Been following the Tumblr/Yahoo deal? Notice how every company that gets acquired says the same things (we’re in it for the long haul. Nothing’s going to change. The new management “gets it.”), but then reality sets in and things get hazy? In this video, Vooza’s CEO reveals the TRUTH about what happens when you get acquired.

Vooza is a video comic strip about the startup world that’s been buzzed about by David Karp, Dennis Crowley, Jason Fried, and other tech bigwigs. Join Vooza’s email list for exclusive VIP access to more Vooza.

eBay is pushing its users to petition the US House of Representatives over what it calls ”unfair Internet sales tax legislation.” This campaign is, of course, in regards to the Marketplace Fairness Act, which has already been approved by the Senate.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the Marketplace Fairness Act, it requires online retailers to collect sales tax on every purchase, paid to the state where the user is located. In other words, shoppers accustomed to not paying sales tax on their online purchases may soon be required to do so.

For, or Against?

In an email signed by CEO John Donahoe, eBay warns its users that this bill “creates an unfair tax burden for small online businesses.” eBay claims “big retailers and state tax collectors” are looking to burden “small businesses that use the Internet to grow.”

Supporters of this bill believe it will level the playing field for local (offline) businesses. Those against the bill, like FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe, claim it “undermines state sovereignty and allows for taxation without representation.”

eBay undoubtedly has financial incentives in this fight, but it’s noteworthy that many supporters of the Marketplace Fairness Act have money in the game as well. MarketplaceFairness.org, for example, is actually run by TaxCloud (owned by FedTax), a company which provides sales tax services for online retailers.

In its petition, eBay is asking Congress to “support small businesses” by modifying the current bill to “exempt small businesses with less than 50 employees or less than $10 million in out-of-state sales.” It’s noteworthy that, according to the Huffington Post, businesses which generate less than $1 million in out-of-state revenue are already exempt from this law.

A similar Internet sales tax bill failed to pass in 2012, and at the time we warned that such a bill appeared all but inevitable in 2013. We have reached out to eBay in regards to this campaign and will update this post when we hear back.

Image credit: Thinkstock

Type/Code, the interaction design studio behind Google’s Currents app, has launched Screensiz.es, a deceptively simple database of (…you guessed it!) screen sizes.

This free service lets you view smartphone, tablet, laptop and desktop screen sizes by pixel dimension, physical size and pixel density. It’s also able to order by demand, using “average monthly Google queries, and some fuzzy math.” No, the popularity sorting isn’t scientific, “but it’s better than nothing,” Type/Code says — we agree.

Nice subtle touches to the site include the ability to show and hide extra columns of data, allowing responsive-design obsessed developers to zero in on exactly what they need.

As we’ve said before, we’re big fans of single-purpose tools and resources that make your life easier. This is especially true when it comes to design, because sometimes a simple, straight-forward solution can solve the worst headaches. We’ve given plenty of attention to apps of this category in the past, including services like SnapRuler, Sip, Icon Strike and Red Pen.

To give Screensiz.es a try, check it out via the link below.

➤ Screensiz.es

Entrepreneurs are now going well beyond building mobile-friendly versions of their websites to create apps that actually add to their bottom line — but doing it well is easier said than done. And a big part of why an app does or doesn’t take off is its usability, plain and simple.

That’s why I recently asked a panel of 11 successful young entrepreneurs the following question:

What are some app design best practices that entrepreneurs (and their dev teams) should not ignore?

Below is their best advice — some of which can be hashed out early in the development phase, and a few tips on details to polish just before release:

1. Testing is key
Testing in mobile apps is a bit of a new field, but it can be extremely impactful. Check out platforms like Artisan to power these tests.
- Robert J. Moore, RJMetrics

2. Go Deep With Your Users

Your users’ motivations matter more than your own. You need to understand the motivations of your users at a very deep level and place triggers in their path accordingly. If you live this concept, you have a solid foundation to do user experience well. If you don’t, then your conversion attempts and growth tactic experiments are likely just a crapshoot.
- Danny Boice, Speek

3. Plan for the Offline Experience

Some of the hottest app designs are lauded for their usability when the consumer is not actually online. Apps like WorkFlowy and Evernote work seamlessly even when the consumer is not connected to WiFi or another signal. This is a design practice that entrepreneurs and their development teams should think about as they plan their apps. Think ahead about how the app works in the offline mode.
- Doreen Bloch, Poshly Inc.

4. Design With Ease of Use

Even though almost half of all Americans now own smartphones, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re adept at using them. For that reason, the mobile app should be so simple that even a newbie mobile user can navigate it effectively.
- Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance

5. Make It Stupid Simple

Once you have a rough design ready, take the most non-technical friend or family member you have and watch them work the app. Is it intuitive? Are there big, easy-to-read buttons? Do you write in tech-speak? Take extensive notes, and pay attention to the places where they get stuck — new users will drop off quickly if you don’t make your design intuitive and easy-to-use.
- Kelly Azevedo, She’s Got Systems

6. Tailor Your Design

Android owners use their device differently than iPhone owners. Make sure your design principals match the operating system you are designing for. One size doesn’t fit all.
- Adam Lieb, Duxter

7. Use Grids

Using a grid in your design is helpful in that it keeps everything consistent as you move from page to page throughout your app. Grids are an important design concept that enable designers to maintain consistency, create visual connections and keep the design unified across the app.
- Jesse Pujji, Ampush

8. Cover as Many Platforms as Possible

Every day users access apps across multiple devices and platforms — desktop, Web, smartphone and tablet — often covering all platforms in one day. Entrepreneurs need to make sure their app is available, functional and attractive across as many devices and platforms as possible.
- Clay Hebert, Spindows

9. Don’t Forget the Importance of Convenience

With any mobile app or mobile website, the sole concern should be, “Am I making the end user’s life more convenient?” Human-centered design, a common process in the development of physical products, is often left out of the digital space. Don’t design from a cubicle. Design with your end user by seeking input at every step of the way and putting yourself in their shoes.
- Matthew Manos, verynice

10. Emulate the Real World

The key to designing a fantastic app that delivers a rich user experience is to create a design for your app that emulates the real life, subject or category that your app represents. For instance, if you’re building a productivity app, study how people are behaving using physical products, and design an app that enhances the usability and experience.
- Rahul Varshneya, Arkenea

11. Pick One Thing and Nail It

The biggest design mistake app developers make is trying to fit too many features onto one small screen. Your app should have ONE primary purpose. Be crystal clear in your mind about what that is, and then hit your user over the head with it. Don’t present the user with options and hope she’ll pick the right one. Instead, guide her through the exactly ONE experience you want her to have.
- Prerna Gupta, Smule

Image credit: Thinkstock

Maggie Philbin introduced a whole generation to the wonders of technology as a presenter on the BBC’s legendary Tomorrow’s World show in the 1980s. During her eight-year stint on the program, she demonstrated the mobile phone, in-car satellite navigation, digital photography and more, all for the first time on British television.

Since then, she has stayed very much involved in technology. She currently presents the BBC’s popular science show Bang Goes the Theory, and she works to inspire a whole new generation of technologists with the TeenTech initiative that she co-founded.

TeenTech inspires young people to consider careers in technology through events targeted at schools. It even partners teens with good ideas up with companies and organizations such as Airbus and NASA to help them develop their ideas under NDA.

At the Thinking Digital conference in Gateshead, UK this week, I caught up with Philbin to hear more about TeenTech and how the technology industry and TV producers alike should be doing more to encourage young people to look at a technology career. Oh, and is the time right for Tomorrow’s World to return?

As a bonus, here she is discussing some new thing called digital photography on Tomorrow’s World in 1985:

Editor’s note: Brendan Gill is the co-founder and CEO of OpenSignal, a startup that crowdsources data on mobile networks from consumer smartphones. Prior to that he founded a California-based e-commerce company after retiring from a brief lifeguarding career. You can find him on Twitter as @brendan_gill.

Stefano Bernardi recently wrote a good cautionary post about the difficulties of raising investment in the US. He’s not wrong – the odds are stacked against you – but I don’t think European entrepreneurs should be discouraged.

Founders need investors that offer more than just money: they need ex-entrepreneurs that have experienced exits; they need super connectors that can make deals happen and they need battle hardened veterans that have seen bubbles come and go many times over. The fact is that there are many more people who meet that description in Silicon Valley and having them as partners can make a huge difference. But how do you raise capital in the US? Rather than the vague and oft-repeated advice to “hustle your way to intros” I want to provide specific, practical tips we learnt whilst raising our seed round in the US last year.

Start local

Don’t book your flight just yet, there’s a new wave of European funds that are comfortable with pre revenue startups, know how to move fast, and won’t ask for 5 year cash forecasts right off the bat. They also regularly network with funds in the US and can be one of your best sources for intros to US funds/angels they like to co-invest with. I’m thinking of the likes of Connect, Hoxton, Kima, Number1, Playfair, EC1, Team Europe, Passion etc (Disclosure – Passion is an investor in OpenSignal). If you get one of them on board they could contribute to your round and potentially introduce you to a US fund to lead.

Timing

Closing a deal can take a long time. The standard US Visa Waiver program is 90 days and you’ll want to plan for all of that and start your research and reaching out to people in advance. A successful investment will usually involve a partner meeting where anywhere from 2-6+ people with ferocious travel schedules need to be in the same room. No one warned us but some of these meetings can take weeks to schedule so you need to factor this in and hit the ground running when you land at SFO.

Basics

Whilst many investors are still based in the 40mile stretch that lies between San Francisco and San Jose (“the peninsula” in local parlance) there has been a clear trend towards San Francisco in recent years. Staying in SF is more fun but staying on the peninsula can save you some cash. Either way you’ll be travelling between the two a lot and you’ll be far better off if one of your group drives as the CalTrain service is limited and slow.

ZipCar is really useful for this and you can sign up with a foreign license but do it well in advance as it takes time.  For apartment hunting I’d recommend Airbnb and PadMapper and try not to stray too far from SOMA or Palo Alto as those are the epicenters of action for the city and the peninsula respectively.

Be prepared

Decide with your co-founders in advance what the plan is. Are you prepared to move to the US or are you staying in Europe? Are only some of the founders willing move? Based on this, filter your approach. Use Crunchbase, AngelList and other resources to see which investors have made investments in Europe in the past year.

Don’t waste time with a US fund that doesn’t invest internationally under any circumstance. Those that do will still expect you to have a US parent entity in which to invest so that the investment terms are subject to US laws. If you are already incorporated in Europe and have external investors make sure they are willing to re-incorporate. Factor in another month at least if you are know you will need to re-incorporate.

Getting meetings

We didn’t have a large network in the Bay Area when we started and found this to be our biggest limiting factor. You’ll want to cast the net wide and reach out to as many people as you can. Portfolio companies are a great (relatively untapped) resource for this and we found the best way was not to open with an ask for an investor intro. Instead, find a company that you have something in common with and ask advice on something specific and relevant. Be respectful of their busy schedule and show you are willing to be helpful by offering something in return.

One tactic that worked very well for us was offering local knowledge to Series A funded companies that were going to be opening European offices. Then, once you’ve had a bit of a back and forth you can see if they will be willing to do an intro to one of their investors.

Office hours

This is a great chance to get a few minutes of uninterrupted attention from investors.  Check sites like Ohours and look out for ad hoc ones at conferences (Startup America often organize them) or the recent ones put together by London investors. Don’t be afraid to email or reach out to investors on Twitter and ask if they have any scheduled, the ecosystem needs more of them.

Advisors

Getting industry veterans to join your advisory board can bring real credibility when it comes to convincing investors to write large checks and they can also put you in touch with investors they have worked with in the past. Use LinkedIn to find 2nd or 3rd degree connections with a background in your industry and browse through those that list themselves as advisors on AngelList.

The Founder Institute has some great guidance on what you should offer in terms of equity and open source docs to keep the legal costs down. I’d suggest targeting a few advisors that know the startup/investing world well and a few that can offer industry specific advice and contacts backed up by 20-30+ years experience.

AngelList

Just do it. Right now. It’s the most meritocratic opportunity to get in front of top-tier investors and amazingly Nivi and Naval somehow manage to provide individualized feedback to a large proportion of startups that list themselves. Fill out your profile in depth and if you present a compelling story there is the potential your startup might be sent around to a long list of potential investors.

Accelerator programs

The jury is still out on many accelerator programs, but one thing that is certain is that the top programs have great investor connections and know what those investors want to hear. Pitching is not simply presenting facts – you’re selling an opportunity and an accelerator will groom your pitch until you can sell ice to an Eskimo.

The likes of Y Combinator and Angelpad are open to foreign teams and with programs like TechStars now running in London (disclosure: I’m an investor), this a great way to leapfrog towards raising a larger round in the US.

Ask for another intro even if an investor doesn’t invest

Some people will caution against this and obviously if you have the potential for a warmer intro you should take that instead, but if the limiting factor (like us) is simply the number of introductions you can get then you need to take every opportunity you can. You’ll be swimming against the current but we managed to get to a yes directly through an intro from a fund that didn’t choose to invest.

There are many valid reasons it might not be a fit for a particular investor so don’t be afraid to ask and they can also introduce you to useful people outside the investor community (who also might have investor contacts).

Do your homework

More than 50% of what you need to do is research. It’s not glamorous – you need to put in quality time with your computer, day after day. You need to create a long hitlist of VCs/angels and other potential targets and research them in detail. You want to go into every investor meeting knowing their investment thesis, their professional history and even their last few tweets. Find a connection; deals are personal relationships after all so look for common ground.

When it comes to talking terms make sure you know your liquidation preferences from your pro rata rights – Brad Feld’s Venture Deals is a great overview. Learn how the industry works and how investors’ incentives are set up so you can understand how they think, e.g. read up on the standard 2/20 fee structure, portfolio theory and avoid obvious errors like pitching a seed only fund to lead a Series A.

Above all, keep going. The nature of fundraising means it’s guaranteed that you will face many rejections so you need to make peace with this fact right now and focus instead on how you are going to react when this happens.  Pick yourself up, try again and console yourself in the knowledge that there are many other startup founders out there who know exactly how hard it is to keep putting yourself out there and respect you for doing it.

Image credit: Michael Reuter / Flickr

Google is taking the “last step” in its shutdown of its Google Buzz product. Starting July 17, the company announced in an email that all posts will be saved to Google Drive.

Back in February 2010, Google launched Buzz, perhaps a precursor to Google+, and was a service that the company hoped would bring you the news and keep the chatter to a minimum.

More than a year later, Google Buzz was shuttered and company Vice President of Product Bradley Horowitz said at the time that the lessons that Google learned from the products short existence would be used in other services like Google+.

Google says that it will transition all user data from Buzz over to Google Drive starting in the next two months — none of which will count against a user’s storage limit. The first set of files are private and contain a snapshot of the public and private Buzz posts that a user authored.

The second set of files will be a user’s public posts on Buzz and be viewable to anyone with access to the link. Google says that these posts could appear in search results and in their Google Profile, if it’s linked to the Buzz posts.

Comments made on Buzz posts in the past will be saved to the author’s files and not yours. Authors are the only ones that can change the sharing settings of those files — Google emphasizes that should the author make their posts public and you have a comment on there, you have no control over its appearance. The company’s response to any reaction: delete your Buzz content now if you don’t want that to happen.

Google says all Buzz files will be treated “the same as any other Drive file”, meaning that they can be downloaded, updated, or deleted.

If you’re interested in finding out what you’ve shared or commented on, you can do so by going to your Google profile page.

Photo credit: FRANK RUMPENHORST/AFP/Getty Images

Creative blogging platform Jux is shutting its doors on August 31. In a blog post, the company revealed that its growth wasn’t “large or fast enough to attract further investment” as the reason. It has released a feature that will allow users to download their work.

The New York City-based startup launched in August 2011 as a mixture of Tumblr, About.me, and Flavors.me. As TNW reported back then:

It’s creation. It’s sharing. But it’s also permanent and personal. Jux isn’t about one off creations a la Tumblr. It’s a place where you can create a story, own a topic and be proud of your blogging.

The goal was to help people make better stuff. Prior to launching, company CEO Ted Metcalfe told us that 50,000 people had signed up for the service. The company was founded by Mark Gorton, who created Limewire, the once popular peer-to-peer file sharing client.

In the past couple of years, Jux has made some steady improvements to making it more accessible and useful for its users. In October 2011, it released a new way to share on the iPad with an HTML5-powered interface. Two months later, it became available on the iPhone before announcing its integration with Google Maps’ Street View and the addition of several social features.

Since its August 2011 launch, Jux said that it has seen a 1,400 percent increase in posts and 3,000 percent growth in page views, with 20 percent of its traffic coming directly from links shared on Twitter and Facebook.

Metcalfe once told us that his company was focused on one main goal, that being growth: “Growth (sans expensive advertising) validates the idea and invigorates the community.” Running up against endless comparisons to Posterous and Tumblr, he believed that Jux would be able to serve as that “fun and magical place” for people to create.

Sadly, Metcalfe’s vision didn’t pan out. Jux managed to raise some funding, but looks like it wasn’t able to capture the attention of investors.

Of course, Jux took to Twitter to announce their news and some users felt that the timing couldn’t have been any worse:

@tactixian timing couldn’t be worse! jux iphone app days from release and tumblr joining best western, err, yahoo, some irrelevant brand :)

— Jux (@JuxDotCom) May 25, 2013

With Posterous already closed after its acquisition by Twitter and rumors of people leaving Tumblr after Yahoo snatched it up, could this offer Jux a bit of a reprieve? Highly doubtful as the company would probably need a huge influx of users to make it sustainable — and it’s not charging users to create their blogs either.

Current users of the site have until August 31 to download their work. To begin, Jux says that users can go to https://USERNAME.jux.com/!/mystuff (where “USERNAME” is the user ID) and a zip file will begin downloading. The company asks users to be patient as the download may take a long time, depending on how much work is stored on the site.

For those interested in migrating their data to another service like WordPress or Tumblr, Jux says that it does not have a feature that will automatically import content into those services.

Update: This post was amended to show that Jux’s site traffic was more than we originally reported.

Photo credit: Thinkstock

Gmail users could be seeing the service getting a redesign soon. Following reports by Android Police about leaked screenshots of the update during Google I/O, we’re also hearing that the email service will feature five tabs to categorize emails for better organization. These changes will be available for not only on the Web, but also for iOS and Android devices.

A source shared with us that the new Gmail will have a few default tabs as part of its new theme. Categories that will be listed are Main, Social, Offers, Notifications, and Forums.

We’re told that with Main, users will find it for emails from friends, family members, and for communication that can’t be sorted into another place. In Social, all messages relating to social media, including emails from Zynga, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and Google+, will be lumped into this category.

If you receive a lot of email from retailers, daily deal sites, and other merchants, Gmail will assign those to the Offers category. Important emails about bills that need to be paid, dining reservations, and flight alerts will be included under Notifications. Lastly, if you happen to be associated with any mailing lists or forums, those emails will be found under Forums.

If it’s to be believed, these tabs are an enhanced way at filtering and labeling the email that we receive. In a way, this is something similar to what AOL did with its Alto application, except it’s not a desktop application.

Earlier today, Android Police discovered that at Google’s I/O developer conference, leaked screenshots showed that Gmail was going to be getting a new navigation drawer.

In the above image, you can see that there’s a three-line button in the top-left, which Android Police referenced as “hamburger” and when tapped, a menu will appear from the left, showing not only labels, but also the categories that we described earlier. Categories can also be found within Gmail’s mobile app inbox.

We have reached out to Google to verify the authenticity of these images. A spokesperson tells us that the company doesn’t comment on rumor or speculation.

If true, users could expect to see these features begin to roll out over the next couple of weeks. Of course, should this update not be suitable for users, Google is giving them the option of reverting back to the current version — albeit probably for a short period of time.

Photo credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In wake of the Oklahoma tornado tragedy, Google has shared that it is working with both Verizon Wireless and Acer to set up Chromebook stations with free Internet around the area.

According to Google, three locations have been set up, including two Red Cross stations — located at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church and the Moore Community Center — as well as Walmart #277.

With such wide-scale damage affecting the city of Moore, these stands should play a role in helping victims better communicate with their loved ones.

In addition to these stations, Google also released a crisis map for Oklahoma today, which includes Red Cross shelters, traffic alerts and storm reports.

Google has a history of stepping up after tragedies, as do many other tech firms like Twitter, AT&T and T-Mobile. Google’s response to Hurricane Sandy as well as its Person Finder initiative are noteworthy examples.