CHECKING UP. GroupMe 3.0 is out, and–what is this thing? We hardly recognize it anymore! GroupMe has taken group messaging to the next level with direct messaging, web chat and questions (ask a question, spark a conversation–in beta).
Foursquare rolls out brand pages. And brands can check in wherever they want! Silicon Alley-turned-Valley email start-up Tout now has Gmail integration. Voyurl announced an “all-new private beta.”
WE WANT YOU. Lerer Ventures hiring for an office assistant. Twitter needs some business dev in its new office somewhere around Central Park. Advertising intelligence agency Rapleaf is hiring for a Lead Developer and some Amazing Engineers. Rent the Runway is hiring for a senior software engineer. AngelSoft is hiring for several positions.
BLASTING OFF. “Twitgram, a new, Web-based service now coming out of beta that … allows users to take a ‘half-step’ off of Twitter to send private messages, regardless of whether they follow each other, and without a 140 character (or any) limit. In addition, Twitgram stores correspondence in threads, allowing users to track correspondence. Twitgram’s additional functionalities include attachments, photos and group/team messaging, simply by having a Twitter handle, without the need to join yet another social network or download any software. Twitgram is the latest startup of New Yorkers David Rostan and John Holdun, formerly a top developer at About.com.”
BATON-PASSING. Carter Cleveland is being consumed by his start-up, Art.sy, and can no longer sustain the weekly NYC Startup Digest he’s curated for 10,000 people for the past year and a half. “The reins are officially passing to Frank Denbow, Satjot Sawhney, and Julia Levy, who will take the NYC StartupDigest to all new heights,” he writes this week.
TOMES. Startup Weekend: The Book is now available for pre-order, coming out in the fall. “How to Take a Company from Concept to Creation in 54 Hours is a comprehensive journey through a Startup Weekend event. But it’s more than just a road map. Each chapter in the book provides in-depth explanations of the theories, methodologies, and lessons that we strive to teach at all Startup Weekend events.”
CONTINUING EDUCATION. Digital Learning Series, out of the DreamIt Ventures accelerator. The Business of Music, at General Assembly. Unfortunately we missed Social Media Skills for Interns at General Assembly. Tweeting is the new “getting coffee.”
DID YOU MISS. New York’s start-up scene is in a 4-hour body craze. Bitcoin derivatives trading is taking off as traders on Wall Street get intrigued. Turntable.fm decides to buy local. New Yorkers love their handles. And some 4channers just really like ponies.
