When Squarespace founder Anthony Casalena first engineered his design platform with a $30,000 investment from his father in 2003, all he had was a small dorm room “office” at the University of Maryland, a computer and some serious willpower. Squarespace was one of the first of its kind: a one-stop design solution that made it…
Anyone with internet access will likely tell you that online shopping is the greatest thing since sliced bread, or at least since the invention of the internet. In most cases it’s quick, convenient and less invasive than brick and mortar shops, but like anything on the internet, it also comes with some risks. In some…
When he and his mother first immigrated to the U.S. with the help of government assistance, Jan Koum collected food stamps and swept grocery store floors to help keep the family afloat. More than 20 years later, the WhatsApp cofounder and CEO made a $19 billion dollar deal with Facebook near the same social welfare…
Test, determine outcome, test against new idea, determine outcome, repeat. Unlike the past, knowledge is now convenient, accessible and remarkably easy to collect and share. Every day we spend hours surfing the web watching compilation videos of cats, typing in an abundance of “how to” queries in Google, opening apps and browsing new blogs or…
It’s difficult to imagine now, but in the late 90s, getting information via mobile phones required a little more patience. There were no app stores, no Siris, no, ‘Okay, Google’s. Back then, (at the risk of sounding like my grandfather) you had to text mobile shortcodes to make online inquiries. 411, for example, is a…
Etsy was founded by Robert Kalin, Chris Maguire and Haim Schoppik in the loft of a Brooklyn, NY apartment, where they designed, coded and then launched the site in June of 2005. Today, the company employs 717 employees, hosts around 1.4 million active sellers and pulled in more than $1.93 billion in gross merchandise sales last…
“I wanted an identity to be proud of,” said High-School dropout, David Karp, founder of the internet sensation, Tumblr, when asked why he chose to pursue his idea in Tokyo at the young age of 17. “I was so silly – I tried to be very formal and put on a deep voice to clients over the…
For a short while, Google had a rival. At least, when it came to maps. Founded in 2008, Waze briefly gave Google Maps a run for its money. The crowd-sourced map application, now led by CEO Noam Bardin in Palo Alto, California, offered something the reigning champ couldn’t – realtime updates from real-life drivers. The…
“Hey, I forgot my wallet. Can you cover me and I’ll pay you back?” More than a phrase we have all heard or uttered at least once in our lives, it also inspired Founders Andrew Kortina and Iqram Magdon-Ismail to create the mobile payment app Venmo. Headquartered in New York, Venmo launched publicly in August…
Ahhh, Pinterest – the online pinboard and every woman’s favorite addiction. Since this social networking site caught fire, Pinterest has been fondly nicknamed everything from digital crack to pure virtual estrogen. The website allows users (80% of whom are women) to share and save photos that they enjoy to “pin boards” of a certain type; for example, pinning the newly refreshed…