Patricio Robles

What you can learn about a company on April Fool's Day

Yesterday was, of course, April Fool's Day and the internet has created a rich environment for all sorts of April Fool's pranks.

After all, there are limitless ways you can trick, deceive and amuse online, making internet users a juicy target for April Fool's Day.

by Patricio Robles 02 April 2009 09:26am 3 comments

6 things your business is overpaying for online

The economy is still hurting and businesses are still cutting back.

But there are plenty of little (and not so little) things that businesses are still overpaying for online that can add up to real savings when addressed.

by Patricio Robles 02 April 2009 09:00am 3 comments

Wikia and Jimmy Wales shutter Wikia Search

Can search be crowdsourced? It's a question that Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, set out to answer when his for-profit company Wikia launched Wikia Search.

Wikia Search, which we reviewed here on the Econsultancy blog when it launched, tried to give users the ability to edit search results in much the same fashion that users can edit pages on Wikipedia.

by Patricio Robles 01 April 2009 09:10am 0 comments

Is Facebook in trouble?

By almost all metrics, Facebook is the top dog in the social networking market. Even though it's now 5 years old, it's still growing like a weed and there's no reason to believe that its growth is going to subside anytime soon.

But is the company increasingly troubled?

by Patricio Robles 01 April 2009 10:55am 6 comments

Time Inc. breathes new life into the Life brand online

Is the internet going to be a godsend for traditional publishers or will it turn out to be a cruel hoax?

The answer to that depends on a lot of things, some of which are out of the control of publishers, such as the state of the economy and ad market.

by Patricio Robles 01 April 2009 09:01am 0 comments

Google launches VC fund

If you're an internet entrepreneur and you could pick any company to invest in your startup, which one would it be?

Chances are Google would be at or near the top of the list. And for good reason: Google is not only the 800-lb. gorilla of the internet and one of the most prominent companies in the world, it has been fairly aggressive over the years in acquiring young startups, from hot consumer plays like YouTube to enterprise ventures like Postini.

by Patricio Robles 31 March 2009 10:52am 2 comments

How not to be the GM of your industry

Yesterday, United States President Barack Obama told American automaker GM what most of us have known for at least the past several months: right now, the beleaguered automaker is in no shape to stay in business.

GM's CEO Rick Wagoner stepped down at the request of the Obama administration and the company has little time to prove to the US government that it can right the ship or it will not be given the additional government aid it can't survive without.

by Patricio Robles 31 March 2009 14:00pm 4 comments

One more day until 2009's Y2K?

Everybody remembers Y2K. Some experts predicted that the inability of some computer programs to handle dates after January 1, 2000 would have a huge impact on civilization.

Some less-than-grounded people even went so far as to warn that civilization would essentially collapse. I recall reports of individuals loading up on food, water and ammo. I hope they had receipts and got refunds.

by Patricio Robles 31 March 2009 09:16am 2 comments

URL shortening service Bit.ly raises cash, but where's the money?

It may be a tough time to raise money if you're a young startup but that doesn't mean that funding isn't out there.

Bit.ly, the rockstar URL shortening service that we've profiled on the Econsultancy blog before, proves that; it just managed to raise $2mn from private investors.

by Patricio Robles 31 March 2009 09:00am 2 comments