Among the Natives David Karp put on his salesman hat this week and preached the Tumblr gospel in front of execs at an Advertising Week event. Karp pushed his company’s new approach to “native” non-intrusive marketing. He went as far as to call Tumblr the “brave new world.” The site now nets 27 million visitors a month and is expected to release some sort of earnings report this week, six months after ads started running on the site.
Pass The Popcorn MoviePass, a subscription service for unlimited movie-going, launched today, but is still invite-only. The app lets you check into a movie theatre, which then unlocks your MoviePass card. You pay at the credit card ticket kiosk using your MoviePass card, like you would with an ordinary card. The service is starting out at $29.99, which makes it a steal for New Yorkers because that’s a little under the price of two movies with popcorn in Manhattan.
The Most Eligible Bachelor Wendr, an app for planning a night out with your friends, won Samsung (SSNLF) and Thrillist’s “Speed Dating For Startups” competition. After submitting a 30-second video advertising their app, the team had to demo with other finalists in front of a panel of judges. The winner was picked by Thrillist founder Ben Lerer, Samsung Senior Manager Jason Redmond, and and David Tisch, former managing director of TechStars NYC. The prizes for winning the competition include a write-up on Thrillist (bro outreach!), launch services from MRPR, KinPixel and LiftFive, and a collection of Samsung Series 9 laptops. Does this mean Wendr has to plan its own startup date?
Get Checked Y’all! In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, Hologic, Inc, rang the opening bell of the NASDAQ this Monday. They also parked a mobile facility in Times Square that was filled with 3D mammogram technology called The “Tomo Coach.” Their 3D technology is locating cancer faster and better, so go get felt up for a good cause.
1 Billion Amateur Editors Can’t Be Wrong Aviary, the photo editing app, announced this week that one billion photos have now been edited on their app within the first 12 months of launching. For a comparison, it took Instagram 18 months to accomplish the same feat. The company estimates that they will double that number by the end of 2012. That’s a whole lot of sepia tones and stickers slapped on people’s faces.
Streets Now YouTube’able StreetEasy, New York’s best way to avoid getting scammed on Craigslist, has partnered with internet travel show Sonia’s Travels, to make video content that spotlights individual neighborhoods throughout the city. “Partnering with her on this type of video series was a no-brainer, especially as we build up our original content,” said Michael Smith, CEO of StreetEasy.
Witness the iResurrection Digg, still making its climb out of the Internet grave, introduced a universal app for the iPhone and iPad. It’s stark white, just like the new site, which looks really great on the iPad. It also has a cool feature called Reading Sync that uses iCloud to sync up articles between devices.
A British Boost Earlier this week, Rightster, a service that helps content providers maximize revenue from online video, announced a digital revenue services company, announced the hire of Robin Pembrooke as VP of Product & Solutions. He’s a former Yahoo! guy, but more recently he led the online operations of Britain’s biggest advertising funded TV and radio broadcasters–ITV and Global Radio. He should be able to help them out in a big way in the U.K. market.
The End of the Valley, But Not Advisory Boards Twist, the app that gives your friends your ETA, announced this morning that Yammer founder David Sacks would join Twist’s advisory board. Sacks started a small firestorm after he claimed that “Silicon Valley as we know it may be coming to an end” shortly after selling his company to Microsoft. Sacks was quoted in the company’s announcement as saying he uses Twist everyday and that “apps that help people manage or save time possess huge market value.”
A Better Second Round Betterment, a low cost personal investing website, announced today that they’ve acquired $10 million in second round financing led by Menlo Ventures. The company says that since its start in 2010, they’ve increased customer assets under management at 500 percent per year. The company also just launched Betterment Gift, a service that allows you to gift money that you make from investments. Feel free to gift Betabeat as much as your better angels allow.