Invention takes a Quirky turn

Even after raising $40 million as a tech entrepreneur, Ben Kaufman, 25, still says his first round of funding was the most difficult.
It wasn't just because he was fresh out of high school, having celebrated only 18 birthdays at that point. It was because he had to convince his parents to raise the $185,000 he needed by remortgaging their Long Island home — not to pay for college, mind you, but to back a kid's dream of producing a really cool pair of headphones.
"I always say it was the hardest convincing I ever had to do with any investor," Kaufman recalls. Before taking that money and heading to China to find a manufacturer, all he had was a prototype concocted out of ribbon and gift wrap.

Analysis: With Siri and new alliances, Apple takes on Google search

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When Apple Inc sends out its coveted invitations to major events, one CEO has always been making the guest list of late: Jeremy Stoppelman.
The co-founder and chief executive officer of consumer review website Yelp Inc has never taken the stage at these gatherings, but his company has become an important weapon in Apple's arsenal as it steps up its assault on ally-turned-rival Google Inc.
Yelp and a handful of other major consumer content sites, including movie reviewer Rotten Tomatoes and restaurant reservation service OpenTable, will be helping to power Apple's Siri, the voice-activated iPhone personal assistant, in the new mobile operating system iOS6.

Invention takes a Quirky turn

Even after raising $40 million as a tech entrepreneur, Ben Kaufman, 25, still says his first round of funding was the most difficult.
It wasn't just because he was fresh out of high school, having celebrated only 18 birthdays at that point. It was because he had to convince his parents to raise the $185,000 he needed by remortgaging their Long Island home — not to pay for college, mind you, but to back a kid's dream of producing a really cool pair of headphones.