Tag Archives: eBay

Test drive with Tesla anyone?

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Please note I am a fan of Tesla (see my snap above on holiday in Amsterdam) and reading about their success in Wired magazine in September last year.

Indeed, when one of the guys at eBay showed off the eBay sponsored sports car last year I wrote to Tesla suggesting they come on round and offer eBay folks a collective test drive. I didn’t hear back from them until the call last week!

This for a car described as “a cool automobile technically, a cooler automobile to drive, and an historic game-changer in our perception of battery-electric vehicles” so I am super excited. Tune in for pics tomorrow!

 

eBay buys Hunch

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I picked up on Hunch in August last year when working on eBay Inc’s Shopping.com so it’s great to see my former employer has bought Hunch today. Apparently former-Flickr founder Caterina Fake left last summer to start a new company, but remains an advisor. Also worth reading are the some of the comments on the ‘Uncrunched’ report. Specifically (..& from my limited experience, which I passed on through an ‘EVP’ session..) I agree eBay may need to consider how to hang on to entrepreneurial talent but I’m sure they have it in hand.

Indeed on a general point about nurturing creativity within the enterprise take a look at the recent research on how creativity can be nurtured using a combination of training and financial incentives.

Barcamp London 5Photo by Rain Rabbit

EBay is buying recommendations engine Hunch for $80 million, Michael Arrington at Uncrunched reports.

Hunch is led by Chris Dixon, the prominent New York angel investor.

Hunch had raised $20 million in funding. About a year ago Hunch turned down an offer from Google for $60 million.

EBay will use the technology for its own e-commerce recommendations, says Arrington. He also reports Dixon will lead a recommendations team of 50 people for eBay in New York. That team will grow to 200 over time.