Ballmer, Myhrvold make Top 100 list recognizing CEOs impacting science, tech education

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Two Washington CEOs — and former Microsoft colleagues — made a Top 100 CEO list for executives that were recognized for making a difference in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) industries and education. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Intellectual Ventures CEO Nathan Myrhvold made the list, which was compiled by STEMconnector ”to salute and celebrate an… Read More…

USA Today owner Gannett to buy KING parent Belo for $1.5B

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Big acquisition in the media world this morning: Belo Corp., the parent company of television stations including Seattle’s KING-TV, has agreed to be acquired by USA Today owner Gannett Co. for $1.5 billion in cash. The deal will add 20 television stations to Gannett’s portfolio, nearly doubling the Virginia-based company’s TV holdings. Belo, based in… Read More…

Ex-Insitu CEO takes flight with stealthy big data startup Seeq

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Steve Sliwa, the former CEO of Insitu Group, the maker of unmanned aerial vehicles that was purchased by Boeing for $400 million, has emerged at a stealthy startup company by the name of Seeq. We came across the startup today in a SEC filing, which indicated that the company, previously operating under the name Nebula… Read More…

Cadence receives $1 million defense grant to get wounded soldiers walking again

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Cadence Biomedical CEO Brian Glaister certainly is having a good week. In addition to being recognized at the Technology Alliance’s annual luncheon on Wednesday, the Seattle entrepreneur also announced that his company’s Kickstart Walking System has received a $1 million grant from the Department of Defense. Kickstart is an innovative device which helps those who’ve… Read More…

Bye, bye Nook? B&N e-reader makes top 10 list of brands expected to die

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Amazon.com may have killed it, and Microsoft may not be able to save it. Yes, Barnes & Noble’s e-reader device, the Nook, is in a precarious situation. And now it has been tagged with an unfortunate label by the folks at 24/7 Wall St., which have put the Nook on its list of brands that… Read More…

INRIX reacts quickly to I-5 bridge collapse, says traffic delays minimal right now

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One Seattle area tech company jumped into action shortly after a portion of Interstate 5 bridge spanning the Skagit River collapsed Thursday night. Within minutes, Kirkland-based INRIX had received notifications from the Washington Department of Transportation of the collapse and had put an operations team in place to update its traffic navigation apps and services…. Read More…

Geek Humor: Jon Stewart rips Apple and U.S. Senators

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This is absolutely hilarious. Comedian Jon Stewart rips into iPhone-loving U.S. Senators who were fawning over Apple CEO Tim Cook during his recent testimony on Capitol Hill. “Apparently there is nothing Apple can do to get us mad at them,” Stewart notes. “We could find out they’re using kitten hearts to power iPhones and we’d… Read More…

UW’s Ed Lazowska: ‘Washington is the ass end of the donkey in just about every aspect of education’

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The incredible talent that the University of Washington pumps out every year was on display during Tuesday’s Seattle Tech Meetup, as five startups with UW ties gave five-minute pitches to the crowd at the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science and Engineering. But unfortunately for the state, the UW is one of the few bright spots… Read More…

Paul Allen procures V-2 rocket for aircraft museum

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Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is selling some of his abstract art, and buying a historic rocket. The eclectic Seattle billionaire has procured a rare Werner von Braun designed V-2 rocket, the first man-made object to fly into outer space. Allen’s Flying Heritage Collection — located at Paine Field in Everett — is taking possession of the rocket on… Read More…

Video: Melinda Gates tells Duke grads to reject the ‘Me Generation’ label

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Duke University computer science and economics grad Melinda Gates returned to her alma mater this past weekend to deliver the commencement address, telling grads to reject the notion of Time magazine’s thesis in the piece “The Me Me Me Generation.” “I want to encourage you to reject the cynics who say that technology is flattening… Read More…

Should you avoid raising startup capital early on? 10 founders weigh in

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There’s more than one school of thought about startup financing. After all, there are some very successful companies that have managed just fine without VC money, often on purpose. But as one entrepreneur we polled puts it below, if you really want to see your startup grow and thrive, then the question might be quite… Read More…

A giant sucking sound: Seattle startup CEOs say Amazon is sucking up all of the tech talent in the city

A sign outside Amazon's HQ in Seattle shows the company's amazing appetite for new hires. Photo: Matt Shobe

It’s tough enough to do a startup, let alone when you’re competing for talent against a juggernaut like Amazon.com. I’ve heard that a lot in recent weeks, especially as the Seattle online powerhouse continues to gobble up engineers, developers and executives from the startup ranks (most recently Charlie Kindel, and before that entire teams of… Read More…

Commentary: Why every artist should work at a startup

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Hi, I’m Clayton Weller. I’m a director, performer and writer. I would most definitely consider myself an artist. I’ve worked for years to hone my craft. I’ve taken classes, held myself to a relentless production schedule, and worked under people who have been producing art for longer than I’ve been alive. Still, the best thing… Read More…

Israeli tech firm takes root in Seattle, bolsters exec team

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Seattle is getting a new publicly-traded technology company, but not through the traditional IPO process. BluePhoenix Solutions has set up shop in Seattle, opening new offices in Two Union Square and adding several technology veterans to the team in recent month. The company, which is traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker BPHX, announced today… Read More…

GeekWire Awards: Vote for Startup of the Year

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We’re nearing the end of the voting for the GeekWire Awards, and today we’ve got a big category on hand: Startup of the Year. To qualify for Startup of the Year, companies had to be three years or younger, and on a fast-track to success. We’re expecting a tight competition in this field of contenders,… Read More…

Here’s why this do-it-all science instructor is the 2013 National Teacher of the Year

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When Jeff Charbonneau begins class everyday at Zillah High, he says the same thing: “Welcome to paradise, everybody.” No, Zillah High isn’t on the sandy shores of Hawaii. In fact, the place is far from it, nestled in the Yakima Valley of Eastern Washington. But after 60 people took four hours to clean up vandalized school… Read More…

Tableau Software updates IPO filing, shows growing sales and Q1 net loss of $3.7M

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Tableau Software’s revenue grew at a rapid clip during the first quarter, but the Seattle maker of data visualization products also swung to a net loss, according to an updated IPO filing released Friday afternoon. Tableau — which filed to raise up to a $150 million in an IPO earlier this month — posted a… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: Cart Blanche wants to be the TripAdvisor for the shopping mall

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Cart Blanche founder Joel Espelien is trying to change the way you shop at the local mall, combining the best of social networking technologies with the brick-and-mortar retail experience. His new startup, which is launching Friday at the Northwest Entrepreneur Network’s First Look Forum, allows shoppers to rate, review and share  the items they find on the… Read More…

Washington vs. Oregon: Here are the VC deals from Q1

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Last week, we reported on the new CB Insights VC report, noting that Oregon had overtaken Washington in terms of quarterly venture investments for the first time since 1993. The MoneyTree Report, being released today by the National Venture Capital Association, Thomson Reuters and PricewaterhouseCoopers, offers a slightly different picture. Washington just edged out Oregon, with… Read More…

BeatBio gets $2.5M for new ‘super fuel’ that boosts pumping power of heart muscles

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BeatBio, a Seattle life sciences startup led by former Vulcan Capital managing director Michael Kranda and former VieVax CTO Gregory Mahairas, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding from CET Capital Partners, the W Fund and others. The new funds will be used to move the company’s gene therapy product into clinical trials, an experimental… Read More…