Lean Startup Challenge 2012: Bring It On!

Jebbit is participating in Lean Startup Challenge 2012! Lean Startup Challenge is a 4 week competition of 40 startups in Boston that will go through the different stages of the Lean Startup Method. Silicon Valley entrepreneur Eric Ries claims: “Lean Startup isn’t about being cheap [but is about] being less wasteful and still doing things that are big.” Throughout the challenge, advisors and entrepreneurs will help Jebbit perform experiments. The ultimate goal is to operate with less waste, plan a sustainable growth strategy, and focus on creating products that people want. We will discover what works and doesn’t work. The principles behind Lean Startup stem from Lean Manufacturing. Companies need to learn to make risky business decisions fast and as efficiently as possible. We are excited to participate in this challenge! Check  out the other companies who will also compete in Lean Startup Challenge 2012:

http://a.leanstartupchallenge.com/teams/

The day is finally here! Welcome to the world, iPhone 5.

Magisto on Jebbit!

Check out Magisto’s campaign on Jebbit! Magisto is an online video editing app that you can download on your iPhone or on Google Chrome. If you’re daunted by iMovie or Movie Maker, Magisto is the app for you. Like the informational video on their website proudly proclaims, Magisto “magically turns your long, boring videos into short, fun, share-worthy clips.” This app breaks down the video editing process into three main steps: selecting the clips, adding a title, and adding a soundtrack. To learn more about Magisto, complete their campaign on Jebbit!

Jebbit: Launching New Campaigns

Keep an eye out for new campaigns on Jebbit! We are launching 10 campaigns tonight, so check the Jebbit website first thing in the morning to earn some cash. You can earn money by answering questions about GiftWhip, Student Universe, The Daily Muse, TextPlus, Majisto, Providence Paintball, DateMySchool, StraighterLine, Green Garmento, and Nextag. Don’t miss out!

Favorite Google Chrome Extensions

1. Rapportive

Claim: Rapportive shows you everything about your contacts right inside your inbox.

Rapportive pulls up information such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook from your email contacts. It also works well when you are unsure about someone’s email address. If you type in the correct one, their information and perhaps a picture of them will show up on the side. Another benefit is that Rapportive autofills contact information including your address, phone number, email address, and such when you are filling out forms online.

2. Turn Off the Lights

Claim: The entire page will be fading to dark, so you can watch the video as if you were in the cinema.

All-American “Tech Giants”

Mashable is one of my favorite sources when I’m fishing for tech news and a graphic comparing the growth of the largest tech companies in the U.S. really caught my eye. This graph shows the growth of each company during the first semester of 2012. I did not expect LinkedIn to be first on the list. LinkedIn’s revenue has grown 94% according to Statista. I would usually think of Apple or Facebook as the tech monsters but growth is a different factor than size or popularity. LinkedIn is a professional network, an online resumé, of roughly 175 million users. Facebook, on the other hand, is more indiscriminate and has almost reached 1 billion users worldwide. LinkedIn and Facebook are barely comparable not only size-wise but mission-wise. It is not surprising that Apple’s revenues continue to rise and also Netflix, which is migrating to Europe and gaining a broader customer base. The mere 5% of Microsoft’s growth makes me wonder what Microsoft can possibly do to revamp their image and products. Maybe entering the tablet market? And hope for the success that vanished soon after the release of the Windows phone.

Relationship Between Fruit and the Economic Recession

My mom sent me fruit shopping a few days ago and I noticed a small change indicative of an economic recession that affects Spanish citizens more than the banking system, privately-held companies, and the government. There was a large box next to the cash register at the grocery store with a sign that read: “The Crisis Corner.” In that box sat very ripe fruit, damaged fruit, and rotten fruit at a discounted price. Grocery stores usually see themselves forced to throw out such fruit items or donate them to soup kitchens to feed the city’s poor. The recession has clearly demonstrated that there is a demand for unsellable fruit as long as it’s cheaper. People’s need for food has trumped pickiness. Theft rates at farms have risen considerably, as farmers witness fruit-less trees from night to day. Unemployed, retired, and young individuals resort to stealing fruit and vegetables from nearby farms and reselling each item at an astronomical price. Spanish authorities have enacted certain measures, such as increased vigilance, to cease these incidents. I don’t think the answer is punishment. Desperate times call for desperate measures, right? 

Picture from: La Razón

iOS 6 Without YouTube: WHAT!?

Image from TechCrunch.

August 6, 2012: Release date of the new Apple iOS 6… but without YouTube. Every beta version prior to this one incorporated YouTube. That’s five years of YouTube and now Apple has not even substituted it for another video viewing and sharing website. As explained by an Apple representative:

Our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended, customers can use YouTube in the Safari browser and Google is working on a new YouTube app to be on the App Store.

I assume a YouTube app will be free of charge although it is so simple to use when it’s already part of the beta software. Another feature that will no longer appear on the main screen of devices carrying the iOS 6 is Google Maps. Apple reverts back to it’s original application Apple Maps, which is essentially the same. I can’t help but wonder, together with others who are taken by surprise with this announcement, whether Apple is cutting ties with Google. Google must have something up their sleeve…

U.S. Presidential Election Barometer on Twitter

November is slowly creeping up on us. The event that not only the U.S. but the rest of the world is anticipating is closer and closer. Twitter has designed a tool to keep track of popular opinion on both candidates, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. As explained by Twitter, this indicator is “a daily measurement of Twitter users’ feelings towards the candidates as expressed in nearly two million Tweets each week.” Twitter will go through people’s tweets regarding the upcoming elections and update the Twitter Political Index every day at 8 PM EST. The indicator will also show the trends to see how the candidates’ popularity fluctuates until election day. 

Read the rest of the article on TechCrunch. 

A Visit to Unilever

I visited Unilever’s new Barcelona offices at the Viladecans Business Park 20 minutes away from the hustle and bustle of the Mediterranean capital. I walked in with a vague idea of their market position and brands they carry. I walked out three hours later with a whole new perception of one of the world’s largest multinationals and the indisputable top ice cream maker. Unilever revamped their image in the early 2000’s after noticing their products lost spunk in supermarkets. They definitely overcame this obstacle by making the brand more sexy to consumers… by assigning Eva Longoria a starring role in Magnum ice cream commercials, for instance.