over the next three years, reports The Columbus Dispatch. In an effort to attract Zulily, the state of Ohio awarded income tax credits to the company on… Read More…