Business – Page 3 – Ben Parr.com — A Little Attention Can Change the World

My Thoughts on Apple’s ($130B) Stacks of Cash on CNBC

Apple has $130 billion in cash, and nobody can seem to agree what the tech titan should do with it. That’s the impression I got from Greenlight partner David Einhorn’s recent suggestions that Apple deliver more of that cash to shareholders. Of course, I had my own opinion on the matter, so I went on… Continue reading My Thoughts on Apple’s ($130B) Stacks of Cash on CNBC

Announcing “Startup Attention & PR 101”, Now on Udemy

I’m thrilled to announce the launch of “Startup Attention & PR 101: From Launch to Damage Control and Beyond“, my 19-lecture online Udemy course. I’m also thrilled to announce that half of the course’s proceeds will be donated to THRIVE-GULU, a not-for-profit dedicated to building rehabilitation and community centers across Africa, starting with Gulu, Uganda.… Continue reading Announcing “Startup Attention & PR 101”, Now on Udemy

Stop Worrying About the Embargo

If you’re a regular reader of the tech blogosphere, you may have seen some hooplah about startup embargoes. It’s a hot button issue with a lot of bloggers. (BTW, I think Ryan’s justified to be upset. Publishing second or publishing 12 hours later simply doesn’t get you the traffic, the Techmeme headline, etc. Everyone loses.)… Continue reading Stop Worrying About the Embargo

Fuck You, Patent Trolls

This type of shit just boils my blood. From GigaOm: Just days after Hipmunkâ€™s June funding announcement, a company called i2z Technology LLC told the travel start-up that it has to buy a license for a 1994 patent that covers a method for displaying data in multiple computer windows. Despite its high-tech sounding name, i2z… Continue reading Fuck You, Patent Trolls

My Column Is Heading to CNET!

Dear friends, colleagues and supporters, I’m thrilled to announce that I’m joining CNET and CBS Interactive as a contributing columnist and commentator! Ever since my departure from Mashable, I’ve posted my personal take on the big technology news of the day on BenParr.com. The response to my work has been overwhelming, and traffic to this… Continue reading My Column Is Heading to CNET!

The Art of the Introduction: A Primer

I make 12-18 introductions per week on average. Some of the intros I make are favors to friends, some of them are to journalists, some are for the startups I advise, and some were because I thought that two people just needed to meet each other. Most of the time, the introductions I see people… Continue reading The Art of the Introduction: A Primer

The Rise of the Smart Assistant

Almost everybody wants to have an assistant, even if people won’t freely admit it. Who doesn’t want an extra set of hands to help out with chores, scheduling, reminders, meetings, reservations, and the myriad of other tasks that we need to complete every single day? Just a few years ago, the only way you could… Continue reading The Rise of the Smart Assistant

The Right Way to Apologize

Hot mobile social networking app Path has been under fire for the last few days for saving users’ address books and contact lists on their servers in order to help them connect with their friends. Path’s intentions were innocent enough — they wanted to make sure more people discovered their friends on Path — but… Continue reading The Right Way to Apologize

Facebook’s Monster IPO: 10 Interesting Stats

Facebook has filed for IPO. It will likely be the largest IPO in Internet history. Here are some quick things I’m noticing in the company’s SEC filing: Zynga accounts for 12% of Facebook’s revenue. Facebook needs Zynga just as much as Zynga needs Facebook. Zuckerberg owns a WHOPPING 533,801,850 shares — that’s 28.2% of the… Continue reading Facebook’s Monster IPO: 10 Interesting Stats