Decide.com trumps outdated Consumer Reports, study says

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Out with the old and in with the new — that’s what a study comparing Consumer Reports to Decide.com concludes. PricewaterhouseCoopers/AEV conducted research on the two recommendation agencies and found Consumer Reports several steps behind Decide.com in various areas like product availability and an up-to-date database. The study, which was sponsored by Seattle-based Decide, analyzed… Read More…

Consumer Reports for geeks: New ‘Decide Score’ uncovers the best and worst products

Decide

Decide.com already tells consumers when they should buy cameras, phones, refrigerators and other gadgets and appliances, analyzing price drops and increases. Now, the Seattle startup and brainchild of University of Washington computer scientist Oren Etzioni and others is getting into the recommendation business, assigning a score of 1 to 100 on more than 22,000 products… Read More…

Tech Moves: Maveron adds venture partner; Doug Aley joins Zulily; etc.

David Wu

Maveron, the Seattle venture capital firm led by former investment banker Dan Levitan and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, has named David Wu to the position of venture partner. Wu, who will be based in the firm’s San Francisco office, is an active angel investor and former executive with Homestead.com. “There are many cutting-edge consumer companies in… Read More…

Lemon squeezes cash from Maveron for digital wallet

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Silicon Valley-based Lemon received a substantial boost of $8 million in investment funding to fuel its “Smarter Wallet,” a digital wallet that allows your smartphone to snap and store every image in your wallet, including credit cards, IDs, health-care cards, receipts and more. The investment was led by Maveron, the consumer tech-focused firm co-founded by… Read More…

Startup advice from Zulily CEO Darrell Cavens: Move fast, because speed matters

Illustration of the Tortoise and the Hare. Wikipedia image

For the past few years, Keith Vernon of Bristlecone Advisors has taken the stage at the University of Washington’s annual business competition awards dinner and read a popular children’s story. The idea is that important entrepreneurial lessons can be gleaned from children’s literature, like last year when Vernon read “The Little Engine That Could.” This year… Read More…

Decide.com brings gadget price predictions to the iPad

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Decide.com has been on a roll in recent weeks, unveiling a new daily deal service, hiring top talent such as social media expert Shauna Causey and introducing a new service that tells shoppers the best time to buy home appliances. Now, the Seattle startup — co-founded by University of Washington computer scientist  Oren Etzioni and… Read More…

Seattle VCs invest in TechStars, supporting 3 more years of startup incubation

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TechStars will be looking to hatch companies in Seattle for the next three years, thanks in part to cash from some of the region’s leading venture capital firms. TechStars Seattle, the branch of the popular startup incubation program, has raised $1.5 million in new funding that will support up to 30 new companies over the… Read More…

Social media vet Shauna Causey leaves Nordstrom for Decide.com

Shauna Causey

Decide.com wants to transform the way people shop for consumer electronics, appliances and other products online by telling people the best time to buy. And now the Seattle company has landed a top storyteller to help inform the world of that mission. Shauna Causey, who most recently led social media efforts for Nordstrom, has joined Decide.com… Read More…

Tech Moves: Scott Blanksteen leaves AppStoreHQ for Amazon; Maveron promotes Jason Stoffer; and more

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Fast-growing Amazon.com continues to gobble up talent from the Seattle tech community. The latest addition is Scott Blanksteen who just left his gig as CEO of Founder’s Co-op-backed AppStoreHQ to become director of product management for Amazon Digital. That’s the group responsible for delivering the Kindle and Kindle Fire. (Just last week we reported that RealNetworks vice… Read More…

Meet the superheroes of Maveron: One hilarious holiday card

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We get a lot of holiday greetings here at GeekWire. Some are pretty traditional, with snowmen or santas or wreaths. But our favorite of the year is the digital greeting from the Seattle venture capital firm Maveron. You don’t see venture capitalists let down their hair in this way, let alone don Batman or Spiderman… Read More…